I wrote the following for you my fellow citizens who are attending college, and are supporters of Senator Barack Obama. I want to you to think about it while you are waking up on Election Day and while you are standing in line to vote.
A Minute Of Your Time
By Terry Cardwell
On November 4th., 2008, Cpl. Leroy C. Howe is asking you for a minute of your time.
I first became aware of him as a 13 year old girl, the day my mother took me to visit his mother. When we walked in to the house, her sobbing was the first thing I heard, it still echoes in my soul. She was sitting at a table with a picture of her youngest son, propped in front of her. Leroy was such a handsome figure in his military uniform, his face is forever seared on my heart. She was blaming herself for signing the papers that let him join the service. He was only 17 when he begged her to let him go to fight for freedom, in a place called Vietnam, there was no stopping him. Reluctantly she let him go.
She was now facing the nightmare she had feared that day she had signed the permission slip, she was going to have to bury her baby. He had been killed while trying to save the life of a fellow soldier. His heroic action had earned him the Silver Star. And there was a write up in the local paper, in which the headline on the front page screamed, the total number of soldiers killed to that date was 10,000. Their names are etched on a black stone wall.
Leroy instilled in me something I have carried with me through the rest of my life. He had the courage to fight for us all, so we wouldn’t have to use a gun to change things. It was so ironic that he died before he could even vote at the age of 21. Therefore, when the 18 year olds won the right to vote, I honored his sacrifice by exercising it.
Over the course of my life, the amount of time I have spent voting will never add up to the loss of his. He should have turned 60 this year. This year the Leroys of all of our generations are asking you for a minute of your time. Please vote.
Now please take a second to pass this on to every college student you know.
Four years ago, I wrote a piece that my local newspaper published as a guest editorial, since then I have shortened it and made it sound more like a ballad. The original asked at the end, which Presidential candidate would earn the country’s trust over the handling of the Iraqi War. This one pays homage to my heroes. I am resubmitting it with my take on one of the most important elections of my lifetime.
As I listened to the news today I found myself in a long ago spot, reading…the headline from Vietnam that screamed 10,000 dead, while on my way to console a distant relative. He died a hero, trying to save a buddy, the second page read. My handsome cousin had become one more statistic. His face is seared on my heart; his mother’s sobs ring in my soul. We’re defending freedom was the political logic. So trust me, my President said, this enemy can’t win against our strong will. Meanwhile the rice patties turned bright red, as his general spoke of our warriors battling to the very last hill.
And the war raged on. Too soon I was sitting in my family church, watching… the smoke from the candle that I’d lit waft aloft with my heartfelt prayer, God please protect my soldier in this horrible fright, to loose one more of my kin I couldn’t bear. That wish answered the day he brushed the hand of fate, I thank the Almighty for granting him a stay of execution, while his dear friend stepped through Heaven’s gate. The enemy was slick and cunning, drawing no line on the land. The rules had to change; survival became the name of the game. For the ‘grunts’ there would be no summit to take a final brave stand.
Now voices were rising to a deafening roar, shouting stop this war! Listening… as my brother became a man and faced the draft turned lottery. He had no college to hide in, or loophole to slip through, to dodge the killing game. His path would be decided by the luck of the draw, what a mockery! Striking a match to the wick yet again, I cried, how much more can a family give to this blood soaked deal? Was the effort to resist this evil force worth it, my country sighed. Then on TV, birth dates were being matched to a number, with July 7th and three sixty-five, my brother had hit the jackpot. And the look on my mother’s face I will always remember.
Alas, there was no victory ride; 58,169 caskets came home from that ghastly clash. Staining... the flag with blood from the fallen, wounding the pride of a courageous people. Never again would we find ourselves in quicksand, was the vow, it echoed in every house and under every steeple. Until 9/11, when peace was shattered by men adept at hiding in plain sight. Eager to commit suicide, they pledge allegiance to a different master. Living far and wide, they work in the shadows of the night. Our plainspoken chief swears, we’ll hunt and kill every last one, trust me. So off to a distant nation our military was sent for a powerful strike. “Shock and awe” it was hyped, would bring these ‘evil doers’ to their knee.
Nuclear annihilation was then bandied about; I’ll stop the threat, my leader pledged. Seeding…the plans for a different conquest, we’re soon convinced of the need for attack. Our forces plunge in with imposing might. The casualties list when tallied is light, What a crazy description to use for loved ones blown apart in Iraq. And the commander has missed a telltale sign of our inevitable fate. These terrorists are wily and shrewd; they draw no line in the sand, their butchery is random; for thousands of years they’ve fed their hate. The contest evolves into self-preservation; the desert oozes a sickening red. There’s no place to take that triumphant stand, the recruits quickly grasp, as the planes fly home with coffins that cradle the noble dead.
On the news tonight a neighbor has lost his daughter, in the heat of the current hell. Dividing…is my country, as his family mourns and the figures swell from this errant war. We are bringing liberty to a feuding land, is what my President spouts, removing the scab on a long forgotten sore. The memory is vivid; I’m walking toward a sorrowful meeting. I stop in front of a black stone wall; and reach up to trace the name. Head spinning, I wipe a tear from my eye, so fast my heart is beating. You were my hero Corporal Leroy C. Howe, I whisper, and that you will always be. As I take the etching and place it in my pocket, I’m at present-day, I light the candle, “Dear God, watch over my newest ones,” I plea.
Trust this, somewhere on a mountainside, in a cave, a monster sits surfing the web, Planning…The next déjà vu.
