Dr. Lee Rogers, problem solver-- and candidate
A couple of weeks ago, Trevor Thomas, one of the grassroots heroes to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, endorsed Lee Rogers based largely on the contrast between the progressive Rogers and his reactionary opponent, Buck McKeon. This came into particularly sharp focus for Trevor when he was working on the repeal. Last month he asked his own supporters to contribute to Rogers' grassroots campaign, telling them that he is "up against extreme, Republican Congressman Buck McKeon who is also the chairman of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. I'll never forget Buck because when I was working on the repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell' he did everything possible to stop our efforts, along with his notoriously anti-choice record on women's rights and his strong opposition to helping kids stay in the U.S. through the DREAM Act."
This week kicked off with Peace Action also taking a strong stand for Rogers and against McKeon. He's one of only 3 candidates they've endorsed this year.
And this morning, one of the foremost peace advocates in the whole country, Norman Solomon, also endorsed Rogers campaign. This, in part, is the letter he sent to his own supporters today:
The Republican chair of the House Armed Services Committee, Buck McKeon, gets a lot of money from military contractors-- and they get a very good return on their investment.
Today, I'm endorsing the progressive Democrat who's running against him.
Dr. Lee Rogers has a chance to defeat McKeon in a newly redrawn congressional district in Northern Los Angeles that has gone from a former GOP stronghold to an area that Barack Obama carried in 2008.
This is a tough race, but it can be won-- especially if we help.
So far the national Democratic Party establishment has turned its back on the Lee Rogers campaign. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is failing to help. No doubt that pleases the powerful GOP incumbent who never saw a U.S. war he didn't adore.
All the more reasons to do it ourselves. We can help evict from the House a leading functionary of the military-industrial complex.
"I will do everything necessary to defend our country, but I won't be lured into war by false threats and lies, as Congress was in Iraq," Lee Rogers says. He points out that "already my opponent Congressman Buck McKeon is beating the war drum about Iran."
Lee offers a stark alternative to the pork-barrel militarism of his opponent: "We don't need to spend money on engines for planes with canceled contracts, for unneeded technologies, or to maintain some of our 700 military bases around the world. The U.S. spends more on defense than every other nation on the planet combined. We can keep necessities, cut waste, save money, and be more secure."
Blue America has also endorsed Lee Rogers and we have some heavy lifting to do in his district. We're not just fighting McKeon, but we also have to battle the stubborn and destructive intransigence of DCCC chairman Steve Israel-- himself a crony of many of the same war industry big donors who finance McKeon-- who has worked to undermine Lee's campaign to win in a district where President Obama beat John McCain and where Lee Rogers should-- with proper help-- beat Buck McKeon. Like Norman said: "all the more reasons to do it ourselves." Please contribute what you can to Lee Rogers here. We can make a difference, despite the war industry, despite Buck McKeon and his crazed right-wing allies, despite McKeon's corrupt "special arrangement" with Sheldon Adelson and despite the protection Steve Israel is giving him.
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