Organizing for America | Pennsylvania Atheists/Agnostics for Obama

Pennsylvania Atheists/Agnostics for Obama

For those of us in PA who don't believe in, or who aren't sure of the existence of the supernatural. But certainly believe in Obama.

Dear America

By RBlake - Jun 26th, 2008 at 1:40 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

Dear America,

I’m writing this letter to express my confidence in Senator Obama to bring change to our country. As a veteran of the Iraq War, I am enthusiastic about keeping the Iraq War at the forefront of the election debates. With our troops and their families making so many sacrifices, it is simply inappropriate to discuss gas prices as more important than this disastrous war. Besides, all of our domestic problems are linked to this war financially.

As republicans claim to be the party that supports the troops, they are also the party that opposed the GI Bill. They are also the party that refuses to apologize for sending men and women to fight a war under false pretenses. Barack Obama has been standing up for our military and for our veterans. Its time we elect a president who doesn’t start a war unless it is absolutely vital to our safety. Its time we elect a president who doesn’t think a college education is too big a gift for military service. Its time we elect a president who considers all the routes to peace before floating the idea of war with Iran.

The economy, healthcare, and education are important issues. Gas prices, energy independence, and the environment are important issues. But to put these issues ahead of a war on your voting priorities is a slap in the face to every man and woman fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a slap in the face to the millions of killed and injured Iraqis. It is a slap in the face to our country’s reputation. So before you tell a pollster that your number one issue is gas prices, think about the triple-amputee father of three who just wants his healthcare and tuition paid for. Think about the millions of starving orphans in Iraq instead of worrying about filling up your god damn truck with gas.

Stop slapping our veterans in the face and vote for Barack Obama.

Semper Fi,

Rich

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New Erie PA Forum

By Andrew Vivier - Jun 21st, 2008 at 1:54 pm EDT

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Hello Erieites,

Just wanted to let you know I started up a new Erie Forum where we can discuss Obama or chat about anything Erie.

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Protesting in Pittsburgh

By RBlake - Jun 21st, 2008 at 12:56 pm EDT

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This morning we (labor unions) held a protest at a BP gas station in downtown Pittsburgh. We had signs that said "Tell McCain: No Tax Cuts for Big Oil" and "Bush & McCain Love Big Oil". We were chanting "say no to McCain". Plenty of people were honking and some local news channels were there.

After the protest we knocked on doors and got signatures for a petition in favor of the Employee Free Choice Act.

Pittsburgh is for Obama.

Cheers.

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Pennsylvania Healthcare

By RBlake - Jun 19th, 2008 at 1:22 pm EDT

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For my friends in Pennsylvania:

Please check out this website and join the movement for universal healthcare.

http://www.healthcare4allpa.org/home.php

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Religion & Guns in Wisconsin

By RBlake - Jun 10th, 2008 at 9:54 pm EDT

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Last night we were making phone calls to Wisconsin for Barack. It came as no surprise that most of those who were supporting McSame named abortion, gay marriage, or gun rights as there top issues in this election.

Let me share one unbelievable story. I asked a man to tell me about his biggest concerns this election year. He told me about several of his jobless family members who can't afford healthcare, his son serving a second tour in Iraq, his unsecure retirement, and how he hasn't left his house in quite some time because he can't afford gasoline. But when I asked him what his #1 issue was, he said "Abortion and Gay Marriage."

I'm thinking....So let me get this straight. Your son is in Iraq, your whole family is broke with no healthcare, you can't leave your house......and you're worried about gay marriage and abortion? That sounds a bit more extreme than "clinging to religion" that sounds like hanging on with a death grip and a death wish. Excuse my language, but What the F---? Brainless, non-thinking, blind, heartless, god-fearing zombies are everywhere! I served a tour in Iraq. I believe my feelings would be hurt if my mother were more concerned about issues that have zero effect on her than with my safety or my family's well being.

Another popular concern was gun rights. I asked these people if they have researched each candidates' position and voting record on guns and most of them said no. Wow.

Overall, it sounded good in Wisconsin. I just wanted to share some of the ridiculousness with my friends.

Lets win!

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Stumping for Sebelius

By RBlake - Jun 5th, 2008 at 3:32 pm EDT

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I hope you all will do some research on Kathleen Sebelius. She's my pick for VP. Any suggestions on how to organize support for her and make it public? Are there any efforts already underway?

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The Irrelevant Popular Vote

By RBlake - Jun 5th, 2008 at 12:43 pm EDT

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Hillary Clinton was still claiming a lead in the popular vote on Tuesday night, and for some reason many people beleive her. But even if that was true, it is irrelevant.

Nevermind the fact that she counts her votes in Michigan while giving Obama 0. Nevermind that she doesn't take into account the caucus states he won where they don't actually tally all of the votes. Nevermind she gets to include Florida, a state where I lived and didn't vote because they told me it wouldn't count.

