Stop the War Drive; Hands Off Iran!Reno Actions in Support of Nationwide Demonstrations to Prevent War on Iran: Join us at the corner of McCarran and S. Virginia at 12 noon until 2 p.m. on Saturday September 27th.Bring signs and banners opposing the drive toward still another war, this time with Iran.The current regime in the White House can only maintain its legitimacy through perpetual war.The people of the U.S. and the people of Iran have more in common with each other than either has in common with their 'own' rulers. The people of the world have no interest in more slaughter.We need unity in resistance to the mad schemes of power-hungry tyrants in Washington or in Tehran.
Hi everyone,
I’m looking to hire college students to do Vote for Change visibility; at San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Florida campuses.
I’m looking for students who are committed to progressive change. Ideally, the candidates will have organizing experience, and be highly involved in campus politics and activities.
We probably do the best visibility in support of Barack Obama, using our Vote for Change visibility display (link), which has probably been seen by upwards 700,000 people (link) and we are looking for students, whom we will hire as contractors to do Vote for Change visibility on their campuses.
We’ll provide Vote for Change visibility displays and Obama merchandise.
Lets get Barack Obama Elected!!!
Email me at: paul@progressive-alliance.org
Outside of hiring part-time Student Staff at the campuses; all individuals, including myself, are volunteers. All net proceeds from donations, from Vote for Change visibility events, and Benefit Concerts for Change; will fund Vote for Change visibility efforts, at San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and then Florida.
Progressive-Alliance.org is currently focusing on Vote for Change; to assist in visibility; voter outreach, education, and registration; and to support Barack Obama.
While Progressive-Alliance.org supports Barack Obama, it is an independent organization. It is not part of the Obama for America campaign, and in no way represents Barack Obama. Any political statements made by Progressive-Alliance.org are solely its own.
Progressive-Alliance.org has philanthropically produced 9 campus concerts for the environment, human rights, and voter outreach; which have reached upwards of 100,000 students. And it has philanthropically produced, and organized, 40+ Vote for Change visibility & registration events; which have reached upwards of 600,000 individuals.
Please disseminate this email widely, to anyone you think might be interested in helping out.
Thanks so much for your time and support.
Sincerely,
Paul Warnow Progressive-Alliance.org paul@progressive-alliance.org
Georgia's savage attack on Ossetia hardly got a mention in the corporate news. There was only the "inexplicable" Russian "aggression" against Georgia "on slight provocation." THE NATION's Katherine Vanden Heuvel gives some background on events in the Caucasus below. No one is wearing white hats in this shoot'em up.
"The past week's events in South Ossetia are bound to shock and pain anyone.... Nothing can justify this loss of life and destruction. It is a warning to all." --Mikhail Gorbachev, Washington Post, August 12
I am heartsick at the violence and brutalities on all sides. Georgian, South Ossetian and Russian friends have all suffered. Yet commentary in the US media, almost without exception, has turned a longstanding, complex separatist conflict into a casus belli for a new cold war with Russia, ignoring not only the historical and political reasons for South Ossetia's drive for independence from Georgia but also the responsibility of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili for the current crisis. So eager have commentators been to indict Vladimir Putin's Russia that they have overlooked Washington's contribution to the rising tensions.
Certainly Russia should be condemned for escalating the fighting beyond what was necessary to defend South Ossetians and Russian peacekeepers. But the US media have failed to provide the full backdrop. For one, the role of Saakashvili--who has sought to provoke Moscow over a range of issues in recent years--has been whitewashed. Georgia's president has often seemed more intent on currying favor with the Bush Administration, which has strongly supported Georgia's bid for NATO membership, than on looking after the interests of his people. The United States has also sent hundreds of military advisers to Georgia and welcomed Georgian troops in its "coalition of the willing" in Iraq. The irony is that the Bush Administration, which violated Iraq's sovereignty, now feigns outrage over Russia's actions. And for all the flowery talk of promoting Georgia's democracy, the Bush Administration has in the past year downplayed Saakashvili's violent crackdown on Georgian protesters, as well as his rigged election, declaration of martial law, attacks on opposition media and jailing of opponents.
