Maryland Juice Is Back! - Meet Our New Writer (And Hopefully More Soon) // So What Now? We Kind of Have An Idea....

Aaaaand we're back! Sorry for the 10 month hiatus, but Maryland Juice founder David Moon stepped away from his writing duties to learn how to become a lawmaker in Annapolis. During that period, a lot of good political news went uncovered, but in recent months some new blogs and local publications have stepped into the Maryland press void. We hope to re-join this community in the coming weeks -- but as always, we will do so from the lens of Maryland's progressive Democratic community, with a twist of civil liberties and justice blended into your juice. :)

Unfortunately (or fortunately), Maryland Juice 1.0 (David Moon) will be taking an indefinite hiatus from his writing duties and lining up new writers for the blog. During this transition period, he'll be helping the new writers understand the readership data for Maryland Juice, it's writing style, etc. The goal will be to keep the mission of the blog the same (eg: justice oriented Maryland political news), but to bring some new voices into the mix. That being said, all story ideas and press distribution should go to the new writers. Moon is going to be shifting into a passive role with the blog. We'll see where this takes us.....

OH SNAP, NEW WRITERS! - The first of the new writers under the Maryland Juice 2.0 reboot will be Matt Verghese, a Montgomery County-based Democratic politico. He's kicking us off with a handful of articles on voter suppression in MoCo, endorsements in Maryland's Congressional races, and a summary of recent state polling results. Add this guy to your press list & send him some juicy leads: matt@marylandjuice.com.

Meet Matt Verghese, a Maryland Juice 2.0 writer

WHO IS THIS GUY ANYWAY? - Matt Verghese comes to Maryland Juice after a long stint in Annapolis - including working for the General Assembly, serving as Political and Communications Director of the Maryland Democratic Party, and as Lt. Governor Anthony Brown's Deputy Chief of Staff. He's been involved in a number of campaigns - including Governor O'Malley's 2010 reelect, serving as Deputy Coordinated Campaign Director in 2012, and the 2014 gubernatorial race. He currently works as a Senior Aide to Tom Hucker at the Montgomery County Council.

Matt is lover of all things Maryland - especially the Terps, berger cookies, crabs smothered in Old Bay, and local craft beers. He's opinionated (extremely so according to some), happily biased against outdated trickle-down reactionary policies and the politicians who espouse them, and a wonkish enthusiast of data, tables and charts. Matt lives in Montgomery County and is a proud graduate of MCPS. He received both his bachelor and master's degrees from the University of Maryland. You can reach Matt Verghese at matt@marylandjuice.com.

JON CARDIN INTERVIEW PART 2: Attorney General Candidate Talks About Marijuana Legalization & Agricultural Pollution

This is part 2 of 3 of Maryland Juice writer Dan Furmansky's exclusive interview with Delegate Jon Cardin (a candidate for Attorney General).

ARTICLE 2 OF 3: JON CARDIN ON REDUCING RECIVDIVISM, MARIJUANA REFORM, & AGRICULTURAL POLLUTION

SECTION 1: JON CARDIN ON THE WAR ON DRUGS, RECIDIVISM & MARIJUANA REFORM

DAN FURMANSKY: There has been a great deal of discussion lately about mass incarceration, especially as it relates to the War on Drugs. The ACLU report you no doubt saw has pointed out the massive disparities in marijuana-related arrests among blacks and whites in Maryland, despite the fact that usage rates among the two communities are completely comparable…

JON CARDIN: The report just said not quite, I think 2.9 or 3 percent…no, 3 times more likely if you’re black to be arrested and incarcerated for marijuana use than if you’re white. I mean, that’s outrageous when usage is essentially equal.

DAN FURMANSKY: So let me ask you this: Some support a bill by your colleague from District 11 [Sen. Bobby Zirkin] to make possession of very small amounts of marijuana a civil, rather than a criminal, offense. But this is considered by many to be merely a band-aid, unfortunately, because law enforcement will still use alleged marijuana possession to target people based on race and it doesn’t do anything to drive away the underground market and regulate who is growing and who is selling marijuana, and to whom, in our state. With Colorado and Washington replacing marijuana prohibition with taxation and regulation of marijuana, do you feel Maryland is ready to make a similar move?

JON CARDIN: I support Senator Zirkin’s bill, number one. Number two, I have supported the movement towards not just decriminalization, but to…the ability to tax and regulate—legalize, tax and regulate—the use of marijuana. I think that not only is this an opportunity for revenue, it’s an opportunity to reduce or get rid of the black market and it allows us to kind of handle firsthand, the inappropriate use in a way that can be dealt with cheaper than incarceration and through the legal process, but rather through an intervention process.

I think that recreational use is…could…will…let’s be transparent here…create other issues, and possibly, other legal ramifications, and cultural, and community ramifications that need to be considered. But I am certainly open to the conversation about doing it, because we need to look at new, next-generation ways of controlling the problem side and to providing a community that actually works well together.

DAN FURMANSKY: As the top law enforcement official, how would you advocate for reforms that would reduce crime and recidivism in the state of Maryland?

JON CARDIN: Um…I would contend that you, you said the top law enforcement official?

DAN FURMANSKY: Yeah. Is that a fair assessment of the role of Attorney General?

JON CARDIN: Yeah, the Attorney General does have a capacity to deal with law enforcement. In the criminal system, obviously it focuses on the appeals process. The first thing I would do is, number one, if the state's attorney sent me a case that was in any way polluted with racial profiling, I would refuse to take and handle that appeal. Period. And what that says is that…the state's attorney needs to be very, very…focused on doing the right thing and making sure that all their i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed.

In terms of recidivism, we have tremendous opportunities and we have a terrible record of, you know, 80% recidivism in certain arenas. But we know the answer. There are programs that have shown dramatic decrease in recidivism like the Maryland Cares—I’m going to get the name wrong, but I have to jog my memory for it—which is a program for re-entry of violent crime individuals where you have a person go in and work with an individual, an inmate before they are released, in advance, close to when they are going to be released, and work with the family to set them up and prepare them for re-entry. [The Maryland Correctional Enterprises CARES program]. And it has shown a more than 40% drop in recidivism.

The problem is funding, and the issue that we have is how can the Attorney General help advise the Administration and Department of Corrections and the Governor's Office on crime prevention or making sure that those programs are funded because when we’re paying up to $50,000 a year for an inmate versus a couple thousand dollars a year to have these re-entry programs done, it’s a no brainer to make sure that happens.


SECTION 2: JON CARDIN ON THE AGRICULTURAL POLLUTION & THE ENVIRONMENT
DAN FURMANSKY: Quick question on ag [agricultural] pollution.

JON CARDIN: 1029? Senate Bill 1029?

DAN FURMANSKY: Was that the Ag Certainty bill? Yes, I wanted to positively call out your vote…on the so-called Ag-Certainty bill. [Editor's Note: Del. Cardin was one of 27 legislators to vote against the “Maryland Agricultural Certainty Program” legislation which would grant certain agricultural operations a whopping 10-year exemption from new rules to protect water quality. The bill passed and was signed into law by Gov. O’Malley. Del. Braveboy supported the legislation, while Del. Frick and Sen. Frosh also voted against it.]

Farming in Maryland remains the largest source of pollution to the Chesapeake Bay, and within agriculture, it is manure application to fields that takes the pollution prize. A 2010 study estimated that farms on Maryland’s Eastern Shore produce 300,000+ tons of excess poultry litter beyond the capacity of local cropland to assimilate nutrients. And of course the vast majority of farms on the Eastern Shore are part of the factory farming system, where they are contracted to either grow chickens as food crops or provide soy or grains as feed to one of the so-called multi-billion dollar integrators who produce poultry, such as Tyson, Perdue, and Mountainaire.

It’s clear that if we in Maryland don’t successfully address the issue of poultry manure that comes from this factory system, we won’t get clean water. Given this, how will you prioritize enforcing the Clean Water Act against the poultry industry, including these big poultry integrators who operate their grower facilities?

JON CARDIN: Number one, I mean obviously, you have to look at each case as it comes and determine whether there is a legitimate case and a legitimate issue and then devote the resources appropriate to the issue. My goal, my vision and my philosophy has been always been ends-tested programs. What is it that we’re trying to accomplish? We’re tying to accomplish a cleaner Chesapeake Bay. If we are, what’s the way to get there? The way to get there is to mediate the use of these environmental hazards in a way that’s more expeditious, less expensive than litigation and actually accomplishes our goal faster and in more friendly environment and I will do that. And if it means I have to go after the bad actors to demonstrate that those of you guys who are on the verge better clean up your act, then we’ll do that as well. I don’t believe that the status quo will work because our Bay depends on us on figuring out how to clean it up. But I also believe that we have to also look at other ways than simply just litigating our way out of it. I just think that that’s going be too slow, laborious, and expensive.

