What are Democratic Town Committees?
Democratic Town Committees (DTCs) and Democratic City Committees (DCCs) are official entities recognized by the Massachusetts Democratic Party and by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Several hundred local, community-based Democratic Committees function in Massachusetts cities and towns. Their responsibilities include organizing local Democrats, working to elect Democrats to public office, and increasing Democratic registration in their respective neighborhoods.
The North Shore region of Massachusetts has no fixed definition. It may be considered as the region north of Boston, extending to the New Hampshire border, encompassing the communities that border the Atlantic Ocean and including several inland communities. This portion of the Massachusetts Cities and Towns map shows the North Shore region.
Most of these cities and towns have Democratic City or Town Committees that hold regular meetings, often with guest speakers, and engage in various activities that promote Democratic values. Committee meetings are open to the public. You do not need to be a member to attend meetings, and you are welcome to volunteer to participate in activities that fit your interests.
This Website is a gateway to the North Shore Democratic City and Town Committees. The DTCs section has links to the Democratic Committee Websites and Facebook pages, and we encourage you to contact a local or nearby Committee to learn what is going on in your community. We also include information on current officeholders and we provide links to many national organizations.
Upcoming Events
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State of the Union
For commentary on where we are and suggestions on how to proceed, click on:
In the News
Trump is now president again
“Didn’t you notice a powerful and obnoxious odor of mendacity in this room? There ain’t nothin’ more powerful than the odor of mendacity. You can smell it.”
— Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Tennessee Williams
By Ann Telnaes
Ann Telnaes from Open Windows
Beverly man arrested after threatening to rape and kill Jews
By Steven A. Rosenberg, Jewish Journal of Greater Boston, January 16, 2025
The following is an excerpt. The full article is available online.
Link
A Beverly man was arrested last week after he allegedly threatened online to kill Jews outside of synagogues and rape Jewish women.
Acting on a tip from the FBI, Beverly Police arrested Matthew Scouras, 34. During their search of his apartment, police found a Nazi flag, a 9mm Glock “ghost gun” with no serial number, six boxes of ammunition, three large-capacity rifle magazines, 11 lower receivers for various rifles, other firearm parts, scopes, pistol frames, a jig for drilling holes into pistol handles, and more than $70,000 in cash.
According to court records, Scouras is being held without bail at the Essex County House of Correction. On Jan. 8, he pleaded not guilty on numerous charges, including threats to destroy a place of worship, willful communication of a threat with a dangerous item (a firearm), 12 counts of possession of a firearm without a license, illegal possession of ammunition, possession of a large capacity feeding device, improper storage of a firearm, and making a firearm without a serial number.
According to Beverly Police, the FBI National Threat Operation Center began monitoring Scouras after he allegedly posted online threats on the 4chan social media platform on Jan. 1. Scouras is next set to appear in court at a dangerousness hearing on Feb. 12.
Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
What Can We Do Now?
Elizabeth Warren's MLK Jr Day Message
Donald Trump’s swearing-in will initiate an era where our nation will be tested at every turn. It's also the starting block for what Democrats will need to do over the next four years to limit his damage and win back working people.
Read Elizabeth Warren's full message: Link
The Perspective You Need Right Now: A Conversation with David Bender
America is about to change and we need to counter what’s coming with philosophy not politics. We have to lead with our values, not our party. We can’t give into fear or lose hope, but must reengage in the shared principles of freedom, justice and independence. Opinions are not facts. Information is not knowledge. MAGA has created their own reality dictated from the top down. The opposition needs to find a way to build something real from the ground up.
Link
The Contrarian
I Have Resigned from The Washington Post, effective today
Why I left to help launch a vibrant, new, independent media outlet
Jennifer Rubin, Jan 13, 2025
Corporate and billionaire owners of major media outlets have betrayed their audiences’ loyalty and sabotaged journalism’s sacred mission — defending, protecting and advancing democracy. The Washington Post’s billionaire owner and enlisted management are among the offenders. They have undercut the values central to The Post’s mission and that of all journalism: integrity, courage, and independence. I cannot justify remaining at The Post. Jeff Bezos and his fellow billionaires accommodate and enable the most acute threat to American democracy—Donald Trump—at a time when a vibrant free press is more essential than ever to our democracy’s survival and capacity to thrive.
I therefore have resigned from The Post, effective today. In doing so, I join a throng of veteran journalists so distressed over The Post’s management they felt compelled to resign.
