Greetings all, it's been a long time since I posted. Hopefully there are still a few of you out here that remember me, as I was a semi-permanent fixture on this blog throughout the entire campaign to get our President elected.
I had a death in the family at the beginning of the year that turned my life from calm into chaos and I laid down my pen. After a lot of soul searching and contemplation on just how fickle the spark of life can be, I just wanted to add my two cents worth on what far too many people are overlooking in the health care debate, the true cost of sickness and death.
I just watched Sarah Palin at a rally trying to call Barack Obama a terrorist. This just after reading an article about mailers going around trying to make Obama look like a "Manchurian Candidate" with a hidden radical Islamic agenda. Well missy (see, I can be folksy too), you reached the wrong guy on the wrong day. Enough !!!
So, Ms. McPalin, if you want to play a doubt raising game with the American people and try to distract us into making this another big election about small things, I have a few questions of my own. Questions that I am sure would make your Katie Couric interview look like a Mensa club audition tape if you had them actually put to you. Questions like these:
So, the conservative right wants to play attack dog politics again and try to make this big election about small things? OK, I'll play.
Some are saying that Sarah Palin was magnificent in her acceptance speech, I even saw an A+ report card on one of the blogs. The Hindenberg was a magnificent thing too, until the unfortunate truth that it was filled with gas met the realities of combustion science. Clear the tower, the Hindenberg is once again on approach and MSM is controlling the ropes.
Greek tragedy, or American Epic?
The Democratic National Convention is finally over. The Greek tragedy that everyone was expecting seems to have gone through Homer's own editing room. It instead came out the other side with more the flavor of a new epic tale, a tale of heroic aspirations and new champions of the people, a tale that starts with mountainous odds to overcome, seemingly impossible tasks laid before our hero to tackle, and yet, with his forward thinking, smart and inspiring leadership, coupled with the proven steeled resolve and resilience of the American people, we just somehow know that the outcome will be another triumphant page in the great American story that will be passed on to generations yet to come. We can just feel that this can, and will, be the story that will set the rhythmic, Homer-esque cadence for America to start its new odyssey, in step and united, to a prosperous future - an epic future.
John Kennedy once said, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” I think the decision today is clear enough, don’t you?
I felt compelled to speak up again since flawed logic always makes me boil and right now, we are awash in it.
Let me start by putting some perspective on the Obama/Clinton vs McCain polls. In my brain, this is a ridiculous mathematical test. What you have, in essence, is a competition between three people that can only be truly gauged if there were only two candidates left standing. Let’s say that McCain beats both Dems now by a slim margin in the national polls. The press likes to play this as a big McCain strength and Dem weakness, but what would happen when the race finally gets whittled down to two?
Silly season seems to be back and I’d like to weigh in on this whole “just words” silliness in particular.
I’d like to start by defining what it takes to be a great speaker. To be one of those truly rare individuals that can take a room, stadium or country full of people on an emotional hayride, you first must have the gift cadence. You must have that innate ability that allows you to feel how others are reacting to your words and steer them to the peak or valley of your choosing by the tone and rhythm of your voice alone. This is a gift you either have or you don’t, but it must be there in order to wield the power of inspirational oratory.
The next thing you must have, of course, is a passion for words and expressions. This is where the gift of cadence meets the burden of study. It is also what separates a good speaker from a phenomenon. Since the beginning of time stories have been passed along from generation to generation by word of mouth as well as the written form. The great scholars and leaders in history did not only think and ponder about new things to say, they studied, thought, and pondered about the things that others had said before them. That is what rounds one’s ability to use the wisdom gained from the past to formulate the future. It was also common for these great leaders and speakers of the past to seek the opinion and insight of the people around them in their every day lives. Sometimes our deepest insight can even come “out of the mouths of babes” (oops plagiarism alert) It is also a rare gift to be able to catalogue all of the great lessons and expressions that you have learned and heard, and be able to pull them out at the perfect moment to make something crystal clear. There’s nothing wrong with not reinventing the wheel.
So what if Barack Obama uttered words or ideas from a friend and adviser. Where were the cries of plagiarism when he said “E Pluribus Unum”? I’m sure that ditty was not his. Where the cries of foul when he said “yes we can” and pushed a movement from an ethereal idea into a living reality? I mean, I’m pretty sure I’ve heard that a time or two as well. Where were the word police when he said “let’s go change the world”? I am also sure that he didn’t coin that one either.