DAN FURMANSKY: Have they done much litigation? I mean Attorney General Gansler hasn’t done any ag litigation in Maryland….

JON CARDIN: Hudson Farms. [Editor's Note: The case at hand involved litigation against Perdue and its chicken-raising contractor on the Lower Eastern Shore, the Hudson Farm, for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act and polluting the Pocomoke River and Chesapeake Bay. The plaintiffs lost the case when the judge found the point source of the pollution could plausibly have been cattle roaming on the farm, as opposed to chicken litter, and cattle manure in this case was not covered under the Clean Water Act. Notably, the Hudsons did not file a nutrient management plan, as required by law, for five years, and also acknowledged that they failed to conduct a soil test on the farm, despite being required to do so every three years. Nevertheless, following the resolution of the case, the House of Delegates authorized $300,000 in taxpayer money for the legal fees of Alan Hudson, the farmer.]

DAN FURMANSKY: I mean, that wasn’t the state’s involvement. That was the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic.

JON CARDIN: The Attorney General’s Office gave…he didn’t have his hands on it, but the Attorney General’s Office was certainly involved in making sure that was proceeding. It had to. They’re the ones who are given the authority to do that kind of thing…

DAN FURMANSKY: My understanding of it was that it was litigated by the Waterkeeper Alliance with the assistance of the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic. From conversations that I’ve had, with some of the attorneys who had been involved in the case, I don’t think they felt that the Attorney Gansler was aggressive with Maryland-based ag polluters.

JON CARDIN: Obviously he has not been the lead on anything, I don’t think they were directly involved, but they were certainly aware of what was going on and they were…they did not stop the litigation even at the point they realized that was going to fail.

DAN FURMANSKY: So let me ask you a specific legislative question: there was an amendment to the budget reconciliation bill that gave the Board of Public Works the authority to grant funding to recoup the legal expenses of the Hudson farm. Did you vote for that?

JON CARDIN: I don’t remember what I did, but I probably would have. I mean, let’s be honest, the state lost the case. [Editor’s Note: this was not a case litigated by the state, but by the Waterkeeper Alliance].

DAN FURMANSKY: Would we reimburse any other industry? I mean the Hudsons, they are businesspeople. They run a business in Maryland. Shouldn’t this be a part of the cost of doing business in Maryland?

JON CARDIN: Uh, so, attorneys fees is a whole separate question. The question is…do we allow attorneys fee for any business…and I am open… I believe that if you do allow attorneys fees, you give incentives for people to really figure out which issues are the ones that are the most important to litigate, or which ones are the strongest to litigate. Because we as a society cannot afford…I just don’t think we can afford to make litigation our only way of improving the environment. It’s got to be an open, transparent conversation, I just philosophically believe that.

DAN FURMANSKY: Some people say that the case shone the spotlight on the fact that in Maryland, these nutrient management plans are secret. They are shrouded in secrecy. Somebody from the general public…

JON CARDIN: That’s a 1029 issue also.

DAN FURMANSKY: Do you support making nutrient management plans open and available for the public to see?

JON CARDIN: I have no problem with transparency. I know that there are trade secret issues that are out there and I think there are ways to create transparency, or at least to provide information, even if it’s through confidential communication, in order to make sure that, you know, we can actually use our finite resources to go after folks that are actually the real bad actors.

DAN FURMANSKY: Traditional point sources of pollution under the Clean Water Act (such as power plants and wastewater treatment plants) view water pollution trading as a way to avoid meeting current Clean Water Act permit requirements. Another words, instead of upgrading plants to meet permit limits, they purchase the right to pollute. How will you enforce permits where point source facilities can purchase their way out of compliance?

JON CARDIN: Again, looking at the office of Attorney General, the question is: what are we allowed to do? And how can we enforce that if it’s legal? But from a public policy standpoint, my goal would be to clean the Bay. And if this is working against that goal, then we need to work both from the perspective of the Attorney Generals’ Association—the National Attorney Generals’ association, NAAG, as well as contacts that we have in Washington, D.C. to make sure that—I’m assuming this is federal by nature—and certainly I have plenty of contacts from my old life in D.C. and from my family and other folks to be able to work with them to make sure that the end goal is what’s accomplished and not a way of getting around it through the mechanisms that are aimed to…to try to improve, but in a much more, I guess, slower or inefficient way.


STAY TUNED FOR PART 3 OF 3 OF OUR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH JON CARDIN SOON!

JUICE: Mizeur Calls for Marijuana Legalization, Gansler Disses Brown on Obamacare, Duncan vs. Leggett at Our Reader Party

Below Maryland Juice provides a few news items that may be of interest to politicos, including a summary of what happened during the sometimes feisty Q&A at our "Million Views Party" Monday night:

JUICE #1: GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE HEATHER MIZEUR CALLS FOR MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION // PLUS: GANSLER & BROWN RESPOND - This week Delegate Heather Mizeur unveiled a plan to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol in Maryland. The Washington Post received an advanced copy of the plan and published responses from the rival gubernatorial campaigns of Doug Gansler and Anthony Brown (excerpt below):

WASHINGTON POST: Maryland Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Heather R. Mizeur on Tuesday will propose legalizing marijuana and using the tax revenue it generates to fund pre-kindergarten education, according to an advance copy of her plan.... She estimates that taxing the drug could yield up to $157.5 million in new revenue for the state each year....

Mizeur’s two better-known Democratic opponents reacted cautiously to word of her plan.

“The attorney general recognizes that public sentiment is slowly shifting toward limited, prescribed medicinal use of marijuana and, in some states, even toward decriminalization of marijuana,” said Gansler campaign spokesman Bob Wheelock. “There does not appear to be a groundswell toward full scale legalization here in Maryland, nor does the attorney general feel that unrestrained legalization would be appropriate.”

Justin Schall, Brown’s campaign manager, said Brown “welcomes a continued discussion and analysis on how decriminalizing negligible amounts of marijuana would impact the ability of our law enforcement agencies to focus on more violent crimes and criminals....”

SUMMARY OF GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATES' VIEWS THUS FAR ON MARIJUANA - Based on the candidates' commentary in The Washington Post, it appears that while Mizeur supports full-on pot legalization, Gansler opposes the proposal and is silent on decriminalization (aka the proposal to simply change the penalty for possession from jail time to a fine). Meanwhile, Anthony Brown's campaign appears to be silent on legalization but may be keeping the door open to supporting decriminalization.  You can read Mizeur's press release announcing her proposal below:

PRESS RELEASE

Mizeur Proposes Marijuana Legalization in Maryland
SILVER SPRING, Maryland – This morning, Heather Mizeur, Democratic candidate for governor, released her plan to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana in Maryland.

“A majority of Marylanders and Americans support the legalization of marijuana because of its impact on public safety and its ability to generate badly needed revenue for critical state priorities,” said Mizeur. “Legalizing, regulating, and taxing marijuana similar to the way we regulate alcohol will provide our state with increased revenue, enhance public safety, and improve environmental and economic outcomes.”

Under Mizeur’s proposal, taxation of marijuana would generate $157.5 million annually to be spent on early childhood education.

“Legalizing, regulating, and taxing marijuana will provide Maryland with a dedicated revenue stream to make overdue and critical investments in early childhood education. Our plan will help ensure that prekindergarten is available to all children in our state.”

“Finally, a Maryland gubernatorial candidate who understands the linkage between drug policy, crime and human rights,” said Neill Franklin, a retired Maryland State Police Officer who served for 33 years in law enforcement. We now have a chance to focus our limited police resources on violent crime and to end mass incarceration.”

To read Mizeur’s entire plan to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana, visit www.heathermizeur.com/marijuana. 

###

JUICE #2: DOUG GANSLER DISSES ANTHONY BROWN ON OBAMACARE, SAYING THE LT. GOVERNOR IS "DROPPING THE BALL" - Maryland Juice received the following press release from the gubernatorial campaign of Doug Gansler stating that Lt. Governor Anthony Brown is "dropping the ball" on Obamacare enrollment in Maryland:

PRESS RELEASE

DROPPING THE BALL: Lt. Governor Anthony Brown Mismanages Maryland Health Exchange Rollout, Calls Insurance Company Cancellations "Renewal Notices”
Silver Spring, MARYLAND - Lieutenant Governor Brown said Sunday that the 73,000 Marylanders who have had their health insurance cancelled by insurance companies should know “It’s not really a cancellation,” and that “they are renewal notices.” This blatant, factual inaccuracy is part of an emerging pattern: Brown mismanaged the rollout of the Maryland Health Exchange and has yet to be clear about his failure to oversee the program or what he is doing to fix it.