Nevermind that. The argument that no one has pushed is the one of strategy. If the nominee was decided by the popular vote, then Barack Obama would have had an entirely different strategy. He would have focused more on highly populated areas. But our nominee is decided by delegates.

Barack Obama did win the popular vote, narrowly. Still it is completely irrelevant. You can't come out of the locker room after halftime and decide that field goals are worth more points than touchdowns. Because if they were, you would need a better strategy. You would get a better kicker and a cheaper quarterback.

The popular vote decides nothing in presidential elections. It should but it doesn't. We should change that-but not after we embark on a strategy for delegates.

I hope one day Clinton acknowledges how flawed her argument is.

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Quotes by and about Barack

By Paul - May 4th, 2008 at 10:50 pm EDT

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A year later, near the end of Mr. Obama’s first year in the Senate, Ethel Kennedy asked him to speak at a ceremony for her husband’s 80th birthday. At the time, she referred to Mr. Obama as “our next president.”

"I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans."
- Caroline Kennedy

"I do not believe history will judge his administration kindly."
- Barack Obama's response to Bush's 2008 SOTUA

"That’s what I'm opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics."
- Barack Obama, October 2002

"But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history. I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of Al Qaeda. I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars."
- Barack Obama, October 2002

January 7, 2008, 7:43 pm
Protesters Interrupt Obama in New Hampshire

Amy Schatz reports on the presidential race from Rochester, N.H.

Barack Obama had barely begun his speech here at the Rochester Opera House when he was interrupted by about a dozen anti-abortion protesters, who began chanting “abortion is abomination” from the balcony.

Obama stopped his speech and told the rest of the crowd that “there’s no need to boo,” but that didn’t stop them. He paced across the stage, as the protesters continued to yell and as the crowd began to chant “fired up, ready to go.”

After quieting down the crowd, he told the chanting protesters that “I understand your position but this isn’t going to solve anything.” About two minutes after they began chanting, security tossed them out.

Obama quieted down the crowd as they cheered the protesters’ departure. Free speech is “part of the American tradition, too,” he said. It’s not easy to “stand up in a crowd of people who don’t agree with you.”

"An Obama presidency would present, as a distinctly American face, a man of African descent, born in the nation's youngest state, with a childhood spent partly in Asia, among Muslims. No public relations campaign could do more than Obama's mere presence in the White House to defuse anti-American passion around the world, nor could any political experience surpass Obama's life story in preparing a president to understand the American character. His candidacy offers Democrats the best hope of leading America into the future, and gives Californians the opportunity to cast their most exciting and consequential ballot in a generation.

In the language of metaphor, Clinton is an essay, solid and reasoned; Obama is a poem, lyric and filled with possibility. Clinton would be a valuable and competent executive, but Obama matches her in substance and adds something that the nation has been missing far too long -- a sense of aspiration."
- LA Times Endorsement, 3 Feb 2008

The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.
- Barack Obama, 2004 Democratic National Convention

In thinking carefully about the strengths of the candidates, I stunned myself when I came to the following conclusion: that in addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don't see in other candidates. That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom. It is too bad if we associate it only with gray hair and old age. Or if we call searing vision naivete. Or if we believe cunning is insight. Or if we settle for finessing cures tailored for each ravaged tree in the forest while ignoring the poisonous landscape that feeds and surrounds it. Wisdom is a gift; you can't train for it, inherit it, learn it in a class, or earn it in the workplace--that access can foster the acquisition of knowledge, but not wisdom.
- Toni Morrison

"It is important that we use language that sends a signal to the world community that we're shifting [away] from cowboy diplomacy."
- Barack Obama on Meet the Press, 4 May 2008

"I said that we live in a pluralistic society, that I can't impose my own religious views on another, that I was running to be the U.S. Senator of Illinois and not the Minister of Illinois."
- Barack Obama, June 2006

"I have been inspired.

...

Here is my message, explained in this lengthy letter that I hope is perceived as a thoughtful analysis of how to save America from four more years of the misguided polices of the past: you can be for someone without being against someone else. You can unite behind a candidate and a vision for America without rejecting another candidate and their vision, because in real life, opposed to party politics, we Democrats are on the same side. The battle should not be amongst ourselves. Rather, we should focus our efforts on those who are truly on the opposite side: those who want to continue the failed policies of the last eight years, rather than bring real change to Washington. Let us come together right now behind an inspiring leader who not only has the audacity to challenge the old divisive politics, but the audacity to make us all hope for a better America."
- Joe Andrew, On My Switch from Clinton to Obama, 1 May 2008

"You know, Dr. King once said that the arc of the moral universe is long, but that it bends toward justice. But what he also knew was that it doesn’t bend on its own. It bends because each of us puts our hands on that arc and bends it in the direction of justice.

