Last night, I missed catching the complete coverage of the Radio and Television Correspondent's Association dinner and only saw clips chosen by CNN and MSNBC. So, today I went to good old C-SPAN to see if they had a video of the whole program and of course, they did.
I already knew that President Obama's and John Hodgman's speeches were worth watching in their entirety. What I didn't know was the program included some well-staged videos produced for the event by Onion and Jib Jab. Even more entertaining to me was the performance by Sweet Honey in the Rock of Bernice Johnson Reagon's "Ella's Song, " (We Who Believe in Freedom Can Not Rest) It was evident that Obama was taken with it, too.
On C-SPAN, I also watched several video's of Obama's activities related to Fathers Day. Whether it was about his visiting and speaking to a DC Youth Center, conducting a White House town hall on fatherhood, or entertaining fathers and potential fathers with a barbecue out on the lawn, he was never boring. He charms us with his humor and personality and inspires us with his wisdom and eloquence, no matter what the setting, wearing a tux or an apron!
I especially enjoyed his answers to two town hall questions about how he felt when he first became a father and the question from a very young attendee as to whether it was more fun to be president or to be a father.
I hope you get a chance to watch these videos while they are still on C-SPAN's website. Here are the links:http://www.cspan.org/Watch/Program/2009/06/19/HP/A/42689/Pres+Obama+Fathers+Day+Events.aspAND http://www.c-span.org/Watch/Media/2009/06/19/HP/R/20034/65th+RTCA+Dinner.aspx
There are two very lucky girls to have this man as their father. I suspect that Malia and Sasha have a surprise cooked up for him and can hardly wait for Sunday to give it to him.
Happy Father's Day, Mr. President!
Breeze Bryson
6/20/09
REMEMBERING HEROES AND HORRORSOne way to celebrate Memorial Day is to try to understand what war means to the soldiers on the front line. What keeps them there? What holds them together? How does it effect their families?The YouTube reference I give below is just part one of a four part series. Each one has a difference subtitle: "We are Family," "He was my Friend" "Who are We Fighting?" "I Move On." The four are entitled "Killer Blue: Baptized by Fire."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPogyjv20Vk&feature=channelThese short videos are useful to those who want to recall the Heroes of war this Memorial Day. I suggest that we need also to remember the Horrors of war in fairness to all those who died for no reason except that they were there and, also, the atrocities committed in the name of war. Here is an interesting essay stressing that point:Louis Bickford is the authorDirector, Memory, Memorials, and Museums program, ICTJMEMORY, WAR, AND THE MEMORY OF WAR
"Memorial Day is meant to remind us of the hardship of war, and on this Memorial Day I find myself asking how we will remember the "war on terror." What will our children's children know about this period?We choose in the present how future generations will remember the past. One of the great contributions of the human rights movement is showing that how we remember and memorialize trauma in the past -- torture under brutal regimes in Argentina or during the apartheid era of South Africa, the evil committed during the Holocaust -- can help prevent abuses in the future.What does it mean to choose how to remember? Memories come flooding back, often unwilled, sometimes unwelcomed. The raw material of memory resembles dreams, uncontrolled and full of non-sequiturs.But consider the terrible affliction of "Funes the Memorious,"a character in a Jorge Luis Borges short story. He remembers everything, every shadow on every leaf on every tree, and he is thus immobilized and must sit in the dark to avoid sensory experience. In real life, societies, like individuals, cannnot remember everything. We organize collective memory, purposefully or not.Imagining the future, we may choose to remember the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, for example, more in terms of heroism than error, since that is the tendency of all nations. We may remember the irreparable loss of life of those who went to fight, and we will think about their families and the suffering they endured. Our national memory may focus on the deaths of the Americans, in the same way that our memories of Vietnam focus largely on American causalities.Will we remember that there was a place called Abu Ghraib on the dusty outskirts of Baghdad, and that torture took place there, for which we were responsible? Will we remember that we acquiesced to a terrible policy put forward by our leaders and with the endorsement of many -- Democrats, Republicans, journalists, legal scholars -- that allowed for us to ignore international and American law prohibiting torture?If we care about the future, we must, first, clarify the truth. Second, we must find ways of clearly condemning torture wherever and whenever it was committed. Third, we must take steps so that we remember our rejection of those acts. Our thinking about future memory is one way of preventing torture in the future.We need to know the full truth, including who among us was complicit in allowing this to happen, even if it means looking