I've received several emails today about helping Obama in the debate polls on various media web sites. One email actually said "we" are not doing well. Perhaps Obama isn't doing well in the recent debate polls because he isn't doing that well in his campaign. I don't know about the rest of you, but I didn't sign up for this thing to support Obama no matter what. I'm not really sure, but maybe I'm not part of the "we" referred to in the email because I'm not supporting him simply because he's black, or merely because he gives a good speech. This isn't team sports folks. I've been supporting Obama because I believed in him, I believed he could lead the country in the right direction; I believed he could buck the system... even if only a little. Remember that whole been there long enough to know things need to change deal?
I've been rather disappointed for a while now over the health care issue, and Obama's recently released plan shows us in indisputable terms that although he could lead the nation in the right direction, he's *choosing* not to do so. I understand political expediency, I understand that stepping on certain toes can hurt a politician's "career". But I also see the hordes of people at the rallies, I regularly communicate with extremely enthusiastic supporters from all walks of life. I know for a fact that people are actually listening to Barack Obama and I strongly believe he has enough public support to speak truthfully about the most important issues we all face and we will hear him. So why would he choose to pander to the corporate interests in the health care cartel?Everyone needs to seriously think about this for a moment, what kind of 'leader' puts profits before people? What kind of 'leader' would propose tax subsidies to some of the most profitable corporations in the world and try to sell it to the people as a solution to the health care crisis? Thus far, we know that Edwards, Richardson, and now Obama fall into this category. Hillary and Biden are tried and true corporatists, they're still somewhat unclear on their health care plans but I'd be willing to bet they'll not stray too far from the herd. But why, or why not?
Perhaps all of our 'leaders' are guilty of profits before people. Think about Bush and big oil, or bush and the war profiteers. Then of course there's Clinton and NAFTA, or Clinton and telcom. How about the first Bush and Iran Contra. A short trip down the memory hole and i suppose we'd have to admit that this is pretty much politics as usual isn't it? So I suppose at some point you have to start asking what's wrong with us... the voters? Who are these politicians, and who the hell have they been representing all this time?
Seriously people, remember the bit about bringing an end to the won't do, can't do, won't even try style of politics? Sounds great right? So are we going to turn right around and allow Obama to tell us that we can't fix health care? Listen, if the American people cannot count on Obama to stand up to insurance companies and big pharm of their behalf... what can we count on him for? This is an easy one... the American people are being screwed and everybody from doctors to DC knows it. The health care cartel is running a racket on the American people and politicians could stop it... if they wanted to.So I ask again, are we seriously just going to allow these people to simply continue screwing us, or are we going to turn the screws on them? We have more power here than people are willing to admit, or perhaps we've forgotten how much power we could have. We don't elect politicians to rule us, we elect them to represent us... it's about what we want, not what the corporations want. The people vote, the corporations do not. The people have the power, should they choose to wield it.
Please don't give me that baby steps bullshit either; you don't need to take baby steps with organized crime. There is a very simple question on the table here... are we going to fix the health care system, or not? It doesn't get any simpler than that. There is simply no rational argument for a policy that screws the American people a little less. Enough already... it's time for change! It's time to fix this nightmare. Fudging the numbers and shifting profits from one ledger sheet to another is NOT change... it's the illusion of change, which is usually enough in the land of the ignorant and gullible.
The illusion of change wasn't good enough for Iraq was it? Voters are outraged with politicians failing to do what we elected them to do... right? Well, maybe... just maybe, the illusion of change isn't good enough for health care either. We need to force this issue. Health care isn't a question of the fringe idealism of a few... it's a question of national responsibility for all! STAND UP!H.R. 676 is already in the house, call your representative today and demand that they co-sponsor this bill. With the solution to health care already in the house, why are we still authoring new proposals? The only thing left out of H.R.676 is profits... I guess some politicians have a problem with that, which of course should be a clue to voters.
Medicare for all, single-payer, universal health care, socialized medicine, this ism or that ism... you can call it anything you want, makes no difference at all. Shifting health care coverage away from employer based distribution and removing the profit motive from the system is the only solution to the crisis in which we face. There are markups as high as 9000% being reported in the health care sector. It's simply unfathomable. The Priority in health care has to be making people well, not making people rich... period. The people know it, the doctors and nurses know it, business and industry knows it, and the politicians know it... so where's the problem?
Peace
Daniel Whelan
I just found another comment about single-payer health care from Obama. Daily Health Policy Report
Obama said that, although he favors a single-payer health care system, he likely would not propose such a system for the U.S. because of the complex, employer-sponsored system currently in place.
