It took me a while but here is a link to Michelle Obama's full speech to the students in London. It is 16 minutes in length.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7982563.stm
I registered to vote in 1977. The first presidential election that I voted in was
1980 Carter vs. Reagan I voted Carter
1984 Mondale vs Reagan I voted 3rd party
1988 Dukakis vs Bush I voted 3rd party
1992 Clinton vs Bush vs Perot I voted Perot
1996 Clinton vs Quayle vs Perot I voted Perot
2000 Gore vs Bush vs Nader I voted Gore (Supported McCain in the Republican Primary)
2004 Bush vs Kerry I voted Kery (Iraq war was the primary reason)
2008 Supported Edwards, then Obama in Democratic Primary. Was pleased McCain had the Republican Primary sewn up. And then came Palin.
In case you noticed, no one that I voted for ever won the presidency. I sincerely prayed to God that my jinx was over. I almost pulled back from supporting Obama because of it but took a leap of faith that God would not allow our country to be co-opted again by right wing fanatics.
Today, I consider myself as an independent. I have leaned both left and right over the years but neither party can take my vote for granted. I am sure that there are millions more of us who supported Obama who feel the same way. I have received several requests from this campaign asking for donations to the DNC. I sent a donation to them and Moveon.org in October because I felt that they could fight a more aggressive battle against the RNC negative campaigning than Obama with their 50 state strategy. I participated in phone call banks for them in swing states for the same reasons. I received just as many requests for funding from Republicans during the primary and general elections because I have supported some of their candidates in the past. I will continue to support candidates of either party, depending on the issues that are important to me.
I post this to remind President-Elect Obama, that all of us are not Democrats. We want you to use the same deliberations and pragmatism in your administration as you showed us during the campaign. Please do not yield to the ideology of the Democratic Party, do what is right for us as a nation. I respect your decisions and have great confidence in your judgement even though I have disagreed with your vote on a couple of occasions (FISA and the Financial Bailout Package).
Hi, y'all. It has been a while since I posted but I am totally excited about our President and Vice-President Elects Barack Obama and Joe Biden.Had to go through campaign withdrawal syndrome. First, our local group, Barack Team Bessemer registered 2750 new voters in Bessemer, AL. This increased our city's percentage of registered voters by 18%. Our county, Jefferson County, had a clean sweep on November 4. For the first time in history, all Democrats won the seats they sought, including the African Americans. We, in Alabama, picked up one additional House seat. Bobby Bright, of Montgomery, AL is our newly elected US House Representative. State totals are 4 Republicans and 3 Democrats. For years we only had 2 democrats in the House.After our voter registration deadline ended on October 24, my sister and I, Angela, traveled to St. Petersburg, FL to knock on doors and encourage early voting. We stayed there a week and had a very exhilirating experience. Chris Haas (or CJ as he was called) had one of the most organized campaigns that I have ever witnessed. Our hosts, Millie and Bob, were very gracious and fired up. ON Halloween night, Millie had to attend a Halloween Party, and Bob asked me to hand out the treats. My sister and I are lower middle-class African Americans. Bob and Millie are upper income Caucasians. We live in one of the poorest cities in Alabama. They lived on the coast of the Gulf or Mexico in a diverse and upscale community in St. Petersburg. Imagine the looks on the trick or treaters face when I opened the door. I told Bob, "Look, you need to show your face so no one thinks we hijacked your home". We had a ball.My sister and I sneaked out on Wednesday to see and hear Obama speak in Sarasota, FL. I didn't see many African Americans at the rally or in the city, but everyone there welcomed us. Was told later that this was the hometown of Katherine Harris, former Secretary of State and one of the wealthiest cities in Florida. We left on Saturday, after receiving word that Birmingham was sending several volunteers for Saturday until the day after the election. I know that we made a difference in St Petersburg. I was thrilled to finally see the election results from Pinellas County.