So on this day - of all days - let’s each do our part to bend that arc. Let’s bend that arc toward justice. Let’s bend that arc toward opportunity. Let’s bend that arc toward prosperity for all."
- Barack Obama, 8 April 2008, Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

We live in a culture that discourages empathy. A culture that too often tells us our principle goal in life is to be rich, thin, young, famous, safe, and entertained.
- Barack Obama, 12 July 2006

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
- Barack Obama, 5 February 2008

"I will close Guantanamo. I will restore habeas corpus. And we will end torture and rendition because you will have elected a president who has taught the Constitution and believes in the Constitution and will obey the Constitution of the United States of America."
- Barack Obama, 27 February 2008

Charles Babington
10 May 2008
Huffington Post
Obama rises from political obcurity to verge of history

Durbin recalls pulling Obama into a vacant meeting room in Chicago's Union League Club, where both had spoken on a Friday afternoon in November 2006. He felt it was time for his young colleague to decide whether to run for the White House.

"There are moments in life when you can pick the time," Durbin said he told Obama. "But when it comes to running for president, the time can pick you. You've been picked. This is your moment."

A short time later, Obama launched his candidacy.

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A breakup mix tape for Hillary

By Paul - May 2nd, 2008 at 1:08 pm EDT

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Sometimes when a relationship goes on too long it's hard to face the situation. It's when emotions are invested, tension is built up, histories have run deep, intentions are still good, but neither person is benefiting from the relationship anymore. Sometimes a person in the relationship is one of the last to see that it's ending. These are the times for mix tapes.

Link:A breakup mix for Hillary

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Final slam on Bitter Comments!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By obama - Apr 17th, 2008 at 7:37 pm EDT

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Everyone criticizes Obama about the "Bitter" comments because he made it at a fundraisers in San Fransico behind closed doors, people say he got caught because he thought nobody was listening, But what the media doesnt tell you is that he made these very remarks on Charlie Rose during an interview in 2004 !!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHodpyhXFSg

THE MEDIA IS LYING TO YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

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I Was There: What Obama Really Said About Pennsylvania

By james - Apr 14th, 2008 at 10:22 pm EDT

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Last Sunday evening I attended the San Francisco fundraiser that has been the center of recent political jousting. The next day, when asked about the talk Obama delivered, I too commented about his answer to a question he was asked about Pennsylvania. Over the past week, though, I have had a Rashomon-like experience concerning those remarks.

Clinton, McCain, and media pundits have parsed a blogger's audio tape of Obama's remarks and criticized a sentence or two characterizing some parts of Pennsylvania and the attitudes of some Pennsylvanians. In context and in person, Senator Obama's remarks about Pennsylvania voters left an impression diametrically opposed to that being trumpeted by his competitor's campaigns.

At the end of Obama's remarks standing between two rooms of guests -- the fourth appearance in California after traveling earlier in the day from Montana -- a questioner asked, "some of us are going to Pennsylvania to campaign for you. What should we be telling the voters we encounter?"

Obama's response to the questioner was that there are many, many different sections in Pennsylvania comprised of a range of racial, geographic, class, and economic groupings from Appalachia to Philadelphia. So there was not one thing to say to such diverse constituencies in Pennsylvania. But having said that, Obama went on say that his campaign staff in Pennsylvania could provide the questioner (an imminent Pennsylvania volunteer) with all the talking points he needed. But Obama cautioned that such talking points were really not what should be stressed with Pennsylvania voters.

Instead he urged the volunteer to tell Pennsylvania voters he encountered that Obama's campaign is about something more than programs and talking points. It was at this point that Obama began to talk about addressing the bitter feelings that many in some rural communities in Pennsylvania have about being brushed aside in the wake of the global economy. Senator Obama appeared to theorize, perhaps improvidently given the coverage this week, that some of the people in those communities take refuge in political concerns about guns, religion and immigration. But what has not so far been reported is that those statements preceded and were joined with additional observations that black youth in urban areas are told they are no longer "relevant" in the global economy and, feeling marginalized, they engage in destructive behavior. Unlike the week's commentators who have seized upon the remarks about "bitter feelings" in some depressed communities in Pennsylvania, I gleaned a different meaning from the entire answer.

First, I noted immediately how dismissive his answer had been about "talking points" and ten point programs and how he used the question to urge the future volunteer to put forward a larger message central to his campaign. That pivot, I thought, was remarkable and unique. Rather than his seizing the opportunity to recite stump-worn talking points at that time to the audience -- as I believe Senator Clinton, Senator McCain and most other more conventional (or more disciplined) politicians at such an appearance might do -- Senator Obama took a different political course in that moment, one that symbolizes important differences about his candidacy.

The response that followed sounded unscripted, in the moment, as if he were really trying to answer a question with intelligent conversation that explained more about what was going on in the Pennsylvania communities than what was germane to his political agenda. I had never heard him or any politician ever give such insightful, analytical responses. The statements were neither didactic nor contrived to convince. They were simply hypotheses (not unlike the kind made by de Tocqueville three centuries ago ) offered by an observer familiar with American communities. And that kind of thoughtfulness was quite unexpected in the middle of a political event. In my view, the way he answered the question was more important than the sociological accuracy or the cause and effect hypotheses contained in the answer. It was a moment of authenticity demonstrating informed intelligence, and the speaker's desire to have the audience join him in a deeper understanding of American politics.

