Organizing for America | D.C., VA, and MD Latinos Unidos por Obama

D.C., VA, and MD Latinos Unidos por Obama

This group is geared toward bilingual members that are interested in helping with Latino outreach in the Washington D.C., VA, and MD area.

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Let's have real reform this year

By Nate - Dec 13th, 2009 at 1:33 pm EST

Also listed in: 8 groups

Dear Senators Cardin and Mikulski,

Let's have real reform this year, one that gives us real choice. Not the A or B, Coke or Pepsi, choices of a rigged private market controlled by an oligopoly of large corporations. This is not cars or stereos, this is whether people live or die. It is simply too important to leave to the private market alone.

I don't need subsidies to funnel more tax payer dollars to private corporations; we've already had $700 billion of that this year. I need a non-profit, publicly run, and publicly accountable option for my health care. One I can afford and trust. And I'd like to have it before the next time I get sick, so I can stop turning to charities for my medical care.

And let's be honest, this shouldn't be hard to do. The majority of Americans (and an even bigger majority of Marylanders) support a public option. So here's a great idea, why don't we give Americans of all ages and incomes the option to buy into Medicare instead of buying on the private market. No new, wasteful, bureaucracy needed, just expand what we have. If a person qualifies for the new subsidies they can choose to apply them to a private plan or a Medicare plan. Simple. Quality, affordable choices. Just like Barack said.

If the fact that I, as your constituent, am 40% more likely to die than you simply because I cannot afford health insurance (whereas my tax dollars pay for yours), and my employer does not offer me health insurance (the hiring freeze in Montgomery County, a result of the recession, means that I have been hired essentially as a permanent temp, instead of a full time teacher, and therefore do not receive benefits), is not enough to convince this Congress to fight for real reform, perhaps it is better we, the people, appeal to your self-interest instead.

So let me make it real simple for you. No strong public option (preferably Medicare open to all ages) = no vote, no canvassing, no phone banking and no donations in 2010 or 2012. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only Democrat that feels this way.

Trading the public option for an expansion of Medicare by a decade, is of little consolation to the majority of us uninsured who are under the age of 40. Nor does it change the fact that I, and tens of millions of other Americans, will be mandated to buy a product we cannot afford while giving us no new options as to which product is available to us. So please, I beg you, if the public option is to be canned in favor of expanding Medicare, then make open to people of all ages.

So this holiday season, please, bail out the sick and dying, the laid-off and underemployed; don't bail out the insurance industry. Because again, it's simple math: universal mandate + no public option = insurance industry bail out. You would be forcing me to bail out the insurance companies by mandating I buy their over priced, insufficient products. At the end of the day working class Americans, of all colors and creeds, can no longer afford to “pay the bill for every major government program and get nothing or little in the way of return” (Mikulski, 1970).

How young people are treated by government today will shape how we vote for decades and generations to come. What FDR and the New Deal Democrats did for my grandparents - the children of poor, east European, immigrant factory workers, both Catholic and Jewish - is the inspiration which you, and I, and countless other Americans carry forward with us today.

Let us not forget that it was the critical support of people like us - the millions of first, second and third generation Americans, and their children, whose political views were laid by the haunting experiences of the Great Depression and the progressive agenda of the New Deal - which allowed Democrats to end segregation, to pass civil rights, and to create Medicare. And it was us, together with a new wave of immigrants, which elected not just our first African-American president, but also only the second in our history to have come from immigrant descent. We have now built the alliance of Asian, Latino, “white and black, white collar, blue collar and no collar based on mutual need, interdependence and respect” (Mikulski, 1970). And this time, with laser precision, our anger is generated towards those who have power.

It is time now that this coalition carry the torch forward for a new generation, and remind the people once again what Democrats are supposed to stand for. That is why the young cannot be left out of any compromise on health care, for so too then will we be left out of the experience which made my family, and your families, Democrats in the first place. The young generation is equally part of this new Great Recession; do we not then deserve to be part of this new New Deal? Let’s open Medicare to young and old, rich and poor alike. Let’s do it for our party and for our country. To honor those who came before us, and to lay the path for those to follow.

