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Loose Tweets Sink Ships

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Social media hate directed at Catholics and presidential candidates led to gubernatorial appointee Gail Gordon Donegan’s resignation.

“Abortion is morally indefensible to Catholic priests bcuz it results in fewer children to rape.” 

These are the words of Gail Gordon Donegan, who was recently nominated to the Virginia Council on Women by Governor Ralph Northam. Her unapologetically offensive social media presence led to a public outcry over her anti-Catholic tweets, and she resigned her post on August 28, less than two weeks after she’d taken it. 

On August 16, Gov. Northam appointed Donegan to the Council, which advises the state’s executive branch on matters pertaining to women. Before the kerfuffle over her social media presence erupted, Donegan was best known for founding the memorably named Brass Ovaries PAC, a political action committee formed in 2018 with the goal of supporting women running for office. She had also been a longtime member of the Democratic Committee from her home city of Alexandria, and written various op-eds and letters to the editor relating to local Alexandria issues such as education.

At the time of her nomination, Northam spokesperson Alena Yarmosky said that Donegan “has spent years advocating on behalf of issues important to women across the Commonwealth.” However, after offensive anti-Catholic tweets were found on her Twitter account, Catholic groups and bishops in Virginia called for her resignation and questioned the initial appointment. 

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that Donegan tweeted from the account @satirclAlx, with the name “Satirical Alexandria – Rated Fx by the NRA.”  In March 2011, she tweeted “Go tell a Catholic they have dirt on their forehead. #waystooffend.” Her tweet regarding Catholic rape of children, quoted above, was posted in 2010. 

Now-deleted Tweet by Gail Gordon Donegan, @SatirclAlx

The Catholic Diocese of Arlington’s Chief Communications Officer, Billy Atwell, issued a statement calling for Donegan’s resignation.

“Governor Northam’s appointment of Gail Gordon Donegan to the Virginia Council on Women is disappointing, particularly given her documented use of social media to offend members of the Catholic faith,” stated Atwell. “Ms. Gordon Donegan has a record of ridiculing Catholic beliefs and practices, and trafficking in stereotypes that would disqualify her from this role had they targeted any other category of persons. Her statements are offensive to human dignity, and fail to reflect the depth of character one would expect of a leader in our Commonwealth.” 

Deboarah Cox, an official for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, also issued a statement about the posts: “We would expect anyone appointed to a council or commission for the Commonwealth to be respectful of all faith groups and civil in his or her public comments — including social media — given their status as a representative of the Commonwealth, appointed by the governor.” 

Donegan defended her tweets on August 21, telling the Richmond Times-Dispatch that “Psychological studies show that people who swear make better friends… And they’re smarter.” 

The following day, she told the Times-Dispatch, “I will say for the record that my father was severely beaten in Catholic foster homes and I am an atheist. My father was orphaned at age 4, sent to live in Catholic foster homes and severely beaten until he ran away at age 14.” 

My husband is an ex-Catholic and he’s not offended by my tweets.

Northam was asked Thursday at an event promoting electric school buses if he knew about Donegan’s tweets before the appointment, but he declined to comment at length. 

“I just want to reiterate that I don’t condone that kind of language,” Northam said. “And if she had chosen to stay on the commission, I would have encouraged her to refrain from any type of language that would be offensive to other folks.” 

More recently, Donegan also directed her crass language toward other groups, referring in 2017 to Boy Scouts as “pussy snowflakes,” in response to an article about a Colorado Cub Scout being kicked out of his scouting group after asking a state senator questions about gun control.

Last year she wrote, “Bernie Sanders and his shithead followers need to fuck the fuck off” in response to a March 2018 protest planned against Hillary Clinton by the pro-Bernie group Our Revolution. That protest was eventually cancelled. 

While the outcry against Donegan and her tweets came from many corners, condemnation wasn’t universal. On the blog Friendly Atheist, Hemant Mehta wrote a post encouraging Northam to stand by Donegan.

Nothing Donegan said is as bad as things Catholic priests have done. A guy who works for an organization that covered for child molesters for decades is in no position to stake a moral high ground or suggest Donegan offended ‘human dignity.’

However, on August 28, the same day that blog post was published, Donegan offered her resignation, saying that she did not want to distract from the Council’s work, as reported by CNS News. 

“I’ve spent over a decade working on behalf of important women’s issues in Virginia,” Donegan said. “At the same time, I have also been the author of a Twitter account that focused on covering Northern Virginia politics from a satirical angle from Alexandria — which is why the account is named @satirclalx. I recognize that some of the jokes I told crossed the line, and I apologize to those who were hurt by them.” 

Donegan has certainly paid a price for loosely speaking her mind about sensitive political issues on social media. She’s not the first political figure to do so, and it seems unlikely that she’ll be the last.