It’s not what you say, it’s when and how you say it. It is what your words and expressions invoke in someone’s consciousness and behavior. It is also one of the greatest qualities we could possibly ask for in a leader, a quality that is a stark contrast from his opponents and bodes well for his chances to govern with success. Barack Obama will take advice and opinion from wherever he can get it and use it skillfully, wisely and appropriately. I even remember him telling Hillary that he looks forward to her advising him as well.
People have been repeating great words and stories throughout history, it is what helped us evolve. It is time to quit analyzing the words and feel the message. If you can’t, that is the real tragedy.
There seems to be a lot of difficulty answering this public financing discussion, so I would like to answer Mr. Wolfson myself. I am sure the fastest way for him to see it is to answer it right here since they seem to spend a lot of time on this blog trying to figure our how they, as a campaign, should move forward because obviously they have no clue how to run a multimillion dollar campaign on their own.
Mr. Wolfson,
I’d like to start by asking you why you would even spend time attacking a fellow Democrat about how to go forward against the Republican candidate for the Presidency? What are your plans in the event Barack Obama wins the Democratic nomination? Do you plan to go to work for the Republicans? Doesn’t Hillary plan to honor her “pledge” to support the Democratic nominee if she does not win the nomination? Judgment has been a central contrasting issue between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, personally as well as in the operation of their respective campaigns, and this is just another example of the lack of that judgment that Camp Hillary likes to try to lay claim to. After all, how is she going to support Obama in the general election if he decides not to yield his tremendous advantage in fundraising that you yourself have been unable to match even with the vaunted power of the well oiled Clinton political machine? Would you prefer the Democratic nominee handicap themselves for your own political gain? Is that the visionary judgment that you find no flaw in?
Barack Obama may very well accept the public funds offer if ground rules with McCain’s people can be agreed upon. You of all people should know that Barack Obama is not afraid of a fight and I am sure that you also have come to understand that he is a force to be reckoned with. I wouldn’t recommend it myself, but he is enough of a stand up individual that he may just decide forsake his supreme advantage and play on a level playing field. I am sure he will still come through like a champion and still win like he always seems to do regardless of all the petty obstacles his opponents keep trying to throw in his path.
Now, as for why I, as an Obama supporter, don’t think he should accept public financing. Barack Obama’s campaign and supporters have laid claim to his Presidency in ways that have never been seen before. There are soon going to be a million people that have donated their hard earned money to his campaign. They didn’t do it because they are rich and expecting a favor down the road, they did it because they believe he is the right man to transform America and usher in a better and brighter future for them, their children and their children’s children. They did it because in many cases they were, for the first time ever, inspired to participate in the political process because they finally found someone whose voice is an extension of their personal dreams and ambitions. They did it because they want to a part of history and have a claim in the future they believe in. If Barack Obama were to accept public funds he would be turning off the engine that you yourself found to be mighty and formidable, the engine that is the heart of his campaign…us. Now I know that this is a foreign concept to you, but don’t feel bad, it’s new to everybody being a historical first and all. I personally would like Barack Obama to ask John McCain to sign a petition requesting that the Democratic and Republican committees take the 85 million that they have banked for each of them in the general election and donate it something worthwhile, how about an assistance fund for combat veterans to help military families struggling with extended deployments and all sorts of deplorable hardships that they are taking the disproportionate brunt of. If I know Obama supporters the way I’m sure I do, I am confident that you would not find many that would object to sacrificing a little bit more for a noble cause and idea like that, and they would be willing to continue funding this campaign all the way to November.
Mr. Wolfson, it is time for you and your entire campaign to look in the mirror and check your priorities. It is time for all of you at Camp Hillary to finally try do something that helps the Democratic party and America. Haven’t we been divided and hampered by stupidity and egos long enough?
Sincerely,
Aris
Obama ’08 – History in the Making
I've been seeing the Clinton camp trying to pass the time lobbing mortars while they are stuck in their "Doldrums of February" trying to get some kind of wind in their sails, so I thought I would offer some thoughts today while many of you are getting revved up to go vote.
Who is the Underdog?
It is and always will be Obama. When there is a boxing match, a football game, a horserace or anything else that is competitive in nature, the underdog is the one who must outperform expectations to emerge victorious. That moniker is assigned only before a contest starts, not mid stream. Were the Patriots all of a sudden the Underdogs against the Giants because they were behind at different points in the game? Was Rocky no longer the underdog when he won a few rounds? It is nothing short of ridiculous to try to make Hillary Clinton the Underdog at any point until the nomination...Period!