Happy Chanukah and Merry Christmas

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Abortion & Healthcare

By Nate - Nov 11th, 2009 at 3:07 pm EST

Also listed in: 7 groups

So let's be clear, I'm a progressive libertarian, I want single-payer healthcare (i.e. medicare for all), and I support a women's right to have an abortion. I do not, however, see anything wrong with Stupak's amendment, and it's certainly not worth weakening health care reform over.

First of all, if we're going to use government funds to provide for people's healthcare, which I believe we should (and I would personally prefer the government paid for all healthcare through a single-payer system), we have to be careful about how we allocate those funds so that it does not just turn into a rampant populism of who can snatch more government cash. For that reason, health care funds should only go to MEDICALLY NECESSARY procedures. Asking someone to give their tax dollars for elective abortions, from a fiscal perspective, doesn't make anymore sense than using tax dollars to pay for face lifts, or breast enlargement.

Secondly, many people in this country have a very understandable moral issue with abortion. If we believe in the right to make our own choice on this difficult moral question of when life begins, we need to respect the opinions of those who make a different decision than us. Pro-lifers have a right to their opinion too, and their opinion is that abortion is murder. Now they shouldn't have the right to force that conclusion on every other woman. But neither should they be required, in the name of health care reform, to fund an act they believe to be murder if it is not medically necessary to protect the life of the mother,

And really, in the grand scheme of medical costs, abortions are relatively cheap. Nobody is going bankrupt or losing their home over the cost of an abortion. And this is coming from someone who earns sub-poverty wages and has no health insurance.

Let's focus on things that matter here.

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Healthcare Letter

By Nate - Oct 21st, 2009 at 11:41 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

My uncle moved to Florida a little over a decade ago to help take care of my grandmother who was already living there. He runs his own small business, Martin Painting. Most of the work he does himself, occasional hiring local high school and college students to help him during the summer months. And for many years he was able to make a living wage, along with his wife who teaches piano lessons to local school children.

Then the housing market crashed. There were no newly built homes to paint, and many struggling home owners were putting off renovations on existing homes. He wasn't able to afford health insurance anymore. Just last month he suffered from a heart attack. The doctor told him he should avoid any cardiovascular activity for at least six months. But the following week he got an offer for a job. With the hospital bills he had just accumulated he needed the money even more than before.

So one week after suffering a heart attack, and despite his doctor's order, my uncle was back at work, hauling paint cans and industrial sprayers, climbing tall ladders. Our broken healthcare system has denied him what in our country has become the luxury to rest and recuperate after nearly losing his life. I just want my uncle to be able to get better.

That is why I believe it is of such vital necessity that we pass a universal healthcare bill that has, as a bare minimum for reform, a strong public option. And there’s a real easy way we can do it, without even needing any new bureaucracy. Let’s open Medicare to all Americans. Those 65 and older can still receive Medicare for free, while younger Americans could choose to buy their policies from either Medicare or the private market. All that’s left is to take the existing subsidies, such as Medicaid, and let low income families decide if they want to use them to buy Medicare or private insurance.

Any bill that mandates the purchase of insurance (whether with our own money, or tax dollar subsidies), but offers no public alternative to the private, for-profit companies – which have failed to negotiate in good faith with the reform process, which have denied needed treatment to millions of Americans, and which leave 45,000 Americans to die from preventable causes each year because they cannot afford the industry's over priced premiums – would not be reform. It would be an insurance industry bailout, in the form of 50 million new, though unwilling, customers, forced by government to buy their product.

Wealthy corporations have had more than their share of bailouts this year. The American people cannot afford to bail out insurers whose health care system now takes more American lives per year than Al-Queda could ever dream of. Fine me, jail me, water board me, I will not buy insurance from these companies whose practices continue to abuse, maim, and kill innocent Americans, while their profits continue to soar. I hereby boycott any and all private insurance. I demand another option.

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Obama win Election!

By ODEH ODEH - Nov 5th, 2008 at 12:30 am EST

Also listed in: 9 groups

All said and done, today is like no any other day in the history of this country and behold I am happy to be part of the generation that forever shall be remembered for rescuing the country and help reclaimed its values of freedom and as the abode of humanity.

God bless USA

God bless Obama & Biden

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Who is the real Senator John McCain?

