Ian Magruder

Website: http://www.gotdemocracy.com

Bio: My interest in politics began in 2004 with Howard Dean's run for president. Since then, I've also volunteered with the John Kerry and Steve Westly's campaigns. Over the last few years I have been a member of Infallibull Productions, a teen film company that primarily produces content for Current TV. I am also politically involved in school, founding a JSA chapter at my high school and serving as the President of the Carrillo College Democrats Club. Earlier this year my friend Barak Wouk and I attended the NOI Summer Campaign Boot Camp in Washington DC and founded a progressive political blog called Got Democracy.

Hillary’s Record: Progressive Enough?

Since Sen. Hillary Clinton has based much her presidential campaign around the notion of experience and asked voters to closely examine who has the best record, I think it’s fair if we do precisely that.

Top 10 things you might not know about Hillary Clinton’s record. She has:

10. Supported the death penalty throughout her public life and lobbied for Bill Clinton’s crime bill, which expanded the list of crimes subject to the federal death penalty.

9. Sponsored legislation in December 2005 to criminalize flag burning, despite concerns over first amendment violations raised by fellow Democrats.

8. Supported Arkansas’s law requiring parental notification before an abortion, but changed her position on the issue in 2005.

7. Campaigned as a teenager for Republican Barry Goldwater during the 1964 presidential election, and served as president of the Wellesley Young Republicans during college.

6. Hired union-busting pollster Mark Penn as her presidential campaign’s chief strategist. Penn’s corporate clients have included Blackwater, Countrywide Financial,Texaco, and Monsanto.

5. In October 2007, Hillary was the only Democratic presidential candidate to vote in favor of a Senate resolution to label Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, essentially giving President Bush a blank check to attack Iran.

4. In her 2006 Senate re-election campaign, Hillary received more money from the health care industry than any other U.S. Senator besides Republican Sen. Rick Santorum.

3. Served on the board of Wal-Mart for six years from 1986 to 1992.

2. In 2007 alone, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign received over $400,000 in campaign contributions from Washington lobbyists, more than any other Democratic candidate.

1. Voted on October 11, 2002, to authorize the Iraq war.

Hillary Clinton is a very accomplished woman who has been a tremendous leader on many important issues, but is she really the kind of progressive change that America needs in this election?

Sources are below the fold.
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Patriotism and Public Service

Since 2001, it seems that Republicans have had a monopoly on patriotism, or at least that’s the way they’ve succeeded in portraying it. But how exactly do they define patriotism? If patriotism means caving into fear mongers and seeing who can hate “the terrorists” more, then conservatives are pretty damn patriotic. But the way I see it, patriotism is about more than just talk. If you really love your country, then you ought to be able to make a few sacrifices to show it.
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