On election day, another sister, San, along with her husband, Mitch, and daughter, Devin, had the unique experience of taking a 92 year old couple to the polls to vote. A little background: Before Angela and I left for Florida, I registered Mr. Pitts to vote for the first time in his life. He was 92 years old. I submitted an Absentee ballot application for him and his wife (she was already registered). On Saturday, November 1, he received his voter registration card in the mail. They also received a letter from the Absentee Ballot Election Manager stating that because I submitted their applications in the same envelope, they were not eligible to vote by absentee ballot. Mrs. P was wheel chair bound. Mr. P had a pace maker and was also on an oxygen tank. I felt extremely low because I thought there was no way they could make it to the polls. The couple's son was totally disgusted with us. After talking to the couple, we convinced them to go to the polls. Mr. P went to his doctor on Monday and received additional medication to enable him to wait in long lines if needed.
My sister said they were dressed in their Sunday go to meeting clothes and were thoroughly excited to go to the polls on this historic occasion. Mrs. P's name was on the rolls but originally they could not locate Mr. P's name. Finally, a clerk looked in the supplemental rolls and found his name. Mrs. P told my sister to go over than and help him because he had never voted before in his life. She said, "go help him fill that form out for that boy!" I believe this was one of the most rewarding experiences of our lives.
We spent the rest of the day going to Public Housing complexes in Bessemer providing rides to local residents to the polls. There was an elderly woman who had gone to the polls earlier and was told that she had to go to Birmingham to vote even though she has voted at this box for several years. Her son and daughter did not know where the new place was and she had reconciled herself to not voting. Two of our volunteers, natives of Nigeria and the country of India, using their GPS took her to the polls. She was very grateful and excited to be chauffered by these international volunteers.
Grassroots campaigning does work and is totally rewarding.
I thought I would put my experience into words...
And it was really really awesome for me. I think I have evolved in some ways. And I thank you all for that. You have all changed my life through the events, and meeting and the energy and working together. Through ups and downs. Through voter registrations and phone calls and fund raisers and lastly picking up folks on 11/4/08.I am humbled and honored. I also cherish it.Please forward to those I may have missed..
And Thank You. You all have changed me. Forever. Change happened. Not just in the votes, but in our hearts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jll5baCAaQU
Yes we can,
Yes we did..
During Primaries:
But he Cant win Iowa.. Yes we did..
But he is too inexperienced - Yes we did
But his middle name is "Hussein"
But his name is - Barack Hussein Obama
But he is from Illinois
But he is first term Senator
But he can never raise the money
But he is a "Muslim"
But he went to church with "Jeremiah wright"
But his friend is Tony Rezko
But his friend is Bill Ayers
But the 3 AM Call?
But it is Hillary Clinton's turn?
But he is fighting against Clinton establishment?
But he Cant win PA? OH? IN? NH? FL? MI?
But he is a community organizer?
But Hillary voters wont come around?
But PUMA???? Really??
But he is Black?
But he is not Black enough??
But he is "uppity"?
But ................ Yes we did
During General Election:
But McCain is a fighter?
But McCain is "strong" on foreign policy?
But he is running against a national hero?
But he went to church with "Jeremiah wright"?
But his friend is Tony Rezko?
But his friend is Bill Ayers?
But it is John McCain's turn?
But he Cant win PA? OH? IN? NH? FL? MI? NC? NV? CO? NM? WI? MN?
But he wont get white votes?
But he wont get Hispanic votes?
But he wont get women voters?
But he wants to talk to the "rogue nations"?
But he is a "socialist"?
But
But .............. Yes We did!!
What nay-sayers forgot... that a "community organizer" can turn millions of supporters into "community organizers". So they can raise money for him. So they can register voters. So they can knock on doors. So they can write to newspapers. So they can energize each other. So they can travel to swing states. So they can make those millions of phone calls. So they can pick up folks and take them to the polls.
Because he not only got their votes, he got their trust, money, time and energy. He changed their lives. Forever. Those organizers changed the USA brand forever. He changed the World on that evening of Nov 4th, 2008.
Yes We Can!!!
