Was President Obama still "evolving" on equality,
was it just his strategy that was metamorphosing,
-- or did the Vice President's off-the-cuff comments
jumpstart a sudden survival-of-the-fittest sprint?

Was Biden a trial balloon or a useful buffoon,
the Prez a shrewd strategist or crude pragmatist,
or was it just time that leaders started to follow
the direction their party & populace were moving?

Some argue the announcement's too early politically,
some contend that it's long overdue morally,
some wonder if the President will even act on it
and many think he felt this way all along.

Maybe Obama was biding time or acting on Biden Time
-- either way: welcome to the right side of history.

We'll toast to that at the right side of the bar
as we share ideas, drinks & a night with each other
at our local progressive social club.

DRINKING LIBERALLY
Find - or start - a chapter near you.

Every week is big for Living Liberally. With 250+ chapters, no week goes by without guest speakers, candidates and advocates, without special events and new promotions.

But this is a particularly big week -- not only because of what we're doing but who we're doing it with.

This Thursday is the Living Liberally Annual Celebration: a gathering of the tribe, a critical fundraiser, a big old party. This raises most of the funds that support our shoe-string budget for our national programming -- and it does it with an open bar, sustainable food shindig that's a staple of the progressive calendar.

This year, the party takes on special significance with our honorees: the New Organizing Institute and New York State Attorney Eric Schneiderman.

NOI is best known for the Roots Camps they organize to allow organizers to learn from each other. They are also running the Candidate Project, an effort to get more progressives to run for local office and run better campaigns. And they host intensive New Media Boot Camps to train a generation of organizers.

I have had the pleasure of being a Senior Fellow at NOI this year, and to see their dedicated team and the impressive breadth of their work up close -- which is why it's especially exciting to honor them on Thursday and make sure our whole community knows what they do.

Our second honoree hardly needs an introduction: Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has been a friend of Living Liberally, a guest at our fundraisers, an inspiration to our community for years. We enthusiastically collaborated when he was in the State Senate, and are impressed by all he's tackling as Attorney General. From a cover story in the American Prospect to the announcement he'll be keynoting at Netroots Nation, the progressive world is recognizing what we know: AG Schneiderman is one of us.

Joining us in honoring these two progressive champions are a host of terrific partners led by 1199 SEIU, Advomatic, the AFL-CIO, DailyKos, Democrats.com, MoveOn.org, Netroots Nation, Berger Hirschberg Strategies and Blue State Digital.

The list goes on and on from new organizations like Upworthy and We The People to old friends like the Alliance for Justice and Blue State Coffee. We'll be joined by elected officials and candidates including Borough President Scott Stringer, Council Members Tish James and Brad Lander, Democratic Leaders Debra Cooper and Marc Landis and candidate Helen Rosenthal.

And the organizations that have contributed in other ways is legion: DCTV, The Nation, Mother Jones, the American Prospect, Rudy's Bar, Building On Bond, Bluecoat Gin, Six Point Crafy Ales, Jimmy's No. 43, Bitters Old Men, Three Knights Media, The Job Party, Manhattan Young Democrats, New Kings Democrats, Organizing 2.0, Democracy for NYC, Greater NYC for Change and Mobile Meteor for building our PDA-friendly site.

Wow. That was a mouthful.

Together, these allies are creating a great party. They are helping us create a great organization, which can contribute to the important work of the progressive movement.

So join us on Thursday. Thank them in person. Honor NOI and Eric Schneiderman. Support Living Liberally.

And while you're at it, Drink Liberally and Eat Liberally with our host committee of Katrina Lynne Baker, Josh Bolotsky, Mary Bruch, Lily Fan, Michael Freedman-Schnapp, Stephanie Elaine Hunt, Jen Johnson, Ben Kallos, Mike Klein, Justin Krebs, Elana Levin, Nicole Lindenbaum, Matthew O'Neill, Taylor Pineiro, Gregory Rae, Matt Rosenberg, Peter Rothberg, Brian Sonenstein, Jennifer Suh, Shaunna Thomas, Kerry Trueman, Alex Urevick-Acklesberg, Harry Waisbren, Aaron Welch, Ben Yee.

See you down the road.

Workers rallied & picketed & marched
to celebrate & defend their rights
while the man who opposed child labor laws
ended his own job hunt for the White House.

While Occupiers took to the streets together
to call for a more just & fair economy,
the 1% candidate of vulture capitalism defended
tax cuts for the rich & loan hikes for everyone else.

As Americans call for help from their leaders,
the GOP seeks help from Rumsfeld & Ted Nugent,
showing they are just as desperate
as the Americans they are ignoring.

Will Americans shouting "May Day!" in solidarity
push our leaders to march with us,
or will conservatives push back so hard
we all call "May Day! May Day! before long?

Share a chant & a chat, a pint & the night
as we discuss, debate & drink liberally
at your local progressive social club.

DRINKING LIBERALLY
Find - or start - a chapter near you.

All Romney had to do was take stands against
women seeking healthcare, Hispanics seeking respect,
African-Americans seeking justice & gays seeking equality
...and it worked: he finally beat Newt Gingrich.

The Republican Party has already targeted
seniors, homeowners, working families, immigrants,
Muslims, women in the workforce & low-income earners
…so they've decided it's time to beat up on students.

The right-wing has screamed that Obama is
soft on China, North Korea, Russia & Mexico,
passive on Iran, Egypt & the whole Middle East,
& now wants to fear-monger about France.

