I have to tell you, today I voted for Barack, and I cried. After I wrote this, I remembered that there was a wonderful video during the primaries, and I really did not feel the intensity of it until I voted in the general...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBVKsartJFs At the U of A Student Union, I was just a few blocks from where I was when I heard that Dr. King was assasinated, and less then that far away from where I was when I heard that Bobby Kennedy was assasinated. The lifelong friend I was with on both of those days (and actually on the day we got the news about JFK), has since died of breast cancer. We had our children, passed middle age, and I wish she, and my Nana, who took me to my first civil rights march in Oakland, could be here now, and go with me to the polls. There, at the Union, I was right on the Mall where I helped plant 444 crosses for Arizonans killed the Viet Nam war, including several classmates. While walking back to work, I passed a corner where two ROTC students in uniform had tried to take a box of black armbands from me, that I was taking to my department faculty for that Viet Nam moritorium day observance. One of our linebackers, "Bad Brad" who was in my English class, appeared suddenly, put his massive hand on my shoulder, and asked "Do you have a problem with my little friend here?' Brad was as tall as a tree, well over 300 pounds, and very black. Needless to say, these two little bullies scurried back into whatever rat-hole they had crawled out of to shove me up against the wall. I moved back here in 2000. I work for right on the UofA campus. I am so blessed to be able to vote for Barack in a place where I was such an young college student activist, and to walk by these places that are connected to that past. I know Barack is not the perfect progressive candidate, but I believe that he can bring us together, and heal many of the ancient wounds. The odd thing is, that McCain missed all of these years of the American Experience. I had friends and family members on the ground and at risk during the entire Viet Nam war, and prayed for there safe return every day. But two, two-year, tours were the max. John was in the hell-whole when Dr. King and Bobby were assasinated. He missed, through no fault of his own, the terrible shootings at Kent State, the Democratic Convention Riots, watergate and the impeachment hearings - he has failed to connect, and possibly this has a lot to do with it... I also realized, when he seemed so unpreturbed by the horrible crowd behavior at the Palin rallys that he missed the horrible Wallace campaign, and all of the ugliness of those years. He just doesn't get it, because he missed the experience. Anyhow, I started this to tell you how I cried. I have been off-line since just after the primaries, unless I go by a café, or stay late at work...and I can't deal with the negativity of the dem HQ crowds here, as I am more like my candidate in terms of knowing that inclusion and reaching out are only harder after all this division has become entrenched. I hope all the wonderful bloggers that I spent most of last winter, spring, and summer with are well, and I appreciate all you have done. I would like to see a landslide! Every few decades, it seems as though we check into recovery with a democratic slate, and everything gets balanced back, we DO redistribute and life gets better... Presidents FDR, Kennedy, Clinton...and then we always go back to the republican addiction to power and greed, until we get so sick, and have to go back to rehab again.... Having watched this silly cycle for more than half a century I pray that we can cross back to being a great nation again, and finally kick the colonial attitude, and all this false pride that just gets us in trouble. Just to rekindle the hope, and keep us all energized over the next few days, one of my favorite campaign videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBk32JsV9l8
Barack, YES WE CAN! And we all need to, and will take up our part in rebuilding this great nation...
What I am seeing at the Palin & McCain rallies is very offensive, and doesn't bode well for our future and our ability to survive this crisis.
McCain needs to put his country first NOW, and stop inciting folks who are already frightened by our economic crisis to a lynch-mob furor.
This is a good article, excerpt below as well
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_10/015114.php
John Weaver, McCain's former top strategist, said top Republicans have a responsibility to temper this behavior.
"People need to understand, for moral reasons and the protection of our civil society, the differences with Senator Obama are ideological, based on clear differences on policy and a lack of experience compared to Senator McCain," Weaver said. "And from a purely practical political vantage point, please find me a swing voter, an undecided independent, or a torn female voter that finds an angry mob mentality attractive."
Weaver added that the Republican Party should be "ashamed" if it allows this to continue. Given what we've seen of late, they should be ashamed anyway.
NOT THIS TIME - NOT THIS YEAR! Restore HOPE!
We are definitely in a financial crisis, and a very obscure one at that. Barack has spoken about the idiocy of what we were asked to do at the time of 9/11, and of course we all know that we were asked to go shopping. Barack (or Hillary) would of asked us for much more.
I noticed that the various response meters peaked when Sarah Palin spoke of Personal Responsibility in the debate last night. Leadership is needed now. What can WE THE PEOPLE DO, to make this economy better? What is our part, and what can we do as individuals to improve the status of the American economy, and our status in the world?
1. Anyone that has the means should pay down, or pay off their credit cards thus reducing OUR part of the debt.
2. Pay as much more as you can on your mortgages, student and car loans - reduce your eventual cost in terms of interest, but provide your regional lenders and Credit Unions with much needed actual cash.