By ODEH ODEH - Oct 31st, 2008 at 9:38 am EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

With all due respect what I use to know about Senator John McCain is that in part and factually for that matter he was a war veteran just like Senator John Kerry and the many other Americans that have served their fatherland as circumstances presents its self. He is part of the American stories, idealism and convictions that freedom is a right and not a privilege and unity in diversity is an indispensable part of nation building and adherence to the integrity and authenticity of America as a country. Nevertheless whether he will be part of the American solution is an entire different argument that we must all attempt to pragmatically elucidate based on the current political dispensation and in comparison to Senator Obama.

Furthermore, John McCain has carved the image of being a maverick in the Senate and especially after the Keating involvement and especially sequel to his loss to President George Bush in the Republican Party presidential nomination of the year 2000.

To his credit McCain has reached across the aisles to work with the Democratic Party members in the Senate on many issues including but not limited to the need for a comprehensive immigration reform which will ultimately lead to legalization of those who merited to be in the country becoming permanent resident and those who failed to meet the criteria are treated in a humane fashion that does not in any way compromise their freedom and humanity while assuring the preservation of their integrity and quest to survive.

The John McCain I have come to see in the current political dispensation is almost a contrasting figure to what I use to see, read about and watch in the year 2000. How much can eight years bring about an exponential oxymoronic transformation in an individual as worthy of emulation as the many public figures that we have seen disintegrated and miniaturized into mere nonentities and inconsequentialities.

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Oct. 30

By Nancy from Brentwood, MD - Oct 30th, 2008 at 9:04 am EDT

Also listed in: D.C., VA, and MD Latinos Unidos por Obama

We are getting closer to this Nov. 4 and I'm excited ! Its been a journey and lets hope this Nov 4. America is up for the change !!!

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Obama's fans in Europe are in for a big surprise

By ODEH ODEH - Oct 27th, 2008 at 10:42 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

It is indeed gratifying to see how the entire globe is gravitating and anticipating the evntual candidacy of Obama in the White House.

Obama's fans in Europe are in for a big surprise By John Vinocur
Monday, October 27, 2008

PARIS: If Barack Obama is elected president of the United States next week, he'll bring into office with him the advantage of not being pre-cast as a villain in Europe.

As pluses go, it may be an impermanent one.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/27/america/politicus.php

The Joshua of our time after the Moses of the last generation!

God bless USA

God bless Obama & Biden

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Bill Clinton to campaign with Obama in Florida

By ODEH ODEH - Oct 26th, 2008 at 12:05 am EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

I was among those who believe that no matter the excruciating Democratic Party primaries, we shall all come back and share our commonality rather than difference for the sake of the country; and it is indeed a wonderful news that finally the emergence of this news about Bill and Obama conclusively solidified my inclinations and convictions on better days ahead.

The Democratic Party has gone through so many challenges and nevertheless found the way of looking forward, remaining positive and objective and to me this is essentially the hallmark of the kind of party and leaders you will advocate for as necesary to lead the country.

Former President Clinton hosted Sen. Barack Obama at his New York office in September.

Bill and Obama!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/25/campaign.wrap/index.html

God bless USA

God bless Obama & Biden

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2008 Maryland Ballot Questions and State & Local Candidate List...do you know them?

By Reggie Smith III - Oct 10th, 2008 at 12:22 pm EDT

Also listed in: 8 groups

Maryland Family,

Does it drive you crazy each time you vote and you find a long list of ballet questions with state and local candidates to pick from as well? I would guess 80% of us do not have a clue regarding these questions or the other candidates listed other than Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Therefore, here are some links and list for your review. Please do some homework on these issues and folks before Nov. 4...I will! Go Obama!

1. 2008 Presidential General State & Local Candidate List:

http://www.elections.state.md.us/elections/2008/index.html

2. 2008 Ballot Questions (Shown below and link to access more info):

http://www.elections.state.md.us/elections/2008/questions/index.html

There are 2 Statewide Constitutional Amendments that will appear on the November 4th, 2008 General Election ballot. Local ballot questions may appear on the ballot in certain counties.