I've said it before and I'm likely to say it again... the noted complex, employer-sponsored system currently in place BENEFITS NO ONE! This is simply a cop-out, a refusal to challenge the system, a refusal to stand up to powerful corporations. This says that keeping corporations happy is more important than providing the people their right to health, so we'll keep the HMOs and Big Pharma happy with a compromise and the American people will take what they can get. As long as everyone is covered we can spin it to make it sound like a good deal. I know Barack is an intelligent guy, I know he understands what's going on in health care. I've said from the beginning that this guy gets it... well, he gets this too I assure you he does. There's no escaping this issue, and only a single-payer system solves the problem. If he proposes a plan that gives a single tax subsidy to this cartel of hospitals, insurance and pharmaceutical companies it will simply be a give away, and it will be dishonest to call it anything else. Do we want a health care system that makes people rich, or one that makes people well? This is a very simple question. Learn about the issue and contact Obama with your thoughts. Single-Payer National Health Insurance FAQ Also, remember... the solution is in House as we speak. H.R.676 - United States National Heath Insurance. I am an ardent supporter of Barack Obama. I given money, I bought things in the store, I've been campaigning and attending meetings for weeks now. I've been so looking forward to the unveiling of his health care plan, but he is seriously disappointing me. This is a deal breaker issue. Any plan that is not single-payer, is not a solution to our problem... period. If he is going to bold face lie to us and tell us that a compromise deal is the best we can do I'm dropping him like a hot rock. He's threatening to sell us out to some of the richest and most corrupt companies around on this health care thing. If he won't stand up to these bastards... who will he stand up to? The current cartel running health care are some of the most evil SOBs on the planet. If Obama won't protect THE PEOPLE from them... well we're just fair game aren't we? One thing fixes health care... one thing and one thing alone... single-payer universal health insurance. That's it. He proposes that or he's screwing us... just like Hillary, Edwards, and Richardson all intend to. I've seen all the plans, and they're all give aways. One plan, Kucinich's... H.R.676 - United States National Heath Insurance, fixes our health care system. Anything less is a sell out. Go watch the Center for American Progress' New Leadership on Health Care Forum. Watch all the videos, learn about what's being proposed. We have to push back on this, and apparently we have to push a lot harder than I thought we would have to. I just trusted Obama wanted to do the right thing. We should've known better, it's still just politics isn't it. Screw the people... protect the money. Same old song and dance. Peace!
The Hope Action Change event was truly something special to witness. More than 5,000 simultaneous gatherings connected to an Internet simulcast gives citizens an exciting look at the future of politics. The ability for a campaign to simultaneously connect with supporters around the nation via the Internet, and allowing for two-way dialogue, is an area where campaigns are only beginning to fully realize potentials.
Believing that the two-way dialogue part is one of the most important aspects of our emerging technologies, this web site is something that I personally enjoy immensely. Concerned citizens can participate in an event such as Saturday’s simulcast and then respond or follow-up to issues they personally feel are important, or they believe need clarification.
Within that spirit, I’d like to address a few of issues from Barack Obama’s national town hall meeting on Saturday, March 31, 2007.
There’s a lot here so please click the read more link to see the rest of this post, and by all means, please feel free to contribute.
New Leadership in Health Care Presidential Forum
I had mentioned this in my previous post but once I started watching the videos I realized that it's more important than I had first thought it was. I didn't realize at the time I posted my last blog that the format was individual presentations and that all the candidates videos were included on the page. Anyway, they are... and you have to see them if you haven't already.
Now, I support Obama, and I liked his presentation... but you have absolutely gotta see Dennis Kucinich. Dennis hit a home run in this forum, what a character.Dennis Kucinich is by far the most important candidate in the primary cycle and nothing I could possibly point to would display that better than his presentation at this forum. He's got nothing to lose, and everything to gain. More importantly, he's right and he knows he's right.
Obama's plan better be right, because Dennis isn't going away, he'll be right there telling people the truth until late in the process.To tell you the truth... I literally hate the fact that Dennis cant get elected president, it just pisses me off. I strongly supported Dennis in 2004 and would love to believe in his campaign this time around.
