Just Some Random Thoughts

"Enough!!!!!

Reggie; Who Just Signed Up For An 8 Year Tour Of "O"-Duty!!! — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 13:49:24 EST

O.k. I've had this idea for a while now but have refrained from posting it out of deference to our new Organizing Director. However we have heard nothing since the annoucement from David and we need to become active NOW, because if we continue to wait it will be too late when we finally do.

So here is my suggestion. It was our ground game that won this election and had the Republicans shaking in their boots. Yet we are all acting like now our job is done and it's somebody elses responsibiliy. NO IT'S NOT; IT'S STILL OURS!!!

We need to reactivate our ground game and direct it towards the organization of events across the country simply titled "ENOUGH!"

All across the country we need to get all the Precinct Captains re-activated and contact as many Americans as we can to join together at central locations in every city and town to send a message to our government. Make signs with that simply message and even if people have to work they can also participate in the same manner by simply having a sign or a button. They could do so during their lunch breaks and after work where ever they are. Shop owner could post signs in the windows. Housewives and the unemployed in fact all families can tape American flags to their window or hang them outside their windows with the "ENOUGH" written across it.

100,000's thousands at a location and 10's of thousands more just walking the streets in their areas all sending the same message that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!! It's time to support our President. He has stood up for us and now WE must stand up for him.

People President Obama can only succeed if we make it clear to Congress, and the media, that they need to get on board with the President or face the consequencs.

We should pick a day make this happen. If we don't the Republicans will continue work to erode his standing, and if we don't work with and for him they will succeed.

The only thing necessary for evil to prevail is that good men people do nothing!! WHAT ARE WE DOING??

Guys what I'm thinking of is an action that will not only have a central point of gathering but which will also encompass an entire city or town should anyone not be able to get to a specific location at a specific time.

Imagine seeing everywhere you look people and shop windows confronting you with the same message ... "Enough"

We can do this. We only need to get people on the ball in every community where they live and then have one person responsible from that community to link up with a command center of sorts to coordinate the logistics. We need to build our own infrastructure of Activism for America and for our President. Dems and Reps are hurting in this economy and Financial ruin is and equal opportunity destroyer. So all American no matter what their affiliation should be standing up and saying "ENOUGH!!"

Let me know you are with me and I'll get down to telling you how we get this thing off the ground ..... See I've already got that part partially figured out too LOL .... But I need help ;-)

Here is the e-mail address I set up specifically for this cause: enough.2009@yahoo.com

Please send anyone who has questions to this mail address. I also am in immediate need of a graphic artist!!! I have a wonderful design from one of our fellow bloggers Cynthia, it's fantastic bur Cyn' it not a Graphic Designer and it needs to look more professional. I want this to be our logo.

People is time to stand up!!! We've all given so much, but the road is long and we need to give more. Our children are depending on us to fight for their futures!!!! LET GET AT IT!!!

We also need to select a date ... Suggestions? I think we need at least 3 weeks to ramp this up properly.

Obama vs Palin - Year by Year

Reggie; Who Just Signed Up For An 8 Year Tour Of "O"-Duty!!! — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:49:51 EDT

Year-by-year break down of Palin & Obama resumes - Updated 2x by SantaFeMarie Mon Sep 01, 2008 at 10:06:13 PM PDT

I've seen this so many times I've lost count: TV Person #1 makes the point that Sarah Palin is not ready to lead on Day Two. To which TV Person #2 responds "she has as much experience as Obama".

I've had enough. Here's a side-by-side comparison, which I hope might be useful "talking points" for all you - go forth and multiply. Most of this is lifted straight from Wikipedia, and I pruned the minor branches. If you want me to add things, post comments and I'll update with anything that seems relevant.

One might say this diary brings Obama down to her level. Here is my dilemma: the TV talking heads are all spreading the "Palin is experienced myth". If you say "no she isn't" and summarize her resume, the response is "well, she has more experience than Obama". Once should reject that premise, yes; but then I think you should go on and demolish it with facts.

UpdatedI've made a few updates. Some formatting and typos. Added some statistics about the state of Alaska. Added some City of Wasilla finance details. Corrected the amount of earmarks for Wasilla ($27 million, not $8 million). Added some Obama campaign statistics.

SantaFeMarie's diary :: ::

Update 2 Added reference to attempt to ban books while Mayor. Please suggest more changes as appropriate.

1980 - 1984
Obama: B.A. in political science with a specialization in international relations from Columbia University.

Palin: Wasilla High School, captain of the state-champion basketball team. Miss Wasilla, runner-up in the Miss Alaska pageant, also Miss Congeniality, although that is now disputed.
Him: Ivy League degree.
Her: tiara.