In intervening militarily to protect South Ossetians and Russian peacekeepers, Moscow suggested it was following the precedent of Washington's 1999 war against Serbia. And just as Washington widened that war beyond the Kosovo theater to attack Serbia's infrastructure, Russia expanded its war, hitting targets in Georgia proper, thereby challenging the UN Charter. By doing so, Moscow is warning that NATO expansion on Russia's borders will not be tolerated.
There are also unasked questions about the conflict's eruption. Was Saakashvili's military strike designed to force NATO's hand after its hesitant endorsement of future membership for Georgia? Did the Bush Administration's public support of Saakashvili's belligerent stance toward Russia convince the Georgian president that he would have US backing if he attacked?
Such questions have been virtually ignored amid the relentlessly one-sided commentary, with critics like William Kristol and Robert Kagan drawing hysterical parallels with Munich in 1938, and Clinton Administration diplomat Richard Holbrooke issuing a truculent demand in the Washington Post that Russia pay a price. Yet calls for sanctions or boycotts are hollow. Even if the United States were not already stretched to the breaking point in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush Administration policies have left us with no credibility in Moscow and, therefore, little diplomatic leverage. That is why it was left to the European Union, despite its internal divisions, to arrange a cease-fire and advance a framework for resolving the conflict.
Yet crises like these also present opportunities--and new dangers. As I write, there is ambiguity to the current French-brokered ceasefire agreement---with the Russians interpreting it as permitting them to establish new security measures beyond South Ossetia and Abkhazia until international monitoring mechanisms can be worked out. Thus, Russia has positioned forces outside of Gori and have taken control of the port area of Poti. Meanwhile, the Bush Administration's response of sending humanitarian aid--delivered by the US military--poses dangers because it could cause an inadvertent hot war if US military forces engage Russian forces. Bush Administration and Pentagon officials have made it clear that US forces would not be "protecting the Georgian airport or seaport, but we we'll certainly protect our assets if we need to." Instead of hollow threats at this stage, we should seek restraint on all sides, and make every effort to move these issues into an international forum were cooler heads could prevail.
Above all, as Mikhail Gorbachev said Thursday night on CNN's Larry King Live, this crisis--and the opportunity it provides--should create the space for a different US-Russian relationship. A new approach must begin with recognition of Georgia's sovereignty but also recognize that Russia has legitimate interests along its borders and in areas that have been its traditional zones of security, from Central Asia to the Caucasus to Ukraine. And having established a precedent in supporting Kosovo's independence, Washington should work with Russia to set up a process, monitored by the UN, that could likewise lead to South Ossetia's and Abkhazia's eventual independence. This could establish the basis for a more cooperative US-Russia relationship that would also be in the interests of the Georgian people. As Mark Ames points out in a companion article at thenation.com, this conflict exposes a clash between two fundamental principles of international relations: the right of nations to control territory within their borders versus the right of peoples to self-determination. The West cannot simply claim the precedence of one principle (self-determination in Kosovo, for example) and then assert that of the other (national sovereignty in Georgia) without exposing its own hypocrisy and motivations based on power politics.
A key element in a new security paradigm must include a US commitment to end eastward expansion of NATO, especially to Georgia and Ukraine. In return, Washington and Moscow should jointly guarantee the sovereignty of those two countries. NATO expansion has furthered no one's security--in fact, it has increased regional tensions, aroused Russian insecurity and hostility, and discouraged countries from pursuing independent relations with Moscow, leading them instead to adopt provocative policies and act, at times, like virtual US colonies.
