Op-Eds and Letters
Keeping non-profits alive in the Valley
Leonard Salle, President, Commonweal Institute
San Jose Mercury News, September 28, 2003
The voters' voice in California
Leonard Salle, President, Commonweal Institute
San Jose Mercury News, August 18, 2003
Supreme Court is too politicized
Mercury News Washington Bureau Chief Jim Puzzanghera’s thoughtful piece (perspective, Aug.21) regarding the Supreme Court confirmation hearings on John Roberts didn't address a core concern.
Since the 2000 election, when five members of the Supreme Court made what was considered by many, including other Supreme Court justices, to be a politically motivated decision, there has been fear that the court can no longer be counted upon to be politically independent. The implications go far beyond Roe vs. Wade. Many already believe that our system of checks and balances no longer functions, allowing those in power to operate with impunity.
The real fear regarding Judge Roberts is that his decisions as a Justice would not be objective and impartial, but would be ideologically driven and partisan.
Leonard M. Salle, President, Commonweal Institute
San Jose Mercury News, September 5, 2005
Press Archive
Articles about
Commonweal Institute or activities it co-sponsors
Volunteers
play key role in starting new think tank
San
Mateo County Times
Wednesday, August 21, 2002
Volunteers are playing a vital role in helping
to establish the Commonweal Institute, a new moderate &
progressive think tank in Menlo Park, as a premier organization
for changing public policy.
Last fall, Leonard Salle and Dr. Katherine (Kate) Forrest,
of Portola Valley, founded Commonweal Institute with the purpose
of advancing ideas for the common good.
According to Salle, We founded Commonweal Institute to
help provide a balance in information that reaches the public.
Too much of what weâre hearing these days comes from the conservative
perspective, and clearly this is pushing the national agenda
further and further to the right.
Almost immediately, volunteers came forward to help build
the organization, which they see as having the potential for
making a major impact on public opinion and policy throughout
the country.
The Full Article
Top
Think tank opens in Menlo Park
to give voice to progressive views
By Renee Batti
Almanac News Editor
Wednesday, July 24, 2002
There's plenty of room for disagreement when it comes to the
ideas and ideology put forth by the country's powerful, conservative think
tanks, such as the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute.
But there's one aspect of those institutions it would be hard to argue with:
the effectiveness of their efforts to influence the country's political agenda.
Well-funded and focused, they have significantly influenced lawmakers, the media
and the public in recent times, most political observers would agree.
This fact has not been lost on longtime Ladera residents Leonard Salle and
Dr. Katherine Forrest. A married couple whose political views contrast sharply
with the ideology espoused by the prominent conservative think tanks, the duo
nevertheless has looked to those foundations as a strategic model in forming the
Commonweal Institute, a think tank they recently established in Menlo Park.
"The models exist ... we don't have to do the inventing here," Mr.
Salle said last week in the Middlefield Road headquarters of the new institute.
In fact, the conservative think tanks have been so successful in framing
national issues and pushing their agendas in Washington that voices representing
other ideas and points of view are being left out of the national political
dialogue, he said.
Established to add a strong moderate-progressive voice to that dialogue, the
institute aims to consolidate the efforts of people and organizations that now
often focus only on single issues, the founders said. As a result, they added, a
more forceful, effective tool will be created to promote moderate and
progressive political principles.
E-mail: Renee Batti at rbatti@AlmanacNews.com.
Reprinted
with permission from the Almanac News
Complete
Article Top
Political Party
By Jim Nintzel
Tucson Weekly
Week
of July 18-24, 2002
Hightower's Hell-Raisin' Hootenanny is
Here!
Texas populist Jim Hightower says he's out to "put
the party back into politics." To that end, the author
of If The Gods Had Meant Us to Vote, They Would Have Given
Us Candidates is headlining the rip-roaring Rolling Thunder
Down-Home Democracy tour, featuring political commentary, live
music, good chow, cold beer and more. The hell-raisin' hootenany
lights down in Tucson this Saturday, July 27, at downtown's
Tucson Convention Center.
Hightower, whose commentary appears in the print edition
of the Tucson Weekly, says the tour is meant to bring grassroots
activists together to build coalitions for change. "There's
a yearning in the countryside for people to get together, not
just in high-tech but in high touch," he says.
When the tour debuted earlier this year in Austin with a
line-up that included columnist Molly Ivins and social irritant
Michael Moore, 7,000 people showed up. "It totally stunned
us," Hightower says.
Complete
Article Top
Political activists in partying mood
By Liam Ford
Chicago Tribune staff reporter
Sunday, June 16, 2002
The West Side's Union Park has hosted many labor rallies and
progressive political gatherings in its almost 150 years.
But the Rolling Thunder Down-Home Democracy Tour, a sort of
Lollapalooza of political activism, probably was the first to include both a Dunk-the-Lobbyist carnival game and workshops on running
political campaigns.
Rolling Thunder, which is making stops throughout the country this
year, brings together local activists, musicians, organic farmers and just
plain folks to show people they can have fun fighting for their causes.
Several thousand people gathered at the park Saturday to soak in the sun, eat
soy hot dogs and listen to speakers including U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson
Jr. (D-Ill.), Chicago writer Studs Terkel and Organic Valley Family Farms
head George Siemon.