It has been four years since I first wrote this piece, and we are still arguing about who was right or wrong about Vietnam and now Iraq. One of the current Presidential candidates was actually in the Vietnam War, how ironic! Senator McCain you voted with Pres. Bush to go to war with Iraq, by doing so you allowed your military judgment to cloud with the smoke of deception. Now you tout that you argued to use a “surge in forces” to end it. That my friend does not give you a pass on the decision you made that first fateful time. On August 30, 2008, you announced your pick for running mate as Sara Plain, the obscure Governor of Alaska. So I became curious as to where she stood on the Iraqi war, because her son would soon be deployed there, that is when I found a quote by her that I find truly disheartening.
In an interview with Alaska Business Monthly shortly after she took office in 2007, Palin was asked about the upcoming surge. She said she hadn't thought about it. "I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq," she said. "I heard on the news about the new deployments, and while I support our president, Condoleezza Rice and the administration…, seven months into the surge, she still either had not formed any opinion on the surge or the war or just wasn't sharing. "I'm not here to judge the idea of withdrawing, or the timeline," she said in a teleconference interview with reporters during a July 2007 visit with Alaska National Guard troops stationed in Kuwait. "I'm not going to judge even the surge. I'm here to find out what Alaskans need of me as their governor."
Four thousand one hundred and forty two American soldiers have died in a war and Gov. Palin has had no time to think about it! Practically every person in America has formed an opinion about it, except Palin? However, she does not hesitate to voice her support for the President and his administration that started it? Time has already concluded that they hadn’t thought about the consequences of it either.
Today, I have a nephew and a step-grandson serving in Iraq. Mrs. Palin, I think about the war every single day, praying that I will not have to read about another relative “being blown apart,” for a mistake. I will now add your son to my prayers.
Senator McCain, while I honor your service to my country, I do not respect your choice for the person who will be just one heart beat away from yours. In a recent People magazine interview, Palin was asked about this very issue, “Do you feel ready to be a heartbeat away from the presidency?” She answered Absolutely. Yup, yup. Especially with a good team around us.” Here is a question that wasn’t asked, “What team would she have thinking for her?” She is a staunch Conservative who believes Creationism should be taught in schools. Didn’t Bush hold the same view? But, the most telling thing of all is that Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh and many in the GOP, are out right now selling McCain’s choice, when most of them didn’t have many glowing things to say about him ever. Some of these very same people still defend Bush unfailingly. I say, buyer beware!
Corporal Leroy C. Howe, in the year that you should have turned sixty, and 36 years after
I earned the right to vote as one of the first 18 year olds, for the first time I will pull that lever in November with a clear view of where I want my country to go; into the future with Barack Obama as President... he got the Iraqi War right on day one. Somewhere out there I want It to hear me.
Since 1980, the Republicans have controlled the White House 20 out of 28 years. During that time, I've…Picketed as my union was busted, because of Reagan's wink and nod. Smirked when the scabs lost the jobs they stole. Shook my head in disbelief as those jobs headed overseas. Moaned when my husband lost his government one, as the military base closed. Watched my town die a slow painful death, one job at a time. And I am still waiting for the tax cuts for the rich to trickle down. I stand helpless as my country's infrastructure deteriorates one brick at a time.
I'm thankful my Social Security didn't get "privatized" It would've went South along with my stocks.
I lower my head in shame when I pass an inner city school and think of the privileges my own kids had in going to the suburban one. I gasp as the gas pump meter climbs beyond my budget for fuel, and eats into the one for food. I ponder where we could've been if only we had weaned ourselves from oil years ago. I cringe when another billion is added to the national debt.I cry when a name is added to the death count from the Iraqi black hole. I am angry when I think of the lie that created that hole. I shudder at what bin Laden is planning for our next déjà vu.I talk to my daughter long distance, she's chasing the "American Dream" that's no longer possible in her home state. But most of all, I am terrified about of what kind of world I'm leaving my grandkids! Now, I watch a John McCain Ad and wonder why in the heck would I want another 4 years of RED? This November, I'll cast my vote for the "celebrity" that McCain has wasted millions trying to get me to hate. Because I find... I know McCain too well. He's just another Republican in sheep’s clothing.
March 22, 2008
Today is my cousin's birthday, he would've been 60 years old. He died in Vietnam, May 13, 1967. He was killed trying to protect his buddy which earned him the Silver Star and a spot on a stone cold black wall. His mother said he was so idealistic. He wanted to fight for his country and so he begged her to sign the papers because he was under aged and she did. I wonder what he would say about the race for the White House? In Vietnam there were no prejudices, they left the moment you ducked from the first gunfire. As it happens in all wars. It becomes us vs. them in it's most primal form. I do know he’s smiling at the participation of the youth in this election, they are so idealistic, they want to change this country for the good. How can you argue with that? Cpl. Leroy C. Howe a hero for us all.
The Cold Within
By James Patrick Kinney
Six humans trapped by happenstance in black and bitter cold Each possessed a stick of wood, Or so the story's told.
Their dying fire in need of logs, the first woman held hers back For on the faces around the fire She noticed one was black.
The next man looking 'cross the way Saw one not of his church And couldn't bring himself to give The fire his stick of birch.
The third one sat in tattered clothes He gave his coat a hitch, Why should his log be put to use To warm the idle rich?
The rich man just sat back and thought Of the wealth he had in store, And how to keep what he had earned
From the lazy, shiftless poor.