“Attorney General Gansler and I strongly support Obamacare. Some states managed this process well and are succeeding. Unfortunately, Lieutenant Governor Brown, given the job of managing the rollout, mismanaged it, and has given Obamacare critics ammunition to attack it.,” said Delegate Jolene Ivey, Gansler’s Lt. Governor running mate. “Hopefully the Governor has taken this over,” she added.

Bob Wheelock, Gansler’s Communications Director added, “Today Lt. Gov. Brown is appearing with local athletes to highlight efforts to get people to enroll.  We support that.  But he dropped the ball when it came to actually getting the rollout right and I think the voters of Maryland would prefer he fix it instead of posing for photo opportunities.”

Wheelock also noted that in a recent WBAL interview, Brown admitted to knowing that pre-rollout testing of Maryland’s health care exchange had technical challenges. “Why didn’t Brown stand up and do something to protect Obamacare, fixing the problem here in Maryland before it happened?” Wheelock asked. Brown’s statement on WBAL also contradicts what he said previously when he claimed not to know of any problems with the system until the opening day of the rollout.

“He has constantly ducked responsibility and has refused to be straight about the problems and what he’s doing to fix them,” added Ivey.

Wheelock added that unlike Brown, who is making excuses for insurance companies, Democratic candidate for Governor Doug Gansler is taking them on.  His office yesterday called on eight Maryland health insurance companies to comply with the letter of the law under the Affordable Care Act and spelled out the information that every Maryland consumer should receive if their insurance carrier opts to cancel their policy.

In that letter, Attorney General Gansler noted that "Our office will not stand for the abuses and fear-mongering that has been documented in other states."

###

Notably, today Anthony Brown's campaign issued a press release indicating that the Lt. Governor would be promoting health care in Prince George's County (excerpt below):

PRESS RELEASE

Lt. Governor Brown to Promote Health Care and Education in Prince George's County

Brown to Participate in Health Care Outreach Announcement and Tour Local Elementary School

CAPITOL HEIGHTS & UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (November 19, 2013) – TODAY, Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown will participate in two events in Prince George’s County, where he’ll continue his efforts to expand access to quality, affordable health care for all Marylanders. He will also tour a local elementary school as part of American Education Week, as he continues his efforts to provide every child in Maryland with a world-class education.

JUICE #3: SPARKS FLY BETWEEN MOCO EXEC IKE LEGGETT, DOUG DUNCAN & COUNCILMEMBER GEORGE LEVENTHAL AT MARYLAND JUICE'S READER PARTY - On Monday night Maryland Juice hosted a "million views" party for readers in Rockville, Maryland. Dozens of Free State politicos and candidates joined us for some informal conversations about state and local issues, and attendees had the opportunity to ask questions of Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett and rival candidate Doug Duncan (former Montgomery County Executive). Congressman John Delaney also dropped by and answered questions from readers. A special thanks again to Delaney and Progressive Maryland for sponsoring food at the event!

The Washington Post's Bill Turque attended our celebration and published a good summary of the remarks from the rival County Executive candidates Doug Duncan and incumbent Ike Leggett, which includes candidates' commentary on the Silver Spring Transit Center delays, marijuana decriminalization, and a proposal for a minimum wage hike in Montgomery County. Turque's write-up of the Maryland Juice party also includes coverage of an unexpected exchange of words involving Doug Duncan and Councilmembers George Leventhal and Roger Berliner that occurred during our Q&A (excerpt below):

WASHINGTON POST: “Who’s accountable for this fiasco?” asked [Doug] Duncan, decrying the construction flaws and delays that have placed the [Silver Spring Transit Center] project more than two years behind schedule and tens of millions of dollars over budget.... “We need to hold someone accountable for this....”

Leggett, who appeared first, was not asked about the transit center. But he ended his stint by quizzing himself....  “I accept responsibility,” he said, contending that the delay was a product not of lax oversight....  I had a full-scale investigation into what some deemed to be a minor problem,” Leggett said. It was a not-so-subtle slap at general contractor Foulger-Pratt....

Questions from the audience drew a few nuggets. Talking about incarceration rates among young African Americans, Leggett said the state should long ago have decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana. He also said that while the state needed to step up and finance new construction to address public school overcrowding, MCPS leadership could have done more on its own to mitigate the impact of unprecedented enrollment growth....

Duncan said the county needed to be more assertive in securing money from Annapolis and “quit being the county that takes the leftovers....” He cautioned against the county going on its own to raise the minimum wage because it was “not an economic island....” Duncan said he wanted to change a sluggish political culture of “paralysis by analysis” that had taken hold in the Leggett years....

One bit of drama toward the end of Duncan’s Q-and-A was triggered by a pointed query from Council member George Leventhal (D-At-Large). Leventhal ... noted reports that Duncan was seeking a new slate of candidates to oust all council opponents. Leventhal asked how that was going.

“George has misquoted me,” Duncan replied, saying that he never said he wanted to oust all incumbents.... “I do think we need new faces on the council,” Duncan added. “This county council is known for their bickering, their fighting. We need a change.

But Duncan then recognized Council member Roger Berliner (D-District 1) as someone he would be happy to see continue. But when asked about Leventhal, Duncan said he had no comment..... “I thought we were on good terms,” Leventhal said, adding: “He doesn’t take criticism well.”

Several officials and candidates for office dropped by the event and/or made brief remarks, including: MoCo Councilmember Roger Berliner, MoCo Councilmember George Leventhal, newly appointed D15 Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo, Liz Matory (D18 Delegate candidate), Shelly Hettleman (D11 Delegate candidate), Charlotte Crutchfield (D19 Delegate candidate), Clarence Lam (D12 Delegate candidate), Marc Korman (D16 Delegate candidate), Cheryl Kagan (D17 Senate candidate), Almina Khorakiwala (D16 MCDCC member), Hamza Khan (D15 MCDCC candidate) and more. Maryland Reporter's Len Lazarick, The Washington Post's Bill Turque, and a rep from Congressman Chris Van Hollen's office also joined us for the shenanigans.

Below we provide more commentary and photos from the event:

Commentary from Congressman John Delaney

• Delaney laid out a series of policy priorities including seeking to incentivize infrastructure investment in America and to mitigate risks in various areas
• Delaney predicted that if U.S. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi were to leave tomorrow, Rep. Steny Hoyer would likely be chosen as her replacement -- but if the leadership contest were held in a year, he declined to comment on what might happen
• Delaney noted a tough political climate for immigration reform and stated that a desire to get something passed leads him to support the U.S. Senate bill on the topic: "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good"
• Delaney provided a nuanced response on whether to change social security policies, noting that raising the retirement age would negatively impact poor people

Below you can see some live Tweets from readers at the event, along with some photos that were posted to social media:

MoCo politico Kevin Gillogly posted the following photo of new candidates for Delegate in 2014 who did a quick round of Q&A:

Liz Matory (D18), Shelly Hettleman (D11), Charlotte Crutchfield (D19), Clarence Lam (D12), David Fraser-Hidalgo (D15)

Prolific MoCo political photographer Ed Kimmel also has an album of shots from the event up on Facebook:

TONIGHT: Join Rep. John Delaney, MoCo Exec Ike Leggett & Doug Duncan for Q&A at Maryland Juice's Million Views Party

Tonight Maryland Juice bloggers David Moon & Dan Furmansky are hosting our first ever reader party to celebrate our newest milestone: over 1.1 million article views and growing!  Join us MON 11/18 from 6 to 8 pm for a fun evening of horserace talk and tasty snacks (cash bar):

Maryland Juice Unplugged - "Million Views" Party

Paladar Latin Kitchen

11333 Woodglen Drive

Rockville, MD (White Flint Metro)

RSVP ON FACEBOOK

Food for the event is being sponsored by Progressive Maryland & Congressman John Delaney

ASK THEM ANYTHING: Maryland Juice readers will be joined by Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett, former County Executive Doug Duncan, and Rep. John Delaney for live Q&A about Maryland politics. While we're hoping to have an unfiltered conversation with these three elected officials, we are going to encourage readers to observe some fairly basic ground rules:

• Ask a real question that can be answered fairly quickly (eg: don't just make statements about your views)
• Try not to ask about things that a quick Google search can answer or that's already been well-covered on Maryland Juice or another outlet
• Be respectful of the candidates' participation, as they don't have to answer every question

Personally, I'm hoping to hear some new insights into local politics, campaign strategy, nuances on issues or other enlightening matters. See you tonight!