inward to our own communities. Why did not more of us protest more loudly and sooner? Why did so many permit government lawyers to pervert the law for dubious ends, making a mockery out of the idea of reasonable legal interpretation?We must engage in a serious inquiry and introspection with the goal of accountability. Journalists and scholars should continue their investigative research and analysis of what has transpired. A nonpartisan commission of inquiry should also be a part of this picture, as should the continued declassification of government documents. We should also help others transform Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and other sites of torture into sites of learning for the future. Seen from the perspective of memory, fair trials of those most responsible for wrong-doing are essential. The documents produced by trials would be vital elements of a true historical record. And trials are the strongest way of representing moral condemnation of wrongful behavior.Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher, identified three forms of history: antiquarian, monumental, and critical. The first sees history as quaint, curious, distant and irrelevant to our current lives. The second celebrates victory, heroism and tragedy in the past as precursors to current glory. The third suggests an engagement with the memory of the past, seeing the linkages between past, present and future and seeking to understand them.Former Vice-President Dick Cheney is seeking to convince Americans that torture was justified. It is clear that he is interested in how this period is remembered; he is speaking both to us and to our progeny. He wants the history books and national memory to validate his time in office, and he is making active attempts to guarantee that they do. He wants to create a monumental history of the period.If former officials succeed in making us forget that there was torture and that it was contrary to our values, they will establish impunity for the present and also for the future. That must not be allowed to happen. Extreme violations of human rights in any context, including a war, are too important to forget. We want future generations to remember that we insisted on accountability for them. Those are good reasons to have Memorial Day."May we all learn something from these voices, something that makes every Memorial Day more meaningful.I wish us peace.Breeze BrysonMay 24, 2009
PEACE AND COMPASSIONAnyone who knows me is aware that "Peace" could be my middle name. Peace, love, and joy show up together in three of my songs. Love or peace show up in several others. When, I sign off on my letters or e-mails, one of more of these words are usually there. I've sent out "peace quotes" by the hundreds. When my album, “Among Friends” came out, a local paper did a story on me and titled it “Peaceful Breeze.” I think most would say I'm a peaceful person, who promotes peace within and world peace. So recently, when two young women arrived to look at an apartment for rent, I was delighted to see one of them carrying a handbag with a peace symbol and wearing a sweatshirt with the word 'peace ' on the sleeve, peace symbols front and back, and also the words "LOVE ROCKS." Obviously, we had something in common, but there was one other thing.. We shared the same nickname—Nikki. That was mine for forty years until I adopted "Breeze" as the one that seemed a better fit. Nikki was the name given to me by an Austrian skier, who introduced me to the sport of skiing, and still is the name on forty-five of forty-six publications. "Nikki" will always be a part of my history. It's still in some classrooms around this country and a few others. It's even archived on the Internet along with my maiden name of Bryson and my married name of Schreiner.Nikki and I discussed the reasons why peace and justice were so important to us and how our parents, teachers, and friends might have influenced us. We noted some experiences in our growing up years that also had their effect on our world view. We agreed that peace first needs to be in our own hearts before we can bring it to others. Then, Nikki pointed to her friend, Sophie, and said, "SHE only wants to change the world!"Sophie is an enthusiastic young woman, who, like me and many others, wants to change the world. She is one who has compassion for those who hurt and wonders why everyone doesn't have it, tool I guess you could say she and I also have some things in common. She, too, is a skier, as I was at her age, now coming down from ski territory to live near the beach.I saw myself again when I was first discovering the world outside my sheltered childhood in Los Angeles County, back up on the mountain making friends with skiers from South America and Europe, and getting a larger vision of how much we all truly are "one."There was passion, commitment, and optimism in the room as we shared our visions about the way things ought to be. I could not help but attribute both their hopefulness and mine to the fact that we now have a president who also wants to change the world. He, too, is committed to peace, love, justice and all that's good. He helps us feel that, given time and effort, all things are possible.It will be a joy to have these new friends as neighbors.Breeze BrysonMay 20, 2009
HAS THE IDEA’S TIME COME YET?