There has been little or no reaction to the part of the answer that was addressed to the hopelessness of inner city youth who have been rendered "irrelevant" to the global economy. No one has seized upon those words as "talking down" to the inner city youth whose plight he was addressing. If extracted from an audio tape HuffPost Blogger Fowler, those remarks could (and may yet) be taken out of context as "Obama excuses alienation and violence by urban youth." But in context, Senator Obama's response sounded like empathetic conclusions and opinions of a keen observer: more like Margaret Mead than Machiavelli.

As the week's firestorm evolved over these remarks at which I was an accidental observer, I have reflected upon the regrettable irony that has emerged from Senator Obama's response to a friendly question: no good effort at intelligent analysis, candor -- and what I heard as an attempt to convey a profound understanding of both what people feel and why they feel it - goes unpunished. Such insights by a political candidate might otherwise be valued. In a national campaign subject to opposition research, his analytical musing has instead created an immense amount of political flak.

Now and "in this time," to invoke one of the candidate's favorite riffs, such observations and remarks shared among supporters are just a push of a record button on a tape recorder away from being spread across the internet to be dissected by political nabobs. What struck me immediately after the fundraiser as so refreshing turned out to be a moment Senator Obama is forced to regret. Today we marvel at de Tocqueville insights about American communities. Apparently, such commentary is valued as long as it is three centuries old and doesn't come from the mouth of a contemporary observer who might be elected president.

So much for the political ironies. But there is one more personal observation that was missed.

I happened to be on the balcony when Senator Obama's vehicles arrived and he emerged from the Secret Service SUV. Obama shouted the friendly greeting "How are you guys up there doing?" to the group of us looking down from the balcony and then said, "You have to excuse me, I need to call my kids in Chicago now." All of us stood and watched the leading candidate for the Democratic party nomination for president have a short conversation with his kids before he entered a fundraiser to make his remarks.

No tape of that conversation has emerged as yet. Who knows how casual remarks of a father to his children or his wife on a cell phone could be spun to support the argument that as a father speaking to his kids two time zones away before they go to bed, his comments sounded as if he "looked down" upon them. Given his relative height and the age of his kids, he probably does. But that would be precisely as relevant to his capacity to unite and lead this country as were the remarks at the fundraiser that have been so deconstructed over this past week.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-coleman/i-was-there-what-obama-re_b_96553.html

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Political Count.com a.k.a. FloridaCounts.com

By Ellis Dean Hovey - Apr 14th, 2008 at 12:15 pm EDT

Also listed in: 9 groups

THIS POST IS ABOUT AWARENESS:

OBAMA HAS BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW: http://www.floridacounts.com/index.php?news=2228
OBAMA ADMITS REMARKS ON SMALL TOWN AMERICA WERE WRONG, BUT REFUSES TO APOLOGIZE: http://www.floridacounts.com/index.php?news=2222
OBAMA BLUNDER MAY GIVE HILLARY THE OPENING SHE NEEDS: http://www.floridacounts.com/index.php?news=2226
BILL CLINTON FOUNDATION LINKED TO CHINA FIRM: http://www.floridacounts.com/index.php?news=2229
OBAMA, JIMMY HOFFA JR., TOUT ECONOMIC POPULISM: http://www.floridacounts.com/index.php?news=2227
CHENEY "INTERESTED" IN OBAMA'S PASTOR OF 20 YEARS: http://www.floridacounts.com/index.php?news=2217
RICHARDSON SAYS HE ENDORSED OBAMA BECAUSE HE WAS UPSET: http://www.floridacounts.com/index.php?news=2225
TV ADS DO A LOT OF TALKING FOR DEMS IN PENNSYLVANIA: http://www.floridacounts.com/index.php?news=2223
EXPERIENCE NOT ALWAYS THE DECIDER: http://www.floridacounts.com/index.php?news=1588
GOVERNOR RENDELL A BIG VOICE FOR HILLARY IN PENNSYLVANIA: http://www.floridacounts.com/index.php?news=2232
BLOODY WEEK: 19 AMERICAN TROOPS KILLED IN IRAQ: http://www.floridacounts.com/index.php?news=2224
If you subscribe or go to PoliticalCount.com, it shows that you care about the 2008 election, you care about issues, and you care about people in your community, in our country and the world.
(PLEASE NOTE: IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA, THE SITE IS KNOWN AS FLORIDACOUNTS.COM).

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Everyone vote on this poll

By obama - Apr 12th, 2008 at 11:23 am EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

This will not take even a minute of your time, but it will make a large difference to Independents, conservative, and working class viewers of CNN. A poll That will air on Lou Dobbs asking about Barack Obama's apparent elitist comments. Force the mainstream to put his comments into context vote on this poll.