The black man's face bespoke revenge As the fire passed from his sight, For all he saw in his stick of wood Was a chance to spite the white.
And the last man of this forlorn group Did naught except for gain, Giving only to those who gave Was how he played the game.
The logs held tight in death's stilled hands Was proof of human sin, They didn't die from the cold without, They died from the cold within.
On Countdown Keith Olberman reported that Fox radio host Tom Sullivan alternated Hitler speeches with Obama's speeches. He said it was to compare their similar styles?LinkWrite a letter to Tom Sullivan and Fox radio to protest the unbelievable nastiness. I fired off a scorching one myself threatening a letter campaing to Fox's advertisers. We have to let these disgusting news media know we won't take their garbage any more. foxnewsradio@foxnews.com tomsullivanradio@foxnews.com
The following is the the letter I wrote in protest;
Dear Mr. Sullivan,
I assume you are of Irish lineage because of your name forgive me if you aren't. Years ago when I was a little girl growing up in the late 1950's and early 1960's I heard stories of WW2 and the evil man called Hitler. I remember listening to the words and the cheering crowds when a part of his speech was played. I couldn't understand those words but I remember the unbelievable human destruction he caused. He drove others to hate their neighbors. He drove them to exterminate millions of people just because of their religion or ethnicity. And it chilled me too my soul.
Even as a little girl I knew evil when I saw it and I spoke up against it. I stuck up for the fat kid next to me. I spoke up for the girl with the hand me down dress. Most kids don't achieve this kind of wisdom until they are much older. Some never grow up and are forever stuck in cowardly attacks on others. You are one of them, just an ugly little kid trying to be the bully.
The reason I asked if you are Irish is because I and Barack Obama are too. Yeah that's right his great, great, great grandfather came from Ireland. And my mother told me that the Irish weren't treated very well when they first came to America. I know now it was because of ignorant, self serving people like you. Willing to say or do anything to get the ratings. No wonder the kids in this country are going around shooting each other. God help us all.
To play the speeches of Barack Obama and Hitler alternately to make a point puts you in the same category as one of the most evil men to have ever walked the earth. You are no better than Hitler, spreading hate with glee. Barack talks of empathy and treating others the way you would want to be treated, his life has been to do nothing but good.
Jesus Christ preached those same words 2000 years ago, and he was crucified. I know that will never happen to you, your followers never persecute the evil amongst themselves. They feed the beast. And if there is a character assassinationI will hold ou and the garbage like you responsible. His blood will be on all of your hands. Just like it is already there from all of the ones who died trying to bring us together.
Sincerely, Terry xxxxxxxxxxxxx,NY
In 1972 I became one of the first 18 year olds to vote. And I took that right seriously because of the memory I had carried with me from 1967 when a cousin was killed in Vietnam. He had won the Silver Star for trying to save a buddy's life. His handsome face is etched on my heart. His mother's sobs still echo through my soul.
The vote I cast that November gave me the most powerful feeling a teenager could ever have, that I could actually change something. Even when it didn't end the war I knew my vote was still important.
Through the years I have faithfully voted. Even when the luster had gone my reason remained the same.
Until Barack Obama came on to the scene and I heard his message and read his policies. The biggest thing that moved me to support him is the fact he opposed the Iraqi war from the beginning for the very same reasons I did.
As an average citizen I could assess the reasons not to wage war, while Hillary Clinton was sitting in the Senate with all of the information, and she couldn't see what was right in front of her face. She assumed Pres. Bush wouldn't use the powers she voted to give him. And she also assumed she would be the Democratic nominee after Super Tuesday. Why else did she run out of money? And we all know what happens when we assume things...It makes an ass of you and me.
Now, I feel like that long lost teenager again eager to change the world. And for the first time in a very long time I know my vote will count in ending an unjust war. I even had another first, I voted in my very first primary on 2/5.
Please remember Cpl. Leroy C. Howe as you make your decision, he is the one I think of every time I vote. And I ask you to vote for Barack Obama.
I know that there are people who automatically turn their mind off when they hear Barack Obama's name so I find it is much easier to lure them with bait. Below is a letter I have been e-mailing where I changed the title slightly, I took out the Pro-Obama part and the reference to him in the introduction. By using only the Why I Am Pro-Life part you get someone to look. By the time they read Obama's name it's too late. Feel free to cut and paste it and send it on it's way!
Subject: Why I'm Pro-life
Frank SchaefferFrank Schaeffer is a writer and author of "CRAZY FOR GOD -- How I Grew Up As One Of The Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back"
Why I'm Pro-life
I am pro-life. In fact, without my family's involvement in the pro-life movement it would not exist as we know it. Evangelicals weren't politicized until after my late father and evangelical leader Francis Schaeffer, Dr. Koop (Reagan's soon-to-be Surgeon General) and I stirred them up over the issue of abortion in the mid-1970s. Our Whatever Happened to the Human Race? book, movie series and seminars brought the evangelicals into the pro-life movement.(Dad's political influence persists. Last week one of my father's followers -- Mike Huckabee -- was interviewed by Katie Couric, along with all the other presidential candidates. Couric asked the candidates if they were to be sent to a desert island and could only take one book besides the Bible, what would that that book be? Huckabee answered that he'd take my father's book Whatever Happened To The Human Race?)
In 2000, we elected a president who claimed he believed God created the earth and who, as president, put car manufacturers and oil company's interests ahead of caring for that creation. We elected a pro-life Republican Congress that did nothing to actually care for pregnant women and babies. And they took their sincere evangelical followers for granted, and played them for suckers.