Victor Hugo, the 19th century French writer, believed that “There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come.”
Victor Hugo is best known in this country for authoring "Les Miserables" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Les Misérables is a novel that remains popular worldwide and has been adapted for cinema, television and musical stage to an extent equaled by few other works of literature. He is considered by many to be the greatest French Poet. (Google his name and Wikipedia and other sites will provide you with more facts about this fascinating man's life story.)
Have you noticed that Barack Obama has a lot in common with Victor Hugo?. Adding to the attributes already listed above, both of these men have become known around the world and have influenced the politics and aspirations of people and governments beyond their own spheres.
For days, the media has been reviewing, analyzing and sometimes grading the first 100 days of the Obama administration. Yesterday, In both a town hall meeting and a press conference, President Obama, too, shared with us his list of accomplishments in that time period and also his goals that will take time to be measured.
Both Victor Hugo and Barack Obama have had the challenge of living in times of revolution, wars, serious health issues, and extreme poverty. Both would agree with the idea that there is enough common sense among the people to warrant a republican or democratic form of government that could successfully deal with these problems.
Candidate Obama promised us change if he were elected. I believe that his first 100 days have demonstrated that President Obama is still committed to this idea that there is power in the people to effect change through their elected representatives and through their own actions. President Obama, like Victor Hugo, will be read and revered in many generations to come for his extraordinary impact on our world. We don't yet know how much our generation will be credited for assisting him in the changes he seeks. The question is “Has the idea’s time come to you and me yet?" Are we mostly on the sidelines or, ideally, are we already helping the change to come with both our words and our actions? I certainly hope so!
Breeze Bryson April 30, 2009
THIS IS THE DAY
This is the day, dear God, we pray! Give us the leader saying “Yes, we Can!”and meaning those words for each woman, each man! One who brings us the values we know inside will make our country a source of pride. like the value of being there for each other and treating all as a sister or brother. Give us this leader who will listen to each side. One who thinks before he speaks and has nothing to hide. One who values learning and honors hard work. One who from difficult challenges doesn’t shirk. One who inspires with his words and his actions, too .One who makes us all feel there’s nothing we can’t do. One who cares about people, regardless of station, One who reminds us the reason that we are a great nation is not the red, the white, and the blue, but the black, white, and yellow and the brown and red, too. This is the day, dear God, we pray…Si se puede! Barack Obama’s our man! Si se puede! Yes, we can! Si se puede! Yes, we can!
Breeze Bryson the morning of 11-04-08 and yes, with our help, God did!
TO BARACK OBAMA
ON THE DEATH OF YOUR TUTU
If I could take your tutu’s place
and be your grandmama, I would,
knowing that meeting Toot’s standards
I probably never could!
Yet, I would love and cherish you.
I’ve practice with my own.
They bring me pride and joy
just as I’m sure you’ve done.
Toot should have a special
place in heaven above
for nurturing in you a leader,
so easy for all to love!
Aloha and peace to Madelyn
and my condolences to you
with love and peace and joy
and hope for all your family, too.
Mama Breeze
11/03/08
Barack Obama has inspired many songwriters to write great songs in his honor. My son, Carlton Schreiner, is one of them. Carlton was especially motivated by the patriotism of both Barack and Michelle Obama and all that their love of country means for those who take his call for change seriously and apply the Obama’s unifying example to their own lives.
As of today, everyone will be able to read the lyrics and hear the outstanding production of “We are the Heart of America” online at www.loveisthecure.com.
This song was written and produced by Carlton Schreiner, who plays the lead guitar. The arrangement was done with the assistance of singer, Justin Wright, son of Gary Wright of “Dream Weaver” fame, who acted as an advisor during some of the recording sessions.
This song will bring out the love of country that is in the heart of the American people, regardless of their politics. It will make them want to sing along and even get up and dance! More important, it should make them want to “unite and make things right!”
