Senators are reporting that the calls and emails into their offices about the immigration reform bill are running at about 8 to 1: eight people spouting Lou Dobbs' nativist talking points to every one sensible person.

The bill isn't perfect, the touchback seems utterly silly to me... these policy discussions we can hash out in the comments, and they will be discussed no doubt by better policy brains than mine, but it's not the purpose of my post. No, the reason I'm writing this now is because I was not sure how to fight for progressive immigration reform that is in keeping with the policy recommendations of folks like DMI, SEIU or Sojourners, without first knowing the larger thrust of my argument.

One of the most useful rhetorical paradigms for progressives to elucidate in our advocacy is how conservatives care about profit and how instead, we liberals care about people. I can't think of a better way to build a grassroots movement than to highlight and SHOW the people affected by immigration.

The Courage Campaign created a campaign called Dreams Across America to collect the stories of immigrants' American Dreams. This project personalizes the other, the "they", in ways that are extraordinarily effective. When Lou Dobbs attacked them last week, THAT was a sign that the moral thrust of this argument is on target.

What is it exactly I'm now fighting for? It's a just and humane policy. It's about just and humane politics.

The featured immigration story from Dreams Across America is AQ. She is a chef at Jardiniere in San Francisco. Watch her American story.

Let's get to know who these Americans are and then push our Congress and President to build a workable policy that puts those who are here on a path to citizenship and stops the underground movement of exploited workers that our conservative government allows and our morally corrupt corporations crave. Dreams Across America is my key for how to think about and discuss this huge issue.

Stoller asked if Lieberman was a tragic figure.

No. Lieberman isn't a tragic hero.

A classically tragic hero must have a nobleness or wisdom, and a discovery that is made by his own actions.  Oedipus searches out the root of his own problem.  On the other hand, Lieberman is oblivious to his flaw and is unwilling to talk to voters.

Now, Macbeth...  It was flawed political calculus that drove Macbeth to consciously kill Duncan.  This decision stands in contrast to Oedipus, who tried to avoid his fate, but failed.

Therefore, the Shakespearian tragedy presents the idea of a moral quandary by presenting a person who willingly does the wrong things.  

Lieberman's political calculus is deeply flawed. But is Joe like Macbeth and is dead wrong on purpose?  

I'm almost happy for all the fear-mongering stories written about MySpace. Thankfully, there have been more stories about predators than actual cases. My hope  is that this over-hyped bad press will scare away many Conservatives from investigating this network's potential.

Similar anxieties of obsolescence kept conservatives from letting their children investigate social phenomenons such as reading novels, zippers, jazz, television, rock & roll, and now P2P networks. And thank god for that - for a while, liberals were the only ones listening to jazz, quickly dressing and chilling on MySpace.  

MySpace just passed Yahoo! for the most pageviews per day in the country. 95 million people have set up accounts and built pages. 95,000,000. But the network's size is NOT the important part!

PACs raise a lot of money early. More and more will do what Gov. Mark Warner has done with his MapChangers voting function. Namely, letting us decide where he should send the cash.

What strategy do you espouse in 2006? Storm the Mountain West? Wrestle back every single house seat in New England and New York?

There have been tons of strategies, some workable, some dumb, proposed here on MyDD by folks who watch the scene closely enough that we should know how to take the next step.

Whenever they give me the chance, I'm steering every PAC I can find to dish their bling to the House races in Mountain States.

I'm all about the Fighting Dems so in 2 minutes, I got the former Governor to help out Jay Fawcett. He was impressive in Vegas, so he's got my, er, Warner's support.

Promoted from the diaries. A lot of local NYC flavor, but it's important for those fake Dems who have fallen in love with Bloomberg's $100 mil. - laddy

Bloomberg's $100 million advertising campaign revolves around one central idea: that he is an apolitical guy doing a good practical job. Bull.

He's even puked up the old cliche that there's no Democratic or Republican way to take out the trash. Funny, it's actually an ongoing debate in New York City - ask the supporters of recycling versus those of trash-burning incinerators, and check their party affiliations.

Sanitation isn't the issue in the General Election that it was in the primary but there are real substantive differences between the views of the Democrat and the Republican in this race that deserve to be discussed, but are being mostly ignored.

Let's look at just one.

Ferrer supported Intro. 468-A, the new law to require decent health care coverage for workers at large grocery stores. The mayor vetoed the bill saying it should be addressed at the Federal level. True that. So the Council overrode him 40-2 understanding that it won't be addressed at the Federal level thanks to Republicans like Bloomberg.