MARYLAND JUICE UNPLUGGED: Attend Our 1 Million Views Party MON 11/18 in Rockville & Ask Elected Officials Anything

Maryland Juice writers David Moon & Dan Furmansky are pleased to announce a major new milestone in the short history of this upstart progressive politics blog: we've now crossed the one million reads mark!  We're celebrating the occasion by hosting a "one million views" party on Monday, November 18th from 6-8pm at the Paladar Latin Kitchen in Rockville, Maryland (near the White Flint red line Metro station). We'll be joined by a surprise line-up of elected officials and candidates who are willing to jump into the muck with Maryland Juice readers and take live questions from the audience. Details below:

YOU'RE INVITED: Please Join Maryland Juice hosts David Moon & Dan Furmansky for our first-ever reader party. We'll be providing tasty snacks, fun socializing with Maryland politicos, and unfiltered audience Q&A with elected officials and candidates for high profile offices. We'll provide details on the speakers line-up closer to the event.

Maryland Juice Unplugged : One Million Views Party

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18TH - 6 TO 8 pm

Paladar Latin Kitchen

11333 Woodglen Drive

North Bethesda, MD

[ RSVP ON FACEBOOK ] 

SPONSOR THE PARTY FOR A FREE AD ON MARYLAND JUICE: We are seeking sponsors to cover the food for this event. Event sponsorship costs $200 and includes a free ad on Maryland Juice for one month. We'll replace either our Norm Stone or Sam Arora ads with your on MarylandJuice.com. We reserve the right to refuse any ads. Please inquire at: david@marylandjuice.com.

      

[ GET DIRECTIONS TO PALADAR ON GOOGLE MAPS ]

VIDEO & PHOTO ALBUM: Councilmember Nancy Navarro, Del. Al Carr & Activists Speak Out for David Moon's House Campaign

Maryland Juice blogger David Moon held his first fundraiser for a 2014 House of Delegates race in Silver Spring and Takoma Park's District 20. With Delegate Heather Mizeur vacating her seat to run for Governor, I've been preparing to take the leap from progressive activism to progressive legislative organizing. Maryland Reporter's Len Lazarick dropped by our event and wrote a nice summary of the event last week (excerpt below):

MARYLAND REPORTER: David Moon, the man behind the Maryland Juice political blog in Montgomery County, made it sort of official Saturday on the back patio of his Takoma Park home. He’s running for the House of Delegates, with a formal announcement to come later....

"I really believe he would be amazing," [Montgomery County Councilmember] Navarro said. "We also need to recreate and reorganize our campaign strategies," and Moon can do that. "There’s a real opportunity to add more progressive choices," said Del. Al Carr, D-18.

Among the changes Moon wants to bring on economic justice issues is removing the heavy hand of corporations in politics, promoting women’s pay equity, providing universal child care, and demolishing "mass incarceration and the failed war on drugs.... "We have an opportunity to show that there’s a new way forward," said Moon. Moon has achieved a wide following with Maryland Juice....

VIDEO COMMENTARY FROM SUPPORTERS OF DAVID MOON: For those who weren't able to attend my event, I quickly pulled together a video of testimonials from some of the officials and activists who dropped by. In the short movie below, you can hear statements from County Councilmember Nancy Navarro, Delegate Al Carr, transit advocate Casey Anderson, and Dream Act student activist Jonathan Jayes-Green. Casey Anderson may have summed up the ethos of the event with his comment: "This race is a referendum on that idea, that we have turned a corner and people want something more from their politics - Democrats especially. And yet we've got legislators who would crawl through broken glass before they would take a tough vote...."


My campaign event last week was attended by a range of officials and progressive activists who were involved in some of the high-profile organizing campaigns of recent memory, including defending marriage equality and the Dream Act, advancing the Purple Line, and stopping corporate welfare. A few elected officials came out for the gathering, including Delegate Al Carr, County Councilmembers Nancy Navarro and Valerie Ervin, and Takoma Park Councilmembers Seth Grimes and Terry Seamens. We even had a drop-in from Clarence Lam, who is running for Delegate in the Howard County region. You can see the photo album from the event on Facebook:

Find out more at: http://www.DavidMoon.us

By Authority: Friends of David Moon. Chair: Marlana Valdez. Treasurer: Usman Ahmed.

CAT IS OUTTA THE BAG: Maryland Juice Blogger David Moon is Hosting a Brunch Fundraiser for a State House Campaign

The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.  Maryland Juice blogger David Moon is simply weighing a run for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 20.  Indeed, I had confirmed my exploration of this possibility to inquisitive journalists in recent months, but I'm now moving one step closer to making a decision. Next Saturday, I am hosting a brunch fundraiser at my home in Takoma Park, and I thought some readers might want to drop by and chat about my future plans. An all-star host committee of progressive activists in Maryland and Montgomery County has signed up to support my efforts, including a number of folks involved in recent organizing efforts around supporting marriage equality, fighting corporate welfare, promoting voting rights and transparency, fighting for civil liberties, standing up for immigrants' rights, advancing smart growth and transit, and much more. State Senator Jamie Raskin's 2006 campaign chair, Marlana Valdez, has also signed on to chair "Friends of David Moon" (details below):

Please Join Us for a Brunch Fundraiser at David Moon's House

Saturday, August 24   |   12:00 to 2:00 pm
30 Ritchie Ave, Takoma Park, MD 20910
RSVP at www.davidmoon.us

HOST COMMITTEE (IN FORMATION): County Councilmember Nancy Navarro, Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez, Marlana Valdez, Tamika Bennett, Dan Furmansky, Casey Anderson, Abigail Burman, Jean Athey, Sue Udry, Thomas Nephew, Martine Zundmanis, Usman Ahmed, Jonah Gold, Josh Gruenspecht, Rob Richie & Cindy Terrell, Tina & Don Slater, Lisa Polyak & Gita Deane.

In the meantime, I also produced a self-made video discussing why I'm thinking of running for the state legislature and telling viewers a little bit more about myself:




P.S. Don't worry, I'm not planning on junking up Maryland Juice with a bunch of news about my campaign. The dissemination of political news and mission of advancing social and economic justice will remain front and center for this blog.


By Authority: Friends of David Moon. Chair: Marlana Valdez. Treasurer: Usman Ahmed.

EVENT: Movie Night w/ Maryland Juice on Friday // PLUS SEE: "Terms & Conditions May Apply" Trailer & Filmmaker Interview

MOVIE NIGHT WITH MARYLAND JUICE: One of Maryland Juice blogger David Moon's ongoing work projects involves national advocacy for progressive issues and Internet freedom through a 1.5 million member group called Demand Progress. In that capacity, I am currently helping promote a startling new film about online privacy and government surveillance, titled "Terms and Conditions May Apply." The movie premieres in DC this Friday at the West End Cinema, and Maryland Juice thought some readers might want to join for the festivities, given the timeliness of the topic for Maryland politicos. The opening night screening (Friday at 7:00 pm) will be followed by a discussion with the filmmaker and privacy experts, along with a wine reception. Not a bad deal for the cost of a movie ticket. Below you can watch the official film trailer, read an exclusive interview with filmmaker Cullen Hoback, and find out more about Terms and Conditions May Apply.

WHAT: Premiere of Terms and Conditions May Apply

WHEN: Friday, August 16th at 7:00 p.m.

WHERE: West End Cinema, 2301 M Street NW, Washington, D.C.

WHAT: Following the screening, Craig Aaron of Free Press will moderate a conversation with Terms and Conditions director Cullen Hoback, Open Technology Institute Senior Research Fellow Seeta Gangadharan and privacy expert Ashkan Soltani. Wine and snacks will be served at a reception.

ADMISSION: Tickets may be purchased here.

ABOUT THE FILM "TERMS AND CONDITIONS MAY APPLY" - The YouTube page for this movie describes it as, "a documentary about what you're really agreeing to when you click 'I accept.'" But the film goes much deeper than what rights you sign away through your online account agreements. Terms and Conditions May Apply takes viewers through a tour of surveillance and privacy infringement from companies like Facebook and from the government itself. The film was selected as a "New York Times Critics' Pick," and their movie review called it a "quietly blistering documentary" that "should rile even the most passive viewer" (excerpt below):

NEW YORK TIMES: Investigating our casual surrender of privacy rights every time we click the “Agree” button on those dense (and typically unread) online user contracts, the director Cullen Hoback outlines the real-life dangers of digital heedlessness. As the film illustrates, a random tweet or innocent Google search could summon a SWAT team to your door or transform you into a suspected terrorist.