When you get to the website, click on the “New Single” in the lower right hand corner. You’ll see the lyrics to the left and you can read along after you press the pink button to start the recording.
Pass the information on to your friends. Remind them that they, like you, are “The Heart of America.” And at the same time, you can remind them to vote for the Obama/Biden ticket.
Love, joy, peace, and hope…….Breeze
I think what I dislike most about Sarah Palin and John McCain is the ease with which they mislead or outright lie to their audiences. Surely, they and their advisors know the truth about various issues that are being discussed in the television and print media and Online. Still, you will hear them say in their rallies, as I did just now with Sarah Palin in Iowa, that Obama voted to raise taxes for people making $40,000 a year and that he wants to take away your hard earned money and "dole" it out to those who don't pay taxes. (Leaving out the fact that those who earn so little that they don't pay income taxes, still have to pay property taxes and sales taxes on necessities, including gas for their cars and taxes and fees on their phones.) Notice the verb 'dole' being used to suggest welfare.
In her closing set of repetitive questions on do you want a politician or a leader, she asked, "Do you want a politician who won't disavow a group that has committed voter registration fraud or do you want a leader who won't tolerate it?" She knows that this question implies that Obama supports voter fraud and that the average voter may not know the difference between voter registration fraud (which doesn't affect the vote) and voter fraud which does. She hopes that most people will not know that McCain has praised (quite deservedly) the ACORN group for its efforts to register voters who have been neglected in the past. She does exactly what has given politicians a bad name. She distorts the facts. She omits needed information for discovering the truth. And, worst of all, she lies! McCain does it, too.
The polls suggest that voters are catching on to their antics. What I have to wonder, though, is why so little has been made of the verdict that she 'abused the power of her office' in Alaska. I also wonder why newspeople don't clarify McCain's frequent boasting that she is "the most popular governor in the United States" which suggests that all governors were compared with each other, as in a beauty contest, and she won the most votes from American citizens of all states. He should be reminded that by recent polls her popularity has gone down from 80% to 68% in Alaska, which by now must put her below the popularity rating of other governors in their states and that she no doubt achieved the high rating because she mandated that some of the huge revenues from the oil companies be divided among Alaska's citizens. So, everyone gets a personal check each year instead of that money being used to pay for needed improvements in Alaska. Then, those improvements become 'earmarks' for the budget of the whole country.
From accusing Obama of saying he wanted to 'attack' Pakistan, inferring that saying he would meet with leaders of foreign countries without preconditions meant he would not make careful preparations before such meetings, suggesting that he gave into Putin after the Russia/Georgia conflict just because he first suggested that both sides should show restraint, insisting that Obama's plan for removing the troups from Iraq would not be done carefully and with consideration of concurrent conditions in that country, to saying he has not worked across the aisle in the Senate are just a few of the bits of disinformation that McCain and Palin include in their interviews and rallies across this nation. (May I never have a reason for such a long sentence again!}
Perhaps, we should all get the e-mail addresses of our newspeople and demand that they make these things clear as they use OUR airwaves to inform us. One more thing to work on!!! I must add that there are a few places we can get honest information: Air America and Pacifica Radio, C-SPAN, PBS with Bill Moyers, and frequently on MSNBC with Keith Olbermann and Rachael Maddow.
To answer Governor Palin's question: I want leaders that tell the truth when they know it and admit it when they have made mistakes or have been wrong. It's not an either or situation.
Now, back to my calls for the Obama campaign!
I'm Breeze Bryson and I approve this message! 10/25/08
We're told that Sarah Palin was allocated $150,000, about $18,000 per week since she has been running for Vice-president to shop for cosmetics, clothes, and accessories for herself and her family. I decided to check out the Neiman Marcus sale catalog to see what might be there for Breeze the Writer or perhaps Joe the Plumber and his family.
I found a cardigan sweater on sale for $139, was $198. A handbag that was $675, now $475 and a St. John sport leather bomber jacket, like the red one Palin sports on the trail. It was $1595, but now $1117!!!
