My parents moved to South Carolina earlier this year. South Carolina allows early voting for those over age 65.
I spoke with him a few days after he voted and this is what he had to say. He titled his email to me "A Thankful Day."
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This is not being boastful but Thankful.In 1963, while traveling through SC, (my mother's name) and I were turned away from a eating establishment. I was carrying my oldest daughter in my arms and (my mother's name)was carrying our youngest daughter in her belly. Today, (my mother's name) and I voted as residents of SC, for the firstBlack President of the USA, assisted by helpful government personnel. Only in America
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This story touched my heart. I had never been told of that incident before. My father served his country with honor as a military officer and my family sacrificed two years as he served in Vietnam. I integrated a school in Maryland when I was in first grade in the 60's. I was called the "n" word, had rocks thrown at me, but I moved on. That's why this election is so important. We have a chance to make a positive change for this country, an opportunity for our children to stand up and do what is right. As Barack Obama says this is not a white America or a black America - this is the United States of America.
Stand up - take your children to the voting place tomorrow and let them see history in action.
Si Se Puede! Yes we can and yes we will because it is for us - for our children, all of our children!!
Thank you to Barack Obama for being the change that we need and having us believe!
Hello fellow homeschoolers -
My children are getting an excellent civics lesson this semester. A friend hosted a postcard party a week or so ago and it was nice to see people from varying backgrounds united for a common cause and that is to elect Obama/Biden on November 4th. I am looking forward to it and a bit nervous at the same time.
Anyhow, I heard about Gov. Palin's remark that some parts of America were not patriotic than others.
As a military brat, I really take issue with that. I know the sacrifice of war and what it can due to a family, a community. It doesn't matter if you are a Private First Class or a General overseeing all of the troops. War hurts. I can support the troops, be opposed to the war, and still be patriotic. Then I saw a clip of Biden's response and here it is - http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Biden_We_Are_All_Patriotic
As homeschoolers we are all about the teachable moment.
Here's a great assignment - have your children listen to the clip and then write a paragraph on what patriotism means to them. Upload it as a comment on the blog. Perhaps HQS could use parts of it in the closing days as we work towards victory for this country and our children's future.
Si Se Puede! YES, WE CAN !!!!
This is a great video by Blue Star Families for Obama. It goes to show you that many military families support Barack Obama and will not be voting Republican.
Help these women get more attention by viewing the video. Although their combined voices about Obama are more appropriate to the upcoming election than Cindy McCain's comments, it is a hard pressed battle for everyday Americans to get the notice of the main stream media. It makes it easier with your help.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwk4LL5-Mpo
Angie
"I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream -- a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few; a dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a man's skin determines the content of his character; a dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality."- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
During the veep debate we saw character personified. I watched a man who came from humble beginnings wax eloquently against a woman who did nothing more than rattle off talking points. I saw a man who knows how to perservere - when you fall down, you have to get up. But how do you do it? Joe Biden showed that during the debate as he spoke passionately of his life as a single parent.
I chose to write about this quote because character is important to me. How you live your life, what you choose to do with your life is important? To think that the President of Harvard Law Review chose to become a community organizer instead of heading to a big Wall Street firm shows character and conviction. I want my son to be able to look at the inhabitants of the White House and feel proud of who is there. With Barack Obama and Joe Biden in office I can tell my children that the virtues of hard work, perseverance, honesty, and good character win in the end.
For the past 8 years our society has increased in its moral depravity. Wouldn't it be nice to tell your children - get up, work hard, focus on your dreams, and strive to reach them? Look at President Obama and Vice President Biden. That's what they did when they were young and they didn't have as much as you?
Si Se Peude! Yes, We Can and We Must ---- For Our Children.
A friend sent me this link on Daily Kos this morning.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/1/22234/6599/102/617219
I hope it can be played in many of the battleground states.
This is simply beautiful. Pass it along.
I've been watching the bailout debate with much interest over the past week. As I mentioned in a previous post I am opposed to the bailout. After reading more and hearing more about it I still have reservations.
And this brings to the title of this entry - "Slow and Steady". Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare?
When I watched the debate last Friday I saw slow and steady leadership in action. McCain repeatedly stated that Obama was naive and inexperienced. He complained that Sen. Obama didn't put "country first". He boasted about how he "suspended" his campaign and went to Washington to solve the crisis. Meanwhile, Sen. Obama chose to get tne data, digest the information, and then speak about it. Calm and measured - Obama was in control and remains in control. McCain, on the other hand, is all over the map.
Let us hope and pray that the rest of the United States can see the steady hand of change that we must have in January 2009. Slow and steady wins the race. We need to stay the course.
For our children, for their future - OBAMA/BIDEN - Si Se Puede! Yes, We Can!!!
I've recently learned about two great website that are helping people volunteer in battleground states.
The first is www.travelforchange.org. Travel for Change matches traveling volunteers with sponsors donating frequent flyer miles. I know of two people in San Antonio, TX who have scheduled flights this way. If you are traveling and need assistance or you have Frequent Flyer Miles to donate, check this website out!
The second is www.obamatravel.org. Volunteers post their profiles and sponsors can donate funds to help them with gas money, car rental, and lodging. Money is transfered via PayPal. As we all know, most of those with time, don't have funds and those with funds often don't have time! This website is helping to fix that.