The so-called evangelical leadership -- Dobson, Robertson et al. also played the pro-life community for suckers. While thousands of men and women in the crisis pregnancy movement gave of themselves to help women and babies, their evangelical "leaders" did little more than cash in on fundraising opportunities and represent themselves as power-brokers to the craven politicians willing to kowtow to them.
Fast forward...
Today when I listen to Obama speak (and to his remarkable wife, Michelle) what I hear is a world view that actually nurtures life. Obama is trying to lead this country to a place where the intrinsic worth of each individual is celebrated. A leader who believes in hope, the future, trying to save our planet and providing a just and good life for everyone is someone who is actually pro-life.
Conversely the "pro-life" ethic of George W. Bush manifested itself in a series of squandered opportunities to call us to our better natures. After 9/11, Bush told most Americans to go shopping while saddling the few who volunteered for military service with endless tours of duty (something I know a little about since my son was a Marine and deployed several times). The Bush doctrine of life was expressed by starting an unnecessary war in Iraq that has killed thousands of Americans and wounded tens of thousands more.
The society that Obama is calling us to sacrifice for is a place wherein life would be valued not just talked about. As he said in his speech delivered on February 6 in New Orleans, "Too often, we lose our sense of common destiny; that understanding that we are all tied together; that when a woman has less than nothing in this country, that makes us all poorer." Obama was talking about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but his words also apply to our overall view of ourselves.Regardless of the official position of the Supreme Court on abortion, a country in which all Americans are offered some sort of dignity and hopeful future would be a place conducive to the kind of optimism each of us must hold in our hearts if we are to welcome children into this world. But if our highest aspiration is to be a consumer with no thought or care for our neighbor, we will remain a culture in which abortion is not only inevitable but logical.What we need in America is a spiritual rebirth, a turning away from the false value of consumerism and utilitarianism that have trumped every aspect of human life. To implement this vision we need leaders that inspire but to do so they have to be what they say they are. It's not about policy it's about character.
Obama's rivals for the nomination -- the Clintons -- do not inspire. When the Clintons were in the White House they talked about humane values while Bill Clinton betrayed every single person who voted for him by carrying on an unseemly sexual dalliance in the Oval Office with a young woman barely out of her teens. Since that time the Clintons have enriched themselves through their connections to a point where they're able to make a $5 million personal loan to their campaign.For someone who says she has spent "the last 35 years of my life as an advocate for children" and/or "fighting for healthcare" that's a lot of money to have collected through doing good works. Presidential Mother Teresa wannabes shouldn't be doing deals with uranium mining outfits in Kazakhstan while schmoozing with the likes of President Nursultan Nazarbayev and wealthy mining magnates -- not if they want the moral authority to lead.
Similarly the Republicans have also been hypocrites while talking big, for instance about their pro-life ethic. But what have they achieved? First, through their puritanical war on sex education they've hindered our country from actually preventing unwanted pregnancy. Second, through the Republican Party's marriage to the greediest and most polluting earth-destroying corporations they've created a climate (both moral and physical) that has scorched the earth for-profit, with no regard to future generations whatsoever. The Republicans are to the pro-life movement what the Clintons are to selfless public service.
The real solution to abortion is to change the heart of America, not the law. We need to stop seeing ourselves as consumers. We need to stop seeing ourselves as me and begin to think of we. Our country needs someone to show us a better way, a president who is what he seems, someone with actual moral authority that our diverse population can believe in who has the qualities that make us want to follow him. Obama is that person.Frank Schaeffer is a writer and author of "CRAZY FOR GOD -- How I Grew Up As One Of The Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/why-im-prolife-and-pro_b_85636.html
Go to my blog site and scroll down to the blog on, Our Chance to Change The Page of History, I introduce Caroline Kennedy, RFK'S widow Ethel, RFK's daughter Rory, Ike Eisenhower's granddaughter, Susan and the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan's widow Elizabeth. And then pasted in their endorsements
Also there is one with a playful take on Barack Obama's name, I sent that to my daughter and she laughed and cried.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/teresacardwell
Cut and paste it in to an e-mail and send it on it's way. We all know the power of the internet! :)
DEJA VUE
As I listened to the news today, I found myself in a long ago spot,
Reading
From a place called Vietnam the headline that screamed 10,000 dead,
While on my way to console a distant relative.
He died a hero, trying to save the life of another, the second page read,
My handsome cousin had become one more statistic.
His face is seared on my heart; his mother’s sobs ring in my soul.
We’re defending freedom was the political logic.
So trust me, my President said, this enemy can’t win against our strong will.
Meanwhile the rice patties turned bright red,
As his general spoke of our warriors battling to the very last hill.
And the war raged on. Too soon, I was sitting in my family church,
Watching
The smoke from the candle that I’d lit; waft aloft with my heartfelt prayer,
God please protect my soldier in this horrible fright,
To loose one more of my kin I couldn’t bear.
That wish answered the day he brushed the hand of fate,
I thank the Almighty for granting him a stay of execution,
While his dear friend stepped through Heaven’s gate.
The enemy was slick and cunning, drawing no line on the land.
The rules had to change; survival became the name of the game.
For the ‘grunts’ there would be no summit to take a final brave stand.
Now voices were rising to a deafening roar, shouting stop this war!
Listening
As my brother became a man and faced the draft turned lottery,
He had no college to hide in, or loophole to slip through, to dodge the killing game.