Go here for other great buys! http://www.neimanmarcus.com/common/store/catalog/templates/ET1.jhtml?N=4294967291&st=s
(By the way, we are told, as if to make it right, that all items will be donated to charity when the campaign is over. Palin appears to be about my size. Will I find her clothes on the rack at Goodwill Industries or The Salvation Army Thrift shop? On the other hand, the bomber jacket would only remind me of "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran McCain, so I'll have to pass on that one. Perhaps, instead, they will have an auction and she can buy them back at thrift store prices, not that they will all be approriate for her life style in Alaska! )
I wish you peace,,,,,,Breeze
My first reaction was that I sent Obama another contribution as a way of saying thank you for Friday night. It was worth far more in entertainment than going to a theatrical production at the Music Center! What follows is more of my reactions to the presidential debate at the University of Mississippi with Jim Leher as the moderator.
Senator McCain varied from looking scared to looking contemptuous to looking silly. And that with getting off easy on the questions. I wish Leher had asked him the following:
How was the S. and L. crisis similar or different than this one and what did you learn from your role in it?
Do you not think that your role in supporting deregulation through the past 25 years or more has something to do with the situation we now find ourselves in? If you don't, who is to blame?
You make much of the fact that you are a "maverick" and have disagreed with the policies of your party and worked across the aisle and often say in your speeches that Obama has not done either. Since it is a fact that Obama has worked with Republicans in both his time in the Illinois Senate and in the U. S. Senate, does that not put your honesty in question? Could it be that Obama has not challenged his party's policies as much as you have challenged your party's policies be because your party is more often wrong on the issues than his is?
Why do you keep suggesting that your negative campaign ads would not be happening if Obama has been honoring your suggestion to join him in frequent town hall meetings? How are the two related?
Considering all the concern shown in the public's responses to Governor Palin's interviews with the press, concern that she is not ready to be president, do you regret your choice for vice-president?
Barack Obama, on the other hand debated with calmness and dignity and gave reasoned responses, while McCain seemed angry and stuck in stump speech accusations that have been proven to be lies. Naturally, this put Obama in a defense posture, frequently having to state "That's just not true!" I had the feeling that McCain's strategy was to do this so often that Obama would have to hold back his interruptions on some denials just to move the debate forward to other topics of more importance.
Obama's ability to speak directly to the camera audience and to McCain when called for was such a contrast to McCain's either looking down or at the audience in the hall, totally avoiding even a glance at Obama made Obama appear much more confident and in control. It was interesting to note that Obama often referred to his opponent as "John" while McCain always referred to his opponent as "Senator Obama." It made it seem as though Obama knew McCain better than McCain knew Obama.
Several times Obama gave McCain credit for making a correct statement, saying such things as "You're absolutely right that taxes are high on paper, you're right that earmarks have been abused, you're right on the need for more responsibility" and in every case he followed his agreement with a qualifier. You're right about this much, but not right about the rest. My favorite was when he said "You're absolutely right that presidents have to be prudent in what they say. But, coming from you, who in the past have threatened extinction for North Korea and sung songs about bombing Iran, I don't know how credible that is."
Good debating tactic to acknowledge your agreement with your opponent on some points. McCain never once gave Obama credit for getting anything right that I recall. I wish Leher had asked Obama to explain why his first response to the Russia/Georgia conflict was that he recommend both sides to show restraint and why he thought McCain or anyone would be critical of that.
All in all, I think it was a great night for Obama and I'm looking forward to the rest of the debates where I'm sure he will continue to shine!
September 27, 2008
Mortality and 9/11.
It’s seven years later and we, as a nation, are set to remember the horror and honor the dead and heroes of September 11, 2001. For some, it’s a private moment of grief that will never go away on this date because they lost a loved one. For others, it is a picture of destruction that they wish they could erase from their memory—the disbelief, the shock, the fear! Lurking in the shadows is the thought that it could happen again. It could happen to mine! It could happen to me!
So, it was reassuring to turn on the television this morning, to find several hundred members of Congress on the steps of their building solemnly taking turns with short speeches commemorating the events of 2001. Republicans and Democrats, senators and representatives in a visual demonstration of solidarity, shoulder to shoulder—a truly bipartisan occasion.