3. Begin saving-only if it is five or ten dollars a paycheck, and you will find you can actually buy that tire, keep the oil changed in your car, and pay for some other unexpected small expenses that land us at the payday loan office.
4. Use only cash or secured credit for major purchases (where they can get the stuff back if you default, or it is backed by inventory of the business you do your credit with).
5. Keep your local food banks full, clothing and other community resources stocked with coats, shoes, & blankets for the winter.
6. If you are doing better than your family neighbors who are throwing everything at their rent or mortgage, hand them a $10-25-50 grocery or gas card, or anonymously slip it in their mailbox. Pass out a few monthly bus passes at the local job center or food bank to those that don't have them. If we all did things like this, if we all behaved like our brothers keeper, we would have plenty to go around.
7. If you are struggling too much to do any of these things, confide in someone, use these resources, there is no shame in picking up a box from the foodbank, calling your local St. Vincent de Paul, or or other resources to get a utility bill paid. Most Urban Leagues will pay those Utilities under the Fema program once a year to get you over the hump for the month (and no, you do not have to be a minority for the National Urban Leagues to help your).
8. Use the contribution option on your utility bill to contribute to the funds most have to help those who can't afford to stay warm this winter.
There are things we can all do to feel less out of control. There are sacrifices we are all willing to make for our families and neighborhoods survival. Ask us to do these things, and the response will be great. you know..."Ask not what your country cand do for you..."
Please get busy with this message. We need the leadership, and the economic meltdown is a dynamic that even government in a democracy has only marginal control over, especially in a global economy.
When my kids were small, I always found that giving them something to do worked much better than explaining a situation or telling them what not to do with a lot of blah-blah-blah about why etc. When I didn't want them grabbing candy bars, it was easier to tell them to put their hands on top of their head, then to tell them not to grab the candy bars. Also easier to give them a simple task like find the bottle of catchup than to tell them we would be done in a minute, or offer them some reward if they behaved in the store.
Really - give the American People things they can do - Suze Ormann style. We desparately need this kind of leadership and unification right now.
We MUST win this! I am not on line much since the primary, and can't deal with the partisinship and negativity of my local Dem HQ, so have given up on voluteering, as it is such a toxic atmosphere. i am just talking to my neighbors, folks on the bus, and many, many republicans and independents about issues, not personalities.
I am doing everything I can to get the Obama-Biden ticket to the finish line. Please help with some positive action as above. Love you all, and let's get this done!
Who is to blame? This bill is just wrong, but then we don't have a choice, do we? The House leadership needs stop worrying about assigning blame - we will win this election by creating unity in a time of crisis, not division.
The Bill:
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act Of 2008
http://financialservices.house.gov/
The Vote:
House Votes: yes no
Democrats 140 95
Republicans 65 133
Totals 205 228
My local democratic congressman, a staunch Obama supporter from the beginning, and as did Mo Udall, has always represented my particualr main street, voted against this bill.
Read his explanation:
Grijalva Votes to Defeat Bailout"I am not in disagreement that there is a financial crisis in our country. Daily the headlines deliver news of another bank in crisis.I am in disagreement of a proposal that is rushed and more importantly does not advocate equally for main street and strong protections for working families.The proposal before us today is a strong improvement to what was originally proposed by President Bush and Treasury Secretary Paulson. However, provisions have been left out that would assure us that the taxpayer comes first. The lack of inclusion and advocacy for families directly is why I cannot support today’s bill.This $700 billion price tag does not have an offset or enforcement of Pay-As-You-Go. During my tenure in Congress, infrastructure, healthcare, education, and investment in domestic projects have been sacrificed because of Pay-Go. This bill had an opportunity to require a security transfer tax so that Wall Street would payback the American taxpayer. Unfortunately, this guarantee was taken off the table.
Furthermore, throwing money at a problem will not solve this crisis; we need to undo bad policies, such as the 2005 Bankruptcy Reform, that passed under the Bush Administration and the then Republican Congress. This proposal had an opportunity to reduce foreclosures by changing Chapter 13 in Bankruptcy law. This minimal language would have meant much for the community, as it would have provided relief to homeowners at no cost to taxpayers. This would have helped homeowners and those in foreclosure, alike, stay in their homes and house values would have maintained.