Why are we supposed to bailout private industry when we can't bail out the typical American family? Why give Sec. Paulson a blank check without checks and balances? Students left and right take out loan after loan to pay for their education and it make take years for them to pay it back. Where's their blank check?
I am a stay at home mom with four children who has homeschooled for the past 14 or 15 years. One is in college and the other three are still homeschooling with me. We learn everyday because life is learning. Right now I am forced to teach a harsh reality - if you play with no rules the government will still bail you out because the Bush Administration wants to protect the Wall Street fat cats. What a sad economics lessons to teach! This is not a bailout for the everyday American. This is the bailout for the Wall Street Investment banker with multiple homes, multiple cars, and who looks down upon us. I teach my children to live within their means. If they choose to spend all of their money on junk and then don't have the money to buy the game that they want, they will learn a valuable lesson, and hopefuly will not repeat it again.
DON'T BAIL OUT WALL STREET WITH MY TAX DOLLARS IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BAIL OUT EVERYONE ELSE!!!!
If you live on the NE side of San Antonio, you can join a group of active moms making a difference in their community. They are planning a pro-Family, pro-Obama rally and need YOUR input.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gsxjbh
Have you planned an event lately? Consider holding a house party for the upcoming debate. Or have a planning meeting in your precinct and use the Neighbor to Neighbor tool MyBO.com to help you figure out canvassing and telephone banking. You can do it!
[reposting from an email I received]
HOW QUICKLY WE FORGET.....IF ....WE EVER KNEW......WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTEThis is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago.
Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.
The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote.
Lucy Burns)And by the end of the night, they were barely alive.Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.
(Dora Lewis)
They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.Thus unfolded the'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote.For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.
(Alice Paul)When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeksuntil word was smuggled out to the press.http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/prisoners.pdfSo, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because--why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote.Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient.My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said.'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use, my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again..'HBO released the movie on video and DVD . I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order.It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy.The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.'We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote.History is being made.
Last night was the first of many 8 Weeks to Change calling parties hosted by MoveOn.org for the Barack/Biden ticket. Here in San Antonio, it was a huge success! We had several new volunteers make first time phone calls. They all sounded so confident on the phone. They really believe in the message of hope and change and it comes out in their voices and their message! We recruited several Minnesota volunteers to attend training later this week.
More of these events will be coming up in the next few weeks. You can help by volunteering to attend or by hosting one of the parties. MoveOn makes the process very easy - they give you detailed instructions on how to get started and break down the meeting step by step. They also provide you with all the call sheets. Training for the new callers is provided by internet connection. Easy!
To find out more, you can join your local MoveOn Council - yes, we have one in San Antonio! Just check out MoveOn.org (look for the "act locally" link). And keep your eye on the local events on My.BarackObama.com.
"It's not rocket science. It's $6 million and 53 employees."
Those are Sarah Palin's words to her hometown newspaper, the Wasilla Frontiersman, about the office of mayor. I agree with her. It's not rocket science.
As a Captain in the Air Force, my husband had exactly that kind of responsibility. He managed 59 employees and a budget of $12 million. And, he did it without a city administrator. He would agree, "It's not rocket science."
Let's make sure that we keep Sarah Palin's executive experience in perspective.
Soccer Moms can make a difference. My family has been at a soccer tournament this weekend and before the games start I've been walking with my voter registration clipboard. I've registered voters both days. And people are very thankful because they haven't found the time to go and do it themselves.
Be proactive! Take those voter registration forms with you and start asking people if they're registered... make a difference!
I'm challenging all of you to go by your local voter registration office and become a voter registrar. At the very least, go by and pick up some mail in registration forms. And then start asking everyone if they are registered.
I've made it a personal goal to ask every person I have an interaction with if they are registered to vote and that includes the clerks at the grocery store and the parents at the soccer game. I started today and I registered a young lady that works at a local bookstore. She had just moved and hadn't taken the time to get a form. She admits, she might not have found the time. But she will vote this fall.
You can make a difference! Just be brave and ask! It's not as hard as you think.
I really hope tomorrows annocement is Chet Edwards from texas I think it is THE perfect choice to get republicians on board how do I know I am one. That's right I was an grassroots W person 2000/2004
boy was I let down. I know this is the right desion right now. We need 21st century not 20th, thats been the problem around the world they were looking to us the USA to bring them the future and we let ourselves and the World down. Not again WE NEED OBama08!!
It ain't over. The Clinton's lip-synched speech claimed victory. They are still running to win. Here's how I see the last couple days.
1. The Clinton's widely reported willingness to conceed -- was done to suppress the Obama vote. "Why bother voting when we have already won?"
2. The Clintons still claim to have won the most popular votes. A masterful misdirection of what constitutes a win in the nomination contest.
3. The Clinton's, still maintains they should be awarded the nomination for being the stronger candidate.
4. The Clinton's howl that they have been cheated out of the nomination, if continued, will spell virtual certain defeat for Obama as a decisive number of the Clinton's supporters will not vote or vote for McCain in revenge.
The Clinton's may be holding out for the VP slot. A cabinet post will not satisfy the power mad Clintons. My bet is that they want a seat on the Supreme Court in exchange for ceasing the "We was cheated" chant. If this is their new goal, watch for a surge of the 'smartest woman in America, nonsense being floated with accolades for her skill as a lawyer.
Please forgive me for this analogy (it's meant to be funny) but, the Clinton's are like vampires -- they keep coming back until a stake is driven through their hearts.