Standing out from all who stood was Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who was seated in a wheel chair in the front row. I don’t know if he had made a speech before I tuned it, but I know he was an integral part of the proceeding because whenever something was said that touched him, he would utter words of agreement, almost like an echo. “Yes!” “ That’s true.” “We do” “Amen.”
At age 91, he is the oldest member of Congress, truly one of it’s greatest orators and defenders of our Constitution. Congress would not be the same without him. As these thoughts crossed my mind, I was moved to tears, tears for the losses of 9/11, tears for all those lost is the wars fought in the name of preventing another 9/11, and tears for a beloved legislator who doesn’t let age or infirmity keep him from keeping on and tears for how I will miss him when he’s gone.
In “The Audacity of Hope, ” Senator Obama devotes several pages to Senator Byrd. I’m sure he will miss him, too.
Breeze Bryson on September 11, 2008
Dear Senator McCain and Governor Palin,
You have decided to run together for the offices of the president and vice-president of our country, the United States of America.. When you made that decision you were aspiring to take George W. Bush’s place in which he said, referring to himself, “ I’m the decider.”
Both of you have made some laudable decisions in your lives. According to your story,you, John McCain, as a service man, decided to stay in a Vietnamese prison rather thanbe released in preference to those who had been there longer. You, Sarah Palin, as a mother, decided to keep your Down’s syndrome son in spite of the burdens that he might add to your family and your career in politics.
I commend you for these decisions, even though one of you would deny other families the right to make this decision should they be expecting a child whose health might be in question due to rape or incest.
No doubt, both of you have made other good decisions, either personal or political. However, in your campaign, both of you have made decisions to lie or distort the truth as I see it, and in your convention you did not challenge the lies of those who spoke there in your support. You continue to tell these same lies on the campaign trail. Apparently, you have decided that Americans are not smart enough to check the facts and that if you or your surrogates repeat them often enough they will assume they are true.
You, Mrs. Palin, said that Senator Obama has not authored a single major law or reform, which grossly misrepresents the fact that he, working with both Democrats and Republicans, has passed legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. In Illinois, he was the leader on two important measures, studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation, to name a few of his legislative accomplishments.
You state that Obama will raise taxes and that you will lower taxes on the middle class even though experts have studied both your plans and conclude that Obama will lower them by three times the amount that you would lower them. You distort his plan regarding taxes on small businesses, as well. How can we trust you when you play with the truth this way?
You and major speakers in St. Paul decided to make fun of Senator Obama’s service as a Chicago community organizer. This is beneath the dignity of the offices you seek. This kind of service deserves your praise, not your ridicule.
You both rightly ask that your families be kept out of the campaign and that the mediashould respect their privacy. Yet, you Senator McCain, did not respect the teenaged Chelsea Clinton when you decided to tell a senseless and mean-spirited joke about her.
Senator McCain, you have made one of the most, if not the most, important decision of your career in deciding that Governor Palin should be your vice-president,, bringing with that choice the possibility of her assuming the most powerful position in the world, one that will affect millions in this country and around the world, including your own children and grandchildren.
You want to be “the deciders.” I say to you as I said to George W. Bush, “Sorry, Mr. President, I am the decider.” We, the people, are the deciders. Enough of the lies! Soon we will be making one of the most important decisions of our lifetimes. God help us if too many of us make the wrong one!
I am Breeze Bryson and I approve this message.
You want to be “the deciders.” I say to you as I said to George W. Bush, “Sorry, Mr. President,I am the decider.” We, the people, are the deciders. Enough of the lies! Soon we will be making one of the most important decisions of our lifetimes. God help us if too many of us make the wrong one!
Why I Support Barach Obama to be President of the United States
I support Barack Obama because I believe he has the wisdom, judgment, experience, and stamina to become one of our greatest presidents. His character and charisma and his eloquent ability to get at the heart of issues will help him bring change for the better for all people. He sees the spiritual nature, moral values, and actions of each person as being more significant than any religious affiliation. He has already demonstrated that he can improve our image in the world and can build self-esteem among all the citizens of our country, regardless of age, color, creed, gender or sexual orientation.