Team,My name is Tiffany Campbell and I am organizing the polls for election day. Weneed your help to man the polls for this last stretch. The polls are open from7am to 7pm on Tuesday.
Following are all of the poll locations that Alabama Team Bessemer is going tocover. Please give us some of your time on this final day.We will be handing out sample ballots, holding signs and telling anyone whowants to know why we are supporting Barack Obama.
Please take a look at this list and email me: lanae_campbell@yahoo.com or call205-243-7474 and let me know where and when you can work. We will be meetingMonday night at 6pm to get final details and supplies. We need you help for onemore day!!! THANKS!!!
District Location 5607 Bessemer City Hall
- Sadie M. Williamson - all day
5610 Bessemer First Station #5
- Rosa Scott (am) (driver)
5710 Brighton Middle School – THIS LOCATION MAY NOT BE IN USE
5711 Brighton Senior Citizens Center Bldg
5713 Bryant Chapel AME church
- Jerri Clark - 9-12pm
5610 Canaan Baptist Church
5609 Dunbar-Abrams Community Center
-Stephanie Cook - 1 to 7pm
5606 Thompson Manor Community Center
- Patrice Damron - 3 to 7pm
5605 Fire Dept Admin Bldg - 2nd Avenue
5604 Jonesboro Elementary School
- Stacie Robinson - 8 to 2pm
5611 Lawson State Community College
5613 Lipscomb City Hall
5614 Lipscomb Fire Station
5615 New Bethel Baptist Church
5608 Southside Homes Community Center
Senator Obama, when are you coming down South? Two of the debates were held in southern states, but we would love to see you in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, or Mississippi, on the campaign stump. I personally felt it was a bad decision on your campaign's part not to campaign in West Virginina during the primary. Please do not concede these southern states to McCain without a token fight!!!
Alaskan Independence Party: The Last Refuge of a Scoundrel
In 2004, America's malleable mainstream media allowed itself to be manipulated by artful Republican operatives into devoting weeks of broadcast attention and drums of ink to unfairly desecrating John Kerry's genuine Vietnam heroics while obligingly muzzling serious discussion of George W. Bush's shameful wartime record of evasion and cowardice.
Last week found the American media once again boarding Republican swift boats against this season's Democratic candidate armed with unfair and hypocritical attacks artfully designed by GOP strategists to distract attention from the cataclysmic outcomes of Republican governance. Vice Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin has taken to faulting Senator Barack Obama for his casual acquaintance with a respected Illinois educator Bill Ayers, who forty years ago was a member of the Weathermen, a movement active when Obama was eight and which he has denounced as "detestable." Palin argues that the relationship proves that Obama sees "America as being so imperfect that he is palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."
The Times dedicated a page one article to Obama's relations with Ayers and CNN's Anderson Cooper obliged Palin by rewarding her reckless accusations about Obama's patriotism with a major investigative report. Fox, meanwhile, is still riveting its audience with wall to wall coverage of this pressing irrelevancy.
But if McCarthy-era guilt-by-association is once again a valid political consideration, Palin, it would seem, has more to lose than Obama. Palin, it could be argued, following her own logic, thinks so little of America's perfection that she continues to "pal around" with a man--her husband, actually--who only recently terminated his seven-year membership in the Alaskan Independence Party. Putting plunder above patriotism, the members of this treasonous cabal aim to break our country into pieces and walk away with Alaska's rich federal oil fields and one-fifth of America's land base--an area three-fourths the size of the Civil War Confederacy.
AIP's charter commits the party "to the ultimate independence of Alaska," from the United States which it refers to as "the colonial bureaucracy in Washington." It proclaims Alaska's 1959 induction as a state "as illegal and in violation of the United Nations charter and international law."
AIP's creation was inspired by the rabidly violent anti-Americanism of its founding father Joe Vogler, "I'm an Alaskan, not an American," reads a favorite Vogler quote on AIP's current website, "I've got no use for America or her damned institutions." According to Vogler AIP's central purpose was to drive Alaska's secession from the United States. Alaska, says current Chairwoman Lynette Clark, "should be an independent nation."