Why does Hillary perform so poorly in Caucuses?
She likes to say it's because "regular" people can't vote because they are working, she says that it's just "activists" that show up. I think it is the enormous and obvious inspiration gap that is responsible. People are willing to take a vacation day to stand for Obama, they are willing to brave the elements and are proud to make their voices heard for everyone to see. Those "activists" are real people with real jobs that have been inspired to get involved and have answered Obama's call to action. I would also like to remind Senator Clinton that if were not for impassioned citizens turned "activists", she would not be in this nomination race at all. It was those same kinds of inspired "activists" that fought for her rights to matter as a woman. Odd that she shows them no respect.
Big state votes count more and represent the "real" electorate.
Is there such thing as a voter bigot? ... I think this is an obviously insane and disrespectful stand for anyone who wants lead our country and claims that she will take "our" voices to the White House. I don't think I need to expand on it any further, you get the drift.
Obama is all rhetoric without substance
This one really makes me laugh. Having been in the Obama camp since the beginning, I remember exactly what every major news outlet and a lot of supporters were saying in the early stages of the campaign, "What happened to the guy with the stirring and inspirational speeches that catapulted him to prominence?" MSM was bored by all of his policy speeches and clamoring for the fire they knew he had. He discussed fuel economy standards and dependence on foreign oil in detail in DETROIT, credit crises and economic responsibility on WALL STREET, technology and it's global impact at Google headquarters, foreign policy roundtables with quite a few ex-Clinton advisors now on his side, he talked about teachers and merit pay in front of a teacher's union. Just because Barack Obama has his finger on the pulse of the nation and knows when to deliver a load of inspiration or a load of policy wonkiness, don't think that the substance is not there by any stretch. His economic plan received an A to her C from the Washington Post, Google's hierarchy was thoroughly impressed with his well thought out policy ideas to keep America competitive in this global Internet age. That's just a few, the website covers them all in excruciation detail so I'll let you look up the rest.
I'll release my tax records....after I'm nominated.
This one really irks me. She says we can see her tax records AFTER she is nominated and that some of her White House records will be released from the Presidential library AFTER she is nominated. I find this to be the ultimate proof of being disingenuous and teetering on full scale corruption. It's like someone saying I'll show you the accident history of this car only after you buy it, or I'll show you my resume after you hire me to a 4 year unbreakable contract .... pathetic and all too obvious. Maybe she is counting on a degree of morbid fascination on the part of the American people to nominate her just so we get to see just what secrets she is hiding, but it will be too late for us all by then, so don't go there. Barack Obama is the strongest candidate on both sides in ethics reform and transparency in government without question, and I've already seen his tax return.
Her executive abilities (through osmosis)
She's spent 20 years building a political machine and she ran out of money, had to shake up her "cabinet", has redefined her personality and platform at least 4 times during the campaign so far, and her camp suffers from infighting and near mutiny. And in case you needed something more tangible on how she can be expected to govern, remember that she stiffed the poor guy that cleaned the carpets of her campaign offices in Iowa for over $7,000 dollars (I guess Iowa is in the rear view mirror now and therefor unimportant). Maybe that is not a lot of money to someone that can shell out $5 million on a whim, but to us little guys, it's a fortune. Do you still think your well being is number one in her book? The organization that Barack Obama put together from scratch upon announcing his run has bested her in almost every aspect of this race, and his team still even likes eachother. So even with a 20 year head start, who was better ready to lead on DAY ONE! ... 'nuff said.
I could go on and on but I will stop here. I think this is enough food for thought for one day.
When you vote today remember that you are voting for each and every one of us that still believes in the American dream. Don't let yourself or your country down.
Obama '08 - History in the Making
Remember this day. It is more important than February 5th and every day beyond that. Those days will all fall in place because today is the day the future shifted.
Does anybody remember the movie "Mr. Destiny" with Jim Belushi? There was a scene when Michael Caine was explaining destiny to him by showing him a glowing timeline of dots that he was making in the air with the tip of his finger. He showed him how there are certain moments that destiny can take another path, a path to a different future, moments that have so many threads of time intersecting that destiny is compelled to take notice and give us a chance to pick a new direction. I don't know how I know, but that day is today.