Worryingly, neither US presidential candidate has given a hint of being willing to rethink policy toward the region. While Obama argues for UN mediation and the importance of finding a settlement, both he and McCain support NATO membership for Georgia. (McCain is, of course, far more bellicose, tied as he is to ultra-neocons who demand that Georgia's--and Ukraine's--NATO membership be expedited and that Russia be excluded from the G-8.) Does either candidate even bother to consider that if Georgia had been a member of NATO when it launched its incursion into South Ossetia, the United States would now be at war with Russia? Isn't it finally time to dissolve a cold war military alliance and build a new geopolitical security structure for this century? "
Tuesday, June 24th 2008
Nikolas Kozloff, NACLA
For a candidate who talks the talk on human rights, Barack Obama has little to say about the infamous School of the Americas (SOA). Originally established in the Panama Canal Zone in 1946, the school later moved to Fort Benning, Georgia in 1984. Since its inception, the institution has instructed more than 60,000 Latin American soldiers in military and law-enforcement tactics.The Pentagon itself has acknowledged that in the past the School of the Americas utilized training manuals advocating coercive interrogation techniques and extrajudicial executions. After receiving their training at the institution, officers went on to commit countless human rights atrocities in countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Colombia.Activists long lobbied Congress to shut down the school, and in the waning days of the Clinton presidency they nearly achieved their goal. In July 1999, the House passed an amendment that cut funding for the military institution, but the Senate decided to pass its own version of the bill that included funding. Compromise legislation between the House and Senate deleted the funding cut, effectively restoring public support for the school. Shortly afterwards Congress renamed the school Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) and revised the institution’s structure and curriculum.Now fast forward to the 2006 mid-term Congressional election: hoping to make use of their newfound majority on Capitol Hill, some Democrats sought to eliminate WHINSEC’s funding once and for all. Shortly after their victory in November they nearly succeeded with 203 legislators voting against ongoing public support of the school and 214 in favor. The closeness of the vote suggested that if the Democrats were able to increase their legislative majority in 2008, then the WHINSEC might indeed be history.Outside the halls of Congress a number of prominent organizations joined calls to shut WHINSEC including the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the United Auto Workers, the United Steelworkers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the NAACP, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church, the United Church of Christ, and over 100 U.S. Catholic Bishops.Still, the Democratic presidential candidates refused to take a stand against WHINSEC. In fact, the only two Democrats who expressed opposition to the institution were long shots Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich (on the Republican side, Ron Paul said he too would shutter WHINSEC).In the early stages of the presidential race, Kucinich pledged to close the school if he were elected. A longtime foe of WHINSEC who had voted repeatedly to close the institution while serving in Congress, Kucinich even attended a political protest held at the gates of the school in late 2007.But now that Kucinich and the other Democratic contenders have bowed out of the race the question is: where does Obama stand? On International Human Rights Day last year the Senator remarked, “We in the United States enjoy tremendous freedoms, but we also carry a special responsibility—the responsibility of being the country so many people in the world look to… for human rights leadership.”Obama then added that Bush had undermined human rights: “We were told that waterboarding was effective. We were assured that shipping men off to countries that tortured was good for national security. We were led to believe that our military and civilian courts were inadequate, and so we established a network of unaccountable prisons.” He continued, “We have not only vacated the perch of moral leader; we have also compounded the threat we face, spurring more people to take up arms against us.”Obama lamented that the Bush administration had destroyed the moral credibility of the United States worldwide. In Darfur, Burma, Zimbabwe, Russia, and Pakistan, human rights violations were on the rise. Unfortunately, Washington no longer enjoyed any international respect and could not speak with authority on human rights.Poignantly, Obama closed by stating, “The very depth of the anti-Americanism felt around the world today is a testament not to hatred but to disappointment, acute disappointment. The global public expects more from America. They expect our government to embody what they have seen in our people: industriousness, humanity, generosity, and a commitment to equality. We can become that country again.”Obama likes to employ soaring rhetoric when discussing human rights. But late last year, he