I support Obama because his stump is quite similar to Dennis', and I'm not the only one who thinks so. Recent analysis by the National Journal found his voting record to be even more liberal than Kucinich, which is fine by me. People love Obama, and I have no problem with him.I watched Dennis get less than half a percent in Missouri's primary in 2004 and that's just not going to beat Hillary, which I think is the most important thing to accomplish in the primary cycle. Obama can do it, and he's liberal enough to satisfy the leftists amongst us... like me, yet inclusive enough to still bring others to the table... Obama is a win win.Dennis is right though, and it's important to note that. Single payer, not for profit, is what universal health care ought to be about, not subsidizing the insurance industry, which is already realizing record profits. We have to get the profit motive out of the health care industry if we have any shot at "fixing" the system.I'm looking forward to seeing Obama's plan, but I sure hope he's listening to Dennis.
Hello everyone,
Sorry about being so absent the last few weeks, had a medical crisis in the family that occupied most of my time. It looks like we're out of the woods though so it's time to get busy again.
Things have been moving right along with the campaign I see, the supporter numbers posted by the campaign yesterday are extremely impressive. I also saw the Jerome Armstrong post on MyDD comparing Obama's numbers to Dean's... unbelievable, that's all I can really say.
Did anyone else catch the highlights of the New Leadership on Health Care Presidential Forum? There's not a great deal on separation between the candidates on Health Care this time around, that's a positive development. It's be nice to have this complete video if anyone knows where to find it I'd be grateful.
Well, just wanted to say hello and let everyone know I'm still around.
Peace everybody.
I watched both Obama and Hillary deliver their speeches in Selma yesterday, and after talking to several people and reading tons of comments, I do have to give Hillary some credit, that was a pretty good speech she gave. Now, anyone who knows Hillary and Clinton politics in general... well, let's just say it oughta be.I do have to admit however, I find the African-American fascination with the Clintons somewhat odd. Just right off the top of my head... we have NAFTA, which has lost tens of millions of jobs in this country, the vast majority of which are on the lower rungs of the middle class. We had the escalation of the drug war which has sent a vastly disproportionate number of African-American men to prison, mostly on non-violent drug offenses. And we have the welfare to work stuff which has clearly done more more harm than good in low income communities. How does President Clinton, who by Hillary's own admission is her full time policy adviser, get a pass on the direct results of his policies in the African-American community? I'm confused by it. By all accounts, African-Americans should hate these people. So, is it just the fact that Bill Clinton is the world's greatest bullshitter, or are we dealing with something else here? What exactly did Bill Clinton do for black people anyway... anything positive... anything?
Now then, Hillary's speech. We all know that every word she speaks has been tested, and that she's completely scripted. That's not a secret, it's not conspiracy... everyone knows this. So, consider the speech writers (plural), the testing and advanced polling of the statements, the lawyers, strategists, and consultants that have tirelessly combed through the speech over the last week or so and I'd be willing to bet that it was probably close to a two million dollar speech... it should have been the best speech you'd ever heard. It wasn't the best I've ever heard, but it was good... and it oughta be.By contrast, Obama undoubtedly sat down at his desk and wrote his speech, as with all his speeches. Surely Axelrod looked it over, perhaps even suggested a change or two, that's fairly customary. What's evident however, is that Obama's speeches are clearly coming from someplace other than where Hillary's are coming from, and as her frustration continues to grow, that fact is only going to become more evident.Peace
Y'all gotta check this out.
Barack Obama is the second most demanded personality on Eventful.com. He's got almost half the demands of Ben Folds Five. Though according to a MySpace bulletin, which introduced me to the site, he passed Hillary last night.
Go to eventful.com and demand Barack Obama in your area, I'm thinking Obama is more popular than Ben Folds Five... we shall see.
Demand Barack Obama
He's currently being demanded by 2,020 people in 251 places. 2,000 people? Yep... I'm thinking we're not active on this site yet. Let's get busy.
Hottest Demands Worldwide
Hey,
You ever here of Eventful.com? I hadn't until tonight.
Someone started a Demand campaign to get Obama in St. Louis.
You want Barack Obama to visit the St. Louis metro area?
Has anyone ever heard Obama speak about the drug war? I checked every source I can find and have so far turned up nothing in regard to this issue at all.
I'm specifically interested in his position on medical marijuana and the decriminalization of marijuana.
Now, this ultimately leads one to a myriad of related issues. Like the funding of DARE programs, prison populations, nonviolent criminals in prison, and the prison industrial complex as a whole.
I've searched everything I can think of and haven't found anything on any of these issues. Anyone have any insights?
I'm currently developing a fairly ambitious support and organizational network to be utilized by Barack Obama's supporters throughout the country for the coming election cycle.
This project is being developed on the Drupal content management system.
