I'm so incredibly proud of all of you on this website for helping the Obama campaign! YES WE DID!
Several have wondered why I haven't posted in a while...Well, in October I was fortunate enough to be offered a position as a deputy field organizer for the campaign in WA, for the final push of the campaign. I was incredibly busy, 24/7, with no time to tend to my blog here or to respond to group emails. Talk about exhaustion! But it was all SO worth it! Obama is now our President-Elect!
Thank you to everyone on this site for contributing to the success of the campaign!
YES WE DID!
Edie
It feels like we've traveled a long road together. Twenty One Months ago Barack launched his bid for the White House....The primary was a nail biter and it all comes down to tomorrows presidential election.
I'm upbeat but still a little nervous about the outcome.
As a rule I don't trust polls .... what I do trust is the American people.
If you haven't done so yet .... VOTE .... don't let anyone stand in your way.
Vote and remind others to Vote !
Don't trust poll numbers .... Our Democracy needs you to participate.
Warning: Here comes the Sports Metaphor.
Think of your Vote as a Basketball going through a hoop.
We Vote we Score ....
Now lets make this a Slam Dunk tomorrow !
-Vince ;-}
Obama/Biden '08 ..... Hope and a new direction.
"This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless
we make it a good place for all of us to live in." -Theodore Roosevelt
Excerpts from Colin Powell's statement on NBC's Meet the Press:
"I come to the conclusion that because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities -- and you have to take that into account -- as well as his substance -- he has both style and substance," Powell said. "He has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president."
Powell also spoke passionately against the insinuations by some Republicans that Obama is a Muslim.
"Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian," he said. "But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, 'He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.' This is not the way we should be doing it in America."
Read the full article here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/19/colin-powell-endorses-oba_n_135895.html
The New York Times
Editorial: Barack Obama for President
Excerpt:
Mr. Obama has withstood some of the toughest campaign attacks ever mounted against a candidate. He’s been called un-American and accused of hiding a secret Islamic faith. The Republicans have linked him to domestic terrorists and questioned his wife’s love of her country. Ms. Palin has also questioned millions of Americans’ patriotism, calling Republican-leaning states “pro-America.”
This politics of fear, division and character assassination helped Mr. Bush drive Mr. McCain from the 2000 Republican primaries and defeat Senator John Kerry in 2004. It has been the dominant theme of his failed presidency.
The nation’s problems are simply too grave to be reduced to slashing “robo-calls” and negative ads. This country needs sensible leadership, compassionate leadership, honest leadership and strong leadership. Barack Obama has shown that he has all of those qualities.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/opinion/24fri1.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-R5Vh5tOWk&feature=related
Its not a future we can allow to happen.
Obama / Biden '08 .... Hope and a New Direction.
A Veteran for Obama !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdJUCU1UH2w
Lets take this Viral !
Obama / Biden '08 .... the change we need.
A Veteran for Obama.
MC: You met your husband after his POW days. To what extent is that still with you - or is it a part of history? CM: My husband will be the first one to tell you that that's in the past. Certainly it's a part of who he is, but he doesn't dwell on it. It's not part of a daily experience that we experience or anything like that. But it has shaped him. It has made him the leader that he is. MC: But no cold sweats in the middle of the night? CM: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. My husband, he'd be the first one to tell you that he was trained to do what he was doing. The guys who had the trouble were the 18-year-olds who were drafted. He was trained, he went to the Naval Academy, he was a trained United States naval officer, and so he knew what he was doing.
MC: But no cold sweats in the middle of the night? CM: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. My husband, he'd be the first one to tell you that he was trained to do what he was doing. The guys who had the trouble were the 18-year-olds who were drafted. He was trained, he went to the Naval Academy, he was a trained United States naval officer, and so he knew what he was doing.
I did not serve in combat, so I wouldn't presume to know why a certain person returns with problems or whether such problems can be predicted. I'm pretty sure, however, that Cindy McCain doesn't know either and shouldn't pretend to.
