This is my America?
I was proud of my country not long ago. They saw past race and elected the first black president. I was as proud as an American can be; the operative word is “was”.
You see, I didn’t count on what had happen the past 10 to 15 years in politics. A party, lead by people so desperate to gain and hold as much power as possible, sold us all out. This country was created so the people could have a strong central government that represented all. In a democracy of any kind, the people are the government. But, that all changed when a party decided to highlight the bad and downplay the good that exist in any democracy. When deals were made and alliances created that went against American policy. When they decided to separate and conquer.
The religious were brought in despite separation of church and state. Politicians played to these beliefs and used it for votes. The poor was portrayed as being on the “dole” and lazy just living off the people in spite of the actual working poor or those who had no choice but to rely on handouts. True, some abused but most didn’t. To farther divide, pictures of minorities were used to help most Americans separate their feelings of walking away from the poor. Even though welfare has more white than minorities. Minorities were also used to show how tough on crime they were and how they protected Americans when most minority crimes are against themselves.
The government was painted as evil, raising taxes, bad managers (even when the managers, the leaders, were speaking of themselves). They managed to fool the public into thinking the government was some huge, suppressing entity when in reality, the government was the people.
The rich, the powerful, corporations were substituted for the government as good and what was right for the people. The “free market” and private industry was given as the great alternative. The people cheered and went along while companies such as Enron, WorldCom, AGI, to name a few, grew bigger and stronger while the government, the people, became weaker. They in time had more power and say so than the people with their own elected leaders.
We were heading toward a new America. A new government was emerging in which the few controlled the many; a totalitarian government. Democracy was about to die with the blessings of the people with cries like “Greed is good”.
But, mistakes happened. Some of the corporations became too greedy, too powerful. Those in charge began to believe they where untouchable and mistakes began to be made; the house of cards fell.
Then, a man came, intelligent and charismatic and the people, already in trouble, turned to this man in droves for help. They didn’t realize changes made fast cost. But, the people was used to being given promises and having a bone thrown to then every now and again to keep them quiet. But, no bone was thrown, only hard work to return the government to the people where it belonged.
Meanwhile, the losing side, with money power and anger, tried to destroy all. When a hand was extended to them for peace, the shook the hand and plotted. They attacked without end to keep the direction of America changing in their new direction. The attacked without mercy, spreading lies and deceit while a media frenzy feed of the hate and helped to spread the lies. They watered down a stimulus package in the guise of “bi-partisanship”. Then complain about how ineffective it is. The place a black face on its white party to show they are not what they appear to be. They take an unintentional comment and make it into something it was not “racist”. All the while manipulating a media looking for the next big story and hiding behind slogans such as “fair and honest” and “unbiased reporting” while forgetting the truth they promised the people.
A black man, one in which I am proud to say I look up to, is being compared to a history monster. Good intentions are being destroyed and the truth buried. So many lies have gotten the public confused; lives of public officials are being threatened. All the while the powerful and true leaders of the right, the rich, the corporations, look and wait.
You see, a weak government makes them more powerful and rich, so they create chaos and watch as their political mouthpieces defend the actions as “free speech”. A health care plan aimed at not only helping our economy but also to help keep 400 to 1600 men, women and children from dying each year is being sold as “socialism”. We have again placed money before lives, how do we explain to a mother who has just lost her child the in was just too expensive?
But, I have seen the worst, children wearing swastikas and calling a black man Hitler. What is this country becoming?
I heard a reporter once ask, “how can a black man be ashamed of his country?” At this moment, I ask, how can he not.
“A disappointed black man”
Wow what a surprise, NOT !!
DALLAS (AP) -- Donors to President George W. Bush's presidential library probably will remain a mystery, said the foundation overseeing fundraising.
Mark Langdale, who heads the George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation, said that's the way some donors want it.
"It's our decision not to disclose who the donors are," he said.