The decay and compromised principles of corporate and billionaire-owned media underscore the urgent need for alternatives. Americans are eager for innovative and independent journalism that offers lively, unflinching coverage free from cant, conflicts of interest and moral equivocation.
Which is why I am so thrilled to simultaneously announce this new outlet, The Contrarian: Not Owned by Anybody. The Contrarian will offer daily columns, weekly features, podcasts and social media from me and fellow pro-democracy contrarians, many of whom have decamped from corporate media, others who were never a part of it. I am launching this endeavor with my cofounder, Norm Eisen. Founding contributors will include Joyce Vance, Andy Borowitz, Laurence Tribe, Katie Phang, George Conway, Olivia Julianna, Harry Litman (who recently resigned from the LA Times for reasons similar to mine for leaving the Post), and Asha Rangappa, among many other brilliant voices. We will provide fearless and distinctive reported opinion and cultural commentary without phony balance, euphemisms or gamified political punditry.
The need for upstart outlets has never been more acute. The contradiction between, on the one hand, the journalistic obligation to hold the powerful accountable and, on the other, the financial interests of billionaire moguls and corporate conglomerates could not be starker. The Post’s own headline last month warned: “Trump signals plans to use all levers of power against the media; Press freedom advocates say they fear that the second Trump administration will ramp up pressure on journalists, in keeping with the president-elect’s combative rhetoric.” And yet The Post’s owner quashed a presidential endorsement for Trump’s opponent, forked over $1M for Trump’s inauguration through Amazon, and publicly lauded Trump’s agenda.
None of us could imagine Katharine Graham sending LBJ or Nixon a $1M check. It would have been, as it is now, a fundamental betrayal of a great American newspaper. Defense of the First Amendment is incompatible with funding or cheerleading for the very person who seeks to “drastically undermine the institutions tasked with reporting on his coming administration.”
The Post’s downfall is hardly unique. ABC, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta and corporate-owned cable TV networks (which have scrambled to enlist Trump-friendly voices) are catering to powerful interests, and have profound corporate conflicts. Instead of guarding their independence, they join financial leaders, politicians and other public figures currying favor with Trump and his orbit. Through classic anticipatory obedience—a dangerous but all too familiar pattern—they normalize the authoritarian menace. If Trump has taken “attacks on the press to an entirely new level, softening the ground for an erosion of robust press freedom,” as The Post reported, it is because he finds insufficient resistance. Instead, owners whose outlets he targets quite literally rewarded him.
In closing, I want to reiterate that I have been honored to work for over fourteen years alongside the finest writers and editors in journalism. Above all, I was blessed to work for The Post under the Graham Family ownership and Fred Hiatt’s leadership of the editorial section. My admiration for their collective integrity, dedication to craft, courage, patriotism, and decency is boundless. But when new leaders sully the reputation of institutions entrusted to them and the fate of democracy is in the balance, we all must reevaluate our careers and our obligations to the world’s most essential nation. History calls us all.
I treasure the readers who have stuck with me over the years. I invite them and all those interested in defeating authoritarianism as well as writers and content creators to join this exciting new venture in defense of democracy. Forward!
The Issue with Democrats and the Media with Jen Rubin
Washington Post opinion columnist Jen Rubin joins Marc Elias to discuss how media companies are capitulating to President-elect Trump, what it actually means to "find common ground" and what they're doing to prepare for a second Trump presidency.
Link
December 13, 2024
Rep. Dan Goldman on Jan. 6 Pardons, Trump’s Nominees and Project 2025
New York Congressman Dan Goldman joins Marc Elias to discuss how Trump’s proposed January 6 pardons would harm our justice system, political nominees, the implementation of Project 2025 and more.
Democracy Docket: Link
December 17, 2024
Donald Trump Tamed the Media. Some Even Paid for the Privilege.
The legacy media is not just tamed. Some of its most prominent participants act like obedient puppies. They are at heel and have dutifully learned to come when called. Several of the billionaire owners have even paid for the privilege — cutting seven figure checks to fête Trump at his inauguration. All the time wagging their tails.
Read the full article at Democracy Docket.
Link
December 18, 2023
Elon Musk: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
John Oliver discusses Elon Musk, the influence he has over more than just his businesses, and the perfect place for him and Mark Zuckerberg to finally have that cage match.