Note to Mrs. McCain: Associating yourself with military servicemembers for political gain does not make you an expert on these sorts of topics.
H/T to ThinkProgress.
dm :: You Have PTSD Because You Are Immature and Poorly Trained
http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2019
Recently, I had a very un-pleasent reminder that racism still lurks in our country. I'm a second generation Italian American that lives and works in the Greater Boston Area ... a relatively progressive part of the country. I have proudly displayed my Veterans for Obama sticker on my vehicle for nearly a year. While driving to a store over this weekend with my Youngest (11 Year old) and Oldest (22 Year Old) daughters as passengers we reached a traffic jam. A White Cadillac behind us starts honking and at first I thought it was just someone being impatient ...then the driver of the White Cadillac starts screaming obscenities .... referring to Barack Obama with the dreaded N***** word. This went on for a couple of minutes and my oldest daughter was about to lose her cool, wanting to respond (Heck ...I wanted to respond).... then I told her not to respond ... that the driver a middle aged nordic looking fellow wanted attention and was trying to intimidate us. After Three minutes more of these obscenities ... the driver drove off.
I have had the rewarding experience of working along side Americans of every ethnicity and backgrounds in both my military and professional career.
It saddens me deeply that ignorance and racism still lurks in the country I love so much. After 35 years I still don't understand what motivates this kind of behavior ... especially from people who profess to be christians ?
We are all brothers and sisters .... it's time to Move our country forward.
We must succeed in delivering new and progressive leadership in our country at all levels of government. Beyond sending Barack Obama and Joe Biden to the White House we need a democratic majority in both the House and Senate to secure a progressive agenda for all Americans.
Barack the Vote !
Full Article:
Open Letter to Republicans and Independents:
I'm a former independent voter a fiscal conservative, a veteran and a concerned citizen. I recognized nearly Eight years ago that our country was heading down a really bad path. I want to urge all Republicans and Independent voters to come out in support of Barack Obama. I know conservative Democrats whose ethics and values are more conservative than most Republicans. I have Republican friends that are more liberal than some Democrats. Even independent centrists who lean both Right or Left. In most instances party affiliations have become meaningless.
We are American Citizens First and our country needs you ?
What really matters is that America is the sum of its people ... Left, Right and Center. We need to learn from our mistakes ... rather than repeat them. We as Americans will rise or fall together.
The politics of division has brought us all to this historic moment ... our countries very survival as a bastion of free democracy is threatened. Our military resources are stretched on a war of undetermined length with no defined and achievable goal. We are facing a financial meltdown that is global in scope which threatens whats left of our prosperity and no clear consensus on how to resolve it.
We need to think .... long and hard about what "Trickle Down" and this so called "Free Market Economy" has done to our nation. The recession that Bush wants to avert .... came to Main Street long before it came to Wall Street. Just ask the Steel Workers and the line assembly workers and farmers who have lost their jobs to the lowest bidders overseas. This has weakened our consumer based driven economy. Our priorities are all wrong. We have allowed tax loopholes for American businesses to avoid taxes altogether. Allowed Predatory lending practices to exploit those without verifiable incomes ....many of which had already lost their good paying jobs in exchange for low wage service jobs that make home ownership unaffordable.
We allowed for profit Health Care to eat into the profits of both businesses and average citizens alike at costs that are no longer sustainable. We have treated "the defenders of our democracy" our Veterans and active military shabbily with insufficient funding for their needs. We have burdened our elders on fixed incomes with overpriced medications and an overly complex medicare system many of which fought in WW II and Korea defending our democracy.
Our common bonds .... We are all proud Americans we all want a brighter future for our children and grandchildren. We all want an America to prosper again. We can squabble over how that can be achieved but we do know what has worked in the past. To get started we need a return to real traditional values ... not rhetoric. Rather than coddle our children we need to teach our children the importance of discipline, education, hard work and how to manage money rather than promote easy money, golden parachutes and unrestrained greed. We need to be second to none in education and training to keep our people competitive in the global market.