Here is the link: http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.tonight/

The poll is on the right hand side down the page.

This is the question they ask:

Do you believe that Senator Barack Obama's comments reveal his elitist attitude towards every hardworking American?

This will make a difference because it will be the first time in history that Lou dobbs viewers disgree with what he says in such large percentage. Vote and spread the word. I will be posting this over and over again.

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Thank you, Soldierette!!

By Ellis Dean Hovey - Apr 5th, 2008 at 7:58 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

PLEASE ALSO SEE . . .

Barack Obama Endorse Church/State Separation AND All About Church/State Separation

AN ATHEIST'S OPEN LETTER TO ALL THEIST OBAMA SUPPORTERS

Thank you, Solja. This atheist would be more than proud to call you -- a Christian -- my Friend.
It's at trying times like this that genuine human beings like you somehow manage to renew my belief in the essential goodness of other human beings. It's human beings like you that renew my hope that reason will someday eradicate all the absurdities that divide the human race. In people like you I see the hope that someday our children or grandchildren will speak of racial & religious divides as conditions of the past. You are a diamond amongst lumps of coal.
But I think you are wasting your breath trying to reason with the people you just addressed; truth & justice isn't what matters most to the greedy & power-hungry likes of those who intentionally prey on herd mentality.
I can be a patient man . . . and time is on the side of reason.
~PeskyAtheist
"The wolves prey upon the lambs in the darkness of the night, but the bloodstains remain upon the stones in the valley until the dawn comes and then the sun reveals the crime to all." ~Kahlil Gibran

----- Original Message -----
From: Soldierette!!
To: Diversity4Obama
Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2008 2:24 PM
Subject: Re: [DiversityforObama] Enough

Y'all are all such a bunch of hypocrits. It's sad when people act like they can't read and go off on someone simply because he wants a right to speak his opinions, JUST like everyone else in this group.

Pesky doesn't HAVE to agree with you. Hell, I don't agree with y'all most of the time, because you're one-sided. Your way or the high way, or do you say it? The high road? Phsst! It's all a bunch of bullsh*t how y'all have treated him.

Look, I am a Christian woman. My mom was raised in a holiness church, which by all accounts, is now called church of christ. As a kid growing up in DC, I attended Presbyterian, Baptist and Methodist churches. I married a Catholic, and divorced the same. My current friend is the son of a southern preacher and teaches Sunday school, and my closest friend is in Iraq. He's not only the son of a preacher (his mom), but his 6 uncles and aunts are ALL preachers as well. My own kids went to a Lutheran church for most of their childhood. Out of allllll of these people that I know or are associated with, NOT ONE OF THEM judges people on their beliefs in God. You are acting like the very people that our soldiers are fighting in Iraq! They think that THEIR God is THE God of ALL Gods, and are not only willing to die for their God, but they are willing to kill others because of their beliefs, however seemingly radical to us.

Now I just got online for the day and my email is filled with a bunch of bullies jumping on one man that simply wanted a voice. So WHAT he's an Atheist! WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE HIM? Those without sin, please cast the first stone! Judge NOT or else be judged! Are you sitting there on your fake pews passing judgment on that man because he doesn't believe what you believe? Because it can NOT be what he has said in this group because ALL he's continously said is that WE SHOULD NOT PARTICIPATE IN SMEARING HILLARY CLINTON, BUT THAT WE SHOULD ALL HAVE FULL ACCESS TO ALL INFORMATION REGARDING THIS ELECTION.

What the hell is wrong with that? Are you people illiterate or something?

After seeing the BLATANT discrimination against the man because of his religion, having God in my heart for EVERYONE, NOT JUST THOSE WHO BELIEVE WHAT I BELIEVE, there is no way that I can just sit here on the fence and watch as if I don't see what you're doing to him.

LOOK AT HIS PROFILE PICTURE. He is NORMAL! http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/PeskyAtheist

He doesn't have HORNS or a TAIL or anything like that. You encounter Atheists every day of your life and you just don't know it because people sometimes treat them JUST LIKE this group has been treating "PeskyAthiest". Do you realize how many people don't actually believe there's a higher power? What makes you RIGHT and them wrong? You have no PROOF of anything! What you have is FAITH that there is actually a God up there. There's a lot of people who ask for proof, and I see nothing wrong with that. As I said, I am a Christian, but who the hell am I to judge someone else' beliefs? I don't know much about the Jewish faith but I worked once for a Jewish attorney and his wife. I loved these people like family because they were nice to me and respected me as a person. I asked a lot of questions about their beliefs because I did not know anything about it. The ONE thing that I took away from those conversations is that they believe in God, and that Jesus died on the cross, but they do not believe that he arose. I wasn't offended by it. That's what they believe, even though it is different from what I have been taught.

So my point is, YOU ARE NOT THE AUTHORITY ON GOD! Stop the blatant and OBVIOUS discrimination against him because he has done nothing wrong in this group! If he were black, I'd call you all racists! It's the same thing! You gang up on him based on his screenname, which happens to be a declaration of his religious beliefs.