In the basic tenet of Congress, we are to do checks and balances. Pursuing this historic deal without strong oversight and ensuring strict regulations occurred for passage is a bad deal. The language allows for an oversight Committee to only critique the proposal, not halt actions. In addition, although the proposal makes allowances to limit the “golden parachute”; it is not strong enough in assuring that the CEOs, who are at fault of these risky deals, are not rewarded.This crisis felt by Wall Street is the bubble hitting the top. The crisis of losing finances, homes, and having to brunt poor investment decisions by the Bush Administration has been felt in our neighborhoods, jobs, and homes for the last 8 years. I look forward to working on a different piece of legislation that confronts the crisis on Wall Street and provides real protections for taxpayers and homeowners. Congress should be prepared to work during the recess to do this right."
"You can't negotiate with reality." - James Kunstler
I know many of you have done your homework, but this is the real deal. The GOP Platform is an interesting read. Every word is actually a must read, but please check out the entire section on protecting our values and preserving our families, what the h*ll - PLEASE read the whole thing.http://www.gop.com/pdf/PlatformFINAL_WithCover.pdf
If this link doesn't work, just go to www.rnc.org, and click on "platform" on the tabs below the main page.
George Orwell is banging on the lid of his coffin and screaming, '1984 was a cautionary tale, you dolts, not a motivational speech!'
I can't expect to live in a democracy ifI'm not prepared to do the work of being a citizen.
We must win this election, Whitehouse and every congressional seat that is up for grabs.
Anyone else FIRED UP?
I guess the RNC got a little wrapped up when Whitman started speaking of the NOBILITY of their ideals, like that isn't something we threw off a couple of hundred years ago...They don't get it that when musician/songwriters say you can't use our music, they really can't use that music.
Even if they did nominate a barracuda (or in her own words "pit bull with lipstick") for VP.
http://www.comcast.net/articles/entertainment-eonline/20080905/b27431/
Heart's having none of it...
In the Primary, we prayed alot. The RNC thinks they have some sort of patent on faith - friends do join me for our strength over the next 60 days, as we are definitely being tempted to go far astray, and basically just beat the daylights out of the closest Right winger...
Saint Theresa's Prayer May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.
We have come this far - celebrate who we are and where we are going, and thank God that we are not THAT BITTER and ANGRY as those folks in St. Paul!
NY Times Sept 2
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/us/politics/03wasilla.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1220468769-TnnThNNwNi+Galm9zEGReA
The Nation Sept 1
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters/352178/secretive_right_wing_group_vetted_palin
and the impact on the polls:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/latestpolls/index.html
ONE LAST SHOT....I won't pretend to know why Newsweek chose to turn over 3,000 words (!) to professional liberal Obama hater Sean Wilentz in their current issue (his opening claim that "I would like to see him succeed in fulfilling his promise" is one of the more transparent howlers I've seen recently), but it really has to be seen to be believed. Be sure to especially check out the second-to-last paragraph:
Liberal intellectuals actually could have aided their candidate, while also doing their professional duty, by pressing him on his patently evasive accounts about various matters, such as his connections with the convicted wheeler-dealer Tony Rezko, or his more-than-informal ties to the unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, including their years of association overseeing an expensive, high-profile, but fruitless public-school reform effort in Chicago. Instead, the intellectuals have failed Obama as well as their readers by branding such questioning as irrelevant, malicious or heretical.
Um, sure. That would have been a great way to help out Obama. Should liberal intellectuals also have viciously attacked his wife just to toughen him up for November? Questioned whether he was really the father of his children? Dug more deeply into his Muslim heritage?
If Newsweek wants to publish stuff like this under Karl Rove's byline, whatever. At least everyone knows what axe is being ground. But how many of Newsweek's readers know that Wilentz was a one-man hurricane of pro-Hillary/anti-Obama agit-prop for months and months during the primary? Not many, I'd guess, and they might read this bitter diatribe a little differently if they did.
Thank you Keven Drum of Mother Jones (http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/08/one_last_shot.html)
Ann Brewer passed on this great endorsement from Business and Professional Women/USA
http://www.bpwusa.org/i4a/pages/Index.cfm?pageID=5597
I personally benefited from the Violence Against Women Act, that actually gave me my life back, so this is a true Women's issue ticket now, with my hero, Joe Biden.
Another place to keep in touch with the Progressive heart beat this week:
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/348132
A Nation article
from a few weeks ago (August 13) needs to be kept in mind as we proceed through this convention into the general election. Here is an excerpt:
"Although marketed as a trustworthy maverick, McCain accurately describes himself as a "foot soldier in the Reagan revolution" and attests that "on the transcendent issues, the most important issues of our day, I've been totally in agreement and support of President Bush." He is committed to the full Bush catastrophe: continued war in Iraq, more tax cuts for the wealthiest, more corporate trade deals, more deregulation, more hostility toward labor, more conservative social policies and reactionary judges. Indeed, he's Bush on steroids. McCain seeks not only to privatize Social Security but also to unravel employer-based healthcare, leaving people to negotiate alone with insurance companies liberated from regulation. His bellicose posturing on Iran and Iraq is as disastrous as his pledge of impossibly deep cuts in domestic programs. He embraces the corporate economic and trade agenda that has so devastated the American middle class. If he is defeated, it will mark the end of the Reagan era.