Additional reporting by Marilyn Drew Necci. Top Image via Facebook

Fist & Rose: Democratic Socialism Remains Focused on the People 

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*This article originally appeared in RVA Mag #34, on the streets now at all your favorite spots. 

Socialism is no longer a dirty word in American politics. American democratic socialism has experienced a resurgence following Bernie Sanders’ narrow primary defeat in the 2016 presidential primary, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s stunning 2018 primary victory in New York’s 14th Congressional district. 

The renewed popularity of the ideology is reflected in the whirlwind growth of the nation’s largest socialist organization, Democratic Socialists of America. The organization’s dues-paying membership has grown from 6,000 in 2016 to more than 45,000 today. 

In Virginia, Democratic Socialist and Marine veteran Lee Carter made waves within the state’s political establishment when he upset Republican incumbent and House Majority Whip Jackson Miller in Virginia’s 50th district during the 2017 off-year elections. 

Carter’s campaign was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America and Sanders’ political action committee, but not the Virginia House Democratic Caucus. Carter won by an astounding 10 points against a better-funded, better-supported incumbent in a formerly conservative district. 

The DSA has 13 Virginia branches, in localities including Charlottesville, Richmond, Fredericksburg, Roanoke, and Norfolk. Of these, only the Richmond chapter, designated a 501(c)(4) in April 2017, is fully-accredited. 

Since forming, Richmond’s membership has grown from 20 to 165 members. Co-chair Austin Gonzalez attributed the steady growth to enthusiasm generated by Carter’s electoral upset, along with Ocasio-Cortez’s victory over incumbent Democrat Joe Crowley. 

“Our membership on a local level, and on the national level, typically sees a bump when the DSA is in the news,” he said. “With Lee Carter, it was really a legitimizing effect … legitimizing us as an actual entity that matters within the state of Virginia.” 

Richmond’s rapid growth has also sprung from grassroots coalition-building. Like DSA National, Richmond DSA is a multi-tendency organization that works with groups along the leftist political spectrum, ranging from far-left libertarian socialist and anti-fascist groups to center-left organizations like the Democratic Party. 

“DSA is more well suited than most organizations to coalition-building because we welcome any beliefs within the left, any tendency,” Gonzalez said. “A lot of people are at a point where they want to contribute, they want to help, they want to get involved, and a lot of people are just looking for a place to start. For a lot of people I think DSA helps them find that place to start.” 

The growing membership of Richmond DSA has put it in a position to support local and regional organizations. Some of those groups include The Virginia Defenders, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and New Virginia Majority. 

The group has also supported anti-fascist and anti-racist actions in Charlottesville and Richmond, where white supremacist and neo-Confederate groups have coalesced around Confederate monuments. Instead of leading, Richmond DSA typically acts in a support role. 

Richmond DSA Co-chair Laura M., who didn’t feel comfortable sharing her last name, described their approach. 

“We’re not going to go in and say, ‘We’re going to do that work also.’ We’re going to say, ‘We want to work with you. How can we provide support to you?’” she said. 

Richmond DSA has also implemented their own mutual-aid programs in Richmond and prioritized action on specific local issues. On a national level, the DSA’s most well-known action is the free brake light clinic, which offers to exchange brake lights for anyone in the community free of charge. The program was started by New Orleans DSA to help minimize interactions between the average person and police, and to avoid costly fees associated with traffic violations. Richmond DSA held their second ever free brake light repair on September 3, and plan to make it a fixed monthly event. 

“The biggest goal for DSA is improving the life of the average working individual, and it’s things like that that can make a big difference,” Gonzalez said. 

In addition to the free brake light program, Richmond DSA has created working groups to address key issues affecting working-class communities in Richmond. In January 2018, the group voted to prioritize homelessness, immigrants’ rights, and the creation of a citywide People’s Survey for the year. 

Gonzalez said he’s most excited about the People’s Survey, which is designed to gauge how they can better serve the general population of Richmond, because of “the potential that it has in connecting us with the community,” he said. 

Notably, Richmond DSA has not endorsed any candidates for office in the upcoming election cycle. To date the chapter has only endorsed one candidate, Montigue Magruder, who ran and lost on the Green Party ticket for House of Delegates in Virginia’s 69th district. 

Laura M. said the chapter is more focused on “trying to do what we can to better serve our communities. And that means going out into the community and helping wherever we can, and actually participating in public actions.” 

DSA’s national surge in popularity is largely due to the narrative surrounding the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, in which Bernie Sanders narrowly lost to Democratic Party champion Hillary Clinton. 