But then you put "Hussein" as your own middle name as a sign of solidarity. So is Barack the ONLY person that is worthy of this same level of respect? This same level of tolerance is not afforded to another Barack supporter? Because after all, "Hussein" is associated (thanks to the media) with terrorism and radical muslims (who believe that you ALL should die because of where you were born). Hypocrits!

And the last thing I'm going to say about what I saw in an email was someone (you know who you are Mr.) who antagonized "PeskyAtheist" in his private email. This was NOT in the group. It was through one-on-one email. PeskyAtheist cussed him out in email, and well he should have. Try that with me and you'll get worst! Nobody has to put up with your blatant BS. He didn't disrespect this group. He replied to a disrespectful group member privately then that member posted that private email in the group, as PROOF that PeskyAtheist disrespected the group. Are you kidding me? And the people in this group accept that? You, sir, are a hypocritical troublemaker and a FAKE. Then all of the SHEEP and FOLLOWERS just pile on the man as to make it appear that everyone agrees in the group. Well, I don't! It's WRONG and you guys are LIARS when you continue to say that he did something wrong. YOU ARE THE ONES THAT ARE WRONG, and just because you are more vocal (negativity usually gets more press!), doesn't make you right.

You need to check yourselves because MY God don't like ugly!

Solja~

On Sat Apr 5 12:14 , "Ronald R. Bisson " sent:

Can't be a Man, reminds me to much of my former wife: a lovely woman a great
mother, but I will say I have been happily divorced for 25 years this month.

----- Original Message -----
From: <anetboddie@aol.com>
To: "Diversity4Obama" <DiversityforObama@groups.barackobama.com>
Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2008 1:26 PM
Subject: [DiversityforObama] Re: Re: Enough

> DITTO. There was no reasoning with this individual. I do find it
> interesting that although no one seems to know this person we all are
> assuming that this is a male. Then again I may be wrong now that I
> think about it. I believe that this is the teen age nephew or something
> of one of the members. This person does appear to be very immature.
> Perhaps someone might remember the email from a woman about getting her
> nephew involved. Now I'm concerned somewhat that he may gain access
> under another I.D. or via the relative that introduced him.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: carlosg903@aol.com
> To: Diversity4Obama <DiversityforObama@groups.barackobama.com>
> Sent: Sat, 5 Apr 2008 12:48 pm
> Subject: [DiversityforObama] Re: Enough
>
>
> Re: Pesky
>
> Tanya
> "ditto"...I took the "high road" by blocking his emails.
>
> To the group members and all other groups who may receive this; Shall
> we All Join the "High Road"?
>
> Carlos
> "Realizing the Obama Faith for 08"
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tanya <tanyafaison@yahoo.com>
> To: Diversity4Obama <DiversityforObama@groups.barackobama.com>
> Sent: Sat, 5 Apr 2008 2:36 am
> Subject: [DiversityforObama] Re: Re: Re: Enough already
>
> Ive blocked Peskys address in my emails. I was in another group where
> he acted argumentative...Just an option for those that are sick of it,
> because he doesnt stop.

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He Can't Win In PA

By Jay - Apr 3rd, 2008 at 10:14 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

Huh? Real Clear Politics has Billary's lead down to 5.4%. There is no better site on the web for poll data. That's about a 10-20% improvement over the last month. We have seen that Obama does this sort of thing when voters in a state finally are introduced to him, but in Ohio and Texas, the edge faded back to her. But, in the 'big' states, he has never closed the gap this early. This time, it won't happen. The best Billary can hope for is a 3% win. I think we will win PA in a squeaker.

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Town Hall Meeting in Scranton (Dunmore), PA

By Susquehanna Diana - Tattooed Lady who will find a way to be in DC on 1-20-09! - Apr 2nd, 2008 at 5:44 am EDT

Also listed in: 7 groups

Here I sit, twelve hours later, and I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that my daughter and I saw OUR NEXT PRESIDENT. We not only saw Barack, I shook his hand, he gave my daughter a huge smile, I got my copy of "The Audacity of Hope" signed, and I was able to tell Barack something very special....

I live on Social Security Disability - at least for now - and I get paid on the 3rd day of each month. So, as anyone who only gets paid once a month knows, those last few days are really rough. So, it was with a very sad heart that I realized that I would not have enough gas to get to the Town Hall and back (roughly 100 miles, round-trip), and still have gas to get to my doctor's appointments on Wednesday.

When (I don't know if she would want me to say her name, but she's awesome) from the national campaign's Scranton, PA office learned that I could not attend for that reason, she offered to give me money for gas to get me through till Thursday. I nearly cried when she said she would do that for my daughter and me.

So, when we got to the hall, there she was, waiting with our tickets - VIP SEATING NO LESS!!! I thought "How much better can this get?" I was about to find out!

