I Cogitate
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Kamil Hasan and Howard Dean
I'm sure Tim Russert, Chris Matthews and many others in the national press are just lining up, bursting to say and write kind and wonderful things about Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Howard Dean. If only they could find the time.
Yeah, probably along the lines of let's revisit 'The Scream' for the 1,563,874th time. Or let's quote some of those oh-so-easy-to-find unnamed sources that Dean is fighting with Demo honchos Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. Or the financial contributions aren't coming in as well as prior to Dean's appointment.
Well, you DCers, spouters of what is supposed to be graciously accepted as righteous conventional wisdom and unadorned truth, sit down. I know it's tough to hear this but little 'ol Lisa Fernandez of the San Jose Mercury News (Knight Ridder chain yet again you WPosters and NY Timers) beat you all to it. You've been scooped.
What's that?
Plain heresy.
Unvarnished apostasy.
Howard Dean has actually accomplished something--a postive act--how can that be spinned? C'mon, there has to be a down side. We'll find something. you just wait. Get Ken Mehlman on line one--he'll be good for a juicy Dean smackdown. We can always count on him.
Well, while you DCers are rushing around in search of fairness and balance, let the American public read this:
Indo-American fundraiser gets seat at national tableFor the rest go here.
By Lisa Fernandez
San Jose Mercury News
Mar. 07, 2006
Kamil Hasan of Saratoga has a new job: collecting serious cash from the Indo-American community for the Democratic National Committee.
That job may not be as powerful as senator or congressman. But for the Bay Area's roughly 155,000 Indo-American community members, Hasan's appointment represents another step the well-educated, affluent immigrant group is taking to gain political clout. His goal is to raise at least $5 million through a newly formed Indian fundraising council in time for the next presidential election.
What's most important, community members said, is that the appointment isn't just about Hasan: It's about the voice of the entire Indo-American community, about 2 million strong.
``It's basically a seat at the table,'' Hasan said in an interview at Hitek Venture Partners in Mountain View, a company he founded in 1995 that funds about 30 high-tech start-ups. ``It's a clear acknowledgment that the Indo-American community has made major contributions. We want to make a major impact on where this country should go, and to be involved as a player.''
For years, the 60-year-old venture capitalist and his high-powered peers have individually forked over large donations to political campaigns. He and his family gave more than $70,000 to political campaigns in 2004, and he and his wife, Talat, 54, formed the first Indian American Leadership Council for the Democrats -- raising $1.5 million for John Kerry.
But such contributions from Indo-Americans rarely led to positions that allowed community members to help shape public policy on issues many hold dear: immigration, education and research funding.
Frustrated, Hasan and about a dozen others flew to Washington, D.C., about six months ago to visit Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, to ask for an appointment on the national political stage. Dean acquiesced and in the fall tapped Hasan because of his fundraising abilities to be one of the DNC's 75 members-at-large. The job includes raising money and voting on party resolutions. Hasan is the first Indo-American from the Bay Area on the committee, and the second ever after Moina Mohib of Washington, D.C., in 2001.
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