1985 - 1990
Obama: moved to Chicago; became a community organizer as director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization on Chicago's far South Side. During his three years as the DCP's director, its staff grew from 1 to 13 and its annual budget grew from $70,000 to $400,000, with accomplishments including helping set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization.

Moved to Boston to attend Harvard Law School. Selected as an editor and then elected president of the Harvard Law Review, a full-time volunteer position functioning as editor-in-chief and supervising the law review's staff of 80 editors.

Palin: Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journalism, with a minor in political science from the University of Idaho. Brief stint as a sports reporter for local Anchorage television stations; left to join her husband in commercial fishing.
Him: sterling legal education.
Her: sportscaster.

1991 - 1995
Obama: graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School; received contract and advance to write a book ("Dreams from my Father") as well as a fellowship at the University of Chicago Law School. Directed the Illinois Project Vote from April to October 1992, a voter registration drive with a staff of 10 and 700 volunteers that achieved its goal of registering 150,000 of 400,000 unregistered African Americans in the state, leading Crain's Chicago Business to name Obama to its 1993 list of "40 under Forty" powers to be. Appointed as a Lecturer in constitutional law at the University of Chicago. Joined Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, a 12-attorney law firm specializing in civil rights litigation and neighborhood economic development. Active in several community organizations, usually as a board member.

Palin: member of the Alasaka Independence Party which advocates "Alaska First". Elected to Wasilla city council.

Him: Expert on our nation's fundamental legal principles.
Her: plotted to leave the Union; thinks Pledge of Allegiance was written by our founding fathers, doesn't know what a Vice President does.

1996 - 2000
Obama: promoted to Senior Lecturer in constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School. Elected to the Illinois Senate. Sponsored more than 800 bills. In 2000, lost a Democratic primary run for the U.S. House of Representatives to four-term incumbent Bobby Rush by a margin of two to one.

Palin: elected as mayor of Wasilla (population 5,470), defeating the incumbent by a total of 616 votes to 413. Town budget, $8 million (3 millionths of the Federal budget), approximately 100 employees. Reduced property taxes but increased sales taxes. Fired the Wasilla police chief, citing a failure to support her administration. (He then sued Palin on the grounds that he was fired because he supported the campaign of Palin's opponent, but his suit was dismissed when the judge ruled that Palin had the right under state law to fire city employees, even for political reasons.) Hired a DC lobbyist to bring $27 million in earmarks to the city. Wasilla had zero debt when she entered office but she left it with indebtedness of over $22 million, including $15 million-plus for construction of a hockey center which was built on a piece of property that the city didn’t even have clear title to, a matter that is still in litigation. Attempted to ban books from the city library.
Him: sponsored 800 bills.
Her: swayed 616 voters.

2001 - 2004
Obama: reelected in 2002 and became chairman of the Illinois Senate's Health and Human Services Committee.

Publicly spoke out against the invasion of Iraq BEFORE the congressional authorization in 2002, and then again before the actual invasion in 2003.

Wrote and delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

November 2004: elected to the US Senate, receiving over 3.5 million votes, more than 70% of total.

Palin: elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors. Unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor, coming in second in a five-way race in the Republican primary, receiving 19,000 votes. Appointed to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, served as chairman from 2003 to 2004 and also served as Ethics Supervisor. Resigned in protest over the "lack of ethics" of fellow Republican members. Exposed the state Republican Party's chairman, Randy Ruedrich, for doing party work on public time and working closely with a company he was supposed to be regulating. Director of Ted Stevens' 527 group.
Him: demonstrated the wisdom to oppose the Iraq folly before it even began.
Her: hasn't really though much about Iraq - despite the fact that 17 Alaskans have died there

2005 to present
Obama: Sworn in as the fifth-ever African-American U.S. senator. Worked with Republican Senator Lugar to author and implement a program to locate and dismantle stray Russian WMD's. Designated by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as the party's point man on ethics. Worked with Russ Feingold to pass a major ethics/lobbying reform bill. Cosponsored, with John McCain, the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act. Called for increased fuel efficiency standards (3 percent every year for 15 years). Assignments on the Senate Committees for Foreign Relations, Veterans' Affairs, and Homeland Security. Chairman of the Senate's subcommittee on European Affairs. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. Waged a tremendous battle to become the Democratic presidential nominee. Currently manages 2,500 campaign employees and a budget of $40-$50 million/month.

Palin: 2005: board member, Valley Hospital Association, which runs the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center in Wasilla.