Vogler was murdered in 1993 during an illegal sale of plastic explosives that went bad. The prior year, he had renounced his allegiance to the United States explaining that, "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government." He cursed the stars and stripes, promising, "I won't be buried under their damned flag...when Alaska is an independent nation they can bring my bones home." Palin has never denounced Vogler or his detestable anti-Americanism.
Palin's husband Todd remained an AIP party member from 1995 to 2002. Sarah can be described in McCarthy-era palaver as a "fellow traveler." While retaining her Republican registration, she attended the AIP's 1994 convention where the party called for a draft constitution to secede from the United States and create an independent nation of Alaska. The McCain Campaign has reluctantly acknowledged that she also attended AIP's 2000 Convention. She apparently found the experience so inspiring that she agreed to give a keynote address at the AIP's 2006 convention and she recorded a video greeting for this year's 2008 convention. In other words, this is not something that happened when she was eight!
So when Palin accuses Barack of "not seeing the same America as you and me," maybe she is referring to an America without Alaska. In any case, isn't it time the media start giving equal time to Palin's buddy list of anti-American bombers and other radical associates?
The McCain-Palin campaign is heartfelt music to my ears. I used to be in that choir. I was never a lead singer, just chorus. Yes, I was a right-wing, leaning Independent voter. McCain-Palin are singing the same refrain over and over again hoping to get those converted to jump up on their feet, clap, sing and dance. It only works if you are singing to others of like minds and hearts. The sinners are not in the choir, most times, but outside the church in the streets. The McCain-Palin tunes are repetitive, sometimes strident, with plenty of false notes.
I am exceedingly glad that I joined the Obama-Biden choir. I no longer take a background chorus part but am a lead singer for their message of change. I know, in my heart, that we are making a difference because McCain-Palin are singing the same tunes they sung in the 80's when I got on board with the Republicans. It worked then, but NOT THIS TIME.
I have noticed that everytime the polls lean towards Obama, Republicans bless us with their presence on this site. Desperation requires desperate measures. Look out, Republicans, we don't need you over here. Please check your ticket and take a ride over to the other concert hall. Our choir brings sweet music to our ears. We work on love, not hate and fear-mongering. We work on hope, not smears. We are truly blessed and pray you guys will earn peace someday.
MONTGOMERY - When James Solomon went to register to vote earlier this year, he said he was told he couldn't vote because of a past conviction for cocaine possession.
That was in direct contrast to advice given by the Secretary of State's Office that drug possession is not a crime that strips someone of their voting rights.
"I just wanted to vote. When you got a felony, they treat you like you're nobody," said Solomon, an Enterprise welder and the widowed father of seven.
Less than a month shy of a historic election expected to bring record turnout, there still is uncertainty over who is eligible to vote in Alabama. State officials have given boards of registrars conflicting lists of felony convictions that bar a person from voting.
And registrars, already swamped with new voter applications, have the difficult task of sorting out who is and who isn't eligible to vote.
"We don't want to be in a multiple choice situation. You want to know the answer," Montgomery County Elections Director Trey Granger said.
A statewide computer system for the past 11 months has been noting convictions for more than 400 crimes that Gov. Bob Riley's administration deemed to be felonies of moral turpitude - even though officials with the Administrative Office of Courts said they were assured by Riley's office only a shorter list of 70 felonies developed by the attorney general's office were being checked.
"I know there is confusion. The computer system is flagging people who ought to be able to vote," said Kenneth Glasgow, a former drug offender turned pastor who works to help former felons to register to vote.
Secretary of State Beth Chapman said she's been trying to sort out the confusion through a series of conference calls and memos with county registrars over the past several months.
"They must first go to the AG's opinion. If that doesn't answer their question, they should seek guidance from their county attorney, their district attorney or my attorney," Chapman said, describing the advice her office has given local boards.