Statewide Ballot Questions

Constitutional Amendments

Question 1 - Elective Franchise - Early Voting and Polling Places

Ballot Language

Non-Technical Summary

Senate Bill 1, Chapter 513 of the 2007 Legislative Session

Question 2 - Video Lottery Terminals - Authorization and Limitations

Ballot Language - Revised 9/11/2008

Non-Technical Summary - Revised

House Bill 4, Chapter 5 of the 2007 Special Legislative Session

Local Ballot Questions

Additional ballot questions will be posted as they are made available. Please check back periodically for updates. (Visit this site http://www.elections.state.md.us/elections/2008/questions/index.html and click the County/City links for deatils)

Anne Arundel County
Questions A and B, Charter Amendments

Baltimore City
Question A, Charter Amendment
Questions B-P, Bond Issues

Baltimore County
Question A, Charter Amendment
Question B, Not Certified
Questions C-K, County Ordinances

Carroll County
Police force ordinance did not pass, therefore, this question will not appear on the 2008 General Election Ballot - Chapter 609 of 2008

Garrett County
Question A, Local Referendum passed by General Assembly - Chapter 655 of 2008

Montgomery County
Questions A and B, Charter Amendments
Question C, Referendum - Removed from ballot September 9, 2008 by Court Order

Prince George's County
Questions A-F, Charter Required Referendums
Question G, Charter Amendment

Talbot County
Questions A and B, Charter Amendments

Wicomico County
Questions A and B, Charter Amendments

=====================================

LIST OF MARYLAND OFFICES:

Largo-MD

1101 Mercantile Land

2nd Floor

Largo, MD 20774

240-345-5839

Baltimore-MD

429 N. Eutaw Street

Baltimore, MD 21201

443-610-2250

Towson-MD

40 West Chesapeake Ave.

Towson, MD 21204

443-386-8515

Bethesda-MD

7832 Wisconsin Ave

Bethesda, MD

240-396-6739

=====================================

BARACKOBAMA.COM SITES:

Maryland for Obama: http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/mdhome

Maryland for Obama Group: http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/MarylandforObama

Mitchellville, Maryland for Obama Group: http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/MitchellvilleMarylandforObama

Suitland for Obama Group: http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/SuitlandforObama

Baltimore for Barack Group: http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/BaltimoreforBarack

Bowie, MD for Obama Group: http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/BowieMDforObama

Maryland Action Team Group: http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/MarylandActionTeam

Prince George's for Obama Group: http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/PrinceGeorgesforObama

=====================================

FACEBOOK SITES:

Barack Obama: http://presby.new.facebook.com/barackobama?q=barackobama&ref=ts

80,000,000 for Obama-Biden 2008: http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=47616271056

3,000,000 in Maryland for Obama-Biden 2008: http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=25125769710

I endorse Barack Obama -- and I'm telling my friends!: http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=8473486273

Lincoln University (PA) for Obama-Biden 2008

http://www.new.facebook.com/inbox/#/group.php?gid=26875518299

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) for Obama-Biden 2008!

http://www.new.facebook.com/inbox/#/group.php?gid=27010762439

=====================================

Thanks,

Reggie Smith III

Administrator

Maryland for Obama

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Maryland for Obama (Offices, Groups and Facebook sites)

By Reggie Smith III - Sep 27th, 2008 at 12:03 pm EDT

Also listed in: 9 groups

All,

Just came back from the Largo Office and I met a ton of great folks for Obama! Make sure you contact one of the offices below to get involved. In addition, I added a list of Group and Facebook sites to help you connect with even more Obama-Biden supporters. Have fun and let’s make sure we win this thing!

=====================================

LIST OF MARYLAND OFFICES:

Largo-MD

1101 Mercantile Land

2nd Floor

Largo, MD 20774

240-345-5839

Baltimore-MD

429 N. Eutaw Street

Baltimore, MD 21201

443-610-2250

Towson-MD

40 West Chesapeake Ave.

Towson, MD 21204

443-386-8515

Bethesda-MD

7832 Wisconsin Ave

Bethesda, MD

240-396-6739

=====================================

BARACKOBAMA.COM SITES:

Maryland for Obama: http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/mdhome

Maryland for Obama Group: http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/MarylandforObama

Mitchellville, Maryland for Obama Group: http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/MitchellvilleMarylandforObama

