Organizing for America | Mil Sylvan's Blog

Mil Sylvan's Blog

As an auditor, what I'd like to see is evidence, evidence and evidence. I haven't see much evidence to determine that Obama is ready for President. Nor haven't seen evidence to determine otherwise!

The Joshua Generation! A Call to the Obama Supporters

By Mil from Culpeper, VA - Oct 4th, 2007 at 11:16 am EDT

Also listed in: 1,000,000 Americans for Obama

Be strong and have courage in the face of injustice. Be strong and have courage in the face of prejudice and hatred. Be strong and have courage in the face of joblessness and helplessness and hopelessness. Be strong and have courage, in the face of our doubts and fears, in the face of skepticism, in the face of cynicism, in the face of a mighty river.

"In 3rd quarter of 2007, I had high expectations on Barack Obama fundraising machine. But I admit that recent news of HRC making history for the very first time in the history of fundraising, nocked my enthusiasm a little - In 3rd quarter, Obama raised 20 millions and HRC raised 27 millions. Then…came the Post/ABC poll: All told, 53 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents in the poll support Mrs. Clinton, 20 percent Mr. Obama and 13 percent former Senator John Edwards. A 12-point increase for Mrs. Clinton since the last ABC/Post poll a month ago, and a seven-point drop for Mr. Obama. All the remaining Democratic candidates polled in the low single digits.

The pundits called it the Hillary surprise! As usual, they went on and on and on….etc. God I needed to a break from the main stream media! So I decided to go out fishing last weekend.

On my way back, couple feet from my house, I met 3 good “Samaritans”. 2 older ladies in their 70s and 1 older man… They’ve introduced themselves as democrats and were walking door-to-door to register people in my community, all this for the upcoming election.We mingled a bit and I told them how personal this election as become. This upcoming election has changed me already I said.

I expressed my disappointment and my hopelessness about the prospect to elect Obama as president. I am not sure whether they were routing for Hillary or Obama, or someone else, but the Obama 08 sticker on my car caught their attention.I proceeded to comment on the Obama sticker. I talked to them about Obama: Obama the Christian and family man; Obama the community organizer; Obama the politician; Obama and the world as he sees it….etc.And the more I talked about Obama, hope and the future; I got caught up in the bubble of possibilities ahead. I even went up upstairs to my office to print out my recent diary on dailykos: 10 Reasons Why I Support Barack Obama! http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/26/174435/994,

One thing I like about older people is their patience. Patience to listen and feel the answer…As I was “bragging” about the “Obama movement”, they waited and listened patiently with a smile…yes, the smile that kept me going on and on like a typical pundit. After all, my selfishness attitude reminded me that it was Sunday and they are retirees anyway, so what’s the hang up? I continue to run my mouth and talked some more...I am not too sure whether they were captivated about my knowledge about politics, or my accent, but one thing I know for sure is that they listened with a smile that says…”interesting”.

“Sounds like you got your groove back”…yelled the older man…so funny the way he said it, we laughed…During the conversation, one of the older ladies exhorted me few times to never give in... Never, never, never, never…in nothing great or small, large or petty; Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense; To never yield to force…Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the "enemy".

Though I recognize that Hillary and other presidential candidates are not the “enemy”, but Obama’s opponents, I submit that the older lady is absolutely right…we should be grateful to have raised 20 Millions…after all, we have nothing to prove. Obama has demonstrated to the cynics and to the world that he can raise money.

This morning I woke with a love of this “game”. I am starting to love the competitive forces in politics. What will keep this “game” interesting is the spirit to strive for the best to be ahead. Nobody has voted yet….millions of Americans are still undecided…we have 3 more months to go….we may be disappointed now but we are doomed if we don't keep our head up high and continue to try. We should not be discouraged by “failure”, after all, there is no failure anyway, and if there was, we always pass failure on the way to success...

I reminded myself that if we want Obama as our next president, we have to require more of ourselves to help him. He cannot do this alone. Though Obama may not show it, he’s just a human being…just like us; he needs a soft place to fall…he needs words of encouragement because a strong man needs a shoulder to lean on sometimes. I command my fellow Obama supporters out there to be strong and have courage, give courage to the timid, remind the indifferent, and warn the opposed.

