CNN,
As you all know, media outlets like you are largely to thank for that pathetic and misdirected march to war we started 5 years ago and have yet to complete. Because of news organizations like you, the general population of North America remains ensconced in a cloud of ignorance and confusion.
I want to thank you for continuing your obvious commitment to News of Deception as we enter into a political campaign that threatens the very fabric of newsworthy events across the globe. As you know, the election of Barack Obama threatens war, famine, poverty, environmental destruction, and social chaos —the very elements you leeches feed on for ratings and advertising dollars.
So, thank you for your most recent news reports that made all of us comfortable knowing that you are on the side of America by making lies seem true and making the good look bad...and of course, vice versa. Without the work you do, America would slip into an unusual state of awareness, understanding, and action, an obvious threat to the flacid state of apathy that serves you and your advertisers with more dignity.
You are the true Patriots. I have heard rumor that hundreds of thousands of people from the so-called "Obama Nation" are upset about the work you are doing to keep America Safe. I gaurantee that even if they all boycott your news station, there will be hundreds who remain loyal to your cause.
Your friend and mine,
GinaWilmington, NC
Follow this link to go to the cnn tv contact page. Give every one of them a piece of your mind. http://www.cnn.com/feedback/cnntv/
"I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings.
In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness.
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."
Henry David Thoreau
Feeling low by the drivel in the media, I picked up my pocket Walden and opened straight to this passage. No doubt that something divine put that book and page in my reach at this moment. This to me describes our work, our vision, and Obama's path.
Today was totally awesome.
I was surprised by the number of people who came to the Morning Fire-Up...There were 17 people signed up, and I had been contacted by 4 who couldn't make it at the last minute. I assumed a handful of people wouldn't make it in addition to these. After all, this was mostly a meeting of people who all don't know one another.
It turned out that we had 25 people (several independents, one republican, and the necessary Political Cynic), all very "cozy" in my too-small living room. Some found a spot to sit on the stairwell and others were left standing for probably an hour, maybe longer, so that we could all stay in the same room together.
The first task on the agenda was to introduce ourselves and give some background on our involvement in the campaign and our hopes for the future. With this number of people, such a task took quite a long time--no one was short in their expression. I believe that most of us had planned to be brief, but as soon as we started talking about WHY we were there, well, we all got FIRED UP and told our stories :). It took a long time--and a great use of time it was. I was moved further and further -deeper and deeper- as I heard each story. It's amazing how each of us comes to the campaign with different experiences, unique hopes. I didn't think there was anything that could make me understand this movement more than I already did-but after hearing everyone speak, I understand this movement more than ever.
I had a wooden spoon on the table for use as a "talking stick," knowing that we would probably need it...well, that worked a little, but when you get this many enthusiastic, intelligent people in a room together, there's very little hope for quiet.
I brought out a few numbers to share which had the effect of making it very clear to all that we really have the opportunity to turn NC BLUE this election! We talked about the big issue at hand, which is voter registration, with a focus on low-income voters. I'm going to make a separate post shortly solely focused on low-income voters and some of the ideas we shared.
With all the discussion, well, we got way off track of our itinerary. We totally skipped the video! I don't think we really needed the video to get us going...but I do look forward to watching it and if it's okay with our volunteer Harrison, I'll pass it around.
Another thing we skipped was little piece about "Hot Button Issues." I had a list of issues that might be difficult to talk about with voters. Those highlighted by guests were FISA, Rev. Wright/Black Separatists, Campaign Finance, and one "Other." We never found out what the "Other" was because we never got to this discussion. I hope we do have the opportunity to share knowledge and good practices of discussing these topics with one another in the future.
We did have general consensus regarding the Hot Buttons that we don't need to waste time trying to convince people to vote for Obama who are clearly planted against him. However, we do need to be informed so that we can combat all the misinformation the undecided voter has.
We also agreed that we need to work cooperatively, not wily-nily, to get the work done. Some of us are very interested in canvassing, some voter registration, some phone-banking, and more. There is a way for each and every one of us to contribute to this campaign in a way that is comfortable and fits in our life. I hope we all stay in touch and keep moving forward by drawing on all our strengths and knowledge.