I think Governor Palin needs to think before she speaks. How dare she throw rocks.
"
Posted September 2, 2008 | 11:55 AM
The words of founder Joe Vogler are proudly displayed on the Alaska Independence Party's website (at least as of this writing): "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America and her damned institutions."
Given that one of America's "damned institutions" is the Department of Defense, this raises a few questions about Gov. Palin's strength on national security issues.
In covering Sarah Palin's reported membership in this extremist party (see update), Jake Tapper quotes its current leader as saying that Sarah Palin is "a fine individual. She's forthright and she puts Alaska first." She puts Alaska first. There's an endorsement to remember. And in case we think her past association in this party was just some youthful indiscretion, she addressed them by video hookup earlier this year. In the video shown above Palin says she is "delighted" to be addressing the group, that the party "plays an important role," and wishes them "good luck on a successful and inspiring convention."
The Alaska Independence Party wants to open all Federal lands (like state parks) to private ownership - presumably by the people who live nearby. It also wants to abolish all property taxes. It has a few other pretty extreme views, too.
"Her damned institutions." Imagine if those out-of-context remarks of Obama's preacher had been codified into a political organization - and that he had joined it. Then imagine he had come back and given a speech there a few months ago.
Joe Vogler asked that he not be buried underneath the American flag. He did, however, deny that he ever said he wanted to "nuke the glaciers."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/palin-partys-founder-ive_b_123193.html
Sunday, August 31, 2008
In July, the American Civil Liberties Union held a press conference to announce that it would be suing over Alabama's felon voting laws. Since that time, there have been several news articles and opinion pieces about the lawsuit, some written by counsel for the plaintiffs and their allies. As Alabama's attorney general, I am charged with defending this litigation, and I want to tell you the other side of the story.
The Alabama Constitution provides that felons who have been convicted of felonies involving "moral turpitude" may not vote, unless they have their rights restored. Felons - except those who committed the most heinous of felonies, like murder, rape and possession of child pornography with intent to distribute - may have their voting rights restored through a pardon or through a Certificate of Eligibility to Register to Vote. That latter process was created by the Legislature in 2003.
One of the arguments plaintiffs have made in court is that the constitution requires the Legislature to decide which felonies involve moral turpitude. In their essays, plaintiffs' counsel said the same thing.
On September 25, the Secretary of State designed a new website for checking the status of your polling place. Please bookmark this page and share it with friends and family. The new people that we registered are in there. I checked the status of people we registered up to September 20 and they were on the rolls. They appear to be running about two weeks behind in updating that page. Contact your local board of Registrar if they are not shown on the page and you registered them over two weeks ago.
https://myinfo.alabamavotes.gov/
Jefferson County Bd of Registrars is about a week behind in updating their rolls but 2 -3 weeks behind in sending out the cards. Make sure everyone knows that they do not have to have the card to registrar. Just contact the Bd of Registrar to see where they should vote. The deadline for registering is October 24. The deadline for Absentee Ballot application is October 30. The Circuit Clerk began mailing out absentee ballots on Monday, September 29. Please, do not send but one application in an envelope. Every application must be submitted separately unless it is a husband and wife.
Finally, if asked, in the State of Alabama, we CAN wear Obama T-shirts to the polls when voting.
I will admit that I had no intention of listening to anything the Republican VP candidate had to say during the debate. We held a Watch Party and I am happy that I actually did hear what she had to say. She has actually motivated me and inspired me more than any other candidate on either ticket. This says a lot because I was already exceedingly happy with the Obama-Biden ticket.
As an African American girl growing up, I was always taught that I had to work twice as hard as a man and a white person to get ahead in this country. I have always prided myself on doing just that. The Republican VP choice has given me no choice, now, but to work three times as hard as I have been. There is no way I can sit idly or comfortably by and watch that woman and that ticket bamboozle us into electing them. She scares the dickens out of me.