His path would be decided by the luck of the draw, such an absurdity!
Striking a match to the wick yet again, I cried,
How much more can a family give to this blood soaked deal?
Was the effort to resist this evil force worth it? My country sighed.
Then on TV, birth dates were being matched to a number,
With July 7th and three sixty-five, my brother had hit the jackpot.
And the look on my mother’s face I will always remember.
Alas, there was no victory ride; 58,169 caskets came home from that ghastly clash.
Staining
The flag with blood from the fallen, wounding the pride of a courageous people.
Never again would we find ourselves in quicksand, was the vow,
It echoed in every house and under every steeple.
Until that September day when peace was shattered by men adept at hiding in plain sight,
Eager to commit suicide, they pledge allegiance to a different master.
Living far and wide, they work in the shadows of the night.
Our plainspoken chief swears that we’ll hunt and kill every last one, trust me.
So off to a distant nation our military was sent for a powerful strike.
“Shock and awe” it was hyped, would bring these ‘evil doers’ to their knee.
Nuclear annihilation was then bandied about; I’ll stop the threat, my leader pledged.
Seeding
The plans for a different conquest, we’re soon convinced of the need for attack.
Our forces plunge in with imposing might. The casualties’ list when tallied is light,
What a crazy description to use for loved ones blown apart in Iraq.
And the commander has missed a telltale sign of our inevitable fate.
These terrorists are wily and shrewd; they draw no line in the sand,
Their butchery is random; for thousands of years they’ve fed their hate.
The contest evolves into self-preservation; the desert oozes a sickening red.
There’s no place to take that triumphant stand, the recruits quickly grasp,
As the planes fly home with coffins that cradle the noble dead.
On the news tonight, a coworker has lost his daughter in the heat of the current hell.
Dividing
Is my country, as his family mourns and the figures swell from this errant war.
We are bringing liberty to a feuding land, is what my President spouts,
Removing the scab on a long forgotten sore.
The memory is vivid; I’m walking toward a sorrowful meeting.
I stop in front of a black stone wall; and reach up to trace the name.
Head spinning, I wipe a tear from my eye, so fast my heart is beating.
You were my hero Corporal Leroy C. Howe, I whisper, and that you will always be.
As I take the etching and place it in my pocket, I’m at present-day,
I light the candle, “Dear God, watch over my newest ones,” I plea.
Trust this, somewhere on a mountainside, in a cave, a monster sits surfing the web.
Planning…
The next déjà vu.
Teresa Cardwell 2005
You can cut and paste the following into e-mail and send to every one. We all know how fast things get around on the net!
Our Chance To Turn A Page Of History
What do the daughter of JFK, Caroline Kennedy , RFK's widow Ethel, RFK's daughter Rory, the granddaughter of Ike Eisenhower, and the widow of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan have in common?
They are all urging us to turn the page of history. Please take the time to read their reasons. And learn why they have all come to the same conclusion before you cast your vote in the Feb. 5, 2008 primary.
Together we can lift our country out of the 20th. Century and place it squarely in the 21’st Century for the sake of our children and all of the generations to come.
OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.
My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.
Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.
We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960.
Most of us would prefer to base our voting decision on policy differences. However, the candidates’ goals are similar. They have all laid out detailed plans on everything from strengthening our middle class to investing in early childhood education. So qualities of leadership, character and judgment play a larger role than usual.
Senator Obama has demonstrated these qualities throughout his more than two decades of public service, not just in the United States Senate but in Illinois, where he helped turn around struggling communities, taught constitutional law and was an elected state official for eight years. And Senator Obama is showing the same qualities today. He has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people — known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics — to become engaged in the political process.
I have spent the past five years working in the New York City public schools and have three teenage children of my own. There is a generation coming of age that is hopeful, hard-working, innovative and imaginative. But too many of them are also hopeless, defeated and disengaged. As parents, we have a responsibility to help our children to believe in themselves and in their power to shape their future. Senator Obama is inspiring my children, my parents’ grandchildren, with that sense of possibility.
Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign. He has spoken eloquently about the role of faith in his life, and opened a window into his character in two compelling books. And when it comes to judgment, Barack Obama made the right call on the most important issue of our time by opposing the war in Iraq from the beginning.
I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.
I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.
Caroline Kennedy is the author of “A Patriot’s Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love.”
“I was humbled to read Mrs. Kennedy’s statement,” said Senator Obama. “Few people hold such a cherished place in the hearts of Americans, and it’s an extraordinary honor to have her support.”
Below is Mrs. Kennedy’s full statement:
Over these past few years, I’ve watched Senator Obama inspire Americans from all walks of life to believe in real change and a new sense of hope and possibility. He’s a magnetic force, drawing the nation together for the common good and galvanizing us all to help shape our country’s future. Barack is so like Bobby, who struggled for the rights of the poor in the Mississippi Delta and Appalachia, traveled to California to stand in solidarity with Cesar Chavez and farm workers, and fought to end another war that cost so many lives. Today, we crave a leader with vision who can help us regain our lost humanity and rekindle our inherent generosity. With courage, caring, and charisma, Senator Obama is leading us toward a kinder, gentler world. Senator Obama’s candidacy sends out ‘ripples of hope’ that can build a ‘current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.’ I am proud to support Barack Obama, and look forward to him leading this country toward a brighter, more hopeful future.
Over these past few years, I’ve watched Senator Obama inspire Americans from all walks of life to believe in real change and a new sense of hope and possibility. He’s a magnetic force, drawing the nation together for the common good and galvanizing us all to help shape our country’s future.