My wife woke me up this morning by putting my laptop on the nightstand and playing a song for me while I was trying to shake my slumber, a song that I had never heard, but one that sounded comfortable and familiar. It started with words that I have come to know well, having been inspired to action by Barack Obama long ago.
"It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation - "Yes We Can"
Words painting visions of America's history continued, words of slaves and abolitionists blazing the trail towards freedom, words of immigrants pushing forward through the unknown and unfamiliar chasing the dream of a new beginning, words of Americans pushing the boundaries of new frontiers, frontiers of justice and equality for every man women and child that call themselves an American, words that embody where we came from and where we still need to go, words so sweet that they could be put to music without missing a beat, words that will unite a nation.
From Dr. King's podium in Ebenezar Church, Barack Obama spoke of the walls of Jericho, impenetrable walls that divided under the guise of protection. He spoke about a sweet song of unity that when sung together by a people moved to dream of change, could conquer and fell any walls that divide. I heard that song start today, I heard the words that will be sung in glorious unison that will unite a nation and bring down those walls that have not been holding evil out, but holding our spirit in ... Yes We Can.
My day today started with smiles and tears, it started with hope and inspiration, it started with me knowing that destiny is giving us a chance to forge a new future with the same will and spirit that so many great Americans from our past used to build the great nation that we hold dear. My day started knowing ... Yes We Can!
www.yeswecansong.com
Mr. Destiny has arrived, his name is Barack Obama and no one has more power to heal our nation and the world. The future will know him as an American President that the world will never forget.
Obama Nation, remember this day, for it will be ours for all time.
Thank you Senator, Congressman, and Lady Caroline, Kennedy
That was fantastic!
Something bigger than even I had hoped is happening. There are forces at play here beyond simple imagination, forces so immense that any obstacle to their progress will come to a swift end. Even a force as ancient and unyielding as time is getting skewed, it seems to somehow be feeding on itself, growing stronger as each string of America's proud past is devoured and is reborn with its old spirit and patriotism intact, but refreshed, revitalized and recommitted to taking the reins of the unfinished work that father time has deemed necessary and urgent. Those threads intertwined with other more tangible elements on that stage today. Generations, race and gender were woven together and have been combined into a string so strong that father time himself is proud to set it on the path to the future and watch it unwind into its full glory. That thread is Barack Obama and it can not be broken, or torn, or even frayed and it is unwinding on an unstoppable path to the future. We are lucky enough to be able to bear witness to its evolution and these will be moments that we will proudly look back on and pass on through story and deed for generations to come.
For those of you that are new to this blog and just opening up to the hope of possibility, I offer a story I wrote a while back that I think is appropriate to the day.
Obama's Moment in Time
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/447956/obamas_moment_in_time.html
Wow! What a night! A resounding victory and another speech for the books.
"The past versus the future.” With those five delicious words it became crystal clear why Barack Obama should, and will, become the next President of the United States of America. It's the promise of unfulfilled possibility over the regrets of past pain that drives Barack Obama's campaign. It's those deep wounds in each one of us that need to finally be healed and vaccinated against future infection. Barack Obama understands history; he is a refined student of its pages. He hears the words from the past and heeds their warnings. Just listen to his speech, "Out of many, one", that's E Pluribus Unum and that's not a new idea. Check your cash money, it's been there forever as a reminder of what America used to stand for and must stand for again. If that wasn't enough, he followed that with "while I breath, I hope", another ancient Latin gem plucked from the past -"Dum spiro, spero" (one of my favorites), yes, he has definitely studied the past. He knows that many of the battles we face have been fought in some fashion before because eventually the times that require, no, demand change, have always forged their way to the forefront when sheer desperation left no other choice. Using history's eyes as a guide to our future takes that special individual that can talk the talk and walk the walk in all worlds. The very diversity of his existence has given him the grasp of the tools needed to heal our country. He can touch those chords that make us choose conscience over ego, action over apathy, a leader that can see the way forward and show it to each of us through each other’s eyes.
Caroline Kennedy said this is the man that inspires her children, the grandchildren of John F. Kennedy himself. She has been hearing it all of her life it from people from all walks of life that her father inspired them to be involved Americans, that he moved them to be better for us all. What better testament than from the daughter of the man that inspired so many, than her telling the world that now, she finally sees a man that does the same thing for her and for her children and the generations that they both belong to. Now Senator Kennedy shows that he feels the same way.