Became youngest and first female Governor of Alaska, taking office in December, 2006. Received 114,600 votes. The population of Alaska is 683,478 and more than 50% of the state budget comes from oil revenues, not taxes as in other states. Gross State Product: $44 billion (including the oil revenue). Ranking 45 of 50.
Auctioned off the Governor's jet on eBay. Took on fellow-Republican Senator Ted Stevens to come clean about the federal investigation into his financial dealings. Promoted oil and natural gas resource development in Alaska. Helped pass a tax increase on oil company profits. Formed a sub-cabinet group of advisers to address climate change but does not accept that it is man-made. Objected to listing polar bears as an endangered species because it might hurt oil and gas development in the bears' habitat. Was for the bridge to nowhere before she was against it. However, Alaska kept the federal money. Denied her daughter was pregnant before she confirmed it. Supported abstinence-only education.Currently under a bipartisan investigation for abuse of power for dismissing Alaska's Public Safety Commissioner. Commander-in-Chief of the Alaska National Guard, but has played no role in national defense activities, even when they involve the Alaska National Guard. (The entire operation is under federal control, and the governor is not briefed on situations.)

Obtained her first passport in 2007 to perform visits to the Alaska National Guard in Kuwait and Germany. (Foreign experience so limited that a stopover in Ireland listed on her resume.)

Him: Impressive figure on the national stage who knows how Congress works and is engaged with foreign policy issues.
Her: small state governor for 21 months; "next to Russia", but that is just 1 of the 190 countries in the world she has never been to.

Conclusion: the word "executive" is not some kind of magic force multiplier when placed in front of the word "experience".

Josie's Day in Berlin - Thank You All So Much!!

Reggie; Who Just Signed Up For An 8 Year Tour Of "O"-Duty!!! — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:36:03 EDT

O.k everybody Josie and I have just this minute arrived back in Hamburg. We had a LONG exciting 2 days in Berlin. The event was massive wit over 200, 000 people there. All of good spirit and really looking forward to hearing Barack speak.

Josie looked beautiful and was a true trooper the whole day. Never complained always tried to make others smile and of course was full of excitement to see Senator Obama speak and possibly meet him.

I can now tell you that we were told that HQ was very aware of Josie and had received thousands of mails on her behalf. We were also told to try and get to one of the Official Campaign staffers once there and let them know who we were.

Unfortunately this was not to be the case. We were unable to have this happen. But I can tell you that both Josie and I were not one bit disturbed by this, and none of you should be either.

Yes Josie would have loved to be able to present her gifts to him for Malia and Sasha and sure she is sad about not being able to do this; but she is far more happy that she was able to be there, hear him speak and to know that so many people believe in him. Black, White, Brown, Red and Yellow.

Josie asked me at one point “Papa are all of these people here because they are for Obama? When I told her yes she said “But they are from everywhere ….. That’s cool!!!”

I have not yet showed her the page documenting all of your wonderful support. I will do this when she returns. She is now with her mother on her way to vacation by the sea.

I wanted, however, to now take the time though to bring you all up to date and once again thank you for all you have done for Josie. You all should never doubt the difference you have made and the difference you will still make once I show Josie how many angles flew to her side to try and make her wish come true. It is because of all of You that her small voice was heard from Germany all the way to Chicago and Washington. . I will never forget you for it. You are all now officially members of our family.

Josie and Reggie

Here are some pictures I thought you all might enjoy. In the first she is waving her gift for Sasha ..... it's a stuffed dog!! Thanks Lace for the others. ;-)

Update!!!!!

Morgan from Seattle and her husband sent me this wonderful piece of video tape of Josie to share with you all. I thank them both so very much!!!

Link: http://psmcreative.com/josie.wmv

My Letter to HQ for Josie - Please Help!

Reggie; Who Just Signed Up For An 8 Year Tour Of "O"-Duty!!! — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:47:25 EDT

After you finish reading this, please continue past the bottom for instructions on how to help make
this happen. We've got 1 day left.

If you are reading this for the first time, please take a few more minutes an write a mail to HQ
with these words:

"Remember Josie"

And copy and paste the link below to your mail:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/reggie%20montgomery/gGxlsY/commentary

(it will create a link back to the original blog for the person receiving it) and send it over to HQ.

Please help make Josie's dream come true.

Here is the link to contact HQ: http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/contact2

Thanks!! (((Huggs))) From Josie!!!

Important Update July 19, 2008

PLEASE no further mails to the two individules listed below. We have received a very helpful response from Ms. Reed - Senior Advisor on Americans Abroad Obama for America. Read the "New Update July 20, 2008" below. Your voices are being heard!!!

Ms. Eva Adams - secretary@demsinberlin.de

Ms. Kimberly Reed - Senior Advisor on Americans Abroad Obama for America - americansabroad@barackobama.com

Again simply title you mail "Remember Josie" and then add the blog link above to the comment section. no other comment is necessary unless you choose to add one.

Ms. Reed also has a phone number to be reached at if you wish to mak a call. Please contact Lace per O-Mail if you wish this information.