failed to take a strong position opposing WHINSEC. When pressed, the candidate praised Congress’ revision of the school’s curriculum but said that he wanted to continue to evaluate the institution.What more information could Obama possibly need to reach a final decision on the matter? An Obama spokesman said the senator "has not committed to closing down the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, but he will take a hard look at the program and the progress it has made once he is elected." The spokesman reiterated Obama was pleased with the institution's inclusion of human rights courses.To put this in all in perspective then, on this issue Obama has staked out a position to the right of Ron Paul, many members of Congress, and mainstream labor and Church organizations.Given widespread public disgust towards torture and the like, Obama’s meekness on WHINSEC is perplexing. In the wake of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and revelations about so-called waterboarding, many U.S. citizens have soured on the War on Terror. Meanwhile, the prisoner detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has become an international eyesore. Even President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have publicly said they’d prefer to close the facility.Obama also supports closing Guantánamo, which makes his statements on WHINSEC all the more befuddling. In the present political climate, what does the Senator have to lose by coming out against the former School of the Americas? Perhaps he fears the GOP might accuse him of being weak on defense. But Republican nominee John McCain is not likely to use torture as ammunition during the campaign—it hardly seems a winning electoral issue for the Arizona Senator. What’s more, many voters are oblivious to WHINSEC and have little knowledge of, or interest in, U.S. policy towards Latin America.No, it’s not fear of GOP retaliation on the campaign trail that keeps Obama quiet on WHINSEC. What the Senator is really concerned about is offending the movers and shakers within the military-industrial complex. Closing WHINSEC would demonstrate that the United States has no interest in dominating the peoples of Latin America by military means. Obama however is reluctant to make a clean break from the United States’ imperialist past.On the other hand, try as he might to skirt the issue, Obama will soon be obliged to take a clearer stand on WHINSEC. That’s because the House recently approved the McGovern-Sestak-Bishop amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2009. The amendment obliges WHINSEC to publicly release the names, rank, country of origin, courses, and dates of attendance of the school's graduates and instructors.Legislators pressed for the measure because in recent years WHINSEC has withheld vital information that would have helped to identify the perpetrators of massacres, targeted assassinations, and human rights abuses committed in Latin America. In a resounding defeat for the Pentagon, the measure was approved by a vote of 220 to 189. The amendment now heads to the Senate where all eyes will be on Obama.The vote, however, will not resolve the larger question of whether WHINSEC should be shuttered once and for all. If it chose to, the media could prod the candidates to address U.S. military policy towards Latin America during the fall campaign. So far however reporters and pundits have ignored the topic, preferring instead to ask Obama about his flag pin.McCain has suggested the two candidates participate in town-hall style debates, potentially allowing more direct engagement with voters. The U.S. public would surely welcome this departure from the relentless and insipid questioning featured in previous debates. It would certainly be refreshing to see Obama questioned on issues of real substance such as the historic U.S. role in Latin America, military policy, and human rights.
Here's a place where you can add your thoughts, stories, hopes, dreams and well-wishes about Michelle Obama.
This photo is from Michelle's visit to Reno in August 2007. At that meeting in Pioneer Center she moved mountains.
Hit "Comments" to tell us your story or your feelings about the next first lady of the land, Michelle Obama.
The consequence of US military action against Iran would be nothing but a blunt provocation of the Islamic regime against the people. If the US government wants to help Khamenei, it should drop bombs on Iranian targets. Such an action, before anything, will bring the ranks of the Islamic regime in line behind Khamenei and will more importantly legitimize a bloody suppression of any protest and possibly the mass execution of political and union activists by the army of deranged Islamic militia and revolutionary guards. The balance of power between the people in Iran and the Islamic government is not at a stage that such an action will result in the people's fight back against the regime. On the contrary, I believe, it will result in a mass retreat and will extend the life of the Islamic regime.
Koorosh Modaresi
Everyone should charter buses to the DNC convention.
The visibility would be GREAT.
All the buses could have BIG Barack Obama signs on the sides and backs, and everyone could wear Barack Obama shirts. And everywhere the buses or people went, everyone would see them.