Sanders’ populist message resonated across state and political boundaries as he campaigned successfully both in deep-red states and solid-blue urban areas. His run helped bring issues like income inequality, single-payer healthcare, and free college tuition into the national spotlight. 

Since then, the DSA has vastly expanded its network of local chapters across the United States, and DSA-backed candidates have won elections at all levels of government in the past two elections. 

The DSA’s most significant electoral victory occurred in June 2018, when Ocasio-Cortez won her primary. Her win has all but ensured her a spot in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019 in New York’s reliably blue 14th district. 

This could be a banner year for the socialist organization as a record number of DSA-endorsed candidates vie for elected positions across the country, and although Richmond DSA has declined to endorse any candidates locally, their core mission of direct action for the working class stand to benefit from national wins. 

According to Gonzalez, as long as there is a void of viable left-wing movements in the United States, the DSA’s message will continue to resonate with the average American. 

“People see their wages stagnant, and they see organizations like the Democratic Party not fighting for them,” he said. “People want to be able to see an improvement in the life of the everyday worker. To me that is the absolute goal of DSA, improving the life of the average individual.” 

Democratic Socialists of America use rising membership to fight for social justice in Virginia

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The term “Democratic Socialism” has been thrown around a lot lately in politics. Senator Bernie Sanders openly identified as a democratic socialist in the presidential primaries last year, differentiating himself and subsequently creating a split in base between himself and the more traditional Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton. On November 9, 2015, Sanders gave a long speech at Georgetown University about democratic socialism. Sanders helped popularize the term; however, its usage goes far beyond the Sanders campaign.

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a grassroots organization that has been gaining a lot of attention as a result of the 2016 election and Donald Trump’s presidency. Formed in 1982, DSA was created when two prior organizations, the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) and the New American Movement (NAM), merged to create a singular organization. Both organizations had a history of contributing to community organizing, trade unions, and feminist movements. In 1983, the organization had reached 8,000 members, according to the DSA’s website.

Today, the DSA, which supported Sanders in the Democratic primary last year, recently surpassed 25,000 members, making it the largest socialist organization in the United States since the 1940s, as reported by Salon.

As of July 2017, the organization reported having 164 chapters nationwide, with chapters in cities such as Richmond, Charlottesville, and Washington D.C. There are also several Young Democratic Socialists (YDS) chapters in schools, including Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Virginia, George Mason University, and Virginia Tech.

But why are people joining the DSA?

DSA in Emancipation-Park during Charlottesville protest

Michael, a Vice Chair of the Charlottesville DSA chapter (who requested us not to print his full name for safety reasons), said that he joined the organization because he became disappointed with the Democratic Party after working with them on several campaigns.

“The Democratic Party is very captured by corporate money, and corporate interests dictate a lot of what the Democratic Party does, which constrains the policies you can advocate for,” Michael said. “Whereas DSA, being a grassroots organization, is able to fully advocate for Medicaid for All, 15 dollar minimum wage, prison abolition, all of those really fundamental changes.”

This dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party has also resulted in members running against established Democrats. Earlier this year, Ross Mittiga ran against House Minority leader David Toscano in the Democratic primary for the 57th District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. Disappointed in Toscano’s corporate donors, as well as his views on issues such as the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and minimum wage, Mittiga decided to take on the job of campaigning against him. Soon after Mittiga decided to run, DSA endorsed him after he met with DSA leadership and spoke at a DSA meeting in Charlottesville. According to Mittiga, DSA’s endorsement was vital in assisting the campaign, as volunteers were able to knock on doors and make phone calls.

“DSA folks ended up being the single biggest source of support I’ve had throughout the whole campaign,” Mittiga said. “We even had high school DSA chapters making calls for our campaign on their lunch breaks.”

Although Toscano outperformed Mittiga in the primary, Mittiga was able to obtain approximately one-third of the vote and pressured Toscano to move further left on some of the issues. Because of this, Mittiga considers his campaign to be an achievement.

“Toward the end [of the] campaign, he went from saying nothing about living wage, to saying very nebulously that he supports a living a wage […] and then, at the very end of the campaign, he started saying, ‘We need to have a living wage of 15 dollars an hour,’” Mittiga said. “People are a lot more alive to his centrism, and I think even more importantly than pushing him to the left, I think we pushed the citizens of Charlottesville to the left.”

After the campaign, Mittiga joined Charlottesville DSA, and is currently working on starting an environmental committee within the chapter.

Austin Gonzalez, Chair of the Richmond DSA chapter, also shared his frustrations with the Democratic Party, and how the DSA can do better.

“We actually fight for radical change in the American political system,” Gonzalez said. “Feasible but radical change rather than reform or gradualism, which is all that you’re going to find within the Democratic party.”