I also support Barack Obama because he agrees with me on the direction I think this country should take toward ending the war in Iraq and preventing other wars by putting diplomacy before military force, talks before bombs! He will have a foreign policy that stresses the building of coalitions in all parts of the globe. He will provide us with security within and without our borders. He will address the causes of poverty, disease, and violence and not just treat the symptoms. He will prioritize achieving a world free of nuclear weapons.
I believe that he believes in equality of opportunity, civil rights and civil liberties, the right to privacy and the right to dissent. He understands the yearning for peace and social justice, economic fairness in our tax structures, environmental protection and conservation; an effective energy policy; public infrastructure to put people to work; improved transportation; good government with ethics and electoral reform; universal, affordable, and preventive health care; and new and better goals in education.
As an educator, I am particularly thrilled to have a candidate who is informed on what’s needed to really not leave one child behind. He reminds us that critical thinking and conflict resolution skills are an important part of learning and should be taught in our schools. I’m happy to have a candidate promoting earlier childhood education and offering the possibility of college expenses being paid for by community service, which would allow all those who are ready to study and serve the advantage of a degree and the satisfaction of being of help to others. Increasing the salaries of teachers, rewarding them for work and creativity beyond the call of duty, and giving them on job mentoring and in-service training, and doing the same for principals are part of his plan for schools. Insisting that we educate the whole child with a curriculum that goes beyond math, science, and literacy to exposure to music, visual arts, and performing arts are his goals, and they confirm my philosophy of education.
I also support Barack Obama because he gives me hope. He inspires me and educates me in the possible. I trust his integrity. I respect his accomplishments. I admire his intellect, sense of humor, and speaking skills. I’m convinced that his ability to be a good listener, to see more than one side of an issue, and to get his viewpoints across will make it possible to mediate conflicts and solve what has seemed unsolvable. He will know when to compromise and when to be resolute. He is calm under stress and able to disagree without being disagreeable. He is willing to change his mind when circumstances suggest doing so will bring a better result for more people.
I believe that Obama’s majoring in International Studies at Occidental College and Columbia University and his law degree from Harvard helped prepare him for the issues he will face as president. His ability to teach and his experience in teaching constitutional law will serve him well as a president who will, no doubt, have to nominate judges to the Supreme Court.
His books have allowed me to know him in a way I have never known a candidate in the past. In them, he reveals his faults and failures, but also shares his victories and his ability to love deeply, his strengths and his tenderness. His attention to detail in his books indicates that he is a man very aware of his surroundings. Wherever he is, he seems to be totally present.
His life story has exposed him to the third world cultures of Asia and Africa and the neglected world of large American cities. In addition to the countries of Indonesia and Kenya, he has lived with the people of Hawaii, California, Kansas, Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts. He truly is all American AND a world citizen.
In his wife, Michelle, he has a partner that will truly enhance his presidency, one who confirms his good judgment in choosing her, and one who shares his inspirational speaking talents, his educational background, and his visions for our country. His children will give him balance and motivation, and his sisters and grandmothers will add to his reservoir of love and help him understand the special needs of women. The stability and camaraderie of his nuclear and extended families could make them role models for all families.
I am proud to be in the elder class of women who support Barack Obama for president. I am Breeze Bryson and I approve this message on August 1, 2008 and on September 6, 2008.
I guess it was about ten years ago that I discovered that there was a certain leaf in the mixed salad greens that I bought at Trader Joe's that I particularly liked. Not too long after, I begin to see this unusually shaped leaf packaged by itself and called "Arugula." I have gotten to the point where a salad without some arugula in it is boringly bland. Now, a remark that Barack Obama made several months ago is still bandied about as a reason to call him an "elitist." His point at the time was to point out the high price of produce in the markets compared to what the farmers were getting for their crops. The point would have been the same if he had just said "lettuce," although arugula is more like an herb, such as basil, to me. Arugula is an excellent source of vitamins A and C, folic acid, calcium, manganese, and magnesium. and a good source of potassium, iron, zinc, riboflavin, and copper. Arugula contains a group of anticancer compounds known as glucosinolates. These compounds exert antioxidant activity, and are potent stimulators of natural detoxifying enzymes in the body. Arugula contains phytochemicals such as carotenes and chlorophyll, which make it an excellent source of antioxidants.
