Yes, I can ... I can breath deep again. Finally, after so many months, all of us who have supported Obama and Biden can say ... Finally we can say ... Yes We Can.
This victory is not just our personal victory, but a victory for all Americans. Our future finally feels open to newer and brighter changes. Change that you and I can believe in. From Big Island of Hawaii, I saw the victory unfolding from my chair, watching the evens unravelling from my 12-inch colored television at 6 pm, Hawaii time. 338 electoral votes. AMEN, AMEN, AMEN.
Thank you Vermont, New England states, Virginia, Ohio, Florida, Colorado, New Mexico, California, Oregon and Washington state, thank you Hawaii. THANK YOU TO THE 42 MILLION PLUS AMERICANS WHO VOTED FOR OBAMA-BIDEN.
I am so happy, so excited, that I prayed to God immediately and thanked him for blessing America with the Obama-Biden leadership team and to protect them always. God Bless Us. God Bless America. Amen.
One day left and the start of a new day. Obama-Biden ticket is on the rise. I have voted by absentee ballot. I hope all of you will vote come Election Day Tuesday. Your vote, my vote is important. Please spread the word and VOTE.
God Bless all of Us. Got Bless the United States of America.
I sent out the Virginia Veterans for Obama youtube video via email to some of my friends ... some who are oriented to the McCain vote. I hope this will make an impact to let them be aware that there is a huge following of veterans who believe in the change that Obama and Biden will bring to our Nation. Hopefully, they vote for Obama-Biden. However, I probably will get back some negative feedback from them ... but it does not matter because I let them know where I stand.
Being a retired U.S. Army senior noncommissioned officer and disabled veteran, I have the confidence that Obama and Biden will lead us to the changes that we need to upgrade our Nation's status. Eight years of misery, turmoil, financial ruin, international disrespect, and misuse of the military (we need to get Bin Laden ... not stay indefinitely in Iraq) will soon be changed come ELECTION DAY TUESDAY.
VOTE OBAMA-BIDEN (I have voted for them via absentee ballot).
I just reported two youtube smear campaigns by email to watchdog@barackobama.com
Instead of focusing on the most important issues, the economy and finding the terrorist Osama bin Laden, the McCain supporters are becoming desperate enough by sending smear campaign youtube videos by emails and are trying to influence jewish american vote and smearing Obama's name.
ON A POSITIVE NOTE: Democrats will have a big wave of victory throughout the nation come Election Day Tuesday. Supporters like you helped make it happen. Polls today indicate a double digit lead by OBAMA-BIDEN in Pennsylvania, according to CNN.
Tuesday is election day ... Change is coming. Please vote and remind your family, friends, and co-workers to vote for Obama-Biden on ELECTION DAY TUESDAY.
I voted for Obama-Biden and sent out my absentee ballot last week. What a good feeling.
I just sent out a letter to the editor to Victorville California's Daily Press and to the Big Island of Hawaii newspaper Hawaii Tribune Herald today, hopefully it gets published on Sunday's edition of the newspapers, so readers can read what i have to say ... Vote for your Choice ... (PS: my choice is the Obama-Biden ticket).
I am so excited and looking forward to the evening of election day Tuesday. Why? because I am so confident that the American people will know deep down in their heart that Obama and Biden is America's best choice in returning America its greatness. Their inspiration have touched millions, and their impact has inspired millions of new voters, turning undecided voters into believers.
Yes, thanks to the millions of Obama supporters, and endorsers like retired Gen. Colin Powell, governors from various states, we are on the road to a new direction of change. Goodbye Bush. Goodbye McCain. Goodbye Palin. Let's all get with the program of change that's coming.
I received this spam email today asking people for $9.95 for shipping and handling for a free OBAMA CD from an address in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Someone is trying to make a quick buck using Obama's name. PLEASE be careful and share this with everyone.
I just reported a smear campaign in Hawaii by McCain supporters via email. Although McCain support in Hawaii is far fewer, these McCain supporters are real desperate in influencing the people's choice by sending email that depicts negative campaigning. SHAME OF THEM.
THEY NEED TO GET WITH THE PROGRAM WITH THE REST OF HAWAII's OBAMA SUPPORTERS. Change is needed and we don't need someone who supports the Bush administration 92 percent of the time. We don't need someone who chose a vice presidential candidate who does not have any inkling on foreign affairs and nation-level issues.