Actual horror stories aside, this concise and lively summary of the many ways corporations, law enforcement and government agencies gather, share and use our information — assisted by digital giants like AT&T and Google — is creepily unnerving....

Audience members and critics alike agree with the New York Times, and as the film review site Rotten Tomatoes notes, Terms and Conditions May Apply has a strong 88% approval rating from critics and 83% from audience members. Below you can watch the official film trailer and read an exclusive interview with filmmaker Cullen Hoback:

INTERVIEW WITH TERMS AND CONDITIONS MAY APPLY 
FILMMAKER CULLEN HOBACK

First of all, why'd you decide this subject matter -- this was before the issue became nearly as prominent as it's been over the last several months? 

CULLEN HOBACK: I began the project nearly three years ago, asking the question "How is technology changing us?" It took me over a year of work to realize that the greatest change wasn't the technology itself at all, but what's behind that technology.  All those seemingly benign terms and conditions and privacy policies revealed the real cost of using digital services--the complete erosion of privacy.  It almost felt like I was being sucked into a conspiracy theory.  The pure scope of what the government seemed capable of was beyond science fiction.

Were there any really surprising things that you learned about the ways in which the law around privacy rights operates?

CULLEN HOBACK: The concept of the 3rd party doctrine is still baffling to me.  The notion that it's okay for a government to access information about you if you've given that information to a 3rd party, like a bank, or an email provider is totally mind-blowing.  It's like what we did in Iraq when we wanted to conduct operations that the military couldn't legally do itself.  We hired a private contractor: Blackwater.  That's essentially what major tech-companies have become; a sort of de-facto Blackwater that provides surveillance the government couldn't legally achieve by itself.  The main difference is that these tech companies aren't being paid for this.

Without giving too much away, can you speak to some of the more interesting, personal anecdotes that you cover in the film?

CULLEN HOBACK: I show multiple cases of perfectly innocent people having their lives upended dues to these spy systems.  A comedian is visited within hours after he makes a bad joke on Facebook.  A 7th grade boy is visited by our FBI, after posting a concerned message to Obama on Facebook--a warning to watch out for bombers after Osama Bin Laden was killed.  His mother wasn't notified when the FBI showed up at his school to interrogate him.  These systems are bad at context.  And that's a dicey game when you're in the business of trying to prevent crimes from happening.

What do you see as the relative importance of government surveillance and corporate surveillance?  Or are they one in the same?

CULLEN HOBACK: If a corporation can see everything you do, and use that information to target you with ads or profit from its sale, then the government essentially has access to it as well.  So yes, they're one in the same.  In some instances, we've seen companies like Twitter stand up for the rights of their users.  However, this doesn't mean that the NSA isn't able to collect information against the will of a company through other means.  We need greater encryption built into innovative and new online tools.  The kind of encryption that disables both the company and the government from seeing what you do on any given service.

What would you advise viewers who are inspired to fight for their rights to do?

CULLEN HOBACK: I'd recommend visiting trackoff.us and petitioning Congressmen to see Terms and Conditions May Apply, because I think the first step in fixing these systems is to educate lawmakers.  From there we need greater control over our information, and we need to put pressure on companies like Facebook to stop tracking us, changing the rules overnight, and lying to us about what they do with our data.  A mixture of regulation, innovation, and pressure are vital to seeing change.  This and more will happen at trackoff.us.  Also, begin using tools like Ghostery, Wickr, duckduckgo, and Firefox and consider emerging social media services with privacy at the forefront like Sgrouples. 

The question everybody asks: Why should you worry about privacy rights if you're "not doing anything wrong"?

CULLEN HOBACK: If you feel that way, I'd recommend taking the blinds and curtains off of all of your windows.  And take your clothing off as well.  It's not about doing anything wrong, it's about it being no one else's business.  Beyond that, the use of these spy systems against free speech and a free press should be enough to make anyone shake in their totalitarian-fearing boots.

What do you hope will come of the Snowden situation?

CULLEN HOBACK: That I'll get to eat brunch with a free man, a man who's considered a hero, and that it will happen on US soil.  I'd also like to see Clapper investigated for lying under oath to the US Senate.

We hope you might join Maryland Juice for a movie night this Friday at 7:00 pm, but if you can't make it to the opening night screening and festivities, you can still catch the film during its run at the West End Cinema.

NOW THERE ARE 2: Meet Our New Writer Dan Furmansky // HIS DEBUT: Fillmore Silver Spring Welcomes Anti-Gay Act

Meet Maryland Juice's new writer: Dan Furmansky

OUR NEW JUICER: MEET DAN FURMANSKY - Maryland Juice is proud to introduce a new writer to our upstart progressive blog!  Meet Dan Furmansky, a social justice advocate who formerly served as the head of Equality Maryland and Standing on the Side of Love. Below we provide a little bit of background on Dan, followed by his very first Maryland Juice post. Note that Dan is no stranger to Annapolis politics and has even been written about in the papers due to his work on various issue campaigns:

• "There's no doubt that Furmansky was sort of like a superhero working to protect the rights of GLBT Marylanders...." - Baltimore City Paper, June 2008

• "Throughout history, there have been few LGBT leaders the community could directly turn to when we needed political strength and influence. Yet, we have been fortunate that Dan Furmansky has been such a leader, as he provided passion, eloquence and dedication in the face of discrimination, virulent anti-gay rhetoric and weak-kneed politicians...." - Baltimore Out Loud, November 2008

Though we are still ironing out the details of his transition to Maryland Juice, Dan decided to jump right into his new writing duties by flagging an emerging controversy in Montgomery County. The Fillmore, a Silver Spring concert venue, decided to book a reportedly anti-gay band called "Molotov" to perform this August. The Fillmore is a LiveNation owned venue that generated some measure of controversy when it was built with $8 million in taxpayer incentives to bring the venue to downtown Silver Spring. In any case, you can read Dan's thoughts on the matter below, along with some information about his background and work history. In the meantime, if you've got juice for Dan or just want to reach out, you can contact him at dan@marylandjuice.com.

ABOUT DAN FURMANSKY - Dan Furmansky has worked for 15 years as a social justice advocate focused on addressing civil rights issues, economic and environmental justice, animal welfare, fair and impartial courts, and global hunger and poverty. Currently, he is an independent consultant offering communications, political strategy, and organizational management support to several non-profit organizations.

For two years, Dan was director of a national, interfaith public advocacy campaign, Standing on the Side of Love, helping individuals translate their faith into action on behalf of marginalized communities. He worked for five years as executive director of Equality Maryland, where he grew the organization ten-fold, launched a marriage equality campaign in the courts, the court of public opinion, and the legislature, and successfully led efforts to pass a hate crimes law, Montgomery County's transgender anti-discrimination law, and multiple bills to provide rights for domestic partners.

He has served as a spokesperson in numerous print, radio and television interviews and appearances, including CNN, “The Bill O’Reilly Show,” NPR, Washington Post, and the New York Times. Dan has been honored with the EPA EnergyStar Congregation Award; the DC Capital Pride Hero award; the Washington Peace Center Justice Award; the Gerald B. Roemer Community Service Award from the Dept. of Justice, and the Cornerstone Award from the Jewish Funds for Justice.

He has served on the boards of the Equality Federation, Progressive Maryland, and the Public Justice Center of Maryland. In addition to his political work, Dan proudly officiates weddings, helping couples create personalized, meaningful ceremonies: www.ameaningfulday.com. He lives in Silver Spring, Md. with his husband, Jonathan.

