From: Alan Khazei <info@bethechangeinc.org>

Dear bile,

I just returned from this year’s National Conference on Volunteering and Service in San Francisco, an outstanding event where more than 4,000 service leaders gathered to celebrate our achievements and plan the path forward.

This is an extraordinary moment for our movement, with a new law on the books promising unprecedented federal resources for service; people across the country becoming more engaged in their communities than we’ve seen in a long time; and a President and First Lady in the White House who come from the service world, and who want service and civic engagement to become a part of every American’s life.

So many terrific ideas came out of the event, and you’ll be hearing more about them in the weeks and months to come. But before that, we need you to become a part of this discussion.

Our supporters on the ground are the ones who powered us from the beginning.  And today, it’s your input and your ideas that will carry us forward as we plot out the next steps for this organization – and for the service movement as a whole.

Please fill out this short survey – your feedback will help shape the future of ServiceNation:

http://www.servicenation.org/survey

If you didn’t make it to the Conference, there’s a lot to fill you in on. Here are a few of the highlights from the event:

-    The crowd gave a hero’s welcome to Michelle Obama, the keynote speaker, who talked passionately about the White House’s commitment to service and the need to find innovative ways to expand it.

-    I had the honor of interviewing Maria Shriver, the First Lady of California, about her path-breaking efforts to strengthen service in that state. (More to come about that interview in a follow-up message.)

-   The Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) announced a week-long October campaign to promote service on all the major TV networks. This is a big opportunity to get new people involved in service, and it’s something we’ll all be hearing much more about in the months ahead. As part of the announcement, we were treated to a terrific concert from Jon Bon Jovi, a longtime friend of the service community who came to the Conference as a representative of EIF.

-    ServiceNation also was proud to host a luncheon for hundreds of service champions.  Melody Barnes, President Obama’s chief domestic policy advisor, spoke movingly about the future of service in America, and all the attendees participated in a strategy discussion led by Arianna Huffington, EIF’s Lisa Paulsen, and Colin Jones, a current AmeriCorps VISTA serving with the program BUILD in San Francisco.

With so many people across the country spending time this week to talk about what’s next for the service movement, it’s absolutely essential that you get involved in the discussion. We want to know more about you, your impressions of the work we’ve done so far, and your thoughts on where we should go from here.

Please fill out the survey today:

http://www.servicenation.org/survey

Thanks – we’ll be following up with more takeaways from the Conference soon.

Alan

The multiple choice sections are limited but there are opened ended areas to let Alan and friends know that we don’t appreciate the move toward national servitude.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…

Today, President Obama, who inspired us all with his pledge to “make service a cause of my Presidency” will sign the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. This legislation, which Obama boldly called for in his February Address to Congress, is a milestone for the service movement, and the largest expansion of civilian service since the Depression Era Civilian Conservation Corps. In addition to honoring Senator Kennedy for his tremendous leadership in public service, it received strong bipartisan support with the Senate voting in favor 79 to 19 and the House voting 275 to 149.

But the Serve America Act is more than a service milestone. It contains the seeds for developing a new public philosophy for how we attack an array of persistent societal challenges, from the high school dropout crisis, to poverty and homelessness, to climate change.

For the past 75 years, America has been governed by two major public philosophies. First, in response to the depression and then World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) completely transformed the role of the federal government. He established it as the center of energy, new ideas, solutions, delivery mechanisms and regulation with his whole alphabet soup–for every problem start a new federal government agency–approach.

FDR’s governing philosophy lasted until Ronald Reagan, who in his inaugural address, flipped FDR’s philosophy on its head when he said: “Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.” Reagan tapped into a feeling that government had grown too bureaucratic and resistant to change. Reagan’s governing philosophy began to run out of gas with the Katrina disaster of 2005 and then ended with the complete melt down of the financial markets last fall. We’ve discovered if we simply view government as the problem, we end up with ineffective government.

Government is ineffective and inefficient by definition. Optimal efficiency is individuals utilizing their property and labor as they see fit. The government exists to take from some individuals and give to others which distorts demand and supply of resources and capital.

What Alan Khazei advocates is fascism. Socialistic forced “service” to a government mixed with corporate interests. Businesses funded by and influenced by the government.  A worshiping of the State as the solution to the societal ills. The new church.

Sept. 11th, 2008:

• John McCain’s interview: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
  • Says outright he’s against compulsory service.
  • Advocates growing the military several times.
  • Claims private industry provides services better, wishes to create partnerships with business instead of having the government take on those roles.
  • Points to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security as bipartisan cooperation that is needed to gain trust and support of the public.
  • “It’s not about the individual, it’s about the cause we serve.”
  • “I think the all voluntary force is having difficulty recruiting and retaining because we are too small and we need to expand the size of our military and we need to do it as rapidly as possible. And we got to perhaps offer additional incentives.”
  • Apparently, without knowing what the Serve America Act does, McCain says he would sign the bill as president.
  • Would rather have the private sphere perform the voluntarism and only have the government provide incentives.
• Barack Obama’s interview: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
  • “Each and everyone of us are going to have, are going to make commitments in terms of improving fuel efficiency in our cars and homes. And the government is going to be in partnership with citizens to make that happen.”
  • “America is the greatest country on earth but it didn’t just happen on its own. It’s not a gift only. Although it is a great blessing we’ve received. It’s a responsibility. And part of what makes America work is the fact that we believe in individual responsibility and self reliance but we also believe in mutual responsibility, in neighborliness, in a sense that we are committed to something larger than ourselves.”
  • Speaks of growing the military. Getting those in urban areas to be equally represented in the military.
  • Wants more people in the military and non-military service regardless of whether there is a war.
• Interviewed a City Year ‘volunteer’ but my questions and pins on my book bag (“Taxation is theft”, “Ron Paul 2008″) scared them off. The Service Nation handler asked me to turn off the camera, that he didn’t want any problems, that it was a positive event. The City Year ‘volunteer’ said he couldn’t speak on the topic as a representative of City Year.