Suitland for Obama Group: http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/SuitlandforObama

Baltimore for Barack Group: http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/BaltimoreforBarack

Bowie, MD for Obama Group: http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/BowieMDforObama

Maryland Action Team Group: http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/MarylandActionTeam

Prince George's for Obama Group: http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/PrinceGeorgesforObama

=====================================

FACEBOOK SITES:

Barack Obama: http://presby.new.facebook.com/barackobama?q=barackobama&ref=ts

80,000,000 for Obama-Biden 2008:

http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=47616271056

3,000,000 in Maryland for Obama-Biden 2008:

http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=25125769710

I endorse Barack Obama -- and I'm telling my friends!:

http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=8473486273

=====================================

New Easy Event for Next Week!

OBAMA BLUE DAY!!! - September 30, 2008: http://www.new.facebook.com/event.php?eid=31771211898

Thanks,

Reggie Smith III

Administrator

Maryland for Obama

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Get the facts regarding timelines (registration) and facts (what to wear, etc.) for Maryland

By Reggie Smith III - Sep 25th, 2008 at 10:23 am EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

Get the Facts! Here is what I found regarding timelines (registration) and facts (what to wear, etc.) for Maryland. In another state...look it up and verify what you hear on the net. I plan to wear my Obama shirt and if anyone makes me take it off...I will vote without a shirt on...better known as Bare-chested! My/Our votes will not be stopped and by any means possible!

Source: Maryland State Board of Elections (http://www.elections.state.md.us/index.html ) The deadline to register to vote is October 14th at 9:00 p.m. The Voter Registration Application must be delivered in person to the State Board of Elections, a Local Board of Elections, or must be postmarked by October 14th to be eligible to vote in the 2008 Presidential General Election. More info: http://www.elections.state.md.us/voter_registration/index.html

Rumor: If my home is in foreclosure, will I be allowed to vote?

Fact: Maryland’s Constitution (Art. I, § 1) guarantees each citizen who is 18 years old and a resident of the State the right to vote. The fact that your home is in foreclosure has no bearing on your right to vote. It may, however, effect where you vote. If you have left your home and taken up a new residence, you will need to update your voter registration (by October 14, 2008) and vote in the election district and precinct for your new residence.

Supporting Documentation:

Letter from the Attorney General to Linda Lamone regarding reports of voter challenges of persons whose homes have been foreclosed 9-24-2008. (http://www.elections.state.md.us/press_room/documents/AG_Foreclosure_9_24_08.pdf

Rumor: If I wear a campaign button or t-shirt into the polling place, will I be allowed to vote?

Fact: A voter may wear campaign paraphernalia (buttons, t-shirts, or stickers) into the polling place while he or she is there to vote (the voter may not linger in the polling place after voting). However, an election judge, challenger and watcher, or other person stationed inside the polling place or within 100 feet of the polling place may not wear or display campaign materials.

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The world cannot have enough of Obama

By ODEH ODEH - Sep 2nd, 2008 at 10:34 pm EDT

Also listed in: 9 groups

An unidentified man man stands next to to picture of American ...

An unidentified man man stands next to to picture of American presidential candidate Barack Obama at a fund raising campaign for American presidential candidate Barack Obama in Lagos, Nigeria, Monday Aug. 11, 2008. The event, held by a group calling itself 'Africans for Obama 08,' drew hundreds of people from the Nigerian business elite. Each paid more than $2,000 to munch on grilled snails, sip from flutes of Veuve Cliquot and Moet & Chandon and join in a lively, if poorly executed, series of the 'fist bumps' popularized by Obama and his wife, Michelle

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How best can overseas Obama fan gets campaign materials and souvenir

By ODEH ODEH - Sep 1st, 2008 at 9:36 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

Please can anyone respond to this request; how best can overseas supporters get campaign souvenirs at affordable prices?

Thanks and keep the faith.

Yahoo! Mail

Re: Friend Request and campaign souvenirs

Monday, September 1, 2008 10:10 AM

Hello Peter and familyThank for joining our networker. See message from me on your network.I live in UK , African by biographical background but now owning an imaginery statusthe naturalised citizenship from migration.Do you know where we can get the quality Obama badges at cheap price. we have lots of people interested this end. They are american citizen living in uk and else where.will be happy for the information. thank you.Elizabeth

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House panel votes to cite Rove with contempt

By Mariel - Jul 30th, 2008 at 1:40 pm EDT

Also listed in: 9 groups

Below is yet another example of why we need a CHANGE with the government the way things are running now!

PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL YOUR REPUBLICAN FRIENDS!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080730/ap_on_go_co/rove_contempt

WASHINGTON - The House Judiciary Committee has voted to hold former White House strategist Karl Rove in contempt of Congress for ignoring a subpoena to testify.

Voting along party lines Wednesday, the committee said Rove broke the law by failing to appear at a July 10 hearing on allegations of White House influence over the Justice Department, including whether Rove encouraged prosecutions against Democrats.

The committee decision is only a recommendation, and it was unclear whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi would allow a final vote.

Rove has denied any involvement with Justice Department decisions, and the White House has said Congress has no authority to compel testimony from current and former advisers.

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Voter Registration Instructions

By Mariel - Jul 24th, 2008 at 2:15 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

Organize Your Own Voter Registration Drive Today!

Right now, the most important task by far for our community-organizing/grassroots campaign model is registering voters.By registering voters, we not only dramatically reshape the political landscape for the election this fall, but we bring in new or disaffected voters to the democratic process for the future. Sen. Obama has stated repeatedly that the goal of this campaign is not just to mobilize Americans to elect a president, but to reinvigorate American politics by restoring and expanding citizen involvement. Winning the election is only the beginning; as a people, our duty as citizens must be to continue to stay involved and hold government accountable.So seek out your local Obama or Democratic campaign office, local Obama or Democratic clubs, etc. and find out about any scheduled voter registration drives.
If you can't find voter registration efforts in your area - organize your own! A friend has written a GREAT How-To Guide for voter registration drives on Daily Kos - check it out today! It's actually very easy and straightforward. Any local effort is planned and run by a small group of volunteers. Yes We Can...Si, Se Puede!
Jose Torres
OBAMANOS-Latinos for Obama

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Obama pics in Israel

By Mariel - Jul 24th, 2008 at 2:10 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

WOW - her really is an Ambassador for Peace!

New York Post

Mariel thought you would find this story from NYPOST.COM interesting:

Obama's trip to Israel - he truly is an Ambassador for Peace

Click on the link below to access the story.
http://www.nypost.com/photos/galleries/news/worldnews/pp_20080724_obama_israel/photo10.htm

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South Carolina State Senator Posts Osama-Obama Photo

By funkfresh01 - Jul 22nd, 2008 at 9:40 pm EDT

Also listed in: 9 groups

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/21/kevin-bryant-south-caroli_n_114098.html?view=print

Source: Huffington Post

Author: Nico Pitney

South Carolina State Senator Kevin Bryant has removed a classy photo from his website showing Osama Bin Laden next to Barack Obama with text claiming the difference between them is "just a little B.S."

Update: Interview with Bryant added below.

The photo was highlighted by Wonkette and The Hill, among other sites, and when I tried to access the blog post in question at 3PM ET, it had been removed from Bryant's website.

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Muslim Voters Detect a Snub From Obama

By funkfresh01 - Jul 13th, 2008 at 7:03 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/us/politics/24muslim.html?pagewanted=print

By ANDREA ELLIOTT

As Senator Barack Obama courted voters in Iowa last December, Representative Keith Ellison, the country’s first Muslim congressman, stepped forward eagerly to help.

Mr. Ellison believed that Mr. Obama’s message of unity resonated deeply with American Muslims. He volunteered to speak on Mr. Obama’s behalf at a mosque in Cedar Rapids, one of the nation’s oldest Muslim enclaves. But before the rally could take place, aides to Mr. Obama asked Mr. Ellison to cancel the trip because it might stir controversy. Another aide appeared at Mr. Ellison’s Washington office to explain.

