http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rick-j...r_b_76401.html

Rick Jacobs
Democracy Won; Blackwater Zero
Posted December 12, 2007 | 05:14 AM (EST)

A tiny town in the pristine high wilderness of eastern San Diego
County made history tonight with the nation's first-ever up or down
vote on Blackwater, the infamous, private mercenary army. The people
spoke and the answer was clear: no to Blackwater. And a resounding yes
to democracy. Would that our politicians could act as decisively.

I'm here at the San Diego registrar of voter's headquarters, an
enormous one story warehouse-style building that very much resembles a
major post office facility. Those of us who came to watch the votes
being counted were escorted to the back of the office portion of the
building where twenty or so people sat in a small conference room.
Extra chairs were brought in so that we all had seats to watch seven
election officials sitting around the big conference table, counting
ballots one at a time with meticulous care.

As Julia Rosen says, the counting took over five hours, even though
only 280 or so ballots were cast.

The ballot is complicated. Voters decide whether or not to recall each
of five members of the Potrero Community Planning Group. And then they
vote for a replacement. It's the same principle behind the recall of
Governor Davis, except in this case five incumbents were tossed out,
all by people power without the "help" of expensive consultants, like
Chris Lehane, whose "assistance" to Gray Davis brought us Arnold
Schwarzenegger. (Expect Lehane to take on Blackwater as a client any
day now.)

As trite as it sounds, it really is a David and Goliath story. The
David in this case is personified by Carl Meyer, a farmer who used
democracy to hit Blackwater between the eyes by leading the recall
effort. The Courage Campaign, which has been organizing against
Blackwater's attempt to invade California since last April, produced a
two and a half minute video introducing Carl. We waited until after
the election to release it. (Thanks to producer/directors Shaun Kadlec
and Deb Tullman for a terrific job.)

The vote count is clear and stunning: of just over 280 votes cast,
(59% turnout) each of the incumbents was recalled with at least 63% in
favor and each of the anti-Blackwater (pro-Potrero) candidates
received no less than 71% of the votes. The new members will take
their office upon certification of the results; the registrar told us
that certification would occur not later than Thursday morning. With
the next meeting of the Planning Group scheduled for Thursday night,
we should have a 100% anti-Blackwater (pro-Potrero) panel set to take
action.

Unfortunately, the biblical comparison ends here. Goliath was one
giant, felled by a sling shot precisely placed between his eyes.
Blackwater is more of a hydra, with new heads popping up every day in
the strangest damned places. With billions of dollars of your tax
payer dollars engorging its coffers, the company is far from finished
in San Diego. After all, who cares if the neighbors say no? Blackwater
will say, "This was all about politics, not about the truth. We'll
wait to hear what the county supervisors say."

And why not? The fight only began tonight. Over the next year,
Blackwater will use its considerable war chest to convince at least
three of the five Republican supervisors in San Diego County to
overrule the voters and approve its 824 acre mercenary training
facility. We have our work cut out for us, but Carl Meyer said it best
tonight: "The same recall mechanism works for county supervisors as
for the Potrero planning group."

Blackwater wants desperately to open up shop in Potrero because they'd
be only a few miles from the Mexican border. With its mercenaries
facing indictment for the murder of seventeen Iraqi civilians in
September, business overseas may soon decline. Here's Tuesday's New
York Times:

"Mr. Strong (Blackwater's vice president for communications) said that
the high-altitude blimp would be ideal for border surveillance
operations or drug interdiction. He said the company wanted to win
more Homeland Security contracts focused on border security training,
and in choosing the location here, just eight miles from the border,
Blackwater was banking on an increase in the number of border guards."

Blackwater's founder, Erik Prince, is one of the largest donors to
right wing causes including the Republican Party. That's how he got so
many no-bid contracts in Iraq. Undoubtedly, he plans the same strategy
for domestic mercenary work.

Mr. Prince and his steroid-enhanced shooters never expected democracy
in a small town to derail their merry ride to building a domestic
private militia. Thanks to Carl Meyer and his stalwarts, Blackwater
just hit a speed bump. Maybe now that it's safe, our elected officials
will join Congressman Bob Filner and the people of Potrero in saying
no to Blackwater.

We at the Courage Campaign today launched blockblackwater.com just to
be sure they do.

edspyhill01@yahoo.com wrote:
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rick-j...r_b_76401.html
>
> Rick Jacobs
> Democracy Won; Blackwater Zero
> Posted December 12, 2007 | 05:14 AM (EST)
>
> A tiny town in the pristine high wilderness of eastern San Diego
> County made history tonight with the nation's first-ever up or down
> vote on Blackwater, the infamous, private mercenary army. The people
> spoke and the answer was clear: no to Blackwater. And a resounding yes
> to democracy. Would that our politicians could act as decisively.

snip for space / / /

Saw that, was thinking of posting it. Signs of intelligent life in San
Diego. Maybe there is hope after all.

<edspyhill01@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:597d0d6f-356f-4c68-bbcc-4d9b6e2723b4@e10g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
>
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rick-j...r_b_76401.html
>
> Rick Jacobs
> Democracy Won; Blackwater Zero
> Posted December 12, 2007 | 05:14 AM (EST)
>
> A tiny town in the pristine high wilderness of eastern San Diego
> County made history tonight with the nation's first-ever up or down
> vote on Blackwater, the infamous, private mercenary army. The people
> spoke and the answer was clear: no to Blackwater. And a resounding yes
> to democracy. Would that our politicians could act as decisively.


Nice, but unless the flow of Blackwater money to officials in Washington can
be stopped, they'll find a way to build elsewhere.