THANK YOU ALL AGAIN FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL LOVE AND SUPPORT YOU HAVE SHOWN JOSIE. I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO THANK YOU ENOUGH

P.S. Here is a slidshow featuring the pictures in the article above: http://www.slideflickr.com/slide/AM0VpQYd if you'd like to see them.

New Update July 20, 2008

Your voices are being heard!!! I recieved this mail today from Ms. Kimberly Reed - Senior Advisor on Americans Abroad Obama for America:

Dear Mr Montgomery,

I have passed on your daughter's story to the advance team for their consideration. I do not have any control or even input into Senator Obama's schedule but at least the right people have the information. We have received MANY emails regarding your daughter but also regarding cancer patients, men and women wounded in the Iraq war, and other people with heartbreaking stories, all asking to see Senator Obama while he is in Berlin, so in the event that he is not able to meet you and Josie, please do not think for one second that this is because he does not care about your situation -- it's just that everywhere he goes, he receives many requests like this and fulfilling them would become a full-time job leaving no time for running for president.

In any event, I do hope that it works out for him to meet you and Josie, and my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Best wishes,
Kim Reed

Kimberly Reed
Senior Advisor on Americans Abroad
Obama for America

Here now my response:

Dear Ms. Reed,

Thank you so much for your immediate attention to my mail; and please feel free to call me Reggie. I am very grateful for you having forwarded Josie's story on the the proper people for consideration. I can well imagine the enormous amount of requests the Senator must recieve on a daily basis, as well as the responsibilites, time constraints and, yes, concerns which may prevent such meetings from occuring. It is in light of this recognition that I have not let Josie know of the efforts taking place here on her behalf; as it would be too heart breaking for her should it not materialize, and quite honestly, be viewed by her as another rejection which she is not yet ready to put into context.

Thank you Kim (I hope you don't mind me calling you that) for your prayers and good wishes for Josie and my family in this endevour. We shall simply leave it all in Gods hands.

I also want to take this moment to thank you for all the work you are doing on behalf of Senator Obama and his campaign. I can imagine it is not without it's sacrifices. God Bless you and your family as well.

Sincerely,

Reggie Montgomery
Josie's Dad (smile)

Please continue to spread the word to friends, families, contacts, congregations and even organisations for Josie. Have them mail HQ TODAY!!! and request that Josie's story reach Barack. We only have 1 day left and we are so close now.

THE MAGIC IS WORKING EVERYBODY .... WE JUST NEED MORE OF IT!!!!

I can't thank you all enough!!! God Bless You!!! Remember Josie!!

Everyone I Need Your Help

Reggie; Who Just Signed Up For An 8 Year Tour Of "O"-Duty!!! — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:11:58 EDT

Guys I'm not good at this but I need your help!!

As you know Barack is coming to Germany soon. Word has it he will also be giving a speech at the Brandenburg Wall in Berlin.

My daughter .. And I of course are very excited about this and are planning to go as soon as we know when.

Now here's where I need your help!! My daughter has started making gifts for Malia and Sasha that she desperately wants to give to Barack for them. She is a little girl of mixed race and she has had a really hard time with her identity here in Germany. Barack has worked wonders for her sense of self esteem and I know this is truely a watershed moment for her.

However we all know the chances of getting through to him on such an occasion are almost nil. So on the chance that Barack and HQ might want to have photo ops or meet supporters while there. I would like to ask all of you to PLEASE write HQ and tell them that I and my daughter are two of there biggest supporters here and would love to take part if something like this is being planned.

This is for sure something of a desperate measure but I have to try. I would hate to see the disappointment in her face if she cannot hand over her gifts.

If any of you would help I'd be truely grateful.

Thanks

Hillary's Latest Blunder????

Reggie; Who Just Signed Up For An 8 Year Tour Of "O"-Duty!!! — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 21:24:00 EST

I just saw this on CNN. Is it just me or are also asking yourself why her campaign would even say what they said.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign called a new television ad released Tuesday by former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards "unconstitutional gimmickry."

In the commercial airing in Iowa, Edwards promised to end congressional health care benefits if they fail to pass a universal health care plan within six months of his administration.

"There’s no excuse for politicians in Washington having health care when you don’t have health care," Edwards said in the ad.

But Clinton's campaign pointed out on its Web site that this proposal is unconstitutional. The Clinton campaign said it would violate the 27th amendment, which states that any law to change the compensation of members of Congress has to be approved by the House.

Edwards' Communications Director Chris Kofinis said the Clinton campaign’s response shows that she wouldn't fight to pass universal health care.

"Today, Senator Clinton made it crystal clear where she stands: she defends health care for politicians while millions of Americans and their families go without care," Kofinis said. "Voters have a clear choice between John Edwards, who will fight to finally pass universal health care, and Senator Clinton, who seems intent on defending the Washington establishment."