The foundation will oversee construction of the library, museum and public policy institute at the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas. The group had raised less than $3 million when the latest tax reports were filed in August. That's far short of its $300 million goal, but foundation officials said fundraising will pick up significantly after Bush leaves office Jan. 20.
The issue of whether to identify presidential library contributors was reignited recently when President-elect Barack Obama tapped Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to serve as secretary of state.
The foundation that oversees her husband's library, the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum in Little Rock, Ark., had not previously released donors' names - no law requires disclosure of who donates to presidential library foundations.
But last month, the Clinton foundation published donors' names as part of Bill Clinton's effort to avoid conflicts of interest regarding his wife's new post. The list showed that governments from Saudi Arabia to Norway made sizable contributions, as well as corporations and billionaires with interests in U.S. foreign policy.
Bush officials have said the president would not accept foreign donations while in office. Both Clinton and Bush's father had the same policy but accepted large gifts from foreigners after leaving the White House.
Noting that the Clinton list was released as part of an agreement to help Hillary Clinton join the Obama Cabinet, Langdale said, "We don't have those set of circumstances," The Dallas Morning News reported in Monday's editions.
The Bush foundation does, however, have to contend with a recession and the president's low ratings in public opinion polls.
"Clearly, we're in tough economic headwinds, so it's going to be a harder climb than it would have been a year ago," Langdale said.
But he said the foundation expects to meet its fundraising goal by autumn of 2010, the planned groundbreaking date.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe said on Saturday he intends to run for governor of Virginia.
After months of speculation over his plans, McAuliffe announced his intentions in a video posted on his Web site. In the video, McAuliffe said he will make his intention to run official on Wednesday as part of a week-long campaign kickoff.
The stops include town hall meetings in Hampton Roads, Bristol, Richmond and others, where McAuliffe will unveil plans for job creation, education and renewable energy.
"Over the coming months we will travel to every corner of the commonwealth to ask all Virginians to join our campaign to get the economy moving again," McAuliffe said in the video.
In November, the 51-year-old established his campaign committee, Friends of Terry McAuliffe, with the State Board of Elections, secured the services of strategist Mike Henry and began touring Virginia, but had not made his candidacy certain.
McAuliffe faces two other Democrats who have been active for nearly a year in an already contentious nomination fight to succeed Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.
State Sen. Creigh Deeds narrowly lost the attorney general's race in 2005, and former House Democratic Caucus chairman Brian Moran is also in the race.
"We welcome Terry McAuliffe to the race and we're looking forward to an open and honest discussion of how we keep Virginia moving forward," said Peter Jackson, a spokesman for Deeds.
In a statement, Moran also welcomed McAuliffe to the campaign.
"I am more convinced than ever that Virginians want a governor with a proven record of fighting for Virginia families and a vision for the commonwealth," Moran said.
The Democratic nominee will face Republican Attorney General Bob McDonnell, who is unchallenged for his party's nomination, in the Nov. 3 election.
Phil Cox, a spokesman for McDonnell also welcomed McAuliffe into the race, saying he has a "tough primary fight ahead of him." But Cox said there will be plenty of time during the campaign to compare and contrast records.
A native of upstate New York, McAuliffe has lived in Virginia for about 17 years. He lives in the Washington, D.C., suburb of McLean.
McAuliffe brings to the race a national fundraising base and profile that neither of his potential primary rivals could match. As chairman of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, McAuliffe helped her raise tens of millions of dollars. And as DNC chairman, he helped restore the fiscal health of a party that was broke and dispirited after Al Gore's wrenching 2000 presidential loss.
But McAuliffe also brings a political portfolio well to the left of Democrats Mark R. Warner and Kaine, who toiled in the state party for years before they were elected governor by pledging bipartisan cooperation and campaigning as moderates.
McAuliffe, however, does ride a crest of success the Democratic Party has not known in Virginia for generations.
