I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do something I can do. --Helen Keller
Please do what you can do!
With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds... to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. - Abraham Lincoln
Here is just a thought I am keeping with me during this cynical and divisive Republican Convention:
Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness. --James Thurber
WASHINGTON - August 29 - Sen. John McCain's choice of Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate is a cynical effort to appeal to disappointed Hillary Clinton voters and get them to vote, ultimately, against their own self-interest.
Gov. Palin may be the second woman vice-presidential candidate on a major party ticket, but she is not the right woman. Sadly, she is a woman who opposes women's rights, just like John McCain.
The fact that Palin is a mother of five who has a 4-month-old baby, a woman who is juggling work and family responsibilities, will speak to many women. But will Palin speak FOR women? Based on her record and her stated positions, the answer is clearly No.
In a gubernatorial debate, Palin stated emphatically that her opposition to abortion was so great, so total, that even if her teenage daughter was impregnated by a rapist, she would "choose life" -- meaning apparently that she would not permit her daughter to have an abortion.
Palin also had to withdraw her appointment of a top public safety commissioner who had been reprimanded for sexual harassment, although Palin had been warned about his background through letters by the sexual harassment complainant.
What McCain does not understand is that women supported Hillary Clinton not just because she was a woman, but because she was a champion on their issues. They will surely not find Sarah Palin to be an advocate for women.
Sen. Joe Biden is the VP candidate who appeals to women, with his authorship and championing of landmark domestic violence legislation, support for pay equity, and advocacy for women around the world.
Finally, as the chair of NOW's Political Action Committee, I am frequently asked whether NOW supports women candidates just because they are women. This gives me an opportunity to once again answer that question with an emphatic 'No.' We recognize the importance of having women's rights supporters at every level but, like Sarah Palin, not every woman supports women's rights.
Attention All Women!
Please take a moment to read over the plan and share it with others - click here to check it out: http://www.scribd.com/doc/4194155/Barack-Obamas-Plan-to-Support-Working-Women-and-Families Also make sure to check out the Report on the Impact of the Obama Economic Plan for America’s Working Women: http://obama.3cdn.net/fa6127179d2b5a86dc_lym6bhdat.pdf
http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=14
paste this link into your browser and watch this inspiring video.
What do you have the power to do today?
If you haven't already heard, the Valparaiso, Indiana, Obama Supporter Group made the The Times Newspaper. Here's the link to my blog article: Fired up! Ready to go!
We pass these things along to keep our enthusiasm up! You know why, don't you? It's because we are the ones we've been waiting for silly!
Obama Yay!
This is my blog post on our campaign organizing meeting in the Northwest Indiana:
Link
Howdy folks,
I have entered the blogosphere by starting my own blog site called Political Peon at the following link:
Political Peon Link
My reason for doing this is because of my intense desire to see the way we communicate politically changed. On a more personal and perhaps selfish note, it is to get some of these thoughts out of my head so that the cobwebs in my brain can be cleared out.
I have always enjoyed writing but been too chicken most of my life to put myself out there. I know I am not the most brilliant mind there ever was, but with all this freedom we have and that we constantly talk about and tout, I thought I'd better use some of it up before it's all gone.
The other reason for my blog is to express my views on "Our" candidate, Barack Obama. Barack has helped me to believe that we can change our political discourse, we can listen to each other without bouncing from outrage to outrage, reaction to reaction, but to begin the process of engaging in reasoned and thoughtful discourse without all the party bashing, label trashing garbage that we have seen for so long.
It's up to us to change the dialogue (bottom's up) and not the responsibility or duty of the digital images that seek to make everything in politics a competitive sport. Our politics are supposed to make us better as human beings and citizens; not to have us at each other's throats. I think this is what Jon Stewart was trying to say up until the point when he called Tucker Carlson a bad slang name for the male appendage on CNN's crossfire, which subsequently and ironically is no longer on the air.
Where is Mark Twain when you need him? Let's keep talking and let's keep Baracking.
Megan in Northwest Indiana
Follow this link to "10 Things You Should Know About John McCain"
http://pol.moveon.org/mccain10/email.html?rc=homepage
A sad story to report from the red state of Idaho:
On Sunday night, my mother's OBAMA lawn signs were vandalized along with a sign she had that read, "I Stand for Peace". Who doesn't want peace?
Anyway, my mind has been buzzing with the question, "Why do we as a people feel the need to demonize the other in order to promote our own perspective or opinion?". During the primary season I tried not to be against any of the candidates, but rather for Obama.
Here's hoping that my judgment about the candidate I choose to vote for in no way implies that I am "right", and if your judgment leads you to choose otherwise I will not assume that you are "wrong".
http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=413
Watch this amazing video.
Never, never, never give up!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/18/cbss-lara-logan-slams-ame_n_107914.html
Please cut and paste this into your browser. We all need to remember to pay attention.
Please watch this clip from the Huffington Post.
I wanted to give you a little Thoreau this evening:
"It is never too late to give up our prejudices." - Henry David Thoreau
I have been waiting for a foreign policy that makes a lick of sense. It is coming fast and strong. I am hopeful and grateful for a candidate who understands that playing politics with the American people does not strengthen our Republic, but weakens and divides.
Must Watch: Obama on Foreign Policy
Many of our friends and neighbors are not 'political junkies' as many of us. They are not seeking out answers on the Internet, but relying on mainstream media. It is up to us to point them in a different direction. We need more than sound bites to address some of these complex issues. I think that this campaign is as much about educating the electorate, as it is about winning an election.
When we communicate with others, let us think of good teachers we have known in our lives and moments when perhaps what we needed to learn did not come easy or quickly. How did that special teacher get through all the gray matter to help us to understand a concept. For me the best teachers that helped me have been accepting and non-judgmental, respecting me, and believing that I was capable of understanding.
Each of us is unique and different. Become the kind of teacher that you respected, and then begin to teach others how to access the information they need to find the truth about our candidate and our party. We can do this without being disrespectful and condescending. I know we can.
Changing the tone and approach of our politics is a challenge. I believe we can meet this goal of changing our political discourse, by finding the good teacher in each of us, and also by the example that Barack Obama is setting for us each and every day. It is not weak to be smart. It is not weak to be wise. It is not weak to be diplomatic. It is not weak to closely examine the other side of the argument.
I am also mindful of the definition of insanity:
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein.
It is time for a change. It is time for sanity.
YES WE CAN! :)
Peace and Love,
I am not a big fan of The View, but I am a big fan of Michelle Obama.
She did a fantastic job co-hosting on The View this morning. If you get the chance, be sure to watch her this week. Also, check out the Huffington Post and watch Michelle give fist bumps all around!
Frank Rich has become my bell weather.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/opinion/15rich.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