JUICE #1 BY DAN FURMANSKY: Montgomery County Subsidizes Hate? - Below Maryland Juice blogger David Moon publishes Dan Furmansky's first piece of juice, which highlights an emerging controversy regarding an anti-LGBT music act coming to Montgomery County. Dan targets the Fillmore Silver Spring concert venue for hosting a controversial Mexico City rock-rap band called Molotov. Note that Maryland Juice is no stranger to protests over inflammatory speech, as we previously zinged the fast-food chain Chik-Fil-A for supporting anti-gay sentiment, Fox News Baltimore for trying to steer viewers to an anti-marriage equality petition, and hardware store Lowe's for caving to Islamophobia. But the band Molotov is no stranger to protests over its anti-gay (and sexist) lyrics (excerpt from Wikipedia below):

WIKIPEDIA: Puto is a song by the Mexican band Molotov from their album ¿Dónde Jugarán las Niñas?. The word puto literally translates as "man-whore", which is often used as a derogatory term for gay males in Mexican Spanish, similar to the American slang word faggot. It is also used to mean "bastard". The term, as many other homophobic slur in Mexican Spanish is also used to describe an unmanly act such as cowardice. Although the song itself allegedly follows the latter connotation in which the group is mocking those who do not stand up for themselves, the lyrics do not only include "puto," but also "marica," and "joto," other homophobic slurs. The band faced criticism when the song was interpreted as a slur against homosexuals. As a result, the group's first tour in Germany was met with crowds of angry gay and lesbian protestors.

 A few years ago a New York blogger highlighted Molotov's inflammatory lyrics and translated the words to their song "Puto" (excerpt below):

So you are macho man, no? Ah, so macho, no?
Faggot, girly, you're rather a little male-whore, no?

Background chorus: Fag, Fag, Fag, Fag, Fag. Fag, Fag, Fag

FAG!! He who doesn't jump up and down
FAG!! He who doesn't shout and swear
FAG!! The guy who remained in conformity
FAG!! He who believed the official reports
FAG!! He who takes away our food
FAG!! Also he who covers it up
FAG!! He who doesn't do whatever he wants
FAG!! Born a fag, dies a fag

Love the killer
Kill the faggot
And what does that son of a bitch want?
He wants to cry, he wants to cry

 With that being said, check out Dan Furmansky's first piece below:


DAN FURMANSKY: Montgomery County and the State of Maryland spent $8 million of our taxpayer dollars subsidizing the establishment of the Fillmore in Silver Spring.  As a Silver Springer, I was thrilled when it opened. I love live music, and like to see our downtown become increasingly dynamic.

So I was particularly pissed off to read this morning that the Fillmore is hosting an anti-gay Mexico City-based band that has prompted radio bans and concert protests:

Reports the Blade (excerpt below):

WASHINGTON BLADE: The scheduled appearance next month in Silver Spring, Md., of a controversial hip-hop act from Mexico that uses the phrase “kill the faggot” in one of its songs has prompted LGBT activists to consider holding a protest outside the theater where the band is set to perform on Aug. 26.

LGBT Latino activists familiar with the popular Mexico City band Molotov say the Spanish language lyrics in several of its songs include the words “puto” and “maricon,” which sometimes are used in different ways but are widely interpreted as a slur against gay men.
Gay Latino activist and blogger Andres Duque of New York City, who’s a native Spanish speaker from Colombia, told the Blade that one of Molotov’s most controversial and popular songs is entitled “Puto” and repeats that word more than a dozen times.

Duque said that while the word is sometimes used to describe a male prostitute and a coward it is most often interpreted as “fag” or “faggot.”

A spokesperson for the Fillmore Silver Spring Theater, where Molotov is scheduled to appear for a one-time performance on Aug. 26, did not return calls from the Blade seeking comment as of late Tuesday.

“We are considering a protest at the theater,” said Alex McNeill, a spokesperson for the statewide LGBT group Equality Maryland. “We want people to know that most Latino people don’t agree with the lyrics that use ‘puto.’ We want to make sure people know the word is hurtful....”

Why in the world would the Fillmore court this controversy, here in Montgomery County, no less? Did they think we wouldn’t notice? This is unacceptable.

I’m all about free speech. The Fillmore has every right to put on whatever act they want. But we also have every right to protest and let the Fillmore know that they are officially on notice. Our tax dollars shouldn’t go to support a band who uses lyrics like “Born a fag, dies a fag, Love the killer,
Kill the faggot.”

And you know what? I don’t want to forfeit a perfectly good summer evening protesting in front of the Fillmore. This is one show that must not go on.

Montgomery County lawmakers need to lean on the Fillmore to cancel this act ASAP.

Please register your disgust as well. Call the Fillmore at 301.960.9999, Tweet at them, and send them an email: http://fillmoresilverspring.com/#

Dan Furmansky is a social justice activist and consultant to progressive non-profit organizations.

MARYLAND JUICE MILESTONE: Over 900,000 PageViews // Thanks for Reading & Helping Me Hack Maryland Politics

Maryland Juice is thrilled to celebrate a new milestone: last night our upstart blog earned over 900,000 pageviews, and we've only been at this for just under two years:

More below the fold.....

HACKING POLITICS: The Death of Aaron Swartz, The Birth of Maryland Juice & State Senator David Brinkley // Read My Book

MYSTERIES OF MARYLAND JUICE REVEALED

Dear Maryland Juice Reader:

Maryland Juice's alter-ego (David Moon) has just co-authored a new book called "Hacking Politics" [Paperback available now & eBook available on a "Pay What You Want" basis for a limited time]. The collection of writings from myself and numerous figures in tech policy and online organizing chronicles the 2012 battle to defeat Internet censorship legislation called SOPA/PIPA. But rather than post some self-congratulatory and shameless plug for the project, I thought it would be better to break my silence on a few matters in the fairly lengthy piece below. 

What does it mean to actually "be the change?"

INTRODUCTION: I thought it was about time for me to provide a little bit of context surrounding the circumstances of this blog's formation and explain why I volunteer my spare time to expose the inner workings of Maryland's political system. Along the way, you'll read some hints about my future plans, and you'll also hear a few untold stories about how my work on Maryland Juice relates to the late Internet activist Aaron Swartz and (oddly) to Maryland State Senator David Brinkley. The collective of political hackers called Anonymous even makes a cameo appearance (kind of). 

I've been steadily working on this piece over the course of the last few months but always found myself lacking the mental energy (and the time) to finish the job. In recent weeks, however, several incidents have pushed this persistent "almost-article" into the front of my mind.

It's been great meeting so many wonderful people around the area over the last year and discovering that they are readers of Maryland Juice. I am truly honored that you've chosen to spend time reading about Free State politics through this progressive civil libertarian's lens. But I've also heard from a few detractors who say my blog is biased, sometimes snarky, and might even have an agenda. Let me be clear: I think that's exactly the point.

Maryland Juice was formed in August 2011, a few months after I started working for an Internet activist group called Demand Progress. I had decided to take a pause from campaign work after several years of back-to-back election cycles on the trail for a range of candidates including State Senators Jamie Raskin & Rich Madaleno; Delegates Al Carr, Ana Sol Gutierrez & Jeff Waldstricher; MoCo Councilmembers Nancy Navarro & Hans Riemer; and the Maryland Democratic ticket in 2010. After that election cycle, I even applied for a job trying to bring my electoral reform experience (built up while working at a group called FairVote), to try and setup an election monitoring system in Tunisia. I needed to be working on something different.

But instead I ended up at Demand Progress, and the work I was doing there very quickly began to influence the way I approached how to use my blog. Remember that nationally Democrats had just gone through the bruising Tea Party cycle of 2010. So somewhere between the models of the Maryland Politics Watch blog and the aggressive activist tactics of The Tea Party, Occupy, Susan G. Komen protests, and more -- I started developing a new theory of change for progressive politics. I had already tried affecting change on the campaign trail, in nonprofits, through ballot measures, with a law degree, with a PAC, in primaries, in generals, and even from within the government itself. But weaponizing information (especially information that might go viral) was something new to me.

Naturally, Maryland Juice began coopting some of the tactics I saw providing some measure of success for online organizers and conservative activists. For example, when the political shaming strategies of Rupert Murdoch's rightwing NewsCorp were revealed to the world, I paid close attention. The curation of Maryland Juice is an experiment in learning from some of the aforementioned tactics -- but unlike some other pratictioners, I've been trying to use these strategies to promote social and economic justice. And during much of the time I've been writing the blog, I've had an entirely parallel activist life that I haven't talked about much on Maryland Juice -- until now.

The tragic events described below have made me impatient for change and determined to shock the conscience of voters into awakening. As a result, the blog itself has over time evolved into an aggressive attempt to hack politics. You and I are participating in an experiment in state-based progressive activism that I call Maryland Juice, and among the central theories driving this project are the ideas that to create change we must insist that decorum and inertia yield to justice, and that we must stop "waiting for Superman" to fix politics.

DECORUM MUST YIELD TO JUSTICE: This point was never so clear to me as it was last January, when my friend and colleague Aaron Swartz hung himself with a belt from the window of his Brooklyn, New York apartment. He was only 26 years old. 