Biden was just fantastic. He laid out Obama's plan, did not get pulled into that woman's bait, and challenged the "maverick" characterization the other party like to use. I never got a chance to see how she would handle a debate because she stuck with pre-programmed, memorized talking points. I was embarrassed that she was so unprepared and scripted. I took a few acting classes in high school, and found her performance just as mediocre as mine was.
God help America and the World. I am truly afraid.
Friends,
Everyone said the bill would pass. The masters of the universe were already making celebratory dinner reservations at Manhattan's finest restaurants. Personal shoppers in Dallas and Atlanta were dispatched to do the early Christmas gifting. Mad Men of Chicago and Miami were popping corks and toasting each other long before the morning latte run.
But what they didn't know was that hundreds of thousands of Americans woke up yesterday morning and decided it was time for revolt. The politicians never saw it coming. Millions of phone calls and emails hit Congress so hard it was as if Marshall Dillon, Elliot Ness and Dog the Bounty Hunter had descended on D.C. to stop the looting and arrest the thieves.
The Corporate Crime of the Century was halted by a vote of 228 to 205. It was rare and historic; no one could remember a time when a bill supported by the president and the leadership of both parties went down in defeat. That just never happens.
If Barack Obama wins this election, it will be a remarkable feat for two reasons. 1. He will become the first African American to do it, and 2. He will have done it despite the fact that the good old U.S. is as racist as the day is long. I get tired of hearing all the television and print journalists say “Why can’t Obama close the deal with the GOP being so unpopular?” There is nothing wrong with Obama’s policies and they all know it. The reason he can’t seal the deal is that he’s Black. In this country, there is no shortage of middle class and poor white folks who fell for George Bush’s lies in 2000, and 2004. These same folks who have lost their jobs, are struggling to keep their homes, and send their kids to college, are pretending they don’t know enough about Obama, or that he hasn’t made his message clear enough. The reality though is Obama has made his message very clear. I challenge anybody who’s listening to present a stump speech from the past 6 months where Obama doesn’t outline exactly what his positions are, and exactly what his plans for this country. What I’ve heard during this time is a plan for tax cuts for 95% of taxpayers. I’ve heard that this will be accomplished in part by taxing the record profits of the big oil companies. I’ve heard Obama talk about ending the war which is costing the country trillions. I’ve heard a plan to make health care affordable. I’ve heard all about a plan to stop trying to play lonesome cowboy, and talk to our friends, as well as our enemies. Finally, I’ve heard that it’s not enough to give all the tax breaks to rich business owners and hope that they will find it within themselves to share the profits with the rest of us. When McCain has to face Obama face to face in a live debate, no amount of spin or double talk will save him. McCain won’t be able to sit out in the car and listen to Obama give his unscripted answers first, only to answer each question with a war story when it’s his turn. Need further proof that white folks are trying to convince themselves that America isnt racist, and the media isnt clueless? Obama has been in the race for president for about two years, and yahoo is just now admiting that the race is close because Obama is black. Yhaoo couldnt see this however until they conducted a pole on the matter.For McCain the clock is ticking. He will have nowhere to run as of 9-26-2008. No spokesman fast talk, no spin. McCain will bee eaten for lunch in the debates. Enough is Enough.
I am an independent voter. I voted for Senator McCain in 2000. After watching the RNC speeches this week and learning that more Americans watched McCain's Acceptance speech than Senator Obama's, I must say that I am really fired up and ready to go!!! The Republican Party's support of McCain was pretty tepid before but the Party is energized now.
It was very frightening to look at the delegates at the RNC convention and see few women or minorities. It looked like utopia. I spent the day registering voters in two rural, predominantly white cities today. (I am black). I found that many of them still believe Obama is a Muslim and refused to be sworn in on a christian bible. I explained to them that they had him mixed up with Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, but they did not believe me. Tomorrow I'll be back at one of the locations with the POLITIFACT's "pants on fire" article about Obama's faith. They appeared to be open to seeing this in writing. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/238/
As I said earlier, I am inspired, fired up and ready to go. My fear of McCain/Palin in the White House has motivated more than Senator Obama.