What I'm looking for are people familiar with the Drupal system to help launch the hub network and then administer spoke networks in their individual states.
I'm a long time CMS administrator and web developer, but I'm new to Drupal and having issues with a few structural details. Drupal was selected for this project for it's flexibility and social network features.
The project has no affiliation with Barack Obama's campaign other than being supporters of the movement. We will not be looking to compete with the official campaign's website, but rather utilize any and all RSS, XML and/or API information we have access to in order to fully support the official site, any and all official campaign efforts.
The project will be entirely volunteer based; it has no current funding and no prospects for funding. Your participation will be solely on the grounds of your personal desire to affect change. In the future there will be possibilities for revenue sharing, but I have no intention of milking money from the official campaign, so in the beginning donations will be accepted and there'll be a couple AdSense ads purely in hopes of covering hosting expenses. If additional money should be collected it would be donated to the campaign, though I'm net expecting that to be an issue.
My intention is to support the Obama movement as long as it lasts. Should Obama become president, this would in all likelihood be forever. Should Obama not become president... *sigh* the project would probably assume a similar role with new branding. Consider how Dean for America became Democracy for America... something like that.
Requirements:
Know something about Drupal. Have an insatiable desire to change the world.
Contact me by email if you're interested, subject… Drupal Project
danielwhelan@gmail.com
Please tell me what state you live in and include links to something. You don't have to be an expert, have degrees, or a history of professional employment. I'm not looking for resumes; this is simply a volunteer project for people with web skills that want to be more actively involved. Just show me you know something, and we'll go from there. And feel free to forward this to friends if you know other who may be interested.
The ACLU rates Obama at 100% because they can count on him doing the right thing. Can they also count on his supporters?
I received this from a friend today.
Countless Americans like us were shocked when Congress passed and the president signed the Military Commissions Act (MCA).When they did, they cast aside the Constitution and the centuries-old principle of habeas corpus, which protects against unlawful and indefinite imprisonment. The MCA also gave the president the power to decide by himself who is and who is not an enemy, and to strip individuals of their right to due process under the law.Now, an excellent bill to fix these problems is about to be proposed, but we need Congress to hear from us to make passing it a priority.I just took 3 minutes to write my senators. Will you join me by taking action as well? It only takes a minute and can make a big difference.
To take action on this issue, click on the link below:
-> Click Here <-
There was an article about a speech Obama made on faith that was distributed by the AP some time ago called Democrats Must Court Evangelicals. Check it out if you're not familiar with it. The speech is the one that's on this website under Faith and Politics.
Personally, I wasn't familiar with it, but I ran across it in a thread at Rational Responders. The article is posted in the thread as well, so if you go there you'll also see it though under a different title. CNN ran the story as Obama to Democrats: Woo evangelicals. It's no longer on CNN's website.
The Rational Responders thread is titled With sadness and remorse, I no longer support Barrak Obama. OP's spelling error. Now this thread bothered me considerably because I have a perception of Obama's religiosity, and I'm not threated by it at all. So I posted in the thread... I'm at the bottom, username Danny Doomsayer.
Here's another view, it's a post on the Secular Left blog.
I'd like your opinions... what's your take on the Rational Responders thread, and on the issue in general?
Forgive me if this has all been hashed out before, but like I said... I missed it the first time.
Yesterday on his radio show, right-wing host Rush Limbaugh derided Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) — who is biracial — for saying, “If you look African-American in this society, you’re treated as an African-American.” Limbaugh claimed that this statement meant Obama didn’t want to be black and should “renounce it”: “If it’s not something you want to be, if you didn’t decide it, renounce it, become white!” He added, “If you don’t like it, you can switch. Well, that’s the way I see it. He’s got 50-50 in there. Say, ‘No, I’m white.’”
Check out Think Progress for the rest of this story.
Rush Limbaugh's comments are merely the surface of this discussion. The comments left by the readers of Think Progress 'defending' Obama are in many ways every bit as disturbing, and honestly, maybe even more so. In the long term, I have every confidence that America will benefit from this campaign, win or lose. In the short term however, this is going to get very ugly. Unlike any political campaign I personally can remember, this race is going to completely reveal who we are as people. We're embarking on a journey that will unequivocally define us to our friends and family. And them to us.
Hello everyone, I'm a telecommunications technician in St. Louis. I've been a CWA member for about a decade, did a short stint in the IBEW, and prior to getting into communications I was a member of SEIU. One way or another I've been a union member for a fairly long time. Though I'm unemployed right now so I'm somewhat detached from labor at the moment.