Aaron co-founded and helped develop numerous cutting-edge sites and online information-sharing technologies including reddit.com, RSS 1.0, Creative Commons, and (as we discovered after his death) the New Yorker's online system for receiving anonymous news tips. His high-profile pursuits were noted as early as age 14, marking the arrival of one of the most interesting child prodigies of our time. This August Aaron is posthumously being inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame alongside titans like Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and a documentary film is being made about his life (watch the trailer). Lastly, in response to Aaron's high-profile death, last month a bill called "Aaron's Law" was introduced in Congress to prevent future tragedies. 

You see, the U.S. Department of Justice (under Eric Holder's leadership) decided to try and make a criminal out of Aaron and threatened him with thirty-five years in prison for unbelievably trumped up felony "hacking" charges. In truth, if Aaron had been convicted, he would've been a political prisoner. I explain why down below.

---

"Be curious. Read widely. Try new things. I think a lot of what people call intelligence just boils down to curiosity."

 - Aaron Swartz 1986-2013

---

Practically the entire time I knew Aaron and worked with him, he was living under the cloud of a menacing prosecution. But he was intensely private about the whole affair and refused to do more than shrug his shoulders when I asked him about it. I would later come to discover that Aaron's friends were being dragged before federal officials to testify against him. All the while, Aaron kept his head high and continued his activist work and projects. He never stopped thinking about ways to make positive change on complex issues of justice. But in some ways I feel I may have let him down, as there would come to be signs that the prosecution was taking a personal toll on him.

MAY 2012: AARON SWARTZ FOR NY MAYOR? - One of the last times I saw Aaron alive, he had come to Silver Spring, Maryland (near where I live) to give the keynote speech at the annual Freedom to Connect conference. I didn't arrive at the AFI Silver Theatre in time to hear his remarks, though the YouTube replay has now been viewed by over 400,000 people. Sadly, I couldn't have known then that this would be one of Aaron's final public addresses. Nevertheless, after his speech Aaron wanted a ride to Union Station so that he could catch the next train back to New York. And as soon as we got in my car, he asked plainly, "what's on your mind these days?" Aaron was always curious to hear more about what others were working on.

I described to him my frustrations with the lack of political courage on criminal justice reforms that would end the mass incarceration of Americans for non-violent offenses (who, by the way, are disproportionately poor and of color). I ranted about the fact that across the nation, Democrats had all but given up on challenging corporate power in our political system. And I also told Aaron I had been thinking about running for public office in Maryland.

Given Aaron's interest in open information, I tried to tickle his interest in experiments with activist legislating for the cause. In particular, I described to him some possible things an elected official could do to force complacent legislative leaders to grant the public access to information about what their government is doing. Maryland, for example, had only recently started publishing committee votes online. But why couldn't a diligent lawmaker simply have gotten some staff or interns to systematically scan and publicly upload all of the committee votes themselves? And just like that, we started gaming out different ways of going rogue to create disclosure of government proceedings that the public ought to be able to see.

It was at this time that Aaron told me he had recently plotted out a hypothetical run for New York mayor in his head, as he wanted to see what it would take to mount a serious bid. Though it didn't seem he was actually talking about running, it was clear to me that this was a continuation of a conversation we had the first time I met Aaron only one and a half years earlier.

DECEMBER 2010: HACKING POLITICS - In September 2010 Aaron co-founded the online activist organization Demand Progress with my high school friend, former Rhode Island State Rep. and congressional candidate David Segal (who grew up in Montgomery County). Aaron and David brought me in to serve as Demand Progress' "Washington Guy" a few months after launching the organization. Though Aaron is not able to see what's become of his work with us, I think he would be pleased to know that we now amplify the voices of 1.5 million members in the aggressive defense of civil liberties, progressive causes and Internet freedom.

At the time, Aaron was most widely known as an open information advocate, who happened to believe that access to taxpayer funded academic research should not be a luxury reserved for wealthy nations and institutions. He was also a wildly creative and idealistic activist who looked for opportunities to make real change. When PACER (the U.S. court system's database of federal court documents) announced a pilot project to provide free access to public records at some libraries, Aaron found a way to download millions of the court documents and upload them into the cloud. Like a modern-day Robin Hood, Aaron made the files publicly available and was investigated by the FBI for his activism. At the time, PACER charged users 8 cents per page for public records and allegedly ran a surplus of nearly $150 million. 

Though Aaron's PACER stunt was discussed in the mainstream media, I didn't know about the law enforcement distaste for his tactics when I first started working for Demand Progress. A passage from my new book Hacking Politics describes the first time I met Aaron Swartz, and it also details the beginning of a running dialogue we had about how to get justice-minded candidates to seek public office (excerpt below):

DAVID MOON (VIA HACKING POLITICS) - [Demand Progress'] primary function is to mobilize the public to advance civil liberties and progressive causes. We do so primarily during key moments in the public dialogue, when the actions of a few can be leveraged into results for many more.... Our work to stop SOPA/PIPA ... fits the paradigm for activism today: harnessing grassroots disruption to advance social change....  The Arab Spring protests, Occupy, the Tea Party, and Anonymous have all illuminated this paradigm shift.

My involvement with Demand Progress began on December 20, 2010, when I met the young Internet activist Aaron Swartz for coffee in Washington, D.C.'s Dupont Circle. I had never heard of Aaron or his work -- but over time, I quickly saw that he was trying to trigger many of the same policy changes I sought to advance....

But my first meeting with Aaron wasn't even really about [Internet censorship legislation called] COICA or Demand Progress. Instead, I asked Aaron to describe his broad vision of what he hoped Demand Progress might achieve. Aaron expressed immense frustration with the political process and stated that his dream was to see well-meaning grassroots candidates running for office in every district in the nation. Privately, I thought the idea sounded a bit grandiose (at least in the context of trying to create a short-term strategic plan for an organization), but that was mostly beside the point: it was clear that I shared Aaron's sense of impatience with a broken political system and his desire to go big....

FEBRUARY 2012: A CAMEO BY ANONYMOUS (KIND OF) - By February 2012, Demand Progress was reveling in the glow of the unexpected defeat of the SOPA/PIPA legislation. That month I spoke on a panel at DC Social Media week titled, "Who was Really Behind the Internet Blackout Day? A SOPA & PIPA Case Study." It was a great event and a community celebration for Internet freedom fighters, but after the event I was approached by a gentleman who handed me a business card that had no text on it and simply displayed a bizarre pattern of shapes. When I gave him a puzzled look, he stated, "I'm anonymous. But I may be in touch." I don't know if those were his exact words, but you get the idea. Given recent high-profile news coverage of hacktivism, I assumed my mysterious new acquaintance was affiliated with the Anonymous (eg: the one with a capital "A"). As it would turn out, I never heard from him again, but the run-in would cause some confusion weeks later.

Indeed, soon after speaking at DC Social Media Week, and I can't remember exactly when, I received a USB flash drive in an unmarked manilla envelope in the mail. When I opened the unmarked package and saw the disk drive with no accompanying note, I immediately gulped, as I conjured up all sorts of crazy stories about what was on the drive or what might happen if I inserted it into my computer. By this time, I was already aware of the federal charges facing Aaron, so I thought it best to explore the mystery of the flash drive at a later date. With that decision made, I took the envelope and flash drive and threw them into the trunk of my car -- where they sat for months. Life and work, as is normal, diverted my attention from extracurricular activities such as this new mystery.

JUNE 2012: DARK DAYS FOR AARON SWARTZ - In June 2012, I was invited to speak on a panel at the annual Netroots Nation conference (the topic was SOPA/PIPA organizing again). I remembered that the USB flash drive was still sitting in my car and decided I would bring it to the gathering in Providence, Rhode Island. I was finally ready to explore its contents. 

At this point in time, Demand Progress was still trying to steady its fundraising operations, so I was trying to find other activists to share my hotel room with me. I ended up bunking with Aaron and his girlfriend Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman. Taren and I were both speaking on panels at the conference, and Aaron's attendance was actually a last minute decision. As the story goes, Taren had boarded a train to Providence, and Aaron was feeling down and wanted to be with her. He happened to be near New York Penn Station when talking to her on the phone and realized that the next train to arrive would be the one that Taren was aboard. So Aaron jumped on Taren's train and joined us in Providence.

Admittedly, I found the living arrangements a bit awkward, as I wanted to give Taren and Aaron some personal space. Our first night together was fine, as we were mostly all tired upon arrival, and the next morning Taren and I woke up and departed to our various panels. Aaron, however, stayed behind in the room. When I returned sometime after lunch, he was alone in the room with the shades drawn shut in total darkness. When I asked if he was going to come out with me, he stated that he wasn't yet ready to partake in the conference. I didn't think much of this. 