If anything, we should be praising Obama for calling attention to this healthful product. In the meantime, search for Simon Maloy's excellent article, "The Media's Elitist Cookbook."
This is Breeze Bryson and I support love, peace, health, arugula, and Obama.
Happy birthday, Dear Barack, Happy birthday to you!
As you blow out your candles, hear my wishes for you.
I wish you PEACE when chaos is all around you.
I wish you HELP when problems surround you.
I wish you WISDOM in knowing myth from fact.
I wish you PATIENCE with others slow to act.
I wish you LOVE of yourself and also from others.
I wish you YOUR HOPE for all sisters and brothers.
I wish you HEALTH in body, mind, and soul.
I wish you STRENGTH to stay with every goal.
I wish you COURAGE to always take a stand
for that which you deem right
in each and every land.
I wish you TIME with family and with friends
I wish you JOY, on your 47th birthday,
Joy that never ends.
Breeze Bryson August 4, 2008
REACTION FROM GERMAN’S TO OBAMA’S BERLIN SPEECH
As I’m sure, many people did all around the world, I recorded Barack Obama’s speech in Berlin expecting it to go down in history as a significant example of great oratory. I also got the text from the Internet and printed it out to send to the few friends I have who are not, like John McCain, tuned in to E-mail or the Internet and may have missed the televised address.
As I listened to the DVD, I put astericks on the printed version wherever there was applause or cheering of OBAMA and “Yes, we can!” I came up with 37 interruptions of his speech, not counting the extended ovation when he first came on the stage. This made it easy for me to counteract the expected incidence of mis-reporting that was to come, such as: Roger Cohen of the N.Y. Times in his op-ed column on July 28 in which he said “Obama made a brilliant speech about race shot through with the truth yielded by personal experience and a questing mind. He made a poor speech about the cold war’s lessons because he never lived it. “
My response to Roger Cohen is: My guess is that most of Obama's audience at the Tiergarten never lived it either. Certainly, by the applause during his references to the cold war, they must not have thought it a "poor" speech. Neither did I, who did "live it." I thought it was most appropriate to connect the Tiergarten setting to the Berlin airlift and what that meant in forging good relations between our countries. The audience agreed.
As to what Germans in this country think, a 30 year old young man sent me this story: He said, “ I gave a copy of Obama's Berlin speech to a German friend of mine who lived in Berlin for several years. He said it sounded too good to be true, echoes of Kennedy's speech in Berlin. He wondered "are we ready for this?" I told him that Obama challenges everyone to have the "audacity of hope", to believe that we ARE ready for such change. After
his initial skepticism, we ended the conversation both feeling hopeful and inspired. THIS is what a President is supposed to do—start conversation and feelings of HOPE AND INSPIRATION! Obama is not a celebrity anymore than Kennedy was or Marten Luther King, Jr. was. He is "all over the news" and has people cheering for him because of WHAT HE STANDS FOR. He is a voice of hope which makes everyone feel that their dreams for a new world can come true. “
And last, I have a German friend who works at my bank Recently, when I called the bank for some information, she answered the phone, recognized my voice, and, of course, I wanted to know her opinion of what happened in Berlin. She has to be careful at the bank, she has told me in the past because mostly Republicans work there. So, I was surprised when she expressed her enthusiasm for the topic. She had been in touch with friends in Berlin who told her the "whole city was wild, just like when President Kennedy was there."
I told her that someone had expressed the opinion that the only reason for the huge crowd was that there was a rock concert before and after his speech. Her emphatic answer: "That's bullshit! That's bullshit!"
I could only laugh and hope that no one in the bank was listening! Just thought I'd let you know in case you had heard similar efforts to downplay the importance of the crowd.
Peace, love, joy, and hope…….Breeze