We need Barack Obama and Joe Biden to make things happen in the next four years. WE NEED THEM TO IMPROVE OUR ECONOMY, TO USE OUR MILITARY DECISIVELY (that is to get Bin Laden first and not linger in Iraq), AND GET US BACK AS A RESPECTABLE NATION LEADER IN THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY.
Kababayan,
We are at this historic moment of our political empowerment agenda that we need to rally together to elect Senator Barack Obama as the next president of the United States. Under his AAPI platform, Senator Barack Obama supports the justice struggle of our Filipino WWII veterans and our quest for more humane immigration legislation.
Let's connect our local activities to the national effort of Filipinos For Obama to elect Senator Barack Obama as the next president of the United States of America.
Jerry Clarito
Skokie, IL
Hello. I'm a Filipino American living in Brooklyn with my wife and daughter. I have several relatives living in swing states (Ohio, Michigan) who traditionally vote Republican, and I thought one way I could make a small contribution to Barack's campaign was to start a conversation with those relatives about our different political views. So I recently sent each of them a respectful letter to get the conversation started, laying out my opinions and asking for theirs. If even just one letter sparks a discussion that ends up persuading them to at least consider voting for Barack, I feel the effort will have been worth it.
I thought I'd share that letter here in case it's useful for anyone else out there who's wondering how to broach the subject of politics to their families. This approach is what I feel works for me, although it may not for you. I tried to research my points as well as I could, but if you see that I'm wrong on any of my facts, please feel free to comment. Following an introductory "How are you?" paragraph (personalized for each relative, of course), here's the text of the letter:
Reagan’s America is dead.
If not dead, it lies fallen on a US economy near ruin. The recent collapse of several financial giants and the extreme concentration of wealth in a few hands have reached levels unmatched since the 1930’s Great Depression Era. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who witnessed firsthand the Great Depression, declared “This is the worst economy I’ve ever seen.”
Like Oscar Wilde’s tragic protagonist Dorian Gray whose beauty gives way to his true ugliness once his portrait is destroyed, the inheritors of the Reagan mantle, McCain-Palin are revealed for what they are—pallbearers of a legacy best left to die and be buried.
We should be cheering at the funeral.
[Hooked nose Arabs paint hooked noses?]Author Derided by Muslim Students [Association] in Anti Semitic Cartoon Author David Horowitz responded today to his recent controversy at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. David Horowitz, a popular conservative writer, was derided in a Nazi-like anti-Semitic cartoon, put out by the Muslim Student Association. The cartoon, which was copied and spread around campus, portrays Horowitz, a Jewish man, as a hooked-nose Nazi hiding in a trash can. http://tothecenter.com/news.php?readmore=4895
"Hadith of Hate" Banned at USC By Reut R. Cohen FrontPageMagazine.com | 8/29/2008 As Muslim Student Association (MSA) chapters have become increasingly influential at universities and colleges around the country, critics have charged that it is a hate group that sympathizes with the international jihad and promulgates an anti-American and anti-Semitic ideology in its campus actions. In response, the MSA has claimed that it is merely another religious and cultural group similar to Hillel, a club for Jewish students, or the Newman Club for Catholics. That deception has been now unmasked at the University of Southern California, where the school’s Provost, Chrysostomos L. Max Nikias, reacting to a call from the David Horowitz Freedom Center and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, has ordered the campus MSA to remove a “despicable” hadith calling for Muslims to murder Jews as a condition for redemption from its website. David Horowitz, President of the Freedom Center, hails this as a breakthrough moment when the double standards that control the political and intellectual culture of most universities have finally been challenged. “Up to now, the slightest criticism of radical Islam on campus has been slammed as ‘Islamophobia,’ while Muslim groups and their radical fellow travelers have been allowed to say the most hateful things imaginable about Christians and Jews without any reaction from university administrators whatsoever,” Horowitz says. “Provost Nikias has called the hadith on the MSA website for what it is: despicable. Given the atmosphere that prevails on most campuses today, it was an act of integrity on his part to make this call and to demand that the MSA live up to basic standards of civility that should govern the university.” The hadith (sacred teaching) reads as follows: “Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him….” http://www.rightsidenews.com/200808301838/homeland-security/-hadith-of-hate-banned-at-usc.html
Understanding the election mindset of Filipino Americans, thoughts for the Obama-Biden Ticket. As the US presidential elections enter fever pitch, let me share some thoughts on how to target the four million Filipino-American (FILAM) voters. Apart from the usual demographic profiling of this voting constituency, there needs to be a concrete grounding on deeply rooted Filipino psychology and how it plays into the electoral arena.