Of course, Barack's speech and the question/answer session were great. Plenty of applause lines, as you'd expect. As he concluded, I made my way forward to try to be one of the lucky ones to shake his hand, and, maybe, get my copy of "Audacity..." signed. The campaign workers took tons of copies of "Dreams..." and "Audacity..." for Barack to sign after he left the hall, and then they brought them back to all of us, so that made my day REALLY great....but there's more!

As I shook Barack's hand, I said: "I want you to know that I am only here today because one of your campaign workers gave me money to get gas, because she really wanted me and my daughter to be here today. THAT'S the kind of people you have working for you here!" He replied, "I'm glad...that's inspiring!"

It really was an amazing day. And that campaign worker knows who she is, and I hope that she also knows that her act of generosity will never be forgotten by me or my daughter.

I love being part of this. Feel free to share this story as you talk about Barack and this movement we are creating. And if this link works, check out some of the pictures from the Town Hall!

http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/nn173/ZenRNforObama/ObamaTownHall/?action=view&current=ObamaTownHall005.jpg

Thanks!

Diana and Vivian

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Letter from Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright to Jodi Kantor of the New York Times

By Ellis Dean Hovey - Mar 24th, 2008 at 10:07 am EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

March 11, 2007

Jodi Kantor
The New York Times
9 West 43rd Street
New York,
New York 10036-3959

Dear Jodi:

Thank you for engaging in one of the biggest misrepresentations of the truth I have ever seen in sixty-five years. You sat and shared with me for two hours. You told me you were doing a “Spiritual Biography” of Senator Barack Obama. For two hours, I shared with you how I thought he was the most principled individual in public service that I have ever met.

For two hours, I talked with you about how idealistic he was. For two hours I shared with you what a genuine human being he was. I told you how incredible he was as a man who was an African American in public service, and as a man who refused to announce his candidacy for President until Carol Moseley Braun indicated one way or the other whether or not she was going to run.

I told you what a dreamer he was. I told you how idealistic he was. We talked about how refreshing i t would be for someone who knew about Islam to be in the Oval Office. Your own question to me was, Didn’t I think it would be incredible to have somebody in the Oval Office who not only knew about Muslims, but had living and breathing Muslims in his own family? I told you how important it would be to have a man who not only knew the difference between Shiites and Sunnis prior to 9/11/01 in the Oval Office, but also how important it would be to have a man who knew what Sufism was; a man who understood that there were different branches of Judaism; a man who knew the difference between Hasidic Jews, Orthodox Jews, Conservative Jews and Reformed Jews; and a man who was a devout Christian, but who did not prejudge others because they believed something other than what he believed.

I talked about how rare it was to meet a man whose Christianity was not just “in word only.” I talked about Barack being a person who lived his faith and did not argue his faith. I talked a bout Barack as a person who did not draw doctrinal lines in the sand nor consign other people to hell if they did not believe what he believed.

Out of a two-hour conversation with you about Barack’s spiritual journey and my protesting to you that I had not shaped him nor formed him, that I had not mentored him or made him the man he was, even though I would love to take that credit, you did not print any of that. When I told you, using one of your own Jewish stories from the Hebrew Bible as to how God asked Moses, “What is that in your hand?,” that Barack was like that when I met him. Barack had it “in his hand.” Barack had in his grasp a uniqueness in terms of his spiritual development that one is hard put to find in the 21st century, and you did not print that.

As I was just starting to say a moment ago, Jodi, out of two hours of conversation I spent approximately five to seven minutes on Barack’s taking advice from one of his trusted campaign people a nd deeming it unwise to make me the media spotlight on the day of his announcing his candidacy for the Presidency and what do you print? You and your editor proceeded to present to the general public a snippet, a printed “sound byte” and a titillating and tantalizing article about his disinviting me to the Invocation on the day of his announcing his candidacy.

I have never been exposed to that kind of duplicitous behavior before, and I want to write you publicly to let you know that I do not approve of it and will not be party to any further smearing of the name, the reputation, the integrity or the character of perhaps this nation’s first (and maybe even only) honest candidate offering himself for public service as the person to occupy the Oval Office.

Your editor is a sensationalist. For you to even mention that makes me doubt your credibility, and I am looking forward to see how you are going to butcher what else I had to say concerning Senator Obama’s “S pi ritual Biography.” Our Conference Minister, the Reverend Jane Fisler Hoffman, a white woman who belongs to a Black church that Hannity of “Hannity and Colmes” is trying to trash, set the record straight for you in terms of who I am and in terms of who we are as the church to which Barack has belonged for over twenty years.

The president of our denomination, the Reverend John Thomas, has offered to try to help you clarify in your confused head what Trinity Church is even though you spent the entire weekend with us setting me up to interview me for what turned out to be a smear of the Senator; and yet The New York Times continues to roll on making the truth what it wants to be the truth. I do not remember reading in your article that Barack had apologized for listening to that bad information and bad advice. Did I miss it? Or did your editor cut it out? Either way, you do not have to worry about hearing anything else from me for you to edit or “spin” because you a re more interested in journalism than in truth.