Just think about the visibility it would give Barack Obama.
The impact it would have, would be great.
Thanks so much for your time.
Paul Warnow
Progressive-Alliance.org
paul@progressive-alliance.org
Lets Get Barack Obama Elected!!!
First, my hat goes off to the many volunteers that are actively involved in helping get Barack Obama elected. Whether they are doing fundraising, phone banking, or visibility & voter registration; its all very important.
I think one of the most critical things any of us can do right now is to reach the Reluctant Voters, individuals who might be willing to vote for Barack Obama; but for what ever reason they are hesitant or reluctant to vote for him.
Outside of commercials, visibility is one of the most effective things we can do, and it is certainly the most inexpensive. Doing Visibility allows our message to reach thousands of people every hour, who we would never normally reach.
Over 300,000 people have probably seen the Vote for Change visibility displays since May.
http://progressive-alliance.org/a_visibility_events/visibility_event-stats.htm
Please see the following link for photos of the Vote for Change visibility display:
http://www.progressive-alliance.org/vote_for_change_display.htm
If we are to win in November, we will need to focus our time and energy in the most effective manner,
1) With the most influential message.
2) Targeting those that need to be reached.
3) Reaching the most people.
And, we should all be volunteering for at least ONE HOUR A WEEK.
re: Vote for Change visibility events, Students for Change, Concerts for Change
First, I want to take a moment to thank the volunteers that came out today. All of you were great. Thank you so much.We distributed around 350 buttons and brought in about $695 in donations. The crowd at the Ferry Building was exceptionally large, due to the 2 concerts going on in the area. The Vote for Change displays were setup right in front of the Ferry Building at the cross walk, from 8 am to 2 pm, and I believe visibility averaged about 5K per hour, for a total of about 30K. So we all did a great job today.Vote for Change visibility event(s): Progressive-Alliance.org is looking for volunteers, for the following Vote for Change visibility event(s). Volunteers are asked to cover 1 hour shifts; but of course, 2 hours would be great. The objectives are visibility, voter and volunteer outreach, and voter registration.Students for Change: Progressive-Alliance.org is looking for San Francisco State University students and UC Berkeley students, to whom a Vote for Change display, buttons, lapel stickers, and window signs will be provided; with the understanding that all donations received, will be used for a Free Campus Concert for Change at their campus and future visibility efforts in Nevada or New Mexico. Ideally students should be able to provide 1 hour of visibility, between 11am & 1pm, on their quad, once a week.Benefit Concerts for Change: Progressive-Alliance.org is also looking for volunteers, students, and student groups; to help organize Benefit Concerts for Change; which will benefit participating student groups in Nevada and New Mexico.Please see the following link for the Vote for Change display, with Obama 08’ signs, and supporting material: http://www.progressive-alliance.org/a_focus/tabling_for_change.htmIndividuals, who are interested in volunteering, should email me the time slot they would like to volunteer for, and their phone #, so I can call them and coordinate schedules.Vote for Change visibility – Farmers Market, at the Ferry Building (weather permitting)