The tour is the brainchild of Jim Hightower, a folksy Texas writer
and commentator who has served two terms as that state's agriculture commissioner. Hightower says he wants to inspire activism without
boring political neophytes.
"The idea for the tour comes from the realization, as I travel
the country ... that we have tremendous progressive activity at a grass-roots
level that is very optimistic," he said. "You look to Washington, you
get a very dark picture of the progressive possibilities, but if you go to just about
any other place that's got a ZIP code, you find that you've got someone or
a bunch of someones that are teamed up."
By mid-afternoon Saturday, Jackson was stirring up a crowd at
the festival's main stage, as others circulated among dozens of tables
representing individual activist groups ranging from Chicago Community Midwives to
the Midwest High Speed Rail Coalition.
Hightower's idea--borrowed from the tradition of political discussion
and community gatherings begun at Lake Chataqua, N.Y., in the
mid-19th Century--seemed to resonate with many at the park Saturday. Teacher
Nancy Hummel, 51, who came to Rolling Thunder with her husband, Jon, 52,
from East Lansing, Mich., said the festival reminded her of early 20th
Century leftist anarchist Emma Goldman.
"I think that it was Emma Goldman that said, `I don't want to be
part of your revolution if I can't dance,'" said Hummel, whose interest
in fighting food irradiation -- a process that uses radioactive materials to kill
food bacteria--was piqued by one of the organizations at the park.
Activists wandered among the information tables, traded information
on their preferred causes and took breaks to sign one another's petitions
and letters.
"I'm pleased with the turnout--it's a fun event," said
Robert Schultz of the human rights group Amnesty International as he signed postcards
to encourage elected officials to support high-speed rail in Illinois.
But if they tired of straight-on politics, people at the event
could unwind by playing games. A carnival-like area at the park included a
federal "Budget Wheel of Fortune," "Knock a Nuke, Build a
School" and "Dunk the Lobbyist."
It wasn't a real lobbyist in the dunk tank, just a loud man in a suit.
But people seemed to enjoy soaking him anyway.
Copyright (c) 2002, Chicago Tribune
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Letters to the Editors
Letter to the Editor
as
published in the May 21, 2000 San Jose Mercury News
(see
below for letter as submitted)
Rather than responding in a thoughtful and considered manner, George W. Bush
lashed out at members of Congress who raised questions about what was known
about possible terrorist attacks before September 11. Bush, and other members of
the current administration, blatantly disregard the fact that the Legislative
branch (Congress) is an equal partner of the Executive and Judicial branches in
governing our country. It is the duty of members of Congress to raise questions
about vital issues of national security.
Bushâs tone was that of a controlling, abusive parent, who slaps his child
and snarls, "How dare you question me? My word is law in this house!"
Ironically, it was Bush who campaigned on a theme of restoring civility to
politics. If Bush has a valid point, he should be able to make it in a civil
manner and treat members of Congress as respected colleagues in governance,
rather than taking the attitude that he and his administration are above being
questioned.
Katherine Forrest
Director of Development
Commonweal Institute
Portola Valley
Letter to the Editor
as
submitted to the San Jose Mercury News
As Ronald Reagan would have said, "There you go again, George."
Rather than responding in a thoughtful and considered manner, George W. Bush
lashed out at members of Congress who raised questions about what was known
about possible terrorist attacks before September 11. Bush, and other members of
the current administration, blatantly disregard the fact that the Legislative
branch (Congress) is an equal partner of the Executive and Judicial branches in
governing our country. It is the duty of members of Congress to raise questions
about vital issues of national security.
Bushâs tone was that of a controlling, abusive parent, who slaps his child
and snarls, "How dare you question me? My word is law in this house!"
Responding to every possible criticism with a full-fledged attack has been the
favored style of conservatives ever since Rep. Newt Gingrich used it
successfully to intimidate his colleagues in the House. And here they go
again.
Ironically, it was Bush who campaigned on a theme of restoring civility to
politics. If Bush has a valid point, he should be able to make it in a civil
manner and treat members of Congress as respected colleagues in governance,
rather than taking the attitude that he and his administration are above being
questioned.
Top
Press Releases
Menlo Park, California,
July 16, 2002
Ted Lempert to Speak at
Event Launching Multi-Issue Think Tank
Organization seeks to influence national
and state policy through research,
education and advanced
communication outreach
MENLO PARK, CA ö The Commonweal Institute will feature Former
Assemblyman & CEO of EdVoice Ted Lempert as the key speaker
at a July 25th after-work reception celebrating the opening
of its Menlo Park office.
The event is expected to draw about 200 guests, including
community leaders, business executives, local government officials,
activists and philanthropists.
Commonweal Institute is a moderate-progressive think tank
that aims to persuade a broad spectrum of the public to think
differently about vital issues and then to take a more active
role in democratic processes. (more...)
Complete
Release Top
Portola Valley, California,
March 18, 2002.
Dr. Katherine Forrest, Director of Development for
the Commonweal Institute, will travel to Austin, Texas this
weekend to lead a workshop at the kick-off event of the Rolling
Thunder Down-Home Democracy Tour. She will bring her
marketing expertise to bear in teaching Texans How to Create
and Run an Effective Media Campaign.
This will be a great opportunity to have community activists
learn how to design media campaigns that will reach the right
audiences with maximum impact, says Dr. Forrest. (more...)
Complete
Release Top