Richmond DSA’s primary focus is currently on dismantling the Confederate monuments that are on Monument Avenue, Gonzalez said.

Democratic Socialists of America

“As a person of color that has lived in Richmond for the majority of my life, it’s not exactly the most reassuring thing to have to drive by these monuments on a daily basis,” Gonzalez said. “With the background of Charlottesville, this would be incredible not just as a moral victory, but an incredible victory for human rights in Virginia.”

Richmond DSA has worked with Food Not Bombs, an anti-militarism group dedicated to feeding the poor and working to end homelessness. Richmond DSA also recently started cleaning bus stops around the city, according to Gonzalez.

“Another thing we think is important is to actually speak to members in these poorer communities to see exactly how we can help them,” Gonzalez said. “Rather just imposing our will on them just for a good photo op.”

As for Charlottesville DSA, Michael said that they’re focusing on issues such as opposing the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, abolishing the Right to Work law, and, in light of the recent events in Charlottesville, focusing more heavily on issues of racial justice.

As the DSA pushes for universal health care at a national level in response to the Republican Party’s various health care plans, members of the DSA are encouraging new people to join.

“I think DSA is an organization that can help break through some of the alienation and help people organize in their local communities,” Michael said. “That’s really the only {way} we’re going to get through the Trump administration, is collectively organizing in a way we haven’t been before.”

*Ryan Persaud is a member of the DSA.

 

Endorsed by Bernie Sanders, Perriello campaigns in Richmond

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In his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor, Tom Perriello says he would make community college free, raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and confront the Trump administration over its policies on immigration and other issues.

Perriello – who has won an endorsement from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders – discussed those topics Monday night at a town-hall style meeting at Virginia Union University in Richmond.
Promising to combat President Donald Trump’s administration and help create a “community of conscience,” the Charlottesville native received consistent applause from the crowd.

He touted his support of the Affordable Care Act when he served in the U.S. Congress in 2009-11. Trump, who succeeded Barrack Obama as president in January, has vowed to repeal and replace the ACA. Perriello gave credit to demonstrations such as the Women’s March on Washington for preventing that from happening.

“Five months ago, people could have curled up on the couch and cried, and I’m sure all of us did. But instead, people decided to say, ‘No, this isn’t who we are as a commonwealth; this is not something we are going to stand by passively and watch,’” Perriello said. “Because of these efforts, because of the marches, because of the protests, because of the stories, today the Affordable Care Act remains in place.”

Perriello also discussed his hope to provide free community college to Virginia residents, calling it a good investment. He said trickle-down economics – the notion that tax cuts for the wealthy will generate benefits for poorer people – doesn’t work.

“What the evidence does show you is when you actually increase wages and invest in people, then you do get growth locally, and more growth for small business,” Perriello said. “This is not something we’re doing out of the goodness of our hearts. We’re doing this because it’s a good investment strategy.”

A big part of Perriello’s speech was establishing himself as a viable candidate in the race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Perriello announced his candidacy in January, when it appeared that Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam would be uncontested in seeking the nomination.

Perriello encouraged supporters to knock on doors and volunteer on his behalf to spread the word about his campaign. That was a critical strategy at the time: Only one in five Virginians even knew his name, according to a poll published in February by the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University.

Last week, a survey by the center showed that Perriello and Northam were tied: Each had support from 26 percent of Democratic-leaning voters; almost half of the people polled were undecided.
At the event at Virginia Union University, Perriello had few critical things to say about Northam. Instead, he mentioned issues on which the two candidates agreed – but Perriello said he was the first to take those positions.

“We came out and led the way on standing up for a $15-an-hour minimum wage. A few weeks later, we saw Ralph and others court that decision,” Perriello said. “Same thing with criminal justice reform and debt-free community college. I think what we need right now is someone who’s actually leading a policy agenda.”

Perriello echoes many of the positions that Sanders espoused during his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination last year. On Tuesday, Sanders issued a statement endorsing Perriello.
“We need to elect progressives at every level of government if we are going to beat back the dangerous agenda of the Trump Administration and its Republican allies,” the statement said. “Tom is committed to fighting the rigged economy and income inequality. He was the first major statewide candidate in Virginia to run on a $15 minimum wage and the first to say two years of community college should be tuition-free.”

Perriello will face off against Northam in the Democratic primary election on June 13. Northam has the support of outgoing Gov. Terry McAuliffe and most Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly and the state’s congressional delegation.

On the Republican side, three candidates are vying for the GOP nomination for governor: Ed Gillespie, former chairman of the Republican National Committee; state Sen. Frank Wagner of Virginia Beach; and Corey Stewart, who chairs the Prince William Board of County Supervisors.

Words and photo by Tyler Hammel via VCU’s Capital News Service