“I will never forget the quote,” Mr. Ellison said, leaning forward in his chair as he recalled the aide’s words. “He said, ‘We have a very tightly wrapped message.’ ”

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From Gregg Heacock: Teamsters for Obama

By Rhonda Barnes - Jul 4th, 2008 at 10:13 am EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

The Movement that Drives this Campaign

A storm of controversy arising over Barack Obama's support of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is testing the unity of our campaign. Many in the campaign are threatening to jump ship. While some accuse him of being a centrist, and others defend him as a pragmatist, the angriest among us are calling him a traitor. I do not wish to deny the importance of this issue, but I remember being told in my Camp Obama training that the issues can distract us from the true narrative of this campaign.

What we have in common is that we are all free spirits born into history. The race, gender, economic circumstances, and family context--the time and place into which we are born--give us different perspectives that divide us. Still, words that signify our values provide a common ground that unites us. That narrative of differences and values that unite us is "the wind" Barack says "is sweeping across this great land" calling for change.

Imagine, then, that the campaign is a ship, moving toward the horizon, with the captain adjusting the sails to manage the ship through rough currents to get us to a new land. We are the wind that fills the sails and the crew that manages the ship. As the wind, we are free to blow whichever way our intention takes us. As the crew, we need to secure the ship and give respect to the person who leads us. In short, argument is healthy for without wind we are dead in the water. But, we need not to confuse this with working for the campaign. Still, it would be a lax crew that lacked concern for the judgment of its commander.

George Lakoff, in his latest book The Political Mind, shows Democrats how to frame issues so they connect with the electorate. I was thinking of the terms "movement" and "campaign" when I attended a Unite for Change party, last weekend, in Santa Monica. I realized from the speeches made by those in attendance who had campaigned for Hillary, Kucinich, Biden, and Dodd that, while I had seen them as parts of separate campaigns, we were all part of the movement for change.

But, Obama has abandoned "movement" in favor of "campaign." When Barack spoke in favor of public campaign financing, he was supporting the notion that public moneys should be available to help all parties engage effectively in political dialog. Who can't appreciate the irony of Libertarians accepting public funding for their campaign? Naturally, when Barack said he would not accept public funding, Republicans and their minions, known as pundits, accused him of flip-flopping. How much easier it would have been to say that he was at the head of a "movement"! Most people would see the sense of freeing a movement from the confines of public funding. After all, a movement is a mandate for change. It isn't like a campaign that seeks money from lobbyists and special interests. It is funded by common folk who are so motivated that their cause becomes infectious, spreading through every state of the union. Obama, as a leader of that movement, would march beside the likes of King and Chavez, who rose above t he petty pandering of pundits. Yet, Obama chose not to take the high ground.

Instead, he chose to accept the role in which most Americans would be comfortable seeing him. He is a candidate. That means he is in a campaign. That means be is subject to the slings and arrows of outrageous political fortune. Though I had hoped to avoid such a fight, Barack has chosen to take it on. By committing himself to the language of a "campaign" rather than the language of a "movement," Obama made a choice that is emblematic of all the choices he has made since.

We see a similar decision in Barack's using the term "war" rather than "occupation" when seeking to withdraw our troops from Iraq. If we presume our troops are fighting a war in that country, are we not obliged to try to win it? If, however, we see this as an "occupation," withdrawing troops would be our natural goal. Yet, even as the army in its official report on the Iraq War defines our current situation as an "occupation," Barack has chosen to stick with the term "war." Despite my frustration with this, I see that, again, he has chosen the term that Americans have already accepted. Why?

As a community organizer, Obama has learned that to make change, he must, first, acknowledge the value of the positions people have taken. It is only when people feel accepted that they see they don't need to defend themselves. That is when they are able to look at a situation from a different perspective.

I think that we who oppose the FISA legislation wish our candidate would give us the same acknowledgment. We want to know that he values our point of view. The more we are not acknowledged, the more we (dare I say?) "cling" to our position. But, I want to point out something that we may have not seen. Our discussion of this issue has been conducted, undisrupted, on the MyBarackObama.com website.

Just as King envisioned a table where the grandchildren of slaves and the grandchildren of slave owners would sit together as brothers and sisters, Obama has spoken of bringing people together who, before, have not recognized how much they have in common. Consider how many people do not see that the threat of "Big Brother" spying on us outweighs the benefit of preventing a terrorist attack by monitoring communications. Imagine that we are sitting at the same table, crafting legislation. What negotiations wou ld we be willing to make? For all that some believe Barack has given away in his support for this legislation, he has ensured his administration the right to review what happened under the Bush administration so that the truth comes out. He has also reserved the right to hold people accountable for their actions by charging as criminals those who have broken the law.