We need to find ways to lift all of our people up .... rather than tearing our people down by outsourcing their jobs.
We need to solve our domestic energy needs with a commitment to Energy Independence within a decade. No excuses .... lets just do it !
We need to reward innovation in Science and Technology again while respecting those of all religious faiths.
We need to educate all our citizens with the understanding that its an investment in our future .... if we hope to compete in global markets.
We need to teach civic responsibility in our schools and by rewarding those who give their time to the betterment of our nation and its communities.
We need leaders that are looking out for all Americans ... not just for power, money and influence.
None of this will be easy .... We must resolve to hold our government accountable and transparent ... both Democrats and Republicans alike.
Its time to Wake Up America !
American citizenship comes with an obligation to participate and safeguard our freedom and democracy.
American citizenship must come first .... Party Affiliation must comes Second.
Barack is the only candidate funded by the people .... not special interests.
Make Your Vote Count. Our nation is counting on you.
For Hope and a New Direction.
Vote for Obama / Biden '08
Vince ;-}
Senator Joe Biden hit the ball out of the park in tonight's debate! He was the CLEAR WINNER!
THANK YOU JOE!
OBAMA-BIDEN 2008!
YES WE CAN!
Hello Barack supporters: I have been working on sending letters to the editors of newpapers, adding comments to discussion groups and challenging McCain supporters who post false data against Obama and Biden.
I have started working on my phone campaign as well, I have been tied up before now handling a women's church convention.
I challenge all suppporters to do what you can to make this election for Obama and Biden a landslide victory. Call, donate, write letters, knock doors, and let's all make this final push a tidal wave to victory.
GO OBAMA/BIDEN TEAM!
Friday 19 September 2008
by: Janis L. Karpinski, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed
The author is former US Army Brigadier General (retired) Janis L. Karpinski.
"We shall never have rights until we take them, or respect until we command it," said Belva Lockwood, activist and the first female lawyer to argue before the United States Supreme Court.
Hmmmmm. My intuition is kicking into high gear on the nomination of Sarah Palin as vice president on the Republican ticket. Hmmmmm. It is haunting me. There is something sneaky behind her and methinks it is the devious orchestration of Karl Rove. Months of criticism for Barack Obama's allegedly short supply of expertise, then McCain selects a true novice as a partner on his ticket. Does this make any sense at all?
I'm afraid it does. Palin is bringing new life to the ticket. McCain was in dire straits and absolutely knew he was going to lose the election on his merits, so he pulled the proverbial bunny out of his hat - presto, Palin.
I know enough about Palin's character to assess her as ill-equipped, clueless and unprepared to take control of our nation in the event of McCain's early demise or incapacitation, much less qualified to serve as the commander in chief of all military forces. Unfortunately for Palin, leadership is not derived by a process of osmosis. She does not automatically qualify for commander in chief or get to check the "Military Service" block because she has a son in the Alaska National Guard who is deployed to Iraq, or because she dons a camouflage uniform and knows how to shoot straight. Military leadership develops with a true concern for the lives of soldiers and civilians placed under your command. Military leadership requires the leader to be ready, willing and able upon assuming command; to be able immediately to execute those responsibilities without hesitation, to have the tools and skills to command and lead. Leadership comes from experience of "walking the ground where your soldiers will fight" as opposed to working and planning in a vacuum with little regard for the soldiers serving on your watch. It means the commander in chief will never use military force and take the nation and the military to war until every other option is exhausted, and then only with the greatest intelligence information available to ensure a course leading to victory. If it isn't there, you aren't going to find it in a desk drawer or in the process of going to war.
Palin wants desperately to be accepted as tough and capable in the skills she sees as critical to being as tough as any man - tough talk, tough walk and tough as nails. Sarah Palin apparently thinks because she claims to have the skills, we must trust her and take her at her word. Note the absence of military leadership skills in the current administration, due largely to the sum total lack of military experience amongst the elected and appointed officials.
