On Stage with Hillary Clinton
California Democratic Convention
April 2007


On Stage with Barack Obama
California Democratic Convention
April 2007


On Stage with Jesse Jackson
Dukakis Rally
October 1988

  Writer - Lecturer - Consultant
 

Selected commentaries,
adapted for the Internet from published articles (available as Free Downloads by clicking on the titles):

Politics and Public Policy:

  • Elizabeth Warren for President 2020. Democrats need to stop losing election by playing it “safe” and nominating compromise candidates who fail to inspire the new voters we need to show up at the polls. Doug recommends supporting Elizabeth Warren for president in 2020 and presents the reasons she is the best and most electable option in the 2020 primary.
  • Role of Government. (Foundations for public policy) Outline of the nature of Jeffersonian-style limited government in the context of a modern, high-tech industrialized global economic democracy that differs greatly from the rural, agrarian, sparsely-populated low-tech society of our third president.
  • Economic Justice & Fairness. (Economics) While public policy should not compel individual moral beliefs or practices, and economic policy should not be used to enforce personal ethics, such policy perhaps should at least be consistent with values such as compassion which, like the justifications for public policy themselves, are based on the manner in which we interact with others.
  • Justice for All. (Judicial fairness and court reform) Do Americans today really have equal access to their judicial system? Is there justice for all in our nation? Is there a two-tiered system of justice in our country? Are Constitutional safeguards being adhered to? Problems are identified and possible solutions are considered.
  • Flat Tax Fiasco. (Taxation) An examination of the failure of flat-tax proposals and the flawed assumptions they are based on, as the few wealthiest Americans seek a mechanism for bleeding the middle-class that would support them with higher taxes while those who have enjoyed the most success in our regulated free market system would reap huge tax savings windfalls.
  • Electoral Larceny 2000. Al Gore won the popular vote and, if all the ballots cast are properly counted, the electoral vote as well. However, on January 20 he will not be sworn to the office of President that he won, as Dubya Bush will usurp that role in the greatest case of electoral larceny in this nation's history.
  • Invasion of Iraq. George Dubya Bush wants to do what no other American president has ever done before: invade another nation without any direct provocation. He claims Iraq presents a specific and credible threat to our national security, but there is no evidence of this. On the contrary, all the evidence is that Iraq has no hostile intentions against the U.S. and that Bush has other reasons for this desired invasion.
  • Immigration and Border Control. Many Americans are concerned with the high rate of both legal and illegal immigration, but seem powerless to address the issue. This commentary provides specific solutions for resolving immigration issues by addressing the underlying economic causes rather than merely reacting to symptoms.
  • Is MEChA Racist? During the recent California gubernatorial recall campaign, questions about candidate and Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante and his affiliation with MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan) raised challenges as to whether that organization is racist or not. This article addresses those issues head on.
  • Debunking the Elian mythology. There are a number of common myths floating around about young Elian Gonzalez that need to be debunked, and which serve as a larger metaphor for our policies on relations toward Cuba.

Social Order:

  • Sex and Violence. The subjects of SEX and VIOLENCE are too often linked in the same breath. However one (sex) is beautiful and natural and something that everyone expects to grow up and experience as adults, while the other (violence) is NOT natural or beautiful and something we hope no one will ever have to experience. So guess which one is the one that gets censored and which some want to put restrictions on?
  • Drug Minimization. Criminalization of substance abuse has proven an abject failure. But the products that cause the most suffering and deaths -- tobacco and alcohol -- are those that are legal, so legalization hasn't been much of a success, either. The solution is a true middle-ground solution of DECRIMINALIZATION, not as a euphemism for legalization, but as the balance between the extremes.

Nature, Science and Health:

  • Bluebirds Are Free. Lessons taught by a scrub jay about equality, dignity, freedom and respect in relationships, and the differences between individual personal privacy and community social interaction.
  • Waxwings are Wild. Cedar waxwings are beautiful birds of mystery -- masked bandits raiding fruit from forests and orchards -- with mystery of unpredictable migration and fascinating rituals of social interaction. They are also wild creatures that need to be free.
  • Bird Whisperer or Bird Brain? Doug's life time love affair with birds is chronicled with picturers of interactions with both wild and domesticated birds, from childhood through adulthood.
  • Cloning. So many people express, as their first reaction to the idea of cloning, revulsion and disgust at the idea of having genetic doubles. Yet almost everyone finds the idea of identical twins (nature's own genetic doubles) to be fascinating and attractive.