President-elect Barack Obama became the first Democrat to carry Virginia in a presidential race in 44 years. The party claimed both of the state's U.S. Senate seats for the first time since 1970, and it controls six of the state's 11 U.S. House seats in the wake of newcomer Tom Perriello's victory over Republican Rep. Virgil Goode after a recount.
Only two states - Virginia and New Jersey - elect governors this year.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama has selected former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack to become his agriculture secretary, according to Democratic officials familiar with the selection process.
Obama will announce the nomination of Vilsack on Wednesday, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the selection before the announcement. Obama also plans to announce his nomination of Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar as interior secretary at the same news conference, other Democratic officials said.
Vilsack will be the fourth former opponent of Obama in the campaign for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination to join his new administration. Others include Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has been tapped for secretary of state, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, selected to head the Commerce Department.
Vilsack announced his presidential candidacy in late 2006, positioning himself as a Washington outsider with heartland appeal, but he dropped out before the primaries because of an inability to raise money. He endorsed Clinton and campaigned actively for her in the long primary campaign against Obama. After Obama defeated Clinton, Vilsack endorsed him.
First elected governor in 1998, Vilsack, 58, carved out a reputation as a political centrist. He balanced Iowa's budget and resisted raising taxes, but he was willing to spend money on such priorities as education and health. He argued that pushing alternative energy sources was key to bolstering rural sections of the nation that are struggling economically and with vanishing populations.
Salazar will head a department that oversees oil and gas drilling on public lands and manages the nation's parks and wildlife refuges. Salazar is expected to try to balance the protection of natural resources while tapping the nation's energy potential - an approach Obama has said he wants.
Salazar co-sponsored a bill in Congress to create a new land conservation system under the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management for permanently protecting 26 million acres of national monuments, wilderness areas and wild and scenic rivers. The legislation died during the lame-duck session of Congress after the November election.
The Colorado senator opposed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and objected to the Bush administration's efforts to lease Western lands for oil shale development. It will be up to the Obama administration whether to go ahead with leasing.
If Salazar is confirmed as interior secretary, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, will select a replacement to fill the last two years of his Senate term. Before being elected to the Senate in 2004, Salazar was Colorado's attorney general. He also headed Colorado's Natural Resources Department from 1990 through 1994.
The MyBarackobama website's "veteran" bloggers and supporters will convening in Alexandria, VA to meet and celebrate the Inaugural.
The event will be an awards ceremony and a "Live from D.C." Blog session, special guest speakers dramatic reading of blog posts, raffle, meet-up and more! RSVP: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gsxyq2
Time:Monday, January 19 from 11:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Location:Murphy's Grand Irish Pub 713 King St Old Town Alexandria, VA
RSVP as space is limited!
They have many great designs, below is just a small sampling of some of my favorites…
Go check them out! To all the designers that have contributed - very nice work!
Update: Looking for yard signs? If so, check out our How to Create Your Own Signs post.
Here are some additional updated versions of the signs featuring the Obama Biden text with the “O” logo. These signs are ready-to-print PDFs and currently sized for tabloid sized paper (17 by 11 inches) - if you’re looking for standard letter sized paper (8½ by 11 inches) see my previous Free Printable Obama Biden Signs post. The contents of all the PDFs here are vector based and should scale up nicely if you wish to print at even larger sizes.
I’m providing this larger size to make it even easier to print out and display. Tabloid size is a common size that can be printed out at nearly every copy shop.
Small “O” large text…
Available in the following standard screen sizes: 1600x1200, 1280x1024, 1024x768 & 800x600. As well as the following 2 wide screen sizes: 1920x1200 & 1680x1050
Registrars are open across Virginia today, click here to find out where and when your registrar is open for absentee voting.
After you vote, you should make sure that others get out and vote by signing up here. And if you do not have time today, you can still vote on TUESDAY NOVEMBER 4th!
Enjoy these pictures of people voting absentee in Richmond!