We need to recognize the leadership Obama is showing as he moves this campaign forward. As free spirits, we may know no bounds other than the values that drive us forward. But, as free spirits born into history, we are must recognize and honor the views of those who see things from a different perspec tive. We must have a foot in both worlds.

I do not find this easy. It certainly isn't comforting. We must discipline ourselves as did those "veterans of creative suffering" that King honored with his praise. Such discipline demands that we allow "what is" to be in order for it to change. It demands that we are ever mindful of our goal as we submit to the process required to lead others to that higher place. We cannot stand on the mountaintop and beckon others to come forth. We have to hold each other by the hand and, with empathy, negotiate a path that we can travel together.

At that Unite for Change gathering in Santa Monica, a fifteen-year-old campaigner, Jackson Hille, spoke of his experience going to rural Texas to bring people to the polls. He said that he traveled to the outskirts of a community to knock on the doors of houses he never imagined would exist in this country during this time. A black man in his eighties came to the door and smiled. This man said he never imagined that someone would come to him to invite him to be part of a change he believed never would occur in his lifetime. When this man expressed his gratitude, young Jackson broke down in tears. And, when the man said he was too crippled with arthritis to make it to the polls, Jackson organized transportation that took a number of people to the polls , after which they were fed before heading for the caucuses to vote again.

This story would not be chronicled in any traditional campaign we have seen before. It is the result of a movement. We are that movement that is campaigning to change America. In these trying times, when post-primary depression is likely to set in, we must remember our commitment to transform America. As it took a Civil War to bring the states together as one nation, so it will take a mighty struggle to unite us as one people.
It is a struggle we already know. It will involve calling people on our cell phones, traveling to other states and communities to offer our hands to strangers. As we prepare for the task before us, it is good that we announce and acknowledge our own grievances. It is good that we question the campaign just as we are about to meet people who will question us. As we move beyond the horizon of what is comfortable, of what is given, we must recognize our shared vulnerability in going forward. Our comfort, now, must be in going forward together.

We are the wind; we are the sail; we are the ship; we are the destination. We are eternal; we are now. And, we are not alone.

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Cuba: Must read Barack Obama and Cuba Policy.

By ! A LUIS "Cuba!" MORO. . . . . - Jun 28th, 2008 at 10:05 am EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

"The Character Factor: U.S. Policy toward Cuba determines elections nation wide."

The following is a list of articles related to Cuba policies, politics and Barack Obama.

Being pro or against the embargo on Cuba seems to be one question that reveals

a politicians character.

If a politician is for a Cuba policy that has failed for 47 years, they should NOT be in political office.

Please take a few moments and review some of the articles.

Our commitment is to abolish the 47 year old failed U.S. policies against Cuba.

By Luis Cuba Moro

Table of content as of June 28th - at this blog:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/Cuba

Cuba: A world that works for everyone, with no one left out. Jun 27th, 2008 at 10:14 am EDT

Cuba: Barack Obama is a mulatto; does that make him a white man? - Jun 26th, 2008 at 4:58 am EDT

CUBA: The European Union's lift sanctions against Cuba. - Jun 25th, 2008 at 7:52 pm EDT

Cuba: Cuba approves, makes available lung cancer vaccine. - Jun 25th, 2008 at 12:47 pm EDT

Cuba: Obama has a 16 point lead in a South Florida poll - Jun 24th, 2008 at 8:17 am EDT

Cuba: There is no U.S. Embargo on Cuba.- Jun 24th, 2008 at 8:13 am EDT

Cuba: I'm sorry. - Jun 24th, 2008 at 6:45 am EDT

Cuba: If Cuba was a white (Och!) Country, there would be no embargo. Jun 21st, 2008 at 1:01 pm EDT

Cuba: 1,400 free photos of the Real Cuba today. - Jun 20th, 2008 at 2:03 pm EDT
http://www.EveryThingCuba.com

Cuba: The Death of Political Insanity: The Case Of Cuba. Jun 20th, 2008 at 1:37 pm EDT

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