Books by Douglas Dunn

  • Dazhan was first published in 1981, with a second edition (revised and expanded) published in 1988. A third edition is now being prepared, but is currently only available as an online download, though the 1988 edition can still be ordered through bookstores or directly from the publisher. Dazhan uses a fictional model set in a beautiful fantasy setting to demonstrate how to put into practice a lifestyle in which practical values work to enhance goals and values instead of working against them.
    Can be ordered through Amazon.com (paperback or Kindle e-book)
    or Barnes and Noble.com
    (paperback or Nook e-book.
  • Extro-Dynamics was written to complement the lectures that resulted from Dazhan, in which it became clear that, in addition to the popular fantasy/fiction model in Dazhan, a deeper level of non-fictional presentation, with additional examples and explanation, was needed. Extro-Dynamics shows how to achieve ethical happiness, and make it work with, not against, goals and desires for success in financial secuirty, romantic love and a long and healthy life.
    Can be ordered through Amazon.com (paperback or Kindle e-book)
    or Barnes and Noble.com
    (paperback or Nook e-book.
Books written by Douglas Dunn may be ordered online through Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com (see above links) or through many bookstores -- if not in stock may be special ordered..

Douglas Dunn was born in Los Angeles, California, accompanied at birth by identical twin brother Dennis (yes, folks, there's two of 'em). He was raised in a family that was Republican, religious and conservative. With an early demonstration of his committment to values he believes are right, he began an early involvement in Republican politics. As a teenager in 1964, he campaigned vigorously for Barry Goldwater and met Ronald Reagan, who was then campaigning for Goldwater. But as Doug grew and matured and read and studied and learned more about government and politics, he began to have doubts about the political beliefs he had been raised with. There were just too many facts that didn't gel with his conservative views, and encountered too many logical inconsistencies. By the time he was 18, in 1968, he still supported Republican candidates, but was plagued with increasing doubts as he moved toward more moderate positions on issues. That fall he enrolled in college with a major in Political Science. As he learned more about government and politics from credible sources, he learned that much of what he had been led to believe in his formative years was simply not true. He gravitated increasingly toward liberal political values and beliefs. For example, as a Republican he had heard terrible things said and written about Martin Luther King. While King was still alive, Republicans had accused him of being a radical and a communist. But when Doug actually read for himself several of the books written by King (Stride Toward Freedom, about the Montgomery bus boycott and Why We Can't Wait, about the campaign to desegregate Birmingham), he was amazed at the moral decency, the non-violence, and the real-life action-based committment to Christian principles of love and inclusion that conservatives only gave lip-service to, and he realized how much he had been lied to by his Republican mentors. Doug encountered many such revelations. By the time he was old enough to vote (in those days the age limit was 21), he shocked his family and early political mentors by registering as a DEMOCRAT !!! Thus (despite his early upbringing and teenage activism), since Doug has always been registered to vote as a Democrat, he considers himself a life-long Democrat -- with party activism continuing almost 30 years so far! Since that time he has worked on many political campaigns for Democrats and has been active in writing, speaking and campaigning in support of Democratic principles.

Some of Doug's recent involvements include:
San Diego County Central Committee, 1992 to 2004
California State Central Committee, 1993 to 1998
Democratic Club of Carlsbad-Oceanside, 1992 to present (member); past positions include Vice-president of Political Action, Director of Communications and spokesperson for various media interviews, political panels and other public events (including public appearances and television/radio interviews)
City of Oceanside, Community Relations Commission, 1995 to 2004 (commissioner). Appointed by city mayor and City Council. Positions include chair of education committee and Vice chair of commission.
National Audubon Society, Buena Vista (Oceanside) chapter. Member of Board of Directors (2002-2007) for 1500+ membership environmental and birding association. An avid birder, Doug frequently leads bird-watching field trips.
Also a member of Palomar (Escondido) chapter.
Environment: In addition to activity with Audubon, Doug drives a 100% electric Nissan LEAF, and lives in a house that includes an extensive array of PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR ELECTRIC PANELS that produce more electricity than what is used, with the excess sent back into the electric grid to help the community become less dependent on buying filthy fossil fuels from terrorists and dictators. Doug is currently actively investigating options for replacing the Hybrid with either a plug-in hybrid or a car that is either fully- or primarily electric powered with range extension from a source not requiring the use of gasoline. (Click here to see a YouTube video demonstrating the photovoltaic solar electric panel's on Doug's house.) Powered by sunshine! Here comes the Sun! Let the sun shine in!

Links of interest to Democrats:
Democratic Club of Carlsbad-Oceanside
San Diego County Central Committee

California State Central Committee
Democratic National Committee

November 2010 California Ballot Proposition Recommendations. Doug's recommendations on Ballot Propositions for the November 2010 election. Propositions are those from North San Diego County, California.

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