I feel more hope and energy than ever. We did not have a consensus on this, but for the most part we agree that Obama is not the savior and is not perfect. We know that to address the destruction wreaked over the past 8 years, many hands are needed, now and after the election. We need a lot of cooks in the kitchen.
http://sockpoliticians.googlepages.com/index.html
http://www.sltrib.com/education/ci_9625445
http://www.sltrib.com/education/ci_9601953
David and Elizabeth Lawson probably need some enraged letters from the 21st century.
I want to take a moment to point out the voting issues I found during the primaries. Some of these might be specific to NC, some might be universal.
1. Voter Registration Mistake. This was the #1 issue I found. People who registered to vote had their voter registered returned to them (several showed me) because they did not check the box that asked if they had been convicted of a felony had their rights been restored. The key here is that EVERY person who showed me their form had NOT been convicted of the felony, but did not check "yes" because they thought that would be indicating that they had been convicted of a felony. If I ran into several people with this problem in a 3 day period, imagine how many are out there. All of us registering voters need to be aware of this issue, and also, I have found that there is a NC registration form that does not ask this question as a check box. We need to find a leader who is very very familiar with the voting system to make sure we are all on board.
The following form has the check box: http://msweb03.co.wake.nc.us/bordelec/downloads/form06.pdf
This form does not have the check box: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/hava/northcarolina.pdf
2. Convicted Felons. There were a few (4?) people I ran into who had been convicted of a felony and had no idea whether their rights had been restored or not. I told them I believed that if they were off probation, then they were elibible to vote, but I did not know. One of them was still on parole. The other 3 did not know how to have their rights restored. Again, knowledgeable leader for this.
3. Poll Center Confusion. In a public housing community on the day of the primary, almost everyone said they did not know where to vote. Their location said "Lake Forest Inc." I initially thought this referred to a school right behind the community (Lake Forest Ac.), and I told about 4 people this, until I ran into a resident who said "Lake Forest Inc." is actually a different building several blocks away. Boy, did I feel stupid. Additionally, in another area, a woman whose home I had visited the previous day recognized me and stopped me in the street. She was driving her mother to vote. Her mother lived in a totally different area of town, and I had no idea. I called 3rd St and found out the location, but the woman and her mother didn't know where exactly it was. I hope they got there. I ran into a few people visiting the neighborhoods I was in who asked where they voted...of course, I wasn't prepared to answer. I think we should make mini maps for every precint for election day that we give out along with canvass materials, and have a map of the county precint polling locations for each precint in our pocket for these kind of issues. The focus here is particularly important for low-income areas where many people do not have cars, internet access, etc.
4. Focus on Young Voters and Low Income Voters. I know we have had some voter registration at Wrightsville Beach and I'm sure that there have been several events at UNCW. The young members of our group I'm sure have other good ideas. Chelsea is talking about having voter registration in some very cool locations around town, with music etc. that will be really successful. My husband and I did a fundraiser for Move On in 2004 called "instruments for change" at the Soap Box, with artists and musicians, we registered voters and got around $500. It was very cool and I think that will work big time. Chelsea is talking to several locations and has a zillion ideas that will make a major impact.
Regarding low income voters, which is where my heart is, I think we should have some Days on the Bus-traveling on the city buses for several hours to reach unregistered voters, and again in late Oct/early Nov to gotv. I also would like to go to the lower income neighborhoods and have some events in neighborhood lawns, ice cream and voter registration or something. How about a puppet show and lemonade for the kids. There are many very committed people all throughout these neighborhoods, and if we can get someone along Princess Pl, within some of the communities along Greenfield-and how about the grocery there? etc.-to help, I think we could be very successful on many levels, including bringing our economically and racially stratified town some hope for the future.
These are my current thoughts about voting, please share your experiences and ideas! I have signed up to host an early day Unite event on June 28. I am thinking this will work best for certain schedules, but I hope there will also be a Wilmington evening Unite event on June 28 and that we can all share information!
Okay, so I set up my fundraising page for my birthday (now yesterday) and I got $105, ALL from NEW friends! How awesome is that!
Donations were matched that had fundraising pages (if I missed someone, let me know, it was actually a bit confusing), with $60 left over (2 people that didn't have fundraising pages). That $60 has been matched to the DNC!
This was awesome, thank you for helping me make this a special birthday. That's $210 in one day-$60 to DNC and the rest to Obama.