Date: Saturday June 28 th, 10 am to 2 pm.Date: Saturday July 12 th, 10 am to 2 pm.Date: Saturday July 19 th, 10 am to 2 pm.Disc: On Saturdays, 10 - 15,000 faithful shoppers attend the market because it reconnects them with their food sources.Link: http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/farmers_market.phpAttendance: 10K to 15K per hr (per link)Foot traffic: 3K per hr (est)Auto traffic: 3K per hr (est)Visibility: high visibility due to high foot & auto traffic.Add: 1 The Embarcadero, San FranciscoMap: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1+The+Embarcadero,+san+francisco&sll=37.795471,-122.39384&sspn=0.000422,0.000853&layer=c&ie=UTF8&ll=37.798543,-122.393081&spn=0.006748,0.013647&t=h&z=16&cbll=37.795173,-122.393812&panoid=1o05kwSzhQhaTdlmhh5bzQ&cbp=1,92.33762831825464,,0,5
Date: Sat/Sun, July 5 & 6 thTimes: 12 noon to 2 pm 2 pm to 4 pmDisc: The best talent the Bay has to offer is showcased on our stages, from up-and-coming jazz fusion and latin-flavored acts to seasoned crooners belting out jazz standards. Groove to your old favorites or tune in to new sounds - our performance schedule will help you get the most out of the Fillmore Jazz Festival.Link: http://www.fillmorejazzfestival.com/Attendance: 100KFoot traffic: 25K per hr (est)Auto traffic: 3K per hr (est)Visibility: Very High visibility due to high foot & auto traffic.Add: 2088 Fillmore Street, at California Street, San Francisco, San FranciscoMap: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=2088+Fillmore+Street,+San+francisco&sll=37.789023,-122.433754&sspn=0.000422,0.000853&layer=c&ie=UTF8&ll=37.789023,-122.433754&spn=0.000422,0.000853&t=k&z=20&cbll=37.788812,-122.4338&panoid=eK-gFPjkgvrV6y_jUkZX5w&cbp=1,101.90890145567056,,0,5
Date: Sat/Sun, July 26 & 27 th.Times: 12 noon to 2 pm 2 pm to 4 pmDisc: free jazz in Washington Square Park with attendance of over 3,000 guests per day.Link: http://www.sunsettickets.com/images/nbjazz/Attendance: 20K per hr (est)Foot traffic: 5K per hr (est)Auto traffic: 3K per hr (est)Visibility: Very High visibility due to high foot & auto traffic.Add: 600 Columbus Ave, at Union St., San FranciscoMap: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=600+columbus+Ave,+san+francisco&sll=37.81392,-122.407007&sspn=0.027055,0.057592&layer=c&ie=UTF8&ll=37.803681,-122.409432&spn=0.006765,0.014398&t=k&z=16&cbll=37.80031,-122.41017&panoid=JkoCHKm6I0wL3ZqBA29p0g&cbp=1,3.9305816211278852,,0,5
Thanks to Don Crouser tor alerting me to the fact that John McCain supports the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. (For you non-Nevadans, Yucca Mountain is a political third rail here in Nevada; most Nevadans are deeply opposed to it.) I was able to verify this by going to McCain's own web site, searching for Yucca Mountain, and getting back the fact that, as of 5/29, as reported by the Reno Gazette-Journal, MCCAIN DOES IN FACT SUPPORT YUCCA MOUNTAIN!!! He has also called for an international repository, but this is unlikely to happen anywhere outside of America, meaning Yucca Mountain would be open for international nuclear waste as well!
For those of us who want to turn Nevada blue for Obama, this is a potent issue to remind McCain supporters that he really is "business as usual", and that he only cares about voters long enough to get elected. Obama (along with Hillary, Edwards, Kucinich, etc.) has come out solidly and repeatedly against Yucca Mountain, on the legitimate grounds that the "science" promoting it is dubious at best. We know who really cares about the American people; we need to get that point across to McCain supporters here in Nevada and get them to re-consider whether their support for McCain is based on reality.
As to why non-Nevadans should care, well, Nevada is definitely a swing state this year, and it's gone with the presidential winner every year since the 1920s, except in going narrowly for Ford when Carter became president. In a tight contest, Nevada could be the state that makes the difference.
I am FIRED UP and the state of Nevada has shown that we are READY TO GO! Having just returned home from my first Nevada State Democratic convention, I am still left with a feeling of excitement and wonderment. This experience has been spectacular and Nevada pulled it out for Barack Obama!
With the Democratic nomination race all but over, it's time to take on McCain!