I am old enough to know that victory is often a thing deferred, and rarely at a summit of courage - what is the summit of courage, I think, is freedom. The freedom that comes with the knowledge that no earthly think such as the polls or money can break you.

George Bernard once said, “The only service a friend can really render is to keep your courage by holding up to your mirror in which you can see a noble image of yourself”Obama’s shoulder is our determination to continue this battle.

Let us go guys…Let us go the other side! Let’s remind ourselves that inaction breeds doubt and fear. But action breeds confidence and courage. If we want Obama to win this race, and if we want to conquer fear, then we should not sit at home and think about it. Let us go out and get busy, because we have more work to do. We cannot turn back.Obama reminds us that “It’s not enough just us to look back and wonder at how far we have come. I want us to look ahead with a fierce urgency at how far we have left to go”.

We have more work to do folks. We have more work to do if we want to get this man, Barack Obama, elected as president of the United States. Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow but a vision, but today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope…

...A hope to end this dump war and see our men and women in uniform finally home;

…A hope to see Barack Obama elected president of this great nation of us;

…A hope to see every American with healthcare insurance;

…A hope to see immigrants come out of the shadow and work for a better America;

…A hope to see peace and prosperity around the world;

…A hope to finally see a justice department that is truly dedicated to justice;

…A hope to see this great nation united again;…A hope to see Democrats, Republicans and Independents come together,

…A hope to see Black, White, Indian, Latino, and Asian come together and sit at a table of brotherhood to solve the problems of this century…

So look well, therefore, to this day…

Obama called on us to hope. He said, “It will take a movement to finish what began in Topeka, Kan. and Little Rock, Ark. A movement of every American from every city and town, of every race and every background to stand up and say that no matter what you look like, or where you come from, every child in America should have the opportunity to receive the best education this country has to offer,”. Obama urges us “to think about how far we have come and where we need to go … the risks we will take and the role we will play in building the movement that will get us there.

Dr. King once said: Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood…

He went on to say,

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."² This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together….

…And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning. And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so…..

Let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!I'm not a banner.

PS:

I am an encourager and a persuader and an advocate. God bless you and God bless American, and any place else!

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10 Reasons Why I Support Barack Obama

By Mil from Culpeper, VA - Sep 26th, 2007 at 2:59 pm EDT

Also listed in: 9 groups

10 Reasons Why I Support Barack Obama
Over Other Candidate

1.
The prospect of Barack Obama as president will change how the world sees America. I do not underestimate the power of his candidacy. Black kids will look at other black kids differently. White kids will look at black kids differently (and vice versa). The fundamental belief that anything is possible in America will be so real that people will dream different dreams while on the same bed. The ceiling above our dreams will be removed that there will be no more impossible dreams under the sun…and that's good particularly for my son who is half black, half white. That's a good thing for my husband who is white, it's a good thing for my neighbors who are Indian…it's a good thing for you…it's good for our society...it's a good thing for my America, the land of the brave.

"Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility" - Oprah Winfrey.

2.
Obama seems to be driven by integrity. By nature and based on his policies, Obama is a progressive who believes in reform, open and transparent governance, and empowering the people. Hillary doesn't strike me to be a strong agent of change and integrity. She gives me a sense of business as usual, DLC corporatist and concealment. (Remember: she said in Chicago that we shouldn't always say what we think…also remember the GQ magazine story that her campaign pushed to kill?)…hum… I may be wrong, but I doubt it.

"To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right" - Confucius.

3.
Obama believes that we should talk to our adversaries; Obama's willingness to compromise with others' ways of living and cooperation in common tasks will make living happy and fruitful. In contrast, Hillary is for the continuation of the "Bush-Cheney" foreign policy. Hillary believes that it is naïve and irresponsible to be willing to talk to our adversaries.

"If you wish to make a man your enemy, tell him simply, "You are wrong." This method works every time, and if you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies" - Moshey Dayan.