South Carolina, thank you for having the vision to see what’s needed and making your voice heard. The walls of Jericho have started to tremble.
America, pay attention and don't let the chance of a lifetime pass you by. The future can be bright once again if you just stand and add your voices to the sweet song that started in Iowa and got resoundingly louder in South Carolina today. Your voices will bring those walls of division and gridlock crumbling down.
Yes we can!!!
Obama ’08 – History in the making
South Carolina, history is in your hands. You know in your soul that America has not been moving in the right direction for far too long now. The great accomplishments that once defined America have become faded memories while being constantly replaced by images that bring shame and dishonor to the very flag that every American patriot pledges allegiance to. How embarrassing was the Katrina aftermath to you as an American? Do you feel any guilt when you see the flag-clad coffins of our brave, young soldiers knowing that the only reason they were asked to make the ultimate sacrifice was so that you could fill your gas tank? How embarrassed were you to be an American when the pictures of hooded war prisoners being tortured and mocked circulated around the globe? America is better than this. America deserves more.
Our forefathers had a vision for America, a vision that has been pitifully skewed over time. The leaders that defined great moments in our history were leaders that shared that initial vision that made America the greatest nation on earth. When was the last time we had a President that studied the Constitution of the United States with passion, not to avoid impeachment, or find the loophole that would allow him to send us to war, or invade our civil liberties and freedoms, but because they saw the greatness possible in its words? When was the last time we had a leader that knows its words well enough to actually teach it to others at the highest levels of our educational system?
The first quality of an American President must be to always follow that historic rulebook and stay true to its vision. The second quality that a President must posses is truth and transparency. Without it, the trust required to lead a nation can not exist. The third essential quality needed is judgment. Without sound judgment every decision made has an exponential chance to do more harm than good. We all know what the judgment to lead us to war has cost each and every one of us. The great thing about judgment is that it is one of the easiest attributes to gauge, all you have to do is see the choices and hear the reasoning behind the choices one made in the past and apply them to the reality of the present. Time is the ultimate verification of an individual’s innate judgment and that is a test that should be applied to anyone that considers themselves a candidate to lead not just America, but the world. The fourth quality needed is the ability to unite with reason. There are plenty of things that can divide a nation, the red-blue divide, race, gender, religion, age, even sexual orientation. America is a melting pot of so many traditions and cultures that it is no wonder there are so many lines that divide, but when you have the ability to unite, you can find the themes that we all have in common, the things that we all want and need and out of those commonalities you can easily lead with reason. This will, however, require listening to opposing views, even views that you fundamentally disagree with. The skills of a uniter can not exist in a vacuum devoid of the input of everyone affected. The fifth and most important skill that anyone we hope to be the next great American President is the ability to inspire and propagate hope, someone that can re-infuse the word citizen back into our every day vocabulary and make it mean something great again.
When a leader can inspire a nation to align their collective hopes to fix big problems and achieve great things, then and only then, can America once again lay claim to its throne of power. Only then will we be worthy of the respect that was once bestowed upon us from far away lands born from the actions of those great Americans that made the sacrifices it takes to achieve great things. South Carolina, the man that embodies these virtues with every fiber of his being is Barack Obama. He has the passion for history needed to truly understand the possibilities of greatness our forefathers envisioned. He taught constitutional law at one of our most respected schools. He was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He helped put together the toughest ethics reform bill that Washington has seen since Watergate, and I don’t believe that any of you think there is a surplus of ethics in government right now. He wants to make government transparent and accessible so the American people will finally be able to look into how our government spends our money and he will always tell America the truth about where we stand even if it’s difficult to hear. He has a proven ability to unite and that desire has been the force that guided his actions throughout his political career. He has proven his loyalty to service by bypassing lucrative big-money offers to get paid alot less money and work much longer hours for the good of suffering community.
Lastly and most importantly, he has captured the hearts and imagination of American's of every color and he forces us to once again imagine greatness, not mediocrity. He alone has the ability to inspire a nation to work together across the many lines that divide, not just for a better America, but for a better and safer world. There are those that say that electing someone that has not been in Washington very long is the roll of the dice that led to a President like George Bush. I say that selecting a President based on the inferred experience of a relative and a shared last name is what leads to that kind of disaster. History is what the future says about our actions and decisions of today. South Carolina, the history of tomorrow is in your hands. Do your part to make America great again and cast your vote for Barack Obama to be the next great President of the United States of America.