If there's one thing I thought I knew from my years of union service, it's that unions support the Democratic Party, and supposedly vise versa. Exit polling for the 2004 general election suggested that 32% of union members voted for President Bush.
My question is... how the hell did that happen, and how do we fix it?
In conjunction with running for president Barack Obama has quit smoking, this is an excellent time for his supporters to do so as well.
Quit Smoking with Obama
A new group for people around the country who want to quit smoking in solidarity with Obama. You know you want to quit anyway, and Barack could use our support.
Obama shouldn't be your only motivation to quit smoking though, check this out.
Altria Group, i.e. Philip Morris, the makers of the world's leading brand Marlboro, gave more than $800,000 to Republicans last year. Reynolds American, makers of Winston, Salem, Camel, and Kool brands, is the world's second largest tobacco company. Reynolds gave Republicans just shy of $800,000 last year. Consider that for a moment, a portion of every dollar you spend on smokes, goes directly into the pockets of Republicans.
Oh yeah, then there's that whole health thing too.
I quit today. I woke up a non-smoker, and I think I'm gonna make it. Scratch that, I know I'll make it. Big tobacco doesn't get to transfer anymore of my money to Republicans. I'm no longer participating in that loop.
So remember this, while the other candidates are out kissing ass, Obama will be kicking butts... and so will we.
Check out the Alexa web stats for barackobama.com
The site is now ranked 38,683.
Reach per Million is 1035.
That's pretty impressive statistics kids. Let's keep it up.
Obama's Alexa Web Stats
Stats are updated to the 12th as of right now.
So, you say Barack Obama inspires you huh?
Just how inspired are you?
Are you inspired enough to quit smoking with him?
All are welcome, not a smoker... perhaps you have friends who are, please send them a link.
While the other candidates are kissing ass, Obama will be kicking butts... and so will we.
Article cited from the New York Daily News.
Speaking in Iowa this weekend, Obama said the Iraq war "should never have been waged," adding, "We now have spent $400 billion and have seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted."
You're damn right!
Obama's first official gaff is no gaff at all. It's the classic cry wolf story. The bravest young American's are only going to lay down their lives so many times, in addition on must assume that there is a finite number of Americans willing to lay down their lives in the first place. If we as a nation send those brave people into a war based on lies, a war that is anything but a last resort to defend our nation, then that is an absolute waste.
"It is not at all what I intended to say, and I would absolutely apologize if any [military families] felt that in some ways it had diminished the enormous courage and sacrifice that they'd shown," said Obama, who hit the stump in New Hampshire the day after Clinton finished a two-day swing in the early primary state.
Careful... that's how they get ya. You get to stumbling over your own statements and backpedaling on comments that were absolutely correct in the first place. This is precisely how non-issues become major issues.
Where they medals, or were they ribbons?
"What I would say, and meant to say, is that their service hasn't been honored, because our civilian strategy has not honored their courage and bravery and we have put them in a situation in which it is hard for them to succeed," Obama said after speaking to voters at the home of a state representative in Nashua.
Fair recovery, but in all honesty not good enough. Stick to your guns. Do not allow the opposition to control the languages. State your position and be prepared to defend it.
It is a waste and Obama was correct in saying so. Wasted money, wasted influence, wasted time, and most importantly, wasted lives. Brave men and women we can never get back, that will not be there when we really need them, and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis that have died for nothing. All sounds like a waste to me. These people did not die for their country. This is not WWII. They died for George W. Bush, and his useless and misguided war... a waste.
When you're wrong you're wrong, be prepared to admit it. But when you're right, be prepared to fight.
I don't see this posted anywhere... did anyone else catch this.
Kristol: Obama Is ‘The Opposite Of Lincoln,’ Would Have Been Pro-Slavery
Yesterday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) announced his candidacy for president in Springfield, IL, where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous “House Divided” address. In his speech, Obama reiterated his call to redeploy U.S. forces out of Iraq by March 2008.
This morning on Fox News Sunday, Weekly Standard editor William Kristol attacked Obama’s Iraq policy, saying he wants to appease terrorists like pro-slavery politician Stephen Douglas tried to appease slave-owners. Kristol said, “Obama’s speech is a ‘can’t we get along’ speech — sort of the opposite of Lincoln. He would have been with Stephen Douglas in 1858.”
There's more, read it on Think Progress.
Kristol is difficult to counter because he's... well, insane, but this is just beyond even his usual brand of drivel.