4.
Obama displayed a good judgment in opposing the dump war in Iraq in 2002. Hillary authorized the war and argued on a senate floor that her vote was based on her "experience" in the Whitehouse. Well, based on result, isn't it fair to say that her experience did not do her any good? She has since refused to apologize for her vote or even call it a mistake. We're all human and we do make mistake - I believe she should apologize for her vote after all, a life without an apology is not worth living.

"Good judgment and Maturity are achieved when a person postpones immediate pleasures for long-term values and never run an apology with an excuse - Kimberly Johnson

5.
The prospect of Obama in the Whitehouse brings excitement. Obama has a much more powerful intellect, is more charismatic and has a better personality and a good family man. He tells us to put all excuses aside and remind us what we are capable. He said ordinary people just like you and I can do ordinary things. I believe him when he says the world as it is not the world as it should be. This assertion is not just true in politics, but also in real life. When you weary and broken hearted, doesn't it feel good to hear those words? It doesn't hurt to have a president who every now and then encourages and tells us to believe again. In contrast, not just Hillary, but other candidates as well suffer an enthusiasm gap. Hillary portrays a personality of being too screechy, preachy and controlling and I am afraid that her policies will have a little byte of her character.

"A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm. - Francois Pierre Guillaume

6.
Obama believes that the key to accomplishment is to get the American people motivated, around a common purpose (Black, White, Asian, Latino, Democrats, Republican and Independent). Obama believes that a house divided against itself cannot stand. In contrary, Hillary advocates divisiveness, the blue-red states mantra and "the right wing machine mentality". I don't know about you but its depressing to hear that mantra.

"There is no liberal America, or a conservative America, there is the United States of America…We are one people" - Barack Obama

7.
Obama does not take Washington lobbyist money, but Hillary does and has refused to stop taking lobbyist money. Obama and Edwards attacked her on it and Hillary refused to stop taking it. If Clinton wants to defend the right of lobbyists to engage in legal corruption, by all means, she should go right ahead but she and her supporters shouldn't think that it doesn't make a lot of people throw up a little in their mouth.

"Greed will kill us all…It's not how much you have that makes people look up to you, it's who you are.'' -- Elvis Presley

8.
With Obama, we don't have a choice to vote for the lesser of two evil. Unlike other presidential candidates, Obama vowed to always be truthful to us. He is not just bound to win; he is bound to be true. Obama is not bound to succeed, but to live by the light he has. Obama is not perfect, but by his nature and character, Obama is willing to stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him /her while he /she is right, and part with you when you go wrong.

9.
Obama called on us to hope. He tells us not to let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes, our dreams. The hope of a slave sitting in a fire place singing a freedom song.

10.
Abraham Lincoln once said, this country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it. As an American who is longing for change, my concern today is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right. And I hope that Obama will strive to be on Gods side, for God is always right.

People who love their county can change it. We have the power to make a change. And to change the world, we must be the change we wish to see.

"We got to make a change...It's time for us as a people to start making some changes. Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live and let's change the way we treat each other. You see the old way wasn't working so it's on us to do what we got to do to survive
There is war on the streets & the war in the Middle East. Instead of war on poverty, they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me. Don't let them jack you up, back you up, crack you up and pimp smack you up. You got to learn to hold ya own….Tupac

Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton...that's not change…Some things got to change!

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Steven Spielberg is endorsing Clinton.

By Mil from Culpeper, VA - Jun 13th, 2007 at 11:13 am EDT

Also listed in: 1,000,000 Americans for Obama | Northern Virginia for Obama !

The Clinton campaign is announcing that filmmaker
Steven Spielberg is endorsing Clinton.

Spielberg had co-sponsored an Obama fundraiser earlier
in the year, but the 1st-quarter financial reports
showed that he had donated to both Obama and Clinton.

Does Katzenberg break the DreamWorks tie? Geffen for
Obama, Spielberg for Clinton... Jeffery, what say you?

----------------------

Guys...this is becoming serious...and frankly, I don't like this...

OBAMA needs to do something.

We are 7 months away...and he's still second in the Poll and endorsement. What is he doing???

Why can he unleash the power of Oprah or something?

I hope Senator Clinton's winning of the Democratic primary remains a fictional story produced by DreamWorks. However, if she gets the nomination, I will be dismayed that my choice for president remains a lesser of two evils.

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