Forgive me for having a momentary lapse. I forgot that The New York Times was leading the bandwagon in trumpeting why it is we should have gone into an illegal war. The New York Times became George Bush and the Republican Party’s national “blog.” The New York Times played a role in the outing of Valerie Plame. I do not know why I thought The New York Times had actually repented and was going to exhibit a different kind of behavior.

Maybe it was my faith in the Jewish Holy Day of Roshashana. Maybe it was my being caught up in the euphoria of the Season of Lent; but whatever it is or was, I was sadly mistaken. There is no repentance on the part of The New York Times. There is no integrity when it comes to The Times. You should do well with that paper, Jodi. You looked me straight in my face and told me a lie!

Sincerely and respectfully yours,

Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. ,Senior Pastor
Trinity United Church of Christ

-----

SOURCE OF ABOVE LETTER:
----- Original Message -----
From: Monique Hayes
To: One Million MySpace Friends for Obama'08!
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2008 6:39 AM
Subject: [OneMillionMySpaceFriendsforObama08] Copy of Rev. Wright's letter to Jodi Kanton of the NY Times

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What Jeremiah A. Wright REALLY Said:

By Ellis Dean Hovey - Mar 23rd, 2008 at 4:55 am EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

FOX NEWS Lied On Barack Obama's Pastor Jeremiah A. Wright!
FOX NEWS, Tell The WHOLE Story About Barack Obama's Pastor Jeremiah A. Wright!

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My delayed reaction to Barack's speech on race

By Susquehanna Diana - Tattooed Lady who will find a way to be in DC on 1-20-09! - Mar 21st, 2008 at 2:04 am EDT

Also listed in: 9 groups

I am going to attempt something like eloquence here.

To preface, I am 36, female, white, lifelong PA resident, single mother, college educated.

I have had the same type of reaction that Barack described his Grandmother having, and I always felt troubled by this, because it is not something that I felt was part of my character, my spirit, or my beleifs. I feel that I treat people on their own merits, and I instill this virtue in my 12-year-old daughter, as well.

What Barack's speech did for me was to make me realize that I am not alone in my conflicted feelings. He made it ok for me to give voice to those feelings, and made it ok to release the burden my soul had been carrying without even knowing it was there.

I think it made us all feel better not only about people of different races, but about ourselves as well. It made me see that Barack beleives in us just as much as we beleive in Him.

I hope this resonates with some of you out there. It took me a few days to find something close to the right words to express how deeply affected I continue to be by the message Barack gave to us, like an unexpected gift.

Thanks for reading.

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i think i just reached across the isle

By james - Mar 12th, 2008 at 3:23 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

a letter i wrote to a local church attended by friends (and others):

my religious experience starts with "i don't know" and ends with "how can you be so sure". i cannot remember ever believing in santa clause or trusting anyone but myself. a few weeks ago i would not have cared much about offending you or any "man of the cloth". that was until i was listening/watching Barack Obama speech on his web site. i stumbled upon this: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/faith/ let me be clear i am not asking you to endorse Obama or round up votes for me. that said, i am going into the harrisburg headquarters and would like to be able to converse with others with some perspective and insight. when he (Obama) says "...democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal rather than religious specific values...subject to discourse...amenable to reason" it touched a nerve in me that i did not know i had. the "Abraham and Isaac on a rooftop" depiction of why we as a diverse society call family services got me thinking with my heart. "we stop him out of the truths we all see" because we "can't see or hear what he does". Obama then picked the lock i placed on my religious vault when he describes how the "sheppards of the separation of church and state should be bound by the same edict that preachers accept ... preach perfection but accept the reality of our imperfect nature". i am by no means trying to force his convictions down your throat or approve my perspective. i honestly would appreciate your reaction to his speech, mind you it is long, and my words. if my solicitation is uncouth or overreaching i apologize. bear in mind i spent many hours of detention in St. Stephen's School in Harrisburg at the request of Mrs. Cameron so if my heathen ways were not extinguished blame her for being soft on crime lol. in conclusion: sure i would love for churchgoers to endorse Barack Obama. a vote is a vote and all that stuff. can i claim that you should back him? of course not i have little or no grasp of, for lack of a better phrase, what "you guys" look for in a president. however, this recondite treatise is part of a compelling narrative, which inspires a diverse coalition of apprehensive and cynical citizens to pursue the ideals of unity and understanding. if his words can entice a devout doubter like myself to (re)examine the ideological gap between us then who knows? with full chest and level head, a breadth not depth viewpoint could be achieved. an understanding that is practical in the best sense of the word. that does not necessitate compromise or marginalize the quality of the resolution. well this olive branch has ripened into an all out confession. i hope but do not yet pray (sorry could not resist) this is received with the same compassion from which it was created. thank you for your time, james christianson Lake Meade

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