But I returned yet again in the early evening as the famous Netroots Nation happy hours and parties were about to begin and demanded he come out to socialize with some of our activist friends. Aaron promised he would meet up with me at one of the parties being sponsored by this or that progressive organization, and then he disappeared back into the darkness of the cave he had created for himself. Today I wonder whether this was a sign of the mental toll the federal prosecution was taking on him.

For whatever reason, this situation didn't seem so bizarre to me at the time, as I knew Aaron to be a bit eccentric and often not interested in mindless socializing. In fact, he was staying with me once on my birthday, and during my party he shut himself in my guest room as soon as people started singing to Journey. "What's going on down there?" he asked like a father might. That weekend, he enjoyed himself much more in my company when others were not around. I introduced him to the HBO television show Bored to Death and the rock band The Black Keys, and that seemed more his speed. In any case, with that experience in mind, I decided to give Aaron and Taren some space during the rest of the conference. Rather than continuing to intrude on their time together, I slept on the spare bed in the hotel room of one of my friends and former colleagues (Vermont State Rep. Chris Pearson of the Progressive Party -- a disruptive catalyst for change in his own right).

FLASH DRIVE MYSTERY SOLVED BY SEN. DAVID BRINKLEY - The morning after I was exposed to Aaron's dark day of solitude in our hotel room, I went back to our shared quarters to fetch some things. It was around lunchtime and Aaron was sitting in bed clacking away on his laptop. This time he allowed sunlight to penetrate the room.

I told Aaron that I brought a mysterious disk drive with me to the conference, and I disclosed to him the story about the man with the wordless business card. He immediately jumped out of bed and insisted we go down to the business center to explore the contents of the device. Aaron's face lit up with curiosity, and he was alive like I hadn't seen him during the rest of the conference. This was, in fact, the first time I had succeeded in getting him out of the hotel room.

So Aaron and I marched down to the business center at the conference to borrow one of their desktop computers. After all, I had refused to open the flash drive on my own computer. Hilariously, I had my own laptop in my hand, and the clerk at the business center inquired why we needed to use his computer when we had our own. I hadn't considered that one might wonder about this, and I stammered some garbled words in response. I thought the jig was up. But I quickly recovered and stated something about needing to print documents from their machine, and we proceeded to rent one of their computers.

When I finally loaded the USB drive into the computer, my excitement turned into disappointment. There were exactly two files on the drive, and they were both labeled something like "David Brinkley 911 Call." It turned out that the mysterious package had nothing to do with hacktivsm or Anonymous at all. The real story behind the anonymous mailing was that Maryland Republicans were embroiled in a heated primary race for the 6th Congressional seat held by GOP Rep. Roscoe Bartlett at the time. A State Senator named David Brinkley was challenging Bartlett in the primary, and someone had sent me copies of 911 audio recordings relating to a domestic disturbance at Brinkley's house. Obviously, they were hoping I would post the tapes on my blog Maryland Juice. At the time, I had decided to start writing about and weighing in on the horserace aspects of the GOP primary battle, since the mainstream media was seemingly not doing too much in-depth coverage of the race. 

The primary was held during April 2012, but I was so terrified of the unmarked package that whoever sent it to me probably had no idea I wouldn't even look at the contents until well after the election was over. As a result, the anonymous sender was later forced to post the 911 call tapes on YouTube and send them to me by email. Though the resulting Maryland Juice story caused quite a stir in state politics, I didn't even bother to tell Aaron what was on the flash drive. Instead, when he asked what the files were, I didn't think he'd be interested in the story. So I just told him that the fiiles were related to my blog. But now I wish I told him the full story, as I think he would've been amused. Oh well.

JANUARY 2013: THE DEATHS OF AARON SWARTZ & NORM GLEICHMAN - Around 2:30 am on Saturday, January 12, 2013, I received a Google news alert informing me that my friend and colleague Aaron Swartz had committed suicide just hours earlier. Given our work together on Demand Progress, in pro forma fashion, I had subscribed to news alerts mentioning Aaron. I was out of the house the night of Aaron's death and didn't know that the multiple missed calls were attempts to reach me about the shocking news. But when I got home and realized what was going on, I quickly made a late-night phone call to my tired sounding Demand Progress colleague David Segal. After confirming that the news alert was in fact true, I went to bed stunned and emotionally numb.

After just a few hours of uneasy rest, I bolted awake the next morning and quickly grabbed my smartphone to read any email messages that may have come through while I was sleeping. Though I was seeking more information about Aaron's death, I was instead astonished to read a Facebook message from a friend in Takoma Park informing me that our mutual friend Norm Gleichman died suddenly and unexpectedly while on vacation with his family. I first met Norm, a senior attorney in SEIU's national office, while managing Jamie Raskin's insurgent campaign for State Senate in 2006, and though we both mingled in some overlapping political circles, I actually knew Norm mostly in a non-political context. I had been over to his house a few times to have dinner with his family and also saw him shine as a thespian taking on the lead role in the Greenbelt Arts Center's 2009 production of the play "Amadeus." One of my friends briefly dated Norm's daughter and yet another had been working with Norm in SEIU's legal department for the past couple years. So when my wife Melinda and I moved close to Norm and his wife Marie's house in Takoma Park last year, we were excited to reconnect with them and have them over to our house for dinner. We've finally completed a year of mayhem living in a house undergoing renovations and are ready to entertain, but alas we will now miss the company of Norm, too.

Aaron Swartz and Norm Gleichman died on the same day under wildly divergent circumstances, and attending the two funerals in quick succession left me with a lasting psychic scar. But somehow Aaron's voluntary taking of his own life rattled me more than perhaps I've been able to comprehend. I had only weeks earlier met up with him at the December 2012 RootsCamp organizing conference in Washington, DC. That was the last time I ever saw Aaron in-person, but in our final conversation together, we caught up on our discussion about my potential run for office and Aaron followed-up by connecting me via email to an academic he knew who was working on the issue of mass incarceration in America. We also talked about maybe getting together later that weekend, but again I got too busy to actually meet up with Aaron. That would've been my last opportunity to chat with him about anything.

Aaron did, however, contact me on Twitter ten days before his death with a warning to protect one of my own accounts, which was probably spamming him with nonsense. His final message to me (though helpful at the time) now means something more to me than its ordinary tone would suggest. With all that must have been going on in his head, I can't even believe that he spent a nano-second writing this message to me:

CONCLUSION: Aaron and I never had the opportunity to finish our ongoing conversation, let alone even continue it. And so now I am continuing this dialogue directly with you instead. Maryland Juice is obviously not a mainstream media outlet, nor are we just another news blog or online political column. This operation is yet another experiment in Hacking Politics ... one reader at a time. Much, much more on the next steps soon. In the meantime:

#OccupyLife

MORE DETAILS ON MY BOOK: HACKING POLITICS -  Hacking Politics chronicles the 2012 battle to defeat Internet censorship legislation called SOPA/PIPA. I co-authored the book with former Rhode Island Rep. David Segal, and former George W. Bush webmaster Patrick Ruffini. The strategies and work style reflected in the chapters I wrote are a window into the ethos of Maryland Juice. Though the book widely concerns a policy battle over Internet Freedom, I hope it is a useful case study for thinking about organizing more broadly. Our coalition's efforts culminated in a dramatic Internet-wide blackout of websites including Google, Wikipedia, Craigslist, and Mozilla. Along the way, our ragtag coalition came to include technologists, Tea Partiers, progressives, businesses, civil libertarians, and literally millions of ordinary Internet users around the nation. We went up against a massive coalition of industry interests including giants in the pharmaceutical industry, Hollywood, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- and we prevailed. 

Hacking Politics details how it all went down from the perspective of numerous key participants, and in doing so shines the light on the massive influence of special interests in Congress -- and how to fight back guerilla-style. The book includes colorful stories and insightful commentary from Aaron Swartz, lawmakers including Ron Paul and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, musicians like Erin McKeown and Jonny 5 of the Flobots, as well as advocates from a range of websites including Google, reddit, Megaupload, Cheezburger, Suicide Girls, and more. I hope you might check it out at: http://www.orbooks.com/catalog/hacking-politics-2

You can also watch a crude trailer I previously made for the book below:



NOTE: I am doubtful that simply mentioning my interest in public office in a single article on a blog that predates the creation of my committee requires an authority line, but just in case, this particular article alone may be considered: By Authority: Friends of David Moon. Treasurer: Usman Ahmed.