There is something almost sinister in Palin's attempts to seduce the voting public. She has a "come hither" look all of the time, and dares anyone, men or women, but especially men, to approach her or challenge her. Pay attention. Nobody believes qualifying as Miss Alaska in the Miss America Pageant really prepares you for service as the vice president of the United States, let alone as the president of the United States of America. Obama is right, although he may have chosen the wrong animal to use in the comparison - put lipstick on a soccer mom, as opposed to a pit bull, and you still have a soccer mom, not a pit bull. The fierceness of a pit bull, which Palin is trying to use as proof of her ability to serve as the vice president, is ridiculous at best and sadly ironic. Pit bulls are senseless and out of control when angry; they are certainly far from being of good mind, rationale, organized or focused. Her personal comparisons to Hillary Clinton are insulting to Clinton. Senator Clinton did not stoop to use of her sexuality as a means of attracting votes or attention. She is articulate and stays on message, whether in the primaries or campaigning for Obama. Hillary's supporters, men and women, accepted her for her experience, her credentials and her qualifications, deservedly so, unlike Palin who is trying to steal mileage on the shirttails of Hillary. You can easily recollect memorable events of Hillary's campaign, but you will not remember her parading about or flirting with her supporters or the media. She did not behave in such a manner. Her wardrobe aside, Hillary Clinton was competing on a level playing field and behaved accordingly, like an intelligent, confident and capable candidate. This is what women hope for and seek to achieve. Sarah Palin's behavior sets our progress back by decades and encourages the fashionable use of sexuality as the tool to measure success.
I spent more than 28 years in and around the military, mostly as a member of the Army Officer Corps. I saw what women think they must do in order to fit in with their male counterparts and feel a part of the male bastion of control. Sarah Palin is cut from the same mold as these women who were desperate to fit in with male colleagues - desperately trying to prove herself as tough as, or tougher than, "the boys" who are competing with her. Palin sets the stage with stories of her prowess in murdering wolves, moose and caribou from a helicopter platform vantage point, begging the question, "C'mon boys, don't you think I am tough enough?"
Men want to screw her, literally - it is a fantasy of many men, particularly those in the high power, high profile assignments, and she knows it. She uses her sexuality, and men's vulnerability, to intimidate them and expose their weaknesses. They imagine what she is like in bed; they fantasize about screwing the vice president of the United States because they have never had this chance. They imagine what she is like as a sex object and they drool over possibilities, not necessarily thinking the fantasies will come to fruition, instead focusing on four years of possibilities. She projects the willingness to let them fantasize. She is not businesslike, rather power hungry and control-like, offering, subtly and directly, suggestions of her feistiness and daring men to try and conquer her. Somewhere in the mix, she attempts to say something noteworthy to demonstrate her readiness and capabilities to serve as the vice president of the United States. She wants to be seen as a sexual object because she has a track record of success using the same techniques at increasing levels of responsibilities. Sarah Palin tried, unsuccessfully, to get credit for foreign affairs and international experience through three stopovers, and walkovers, involving Germany, Kuwait and Iraq. Many officers and soldiers found the same low road to "credible international and combat experience" by staying comfortably and safely, and often only occasionally, in Kuwait, while real soldiers, men and women, crossed the border into Iraq, and spent a year or longer in harm's way. The coveted "right shoulder patch," symbolizing combat duty, was awarded equally to any and all deployed officers and soldiers, those serving in Iraq as well as those serving in better and safer assignments anywhere but in Iraq. This may have inspired Palin to claim international experience involving Kuwait (short stopover) and Iraq (walked across the border into Iraq) and Germany (flight layover). This type of exaggeration migrates to the unimaginable - claiming some quasi-military experience because she stood near a soldier, or because her son is serving in Iraq or because she wore cammies while hunting. It is not beyond the thinkable.
Sarah Palin may be responsible for breaking through another level of the glass ceiling by being the vice-presidential candidate on the Republican ticket and she deserves credit for this.
