Drinking Liberally, Tucson

Subject: Drinking liberally, Tucson
Message:
A few weeks ago, I posted a question here asking if any DU members in the Tucson area participated in drinking liberally. About 100 people looked at the post but only two people responded. one of them, tucsonlib, actually showed up and it seemed to me that he enjoyed himself. As of today, over 200 people have viewed that post but have not responded so I figured that I would try again with more info and commentary.

I guess that the first thing that surprised me was that so few Tusconians had ever heard of drinking liberally. The other thing that surprised me is that so few members of drinking liberally had ever heard of Democratic Underground. Having been a member here since early 2001, I fell into the trap of thinking that anyone worth their progressive salt belonged to DU. Silly me. I also assumed that anyone worth their progressive salt would also be involved with organizations like Drinking Liberally, Move on, Progressive Democrats, etc. Again, silly me. What really opened my eyes was the response, or lack thereof that I got from my last posting here. With my newly opened eyes, I realized that the people involved there need to be involved here and the people involved here need to be involved there. As such, I am going to use some of my free time ( I just had a knee replacement so I'm stuck in the house a lot for the time being) to bring the two groups together. So... Let me tell you what I know about Drinking Liberally, Tucson.

Drinking Liberally is NOT per say an activist group. You will not find a drinking liberally float in the Labor day parade or a drinking liberally voter registration booth at the county fair. What you will find is the folks who intend to run the float or man the voter registration booth under another organization. You will be able to engage these people in conversation and, maybe, shape their agenda. Drinking liberally, in my opinion, is more of a clearing house for activists to get together and exchange ideas as opposed to an activist organization per say.

Drinking Liberally is a great place for activists to get together and exchange ideas and strategy.

Drinking liberally meets at a place called The Shanty, 401 East 9th street in downtown Tucson every Sunday. If you tell them that you are with DL, you get a discount on drinks and free popcorn. People start showing up at about 6:00 P.M. and by 7:00 P.M. things seem to start to get underway.. Remember, you are dealing with liberals which is often like herding cats so all times are approximate. As to the drinking part, drinking alcohol is NOT a requirement and many participants prefer non alcoholic libations.

DL is affiliated with a few other groups like reading liberally and investing liberally. I have not personally participated in these so I can't speak to them. Also, loosly affiliated is "Blog for Arizona" . If you are interested in Arizona politics and would like a different perspective from the Az Star, subscribe to this site. You will not be sorry. Oh yeah, it's free.

So, a little more about DL. DL was started about 6 years ago to help liberal activists get together. It is currently headed by Marianna Speir, a committeewomen from the Democratic party, district 30. They have hosted virtually everybody that is currently in office or that has run for office in Az. Luminaries include Gabby Giffords, and the only AG Democratic debate..

This Sunday they will be hosting technicians for sustainability. I'd give the link but I have not figured out how to do it on an i-pad. Suffice it to say that it will be interesting, as will most future events with the upcoming elections.

Show up. get involved! Stop hacking at your keyboard and come out and meet the people who are actually helping to make the change we are looking for. You will find yourselves most welcome. You will meet new people who share your ideas and make new friends. Help me introduce you to the people who are making a difference in Tucson and help me introduce the progressives in Tucson to DU. Together, we can make a difference. It's the only way we can.
Bud

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