Barack is so like Bobby, who struggled for the rights of the poor in the Mississippi Delta and Appalachia, traveled to California to stand in solidarity with Cesar Chavez and farm workers, and fought to end another war that cost so many lives.
Today, we crave a leader with vision who can help us regain our lost humanity and rekindle our inherent generosity. With courage, caring, and charisma, Senator Obama is leading us toward a kinder, gentler world.
Senator Obama’s candidacy sends out ‘ripples of hope’ that can build a ‘current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.’ I am proud to support Barack Obama, and look forward to him leading this country toward a brighter, more hopeful future.
Rory Kennedy
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Last Monday, I was very moved to see my uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy, and my cousin, Caroline Kennedy, publicly endorse Sen. Barack Obama. I thought their statements of support were brave, intelligent and responsible. Given the importance of this election, and the remarkable strength of our candidates, it's not an easy decision for anyone looking to cast a vote for a new direction in this country.
Sen. Hillary Clinton is a truly remarkable leader. She has given an enormous amount to our country as a public servant and to my family as a friend. Not only does she stand ready to be president, but she would be the first woman to hold the highest office in the land.
All that makes her very appealing. As a woman, a mother, and feminist, I can fully appreciate the symbolic power of a woman in the Oval Office. I have dedicated my life to making documentaries, many of which focus on women's issues. I would love to have my daughters see a female president in our lifetimes. And still, that is not enough of a reason for me to vote for Senator Clinton.
I empathize with Senator Clinton. In her run for president, she has been forced to walk a difficult line. She is scrutinized not only for her political positions, but also for her clothing, hair and make-up. When she is tough, she is called cold, when she is emotional, she is labeled weak. It can't be easy. I have an enormous amount of respect for the way she has handled this near-impossible balancing act. And still, that is not enough of a reason for me to vote for her.
I am concerned about women getting equal pay for equal work and breaking through the glass ceiling. I care about policies regarding health and education, issues that affect me personally. I have no doubt of Senator Clinton's commitment to these issues. And still, that is not enough of a reason for me to vote for her.
Times are far too dark, the price of failure too steep and the road ahead too perilous for us to vote on identity politics. I would love to see a woman be president. I would love to see an African American be president. But right now, what I would love most is to elect the best person for the job.
I believe that person is Sen. Barack Obama. As a leader, he has inspired generations of Americans to look beyond reductive categories like gender or race. Instead, he calls on us to think past our own individual interests, to envision a world that is better for every person in it.
Like Senator Clinton, I have no doubt of Senator Obama's commitment to the issues I care about. But, his unique ability to unify this country and transcend partisan gridlock means that we can finally get something done.
In my years making documentaries, I have traveled to remote regions, from small villages in South America, to townships in South Africa, to the hollows of Appalachia. Every trip, every film, I meet people who still keep photographs of my family on their walls. They cry when they meet me, simply because they were touched by my father, Robert Kennedy. In part, this is because my father supported policies and legislation that helped the disenfranchised. But it is also, and perhaps more importantly, because they felt that my father understood their pain. Senator Obama has that quality too. He has an open heart and an energizing spirit.
Recently, my mother, Ethel Kennedy, said of Obama: "I think he feels it. He feels it just like Bobby did. He has the passion in his heart. He's not selling you. It's just him."
I agree. Obama is a genuine leader. We Americans - women included - desperately need that kind of leader now. Not a president of a particular gender or a specific race, but a president with a different vision, one who inspires a sense of hope.
To elect Barack Obama is to choose a new direction, set a new course - to steer America toward a better place, better for women as well as men, better for us all.
Why I'm Backing Obama
By Susan EisenhowerSaturday, February 2, 2008; A15
Forty-seven years ago, my grandfather Dwight D. Eisenhower bid farewell to a nation he had served for more than five decades. In his televised address, Ike famously coined the term "military-industrial complex," and he offered advice that is still relevant today. "As we peer into society's future," he said, we "must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow."
Today we are engaged in a debate about these very issues. Deep in America's heart, I believe, is the nagging fear that our best years as a nation may be over. We are disliked overseas and feel insecure at home. We watch as our federal budget hemorrhages red ink and our civil liberties are eroded. Crises in energy, health care and education threaten our way of life and our ability to compete internationally. There are also the issues of a costly, unpopular war; a long-neglected infrastructure; and an aging and increasingly needy population.
I am not alone in worrying that my generation will fail to do what my grandfather's did so well: Leave America a better, stronger place than the one it found.
Given the magnitude of these issues and the cost of addressing them, our next president must be able to bring about a sense of national unity and change. As we no longer have the financial resources to address all these problems comprehensively and simultaneously, setting priorities will be essential. With hard work, much can be done.
The biggest barrier to rolling up our sleeves and preparing for a better future is our own apathy, fear or immobility. We have been living in a zero-sum political environment where all heads have been lowered to avert being lopped off by angry, noisy extremists. I am convinced that Barack Obama is the one presidential candidate today who can encourage ordinary Americans to stand straight again; he is a man who can salve our national wounds and both inspire and pursue genuine bipartisan cooperation. Just as important, Obama can assure the world and Americans that this great nation's impulses are still free, open, fair and broad-minded.
No measures to avert the serious, looming consequences can be taken without this sense of renewal. Uncommon political courage will be required. Yet this courage can be summoned only if something profoundly different transpires. Putting America first -- ahead of our own selfish interests -- must be our national priority if we are to retain our capacity to lead.