Palin, however, is a dangerous choice and her style goes against the grain of feminists and women everywhere. We spent years seeking equality, and ask only for a level playing field where we can find credit for our accomplishments and capabilities and the opportunities to compete fairly. Sarah Palin can launch us back in time and remove years of progress, albeit slow and incomplete. She encourages men and women to be drawn first to the sexuality and beauty of a woman before making a decision about her credibility, intelligence and leadership. There is abundant truth in the age-old saying "beauty is only skin deep." We need and deserve a vice-presidential candidate who offers far more than "skin deep" - her absolute lack of substance on the issues; her lack of experience, particularly in the international and foreign affairs environment; her lack of a sound economic policy to regain control of our national treasure; and her insistence on propelling herself as tough and capable because she can murder wildlife when there is virtually no chance of missing, are the issues of substance. The fact she refuses to discuss any of the issues is troubling. Voters need to take a deep breath and return to reality in the aftermath of the hype created by Sarah Palin herself. Pay attention - she does not have international experience or foreign affairs capabilities simply because she can see Russia from her backyard in Alaska.
Sarah Palin is amazingly popular and she is dangerous. She is George Bush in disguise, in terms of policies and principles. Karl Rove is in the middle of this and we all know what Karl Rove did for President Bush and what he did to every American. Keep this in mind when throwing support to the ticket of McCain and Palin. The legitimate concerns about McCain being joined at the hip with the president and the potential for four (and potentially eight) more years of the same worthless policies of this administration seem to pale in comparison when considering the strong attachment, admiration and support Sarah Palin gives to this administration.
http://www.truthout.org/article/palin-can-launch-us-back-time
Pass this video on!
Thank John McCainhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJThPjvscFs
Don't let voters forget what this 2008 election is about -- Pass this on! This FULL VERSION [24 min.] Includes a Colbert-produced "audition video" for White House Press Secretary for Bush -- This is simply a "MUST-SEE"! Stephen Colbert at the 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, DC:http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-869183917758574879
Read here about the media, Bush White House, and public REACTION to Colbert's Presentation:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Colbert_at_the_2006_White_House_Correspondents'_Association_Dinner www.revolt.com [includes the short version of Colbert at the WH Correspondents Dinner w/o the Video]
By Tim Wise, BuzzFlash
For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help. White privilege is when you can get pregnant at 17 like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay. White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug. White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action. White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-size colleges, and then governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. senator, two-term state senator and constitutional law scholar means you're "untested." White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office -- since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s -- while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school, requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals. White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful. White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do -- like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the eight-hour workday, or an end to child labor -- and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small-town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college -- you're somehow being mean, or even sexist. White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women and made them give your party a "second look." White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt. White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the United States is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good churchgoing Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America. White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then having people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced. White privilege is being able to claim that your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it, a "light" burden. And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising and the United States is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain. White privilege is, in short, the problem. AlterNet is a nonprofit organization and does not make political endorsements. The opinions expressed by its writers are their own. Tim Wise is the author of White Like Me (Soft Skull, 2005, revised 2008) and of Speaking Treason Fluently, publishing this month, also by Soft Skull. For more information on Tim Wise, go to: www.timwise.org
McCain's Integrity by Andrew Sullivan, The Atlantic 'For me, this surreal moment - like the entire surrealism of the past ten days - is not really about Sarah Palin or Barack Obama or pigs or fish or lipstick. It's about John McCain. The one thing I always thought I knew about him is that he is a decent and honest person. When he knows, as every sane person must, that Obama did not in any conceivable sense mean that Sarah Palin is a pig, what did he do? Did he come out and say so and end this charade? Or did he acquiesce in and thereby enable the mindless Rovianism that is now the core feature of his campaign? So far, he has let us all down. My guess is he will continue to do so. And that decision, for my part, ends whatever respect I once had for him.'
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/09/mccains-integri.html
Don't miss these great videos!
SI SE PUEDE!
http://www.dipdive.com/dip-approved/