Obama clearly offers a change of course. His victory in itself will require overcoming the racial fears that have so long divided this country. He carries a reform agenda--largely driven by progressives--into the election: an end to the occupation of Iraq, using the money squandered there to rebuild America; affordable healthcare for all, paid for by raising taxes on the wealthy; a concerted drive for energy independence, generating jobs while investing in renewable energy and conservation. He is committed to empowering labor, to holding corporations and banks more accountable and to challenging our trade policies. A social liberal, his judicial appointees will keep the right from consolidating its hold on the federal judiciary. Obama may not be a "movement" progressive in the way that Reagan was a "movement" conservative, and he may have disappointed activists with his recent compromises, but make no mistake: his election will open a new era of reform, the scope of which will depend--as Obama often says--on independent progressive mobilization to keep the pressure on and overcome entrenched interests.
As this is written, an election Obama should win handily is locked in a virtual tie. Both the Obama and McCain campaigns treat the race as a referendum on Obama, with the former focused on getting Americans comfortable with trusting a young African-American with an unusual name, and the Rove minions in the McCain campaign intent on stoking the fears that enabled them to assemble a white majority party in the past.
Obama's campaign will not succeed without the independent efforts of progressive activists. One central task is winning support among wary white blue-collar workers, the core target of the Rovian poison. This will require persuasion as well as mobilization; the work of the AFL-CIO, Change to Win, Working America, religious groups and others with a base in these communities in swing states will be of critical importance."
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080901/borosage_kvh
Okay, I have made the committment, tapped everyone I know to help me raise these funds but the universal response is somewhere along the lines of this Maureen Dowd collumn about the upcoming Bill & Hillary show:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/13/opinion/13dowd.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
which concludes with this sentence that summarizes the gut reaction of all true feminists I know:
“A woman who wildly mismanages and bankrupts a quarter-of-a-billion-dollar campaign operation, and then blames sexism in society, will dampen the dreams of our daughters.”
Folks may turn out and vote in November, but they are absolutely through contributing money to the Democrats, even to Obama. Sad state of affairs. Is it such a surprise that we really meant it about the change thing? How many grassroots dollars or donors have the Clintons ever garnered? It's cake or ice cream, not both. But we have a huge opportunity to make progress here...and stop the whining. Democaracy means that we have to compromise with those that see things a bit differently, or have different priorities. Do we want a progressive facisim?Yes I know Obama isn't the perfect progressive candidate. Yes, I know that sucks. Now let's get him elected! (Kos blogger) Fired up?
State: Arizona Summary: Obama - 42%McCain - 39%Barr - 7%Nader - 2%Someone else - 5%Undecided - 5%9% of Republicans choose Barr, including 16% of the Very Conservative.
Obama beats McCain among Independents, 51%-28%.
Electoral Votes: 10, Too close to call
_____________________________________________________________
National Electoral Votes
McCain Red 160
Obama Blue 273
Too close to call Purple 105
_____________________________________________________________________
Didn't give the Poll Source, but I will look it up.
This is an odd one, and a quagmire...it doesn't eliminate the possiblitiy for criminal charges however, and the civil cases are complicated.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-senate-surveillance-vote,0,288926.story
I just hope that this is all part of a strategy. Just too wierd. I feel conflicted on this one.
Thank you Benny Kennedy, for putting together tomorrow's Unity BBQ, an for reminding us what it is all about:
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separateand equal station to which the Laws ofNature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinionsof mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
“We hold these truths to be self-evident,that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
“That to secure these rights, Governments arei nstituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effectt heir Safety and Happiness.”
“Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
From www.democracynow.org/
NASA Scientist Calls for Oil Execs to be Tried for Crimes Against Humanity
NASA’s top climate scientist James Hansen warned Monday that the world has long passed the dangerous level for greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and that the earth is nearing a tipping point. Hansen said, “We’re toast if we don’t get on a very different path. This is the last chance.” He also called for the government to block the construction of new coal-fired plants. During an interview on NPR, Hansen called for the chief executives of oil companies to be tried for their role in spreading disinformation on climate change.
James Hansen: “The CEOs of these large energy companies are guilty of crimes against humanity if they continue to dispute what is understood scientifically and to fund contrarians and if they push us past tipping points that end up destroying many species on the planet and having a huge impact on humanity itself.”
It was twenty years ago this week when James Hansen first appeared before Congress to warn that global warming had already started. The year of Hansen’s original testimony, 1988, was the world’s hottest year on record. Since then, fourteen years have been hotter