The last time the United States had an open election was 1952. My grandfather was pursued by both political parties and eventually became the Republican nominee. Despite being a charismatic war hero, he did not have an easy ride to the nomination. He went on to win the presidency -- with the indispensable help of a "Democrats for Eisenhower" movement. These crossover voters were attracted by his pledge to bring change to Washington and by the prospect that he would unify the nation.
It is in this great tradition of crossover voters that I support Barack Obama's candidacy for president. If the Democratic Party chooses Obama as its candidate, this lifelong Republican will work to get him elected and encourage him to seek strategic solutions to meet America's greatest challenges. To be successful, our president will need bipartisan help.
Given Obama's support among young people, I believe that he will be most invested in defending the interests of these rising generations and, therefore, the long-term interests of this nation as a whole. Without his leadership, our children and grandchildren are at risk of growing older in a marginalized country that is left to its anger and divisions. Such an outcome would be an unacceptable legacy for any great nation.
Susan Eisenhower, a business consultant, is the author of four books, most recently "Partners in Space: US-Russian Cooperation After the Cold War."
Elizabeth B. Moynihan, the widow of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the New York senator who, from a hayfield on his upstate farm, helped shepherd Hillary Rodham Clinton into his Senate seat, has endorsed Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination.
In an e-mail statement to the Obama campaign, Mrs. Moynihan, an architectural historian who successfully managed three of her husband’s four Senate campaigns, said she had been inspired by an Op-Ed article by Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the slain president, in The New York Times on Sunday. Mrs. Moynihan added that she was also dismayed at Bill and Hillary Clinton’s recent hostility toward Mr. Obama’s candidacy.
She wrote that her husband, who died in 2003, “would have become excited, as I have, to see Barack Obama rekindle hope in our young as he encourages them to participate in the political process, and I know Pat would approve, applaud and encourage me to join Caroline Kennedy in supporting Barack Obama’s candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president.”
“It is a rare gift to be able to inspire people to share a vision that requires commitment and dedication,” she wrote in the e-mail message, to David Axelrod, a senior adviser to Mr. Obama.
“The hope that John Kennedy characterized for Americans spread across the world, then faded with his death,” Mrs. Moynihan wrote. “I believe Obama, like Kennedy, has the gift to transcend obstacles and to inspire Americans to bring out the best in themselves. I firmly believe the election of Barack Obama would help restore hope and America’s image in the world.”
Mrs. Moynihan, who lives in Manhattan, has never met Mr. Obama, but said she had followed his career, speeches and performances in the presidential debates. She has never been fond of Mrs. Clinton.
In “The Gentleman From New York,” a biography of Mr. Moynihan, Godfrey Hodgson wrote: “Privately, the senator’s wife had not hidden her impression that Hillary Clinton ‘didn’t get it,’ meaning that she didn’t understand how either the Senate or the senator worked.”
He wrote that the Moynihans were impressed with Mrs. Clinton’s “intelligence and candor,” but that even on the eve of the July 1999 visit to the farm, Mrs. Moynihan had reservations about using her home as a public launching pad.
“I’ve never made a circus for Pat, and I’m not going to make a circus for her,” Mrs. Moynihan was quoted as saying.
Mrs. Moynihan said she did not notify the Clinton campaign of her decision, but in her statement said that Mrs. Clinton had “become a very good senator.
The Clinton campaign had no comment Wednesday on Mrs. Moynihan’s endorsement.
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On its Web site Wednesday, The New York Post endorsed Mr. Obama, saying he “represents a fresh start” while Mrs. Clinton “and her husband, stand for déjà vu all over again, a return to the opportunistic, scandal-scarred, morally muddled years of the almost infinitely self-indulgent Clinton co-presidency.”
On Wednesday, another political spouse was spotted at an Upper East Side fund-raiser for Mr. Obama: Alma Rangel, whose husband, Representative Charles B. Rangel, has been a leading supporter of Mrs. Clinton’s presidential candidacy and was also instrumental in encouraging her to run for the Senate in 2000. A spokesman for the congressman said he was unaware that Mrs. Rangel had attended the fund-raiser, a luncheon at the home of the art dealers Peter and Patricia Findlay.
Michelle Obama, the candidate’s wife, told supporters in Stamford on Wednesday not to assume that her husband would run again if he loses this year when he still has the advantages of youth. “This is the only time we will have a chance to have someone who is three years from paying off his student debt and still going to Target to get toilet paper,” she said.
YES WE CAN TURN THE PAGE...VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION ON FEBRUARY 2008.
I have just e-mailed the New York Post about their choice of headlines today.
To the New York Post,
How dare you endorse Barack Obama in the democratic primary race then slap him with the front page headlines. We out in the real world can decipher the message you conveyed. A Black man endorsed for nomination on one half the page and a Black man accused of a sex ring on the other.
Don't take such a cheap shot at a candidate who has more character, grace and dignity than Bush and Company combined. How else could you explain his rise from nowhere to the national stage where he is now battling the giant image of Clinton. It has been rumored that the Clinton camp was courting your endorsement. Perhaps they have gotten it after all.
There's a tsunami coming 2/5. please hold your breath when the wave hits. We Obama people value all our citizens and don't want you to drown.
Eyes wide open, disgustingly yours,
Terry Cardwell, Hillary's State, Obama's Country, Our United States of America.