Romney's polls show that everyone dislikes him.
So he & the GOP decided to dislike everyone.

Dislike others as they dislike you --
it's not exactly the Golden Rule,
but Mitt Romney's not exactly golden.

Share reactions, make predictions,
share a drink & make a a friend
at your local progressive social club.

DRINKING LIBERALLY
Find - or start - a chapter near you.

by Harry Waisbren
Originally published at The Job Party

This year's Living Liberally celebration is coming up on May 10th, and it has me reflecting on what my favorite Living Liberally moment was from 2012.

Although there are many of them, I have to say that my experiences at the OWS Drinking Liberally chapter at Zuccotti Park easily take the cake. Moreover, I found OWS Drinking Liberally on the whole to be indicative of both what is best about Living Liberally, and Occupy Wall Street itself.

It was a perfect match. OWS is an idea, one whose time has come and which never could be evicted. And this is precisely why OWS is made manifest through so many cultural formats, which are so naturally able to express a central idea like this one.

Living Liberally is a platform to celebrate liberal culture, which finds direct alignment in the Occupy idea. Namely, that our political structures should serve us, the people — all of us.

This is why I am so proud to have been able to contribute to both OWS and LL by hosting a few of those fantastic OWS Drinking Liberally’s.

Zuccotti Park was still first getting off the ground, and we were able to provide as inviting a format as possible for like-minded new-comers to learn about Occupy. This was crucial then, and there remains a need for more of these kind of endeavors today. The Occupy movement is so innovative and different that it can be very difficult to understand and intimidating to approach, which is why being able to experience it in a shared cultural setting like OWS Drinking Liberally was such a perfect way for so many to be introduced.

The OWS Drinking Liberally crew proved to be a perfect part of the solution for this at the most crucial of times last Fall, and I particularly relished being able to take so many amazing and influential liberals across the street and give them their first tour of ‘Liberty Square’.

So if you can make it to New York City on May 10th, come join us in celebrating this and all of the other ways that Living Liberally has touched the core of American society!

The 2012 Living Liberally celebration will not be one to miss, and there couldn’t be a better time to show your support for this increasingly impactful cultural fixture in contemporary America.

We chide corporate execs for their excesses,
then confront a GSA that rocked too hard & learned
what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas.

We blast Big Business for not playing by the rules,
then our esteemed Secret Service is caught
casually cavorting & corrupting their cause in Colombia.

We demand more respect from vulture capitalists,
but contend with the disrespect our military has shown
in incendiary, outrageous acts in Afghanistan.

People say government should behave like Big Business:
selfish behavior, greedy excesses & poor judgment --
maybe we've got too much corporate culture already.

Let's be a little LESS like Big Business for awhile.

We hope our CEO takes responsibility & takes action
or we know there's a Bain CEO anxious to send him packing.

Share your take on the week's events
& take your share of the pitcher on the table,
as we spend a night with liberals and libations
at our local progressive social club.

DRINKING LIBERALLY
Find - or start - a chapter near you.

With Santorum out, the presumptive GOP nominee
pledges to bring Bain's vulture capitalism to DC,
while more Americans would just like to see
offshore corporate accounts brought back to the US.

Paul Ryan's ranks line up behind a radical plan
to slash investment in a stronger American system,
while President Obama backs an equally radical notion
that the wealthiest 1% should pay their fair share.

And as deficit hawks shout, "Cut, cut, cut,"
Americans agree: cut corporate tax loopholes,
cut excessive bonuses & cut the bull.

Conservatives want to wage a war on the budget.
Obama just wants to wager on Warren Buffett.

When the going gets tough, O gets Buff…

Toast farewell to Rick & share thoughts on Mitt
as your share a beer & left-leaning cheer
at your local progressive social club.

DRINKING LIBERALLY
Find - or start - a chapter near you.

At Passover, we celebrate the Israelites' Exodus,
as they marched without a permit across the Red Sea…
today Occupy marchers without permits are faced
with police netting, pepper spray and mass arrests.

At Easter, we remember a man wrongfully judged & crucified,
while today we make indefinite detention a national policy
& conservatives defend "stand your ground" laws
which are excessive, unjust and extremely dangerous.

This weekend, we'll be honoring dissidents & protesters,
yet today our police go undercover to infiltrate
peaceful protest groups and student organizations.

Moses would have been strip searched.
Jesus would have been stopped and frisked.
The NYPD definitely would've had them under surveillance.

Maybe we do need to read the Haggadah again this year…

Pre-game Passover, anticipate Easter or celebrate spring
by talking liberally, sharing liberally, gathering liberally
at your local progressive social club.

DRINKING LIBERALLY
Find - or start - a chapter near you.

Conservatives go to the High Court with the low goal
of making it harder for Americans to get healthcare,
yet while they threaten to undo Obama's achievement,
the President's own national poll numbers rise.

Republicans realize that Romney's the one
& start to close ranks if not exactly rally --
yet amid talk of car elevators & jokes about lay-offs,
his own approval ratings continue to sink.

The Tea Party Congress does what it promised:
attack benefits, defend the rich, obstruct progress
-- yet as they succeed in stalling all legislation,
those who elected them are having buyer's remorse.

Whatever your opinion of ObamaCare
Americans are relieved at least Obama cares
because Mitt & the Tea Party don't care at all.

If you care, come share -- you know where --
a pint, a point, liberal thinking & a little drinking
at your local progressive social club.

DRINKING LIBERALLY
Find - or start - a chapter near you.