Sept. 12th, 2008:

• I spoke with a fellow blogger regarding my reason for being at the summit. She was there on behalf of the Case Foundation which is a Service Nation Coalition member.
• Richard Stengel, managing editor of TIME, effectively asks “why not have compulsory service?” during presidential forum. The tone of the questions and the fact it’s brought up more than once indicates to me he is in favor of mandatory service. In his own brief speech he talks of the most known part of the Declaration of Independence but casually bypasses arguably the most important line. Focusing on “consent of the governed” instead of “that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Implying, IMO, he prefers a positive law democracy vs natural law republics.
• Jon Bon Jovi speaks on his private charities. Many examples of service and voluntarism given were in fact actual privately performed.
• Vartan Gregorian, President, Carnegie Corporation of New York tells us [Part 2]: “We’re not here as Democrats or Republicans or as libertarians, socialists, Green party members, or members of other organizations. We are here today first and primarily as Americans.” Claims being a citizen is the highest achievement.
• Admiral Michael Mullen [Part 2]: “the soldiers in Iraq are protecting our democracy at home. They are there because of what happened on 9/11.” I thought Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. How is it that our invasion of Iraq is protecting us? “There is no greater reward than working for something greater than yourself.” “Keep singing (God Bless America), keep waving (flags), and keep serving!” Yay nationalism/fascism!
• Michael Bloomberg [Part 2]: “We are the beneficiaries of those who give their lives to defend us.” “Service should be asked of everyone and should be open to everyone. So we are creating new programs.”
• University president’s [Part 2]: Speak of giving out grants to those who volunteer at school. Making voluntarism mandatory parts of the education process.
• Alan Khazei: Misuses/misrepresents the Emancipation Proclamation. Need a new role for government. Funding public/private mix of service. “Getting government to do what works.” Speaks of Gandhi, abolitionists, and others. All of who worked against government.
• George H. W. Bush
• Bill Clinton
• Town Hall [Part 2,3,4,5,6]

These are all the videos I’m going to upload… at least for the time being.

Sorry about the last few not having notes. Too lazy to watch them. You can find some notes I took during the event here.

From:
Be the Change, Inc.
Tim Zimmermann
(703) 850-0735
tzimmermann@bethechangeinc.org

Additional Contacts:
Rubenstein Communications, Inc.
Germaine Febles
(212) 843-8031
gfebles@rubenstein.com

TIME
Ali Zelenko 212.522.1502
ali_zelenko@timeinc.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES BARACK OBAMA AND JOHN MCCAIN TO PARTICIPATE IN
FORUM ON SERVICE AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT ON SEPT. 11 IN NEW YORK CITY

* * *

FIRST JOINT APPEARANCE OF PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEES FOLLOWING THE PARTY
CONVENTIONS

* * *

FORUM KICKS OFF HISTORIC SEPT. 11-12 SERVICENATION SUMMIT

August 21, 2008 [New York, NY] – Presidential candidates Barack Obama
and John McCain will discuss in depth their views on service and civic
engagement in the post-9/11 world during a primetime forum on the
evening of September 11 in New York City.

The Forum is being staged by ServiceNation, a dynamic new coalition of
110 organizations that has a collective reach of some 100 million
Americans and is dedicated to strengthening our democracy and solving
problems through civic engagement and service. It will be the opening
event of the bipartisan, Sept. 11-12, ServiceNation summit, which will
launch a one year grassroots campaign to expand voluntary community and
national service opportunities for all Americans; use proven service
strategies to tackle some of America’s most chronic social challenges;
and call on all Americans to make service a bedrock ideal in our
democracy

At the Forum, called “A Nation Of Service,” Senators McCain and Obama
will appear on stage separately to discuss their respective visions for
the role of service in America’s future. Richard Stengel, Managing
Editor of TIME, will moderate, and the event will be open to all
broadcast networks.

“I look forward to participating in the 9/11 service forum,” said
Senator Obama. “After September 11, Americans of every age, race, region
and walk of life were ready to step up and answer a new call of service
for their country. Making that call to service will be a central cause
of my presidency, because we need the active citizenship of the American
people to meet the challenges of the 21st century.”

“I am pleased to be participating in the ServiceNation Summit in New
York City. The Summit will be an important remembrance of those that
made the ultimate sacrifice serving their country and others as we focus
on how to inspire others to serve causes greater than their own
self-interest through national and community service,” said Senator
McCain.

The Forum audience will include 9/11 family members, young Americans,
military veterans, and thought leaders, and questions can be submitted
by the general public at http://tinyurl.com/6jmhd5. “The Presidential
Candidates’ Forum will serve as a call to action for the next
administration,” said Forum moderator and TIME managing editor Richard
Stengel. “I hope to have candid conversations with Senators McCain and
Obama about their plans for engaging more Americans in national
service.”

I’ve got media credentials now for the summit but I don’t know that I will be able to attend the forum as my confimation email said: “More detailed information, including a schedule of events open to the media and details on media availabilities will be provided shortly.” I’ve sent an email to the Director of Strategic Partnerships to be placed on the invitation waiting list to attend the actual summit. While it seems very unlikely I’ll get the invite I did include that I was a director of the Manhattan Libertarian Party to spice up the request. You can find the rest of the press report minus some quotes from affiliates after the jump.

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