Please take a moment to send them an e-mail protesting the obvious bigotry. letters@nypost.com
It is January 2009; A group of terrorists are standing before their leader as he builds them up for jihad by yelling death to the infidel! At that moment Osama comes to visit the camp. Shots ring out and as the smoke clears Osama is dead. The leader cries, why did you kill Osama? You told us to, the troops reply. You idiots he shouts... I said Obama!
Barack Obama deserves tremendous respect, he comes on to the national campaing with so much baggage, his mixed heritage, his name, his absence of celebrity, But now he his standing center stage with the best name in present history, Clinton. You would be insane not to place your bet on her.
Not me, I'm placing all of my money on the guy who has managed to raise 100,000,000 in 10 months, 32 million in one month, has generated so much energy and enthusium amongst the young, can get the White heart of America in Iowa to vote for him and get a 54 year old 'women's libber' to join a campaign as a volunteer for the first time in my life is a very strong bet.
In 2009 when I fly over the United States of America, I will be able to smile for the first time in a very. very long time.
P.S. Please write a letter to Microsoft demanding that they change the spell checker tool. Osama is no longer the only correct spelling.
I am Irish, German, Scotch with a splash of American Indian.
My husband is African and French.
Our two daughters are Irish, German, Scotch, American Indian, African and French.
We have relatives that are gay.
Two that are Republican...How that happened we still haven't figured out.
AND TOGETHER WE ARE AMERICANS!
YES WE CAN!
How Slow It’s Been
I am writing to you today because I’m faced with a terrible dilemma. But first let me give you a little background. I am African American and I come from the streets of Chicago. I joined the Air Force when I was 17 in 1954. The first time I encountered segregation was in Topeka, Kansas. Being new to the area I went to the local movie theatre to pass some time. I never did go in for there in the window was the sign, No Negroes Allowed! Can you imagine how it felt, to be standing there in my uniform that symbolized the United States of America and I wasn’t being treated like one of its' citizens?
I witnessed the changes the 1960’s made. But the one I want to point out is John F. Kennedy’s bid for the presidency in 1960. Do any of you remember what the biggest issues of his candidacy were? 1. He could never win the presidency he was to young. 2. He was Irish Catholic and nobody would vote for him, he’d use the presidency to push his religion. And we’d never had an Irish president. But most importantly he was talking about ending segregation. He was a breath of fresh air.
Flash forward to today and what do we have but an American whose mother was White and his father was African running for president. And the biggest issues concerning his candidacy are that he isn’t Black enough, or he is too Black. And once again he’s too young. But most importantly he wants to end politics as usual and our country isn't capable of doing that, where would it lead?
Now here is the dilemma I’m facing. I am married to an Irish Catholic who is a ‘women's libber.’ I like Senator Clinton and she likes Senator Obama. It’s a tough decision. Do I vote for the first woman who could be president? But with the same status quo voice of a politician. Or do I vote for the voice that could warp the whole country’s mindset in to the 21st. Century?
Think about it awhile. Take the time to really listen to what each candidate is saying. What is the message each of them brings? Which one makes you feel old and tired? Which one makes you feel young and new?
My fellow Americans just look how far we’ve come, but how slow it’s been. I’ve made my decision, I haven’t got much time left and it is time to speed things up. Please think of me when you cast your vote in the democratic primary on February 5. And pull the lever for change, vote for Barack Obama.
Sincerely, Ronald Cardwell, SSGT/USAF Retired
Two Dreams
As a young girl, I dared to dream that we could one day elect a woman president based on her own merits.
Along the way I found that beneath the color, all hearts beat the same. It was then that I added a second dream, that one day we could vote for a candidate based on their character and not their race.
How ironic it is now that I have both dreams to pick from...
One dream is tugging at my gender but she has needed her spouse to bolster her bid.
The other dream has no national name recognition yet he is now standing on the stage beside her, pulling me in to the future. And doing it based solely on the content of his character.
Sorry Hillary, it just isn’t your time. Barack Obama is my choice in the New York State democratic primary Feb 5th.
Hillary's State, Obama's Country, Our United States of America!
Our Common Ground
By Teresa Cardwell
Today…
A suicide bomber blew up a bus,
Was the missile fired back then just?
Once more the plea,
can’t a recipe be found,
to help us live on common ground?
Some scoff at the foods that others eat,
when sugar on any tongue is sweet.
Unique clothes can elicit a grin,
while underneath it’s the same skin.
The instrument played may deviate,
however it’s heard as music we create.
An exotic game the kids may play,
still their laughter brightens any day.
A language can sound like chatter,
it’s in the ‘words’ what matters.
Sneer at the house of mud and sticks,
making a home now that’s the trick.
Hate the family not of your kind,
they too share the love that binds.
Things we value may vary, but when lost
are paid with tears as the final cost.
Snub the society that lives a-far,
they simply reckon with a different bar.
People who assert their divinity,
have all prayed to God for ‘eternity’.
See only the color of another’s face.
below it beats the heart of every race.
No mother after giving a child life,
hopes someday he’ll carry a knife.
A father doesn’t wish for war,
it repels him to his very core.
‘An eye for an eye’ is in many a head,
yet once it’s over all blood runs red.
And the day you die is full of mirth,
as you revert to dust of Mother Earth.
Our humanity…
Circles round the disparity we seek,
to make us strong and others weak.
The recipe for Peace there waiting to be found,
since we all stand on common ground.
Today I have found the main ingredients for my recipe, add one Barack Obama, stir in a vast cross section of America and recreate The United States of America.