First and foremost is to understand America from the point of view of immigrant Filipinos. A lot of the immigrants entered the United States and worked 2 to 3 jobs. The impetus for this is a zealous commitment to succeed and help relatives at home. Usually, when these folks go home to the Philippines, they try to project themselves as success stories despite the hardships experienced in the US. There has to be a real affirmation on the part of the Democratic Party and its standard bearers OBama and Bidden that FILAMS are a positive economic and political force. In other words, a pat on the back and showing that the Democratic Party cares in specific and not in superficial terms would endear the immigrants. Moreso, since majority of FILAM immigrants are Catholic, they frame their life experiences as part of their journey towards physical and spiritual salvation. For them, the United States represents the promised land and salvation and deliverance from the hardships of their lives in the Philippines.
Second is to leverage the value system of immigrants in targeting succeeding generations of FILAMS. Succeeding generations of FILAMS, or those who are born in the U.S. are already acclimatized along American values and for all intent and purposes are mainstream Americans already. The core message for succeeding generations of FILAMS is that the Democratic Party by and large is the political party cognizant of the immense contribution of immigrants to the country’s wealth and power. Emphasis is to be given on a long track record of making sure that immigrants benefit from a strong educational, health care, and welfare system that empowers FILAMS to be productive citizens.
Third is to send a clear message of doing concrete steps for the betterment of Philippines. The Veterans bill is a start, although it is not as compelling as it was once before. Simply put, a lot of the veterans of world war 2 have died and the base of support is dwindling. A more compelling argument for the Obama-Bidden ticket is to help bring actual peace to the Philippines, a strong commitment parallel to what they are espousing in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. There must also be a strong push to empower the Armed Forces of the Philippines. An increase in Aid and Investments with an end in view of having a strong economic and development alliance between the two countries envied by others in the region must be put forth. Nothing excites FILAMS more than seeing the motherland again becoming a strong political, economic, and military ally of the US. The operative word is “Decisiveness”. FILAMS needs to feel that the Philippines is at the center of the South East Asia or even the Asian stage as a major power. In other words, the Philippines must be part of the Obama-Bidden dinner table.
Fourth is to appeal to the Filipinos in the Philippines to ask their relatives in the States to vote Obama-Biden. Nothing beats direct appeal to the locals in the Philippines to endorse an Obama-Biden ticket to the ones in the States. The strong ties that bind Filipinos across the continents is the very foundation of support that moves the diaspora forward. Information Technology like text messaging, phone calls, e-mails, would be the main driver of communication. Folks from both countries are now conversing everyday through text and email. The use of media outlets in the Philippines to place ads on what the Obama-Biden ticket will do for the Philippines and FILAMS and an appeal to locals to get in touch with their loved ones in the States is a powerful methodology. There are media outlets in the Philippines and in the States which specifically reach the FILAM audience. The operative word for this methodology is “personalize”. The Obama-Biden ticket must be part of the FILAM dinner table. On a practical note, US citizens in the Philippines, numbering around 200,000 still have to see the Democratic Party reaching out to them.
In a closely contested match between the Republicans and Democrats for the white house, the need for personalized micro-targeting will have a big sway on the turnout. Florida, California, and Nevada, all swing states, all with a sprawling mass of FILAMS.
