Former Democratic Congressional nominee ( against Gallegly, CA-24, in 2004) Brett Wagner e-mailed out his end of the year update. Although he is not currently in the area as he is helping his family in Missouri, his think tank is still active. Their big project this year was stopping the new "Pain Ray" that the US government was looking to buy for crowd control.
How many other think tanks either left or right are in Ventura County?
Anyways, read the update by clicking on continue reading and leave your thoughts.
The e-mail...
Dear Friend,
Seasons Greetings! I hope this message finds
you and
your loved ones healthy and happy.
As 2006 draws to a close, I'm writing you from
my
boyhood home in Independence, Missouri, where
I've been
helping out with an ongoing family medical
emergency.
Fortunately my mom's cancer appears to be under
control
now, but dad's struggle with Alzheimer's
continues to grow
more difficult by the day, and Parkinson's has
robbed my
childhood best friend of the ability to walk.
Over these past few months I've experienced
many
powerful life lessons. First and foremost, I'm
reminded
that our families and loved ones should always
come first.
I've also relearned how incredibly short and
precious our
time is here on Planet Earth and how little time
any of us
have to make a real difference in building a
better world
for ourselves and future generations.
Looking back over the past year, I'm extremely
grateful
for our talented and dedicated team at the
California
Center for Strategic Studies who have worked very
hard in
my absence to keep all of our vital work moving
forward.
They have consistently gone far beyond the call
of duty
and have proven time and again that our
organization can
make a real difference in the world around us.
Singling out just two examples of our
successes over
the past twelve months, our year began with
probably the
greatest single achievement of any public policy
think
tank in 2006:
We succeeded almost single-handedly in preventing
(or, at
least, delaying) the first new major arms race of
the 21st
century, one based on a new generation of
pain-related
weaponry nicknamed the "pain ray."
But of course, our work is never done:
After we achieved our goal of an official U.S.
moratorium against the pain ray's deployment in
Iraq, the
secretary of the Air Force recommended that as a
first
step toward deploying the pain ray abroad it
should first
be deployed here in the U.S. in crowd control
situations –
and Raytheon, the device's primary manufacturer,
recently
launched an advertising campaign preparing to do
just
that. Rest assured, we are working hard to
prevent this
grave potential assault against our civil
liberties.
Our year has also ended on a high note: Our
groundbreaking "Progressive Faith & Values
Project" –
which was launched right after the 2004 election
with the
goal of helping restore the progressive voice in
American
politics – succeeded in crafting progressive
messaging
that contributed to this November's progressive
electoral
landslide at the federal, state and local levels
all
across America.
This landmark victory has swept into power the
friends
and allies in government we have long needed to
help us
achieve our organization's mission of securing
world
peace, fostering human rights, and promoting
environmental
sustainability. Our project team is now busy
reviewing
and analyzing what we did right and what we might
do
better to begin building toward future victories.
As I personally rededicate myself to achieving
our
organization's mission, I must turn to friends
like you to
ask you to please remember our vital ongoing
efforts as
you begin planning your end of the year
tax-deductible
charitable giving. With your help, we will
hopefully one
day look back on 2007 as the turning point in
realizing
our dream of building the best of all possible
worlds.
To make an online tax-deductible contribution:
http://www.thecaliforniacenter.org/contribute.php
Or you can send your tax-deductible check to:
California Center for Strategic Studies
Box One
Ojai, CA 93024
Best wishes to you and your loved ones for a very
Happy
New Year.
Brett Wagner
CCSS President
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The California Center for Strategic Studies
is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax exempt educational
institute
as recognized by the U.S. Internal Revenue
Service,
and is incorporated in the State of California.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
#############################################################
Why are bombs fine, but lasers or whatever this guy is talking about bad?
So this guy is taking credit for the big Democratic wins in November? What a loser. The last time I read anything about him, his party couldn't wait to get rid of him.
He also single handedly delayed a new arms race? Captain Fantastic rides again. That must be some strong oregano he's smoking and trying to sell.
More begging for donations too, so he can continue to achieve such greatness. Donate a car. Donate some gas money. He needs money for rolling papers. The future of the planet depends on it.
So, nobody is in favor of the pain ray? Does that mean everyone agrees with Brett Wagner?
The first poster pretty much has it right. This is a tool designed to disperse crowds, without actually causing physical damage. That seems like a pretty humane thing to me. Currently, if our soldiers are being fired at from a crowd, they have very few options. One, stand there and get shot. Two, return fire, wounding or killing innocents. Three, leaving and allowing the mob to take over. Remember how viciously the gov was criticized over the looting of Baghdad? What were we supposed to do, shoot them?! Well, this provides a way to counter any insurgents who would use crowds as cover. This doesn't just apply to Iraq, think of the lives that could be saved in Palestine.
Sure, there are arguments against it, but oddly enough, Wagner doesn't give any in his op-eds. And I can think of many worse arms-races than one over non-lethal weaponry. This guy is grasping at straws.
Good points Owen!
The funny thing is that Wagner's resume of getting things done is about even with Gallegly's. With their records neither of them should be in congress.
I guess the weapon makes some kind of sense in respect to warfare, but it scares the bazhibis out of me that it might someday be used domestically. Owen, there are a lot of "non-lethal" and "humane" methods for controlling people, like waterboarding or shock therapy or maybe some kind of chemical knock-out gas-- like the kind the Russians lobbed into the theatre a couple years ago. Oops.
As far as Mr. Wagner goes, all I can say is that he is a bizarre man for these bizarre times.
We have other non-leathal weapons in use domestically: tear gas, rubber bullets, etc. All of which can cause permanent physical damage. This tool would also replace them. It is, in virtually every sense, an improvement over existing tools already in place. The only question is when it should be used, which is also an issue with the current non-lethal inventory. As such, I see only benefits over the status quo.
The problem with the knock-out gas was in the follow-up. They took people out of the theatre, and laid them face-up on the sidewalk. Most people who died did so because they choked on their own tongues or vomit. That said, Russia was in a situation that we ourselves would find difficult to resolve. A signigicant number of terrorists were controlling a theatre through a combination of conventional small arms and suicide bombers.
If we spent less money on new weapons and more money on people we would have less need for weapons in the first place.
Wow Maybe that was profound! We already spend a significant amount of money on people- the US spends more in world-wide aid than any other country. The basic problem is that many people are greedy, bad, and want more. Just look at the illegals marching in the streets demanding more "rights". They get free education, healthcare, welfare, and they want more - and will protest violently while carrying the flags of other countries. Yeah, let's spend more money... instead of protecting ourselves. You go ahead and pay the gangers not to rob your home. I will go ahead and buy an alarm system, pepper spray, and maybe a weapon. Kumbayah!
Maybe if your government didn't install dictators that hoard the profits from low priced oil for your excursion then half the world wouldn't be looking to watch us fall. But the BFF of the Bush Clan is The House of Saud. if you are a poor person in Mecca living in the shadow of a palace protected by American weapons you figure out who your enemy is and who is arming them.
Do you use 89 octane?
What we need is some common sense conservatism for our problems.
When I was growing up setting your phasers to stun was allowable.
I think Gallagher is retiring. He isn't even showing up for all the votes anymore. He could vote for a resolution in favor of Iran making a bomb and the local GOP clone army wouldn't say anything. But at this rate he should know Democrats would make hay of a guy that misses so much work.
MTO8!
Strange but Elton Gallegly took money from Salem Communications ( Christian Radio) and Time Warner ( Marilyn Manson, ICE-T who sang "Cop Killer").
Is there anything or anyone he won't take money from?