For all the concerns that I've had about Hillary, the election of John McCain to the White House would be a total disaster for America, and this is something that I think nearly ALL Democrats (including Hillary supporters), plus a sizeable chunk of Republicans and independents, are recognizing more and more every day. We can't afford a third Bush term (changing a few players), and it's clear that McCain thinks that would be just fine. The only "extra term" that Bush deserves is a long jail term for shredding the Consitutuion and lying through his teeth to the American public -- and if McCain is thinking of extending Bush's policies for four more years, he deserves to be Bush's cellmate!
In light of the recent exchanges between Obama and "McBush" (as I dub them, though I'm sure I'm not the first), especially with the recent "appeasers" comment in Israel and the spin since then, it's clear that the GOP slime machine is getting ready to launch an all-out attack on Obama that would make even Hillary's campaign lose its collective lunch. While there are always some people who would believe anything they hear from the Looney Right, I'm hoping that the slime machine will turn most people off -- especially since it seems like the GOP machine is increasingly believing its own spin(!). These folks are completely reality-challenged, and with a little luck -- PLUS ALL OF US HELING TO GET OBAMA'S OWN MESSAGE OUT THIS FALL -- that machine may finally slip up on its own slime and end up with its collective head up where the sun don't shine (wait a minute, its head is ALREADY up there !!!).
By the way, I heard that in the ratings, Keith Olberman (MSNBC) is even with Bill Orally ("Fixed News"; I won't publically repeat what I think it should be called), and Keith is poised to pass Bill and leave him in the dust. You can't fool all the people all the time! How many of you caught Keith Olberman's nasty but uncomfortably accurate diatribe against Bush last Wednesday (5/14), not to mention the fact that McCain seems to be showing up on "Worst Persons in the World" almost as often as Bill Orally?
LET"S GET READY FOR FALL -- IT'S GOING TO GET NASTY, BUT OBAMA DESERVES ALL OF OUR SUPPORT !!!!! John McCain deserves to win in only one state -- THE STATE OF DENIAL!
PS I ordered a bunch of "Bush's Third Term -- McCain" bumper stickers from MoveOn.org, and I plan to leave most of them at the Dems HQ on Terminal Way in Reno (NV). I might add that though I see quite a few Obama stickers and yard signs, plus the oddball Ron Paul sticker and a fair number of old stickers from the Kerry campaign of '04, I have yet to see a SINGLE pro-McCain sticker -- which I think is remarkable for a "Republican" town like Reno!
http://www.politico.com/superdelegates/
Obama trails only 37 in superdelegates and closing the gap. Obama 213 and Clinton 250 with 260 still uncommitted according to Politico.
I feel like I may leave the Democratic Party if Hillary gets the nod, simply because I don't sense that the Hillary machine would pay any attention to me -- it's just going to be more politics as usual. Nor am I alone; many people in Obama's campaign have expressed similar sentiments. In fact, Billy Howard, who runs the RENObama.com web site, originally came from the Greens to support Obama, and plans to return to them unless Obama gets the Dem nomination. Moreover, with Obama's momentum, any convention victory by Hillary, though Obama goes in with the edge in popular support, would have to be seen as more of the same: the machine keeps power for itself and its supporters.
A number of media organizations, including CNN and MSNBC, have been picking up on this story, and hopefully the superdelegates, who have been given the power to override the voters' choice, are paying attention as well. Certainly, it has become a major headache for Howard Dean, the national chair, who has been sympathetic to the grassroots movement, and who would hate to see it jump ship because of the perception of insider manipulations. Too bad Hillary has a nasty stubborn streak; she will stop at nothing to get the nod, even if it means that the Dems go down in flames in the general election.
But don't forget: Yes We Can !!!
IT'S CRUNCH TIME IN NEVADA !!!
The Nevada Caucus is this Saturday, Jan. 19 at 11 am, just TWO DAYS AWAY !!! If you can volunteer, please contact your local Obama office in Nevada -- we still need lots of phone banking and canvassing, and there's plenty of office work to do as well. If nothing else, BE SURE TO GET OUT AND CAUCUS FOR OBAMA, and bring your friends!
The results in Nevada are in YOUR hands !!!