Eero Brillantes
www.mindbullet.org
www.brainbang-mindbullet.blogspot.com
INSIGHT - Locking up Sudan’s Al-Bashi ...Daily Nation, Kenya - Jul 24, 2008Sudanese intellectuals, like Deng and Prof Ibrahim, have seen Arab racism as the curse of Sudanhttp://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=39&newsid=128002
A witness and victim of the conflict in Darfur finds a voiceEconomist, UK - Aug 14, 2008The description of playground rivalries between the “African” girls and the “Arab” girls captures the racism and snobbery that underlie the conflict. ...http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11919269
Mbeki and the Butcher of KhartoumHuffington Post, NY - Aug 8, 2008Mbeki's siding with the Butcher of Khartoum is painful and incomprehensible. ... Brutality, Arab racism, genocide, slavery were chapters of the same book; parts of the same side of the coin of injustice and totalitarianism. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pius-kamau/mbeki-and-the-butcher-of_b_117148.html
Darfuri Refugee Thanks British Jewryby Justin Cohen - Thursday 7th August 2008A Darfuri refugee this week made an emotional plea to Anglo-Jewry to continue supporting those forced to flee the region as he thanked the Jewish News for its efforts to halt deportations to SudanPouring out his heart this week, the 32-year-old recalled how he was forbidden from speaking his own language at school “because the Arab government wanted us to be more Arabic” and how Black Africans had to sit at the back of the class. http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/national/c-9772/darfuri-refugee-thanks-british-jewry/
Egyptian troops execute another Darfur refugeeIsrael Today, Israel - Aug 6, 2008Egyptian troops have killed at least 20 African refugees trying to reach Israel this year alone. In at least one incident late last year the Egyptians even ...Thousands of Sudanese refugees from Darfur have been in Egypt for years. Recently, many have begun making the long difficult trek across the Sinai desert to escape the oppression and discrimination they experience at Egyptian handshttp://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=16830
A Sudanese killed as he attempts to cross into IsraelThursday 21 August 2008 02:46. Printer-Friendly version Comments... August 20, 2008 (ISMAILIA) — Egyptian police shot dead a 27-year-old Sudanese man while he was trying to sneak across the border into Israel. This is second killing during this month.Since January 2008, Egyptian authorities arrested a587 illegal African migrants attempting to cross border to Israel. 172 were from Sudan and mostly from Darfur troubled region.The killing of Ibrahim Tayeb Juma, which took place at night on Monday, brings to 20 the number of African migrants killed at the border so far this year.http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article28346
What an extraordinary week in an already memorable year. Sunday--after a full day of work at the office--I was extremely fortunate to have the rare opportunity to watch Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduce Senator Barack Obama here in San Francisco. I was so proud of the San Francisco for Obama team, that turned out a crowd of 500 to show their support for Senator Obama in front of the Fairmont Hotel.
On Tuesday, Filipinos for Obama had its first formal kick-off event. We turned out a crowd of more than 150 Filipino Americans to enlist their support in uniting pinoys behind Senator Obama. I was so proud to be there and get to speak to the crowd about our plans for empowering Filipino Americans to make a difference in this election.
And then on Friday at work, my brother-in-law interrupted my day to put my 18-month-old nephew, Luke, on the phone, so I could hear him say "Obama!" in his adorable baby voice.
Needless to say, that call made my day. Like many of you, last night I was anxiously awaiting my text message from the Obama campaign--until CNN finally spoiled it for me. (I did finally get my text around midnight PST). Senator Joe Biden will be a terrific Vice President--not only will he be a great campaigner, but I actually think he and Senator Obama will govern well together. They are not in lockstep on every issue, which I think makes sense for the number two spot on the ticket.
After another Saturday of working--I do have a non-Obama job--I stopped by our San Francisco Obama phonebank. And now I'm trying to pack for the week. Perhaps I'm being overly ambitious, but I hope to update you from the ground!!
(Photo of Senator Obama courtesy of Dr. Mary Davidson)
Joe Biden, the same man who insensitively described Obama as "articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy" for an African American is now Obama's Vice Presidential candidate.
From a racial relations perspective, this pairing seems initially odd. Some may question Obama’s judgment but they would be missing the point. An Obama-Biden administration may very well serve as a model for racial reconciliation in the twenty-first century.
Our opponents already believe we are too naive and uneducated about American civil history, the impact or the lack thereof of a vice-president. Consequently, they believe Obama's choice is not significant (that's what they want you to believe, especially those without the Internet). I believe Obama just added a partner with compatible years of wisdom in foreign and domestic policy, a legal expert, an advocate for Women's Rights (especially for rape victims), a champion for accountable government, a civil rights activist, and a healthy thorn in McCain's and company's side just to name a few. He is a family man as well. I once listened to Biden in a 2007 interview about what kind of president America needed now. He said something that stood out to me. He said our country needed a little of Lincoln, Rooselvelt and Bobby Kennedy. This lets you know how this mans thinks. I have to say, I like it.
Let's flood the information gates about the future occupants of the Oval Office, Obama/Biden.... I have never been so excited about politics until now. Help them cut away at and shine the light on the falsehoods of McCain.
