When I sit down and seriously conider what kind of change is possible under President Obama, I get kind of shaky and weepy. I feel myself floating into a hazy, dream-like state; a state of hope and excitement; of fearlessness and optimism.
Tonight I watched "When We Were Kings", a documentary on the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" boxing match between Goerge Foremen and Muhammed Ali in October of 1974 in Zaire. For those of you who haven't seen it; rent it, borrow it, or buy it: it's spectacular.
The movie highlighted a message that I've been trying to broadcast to everyone I talk to about this election.
This election is not just about the obvious choice between two candidates, or the astronomically poor choices of John McCain, or of the massive problems facing the US today. There is a larger issue that I feel so excited about, I can barely contain myself.
Some people think that Obama's race is a question mark, as if being black somehow makes him less qualified, less acceptable, or less "real". In my eyes, I see his race as an enormous plus; a bonus. And here's why...
I have heard stories fom a number of different sources about how, for the first time in our nation's history, the vast minority population will be able to have a leader who understands who they are and where they've been and the unique (and supremely unjust) struggles that minorities face in this country. This, in and of itself, is one of the most beautiful and poetic things that could happen to us as a nation.
But, more than that (as if that weren't enough), I truly believe (and try to just go with me on this journey) that we are at the precipice of ending our issue with race in the US.
I'm not kidding; and I'm not crazy. We all know someone who has been racist, homophobic, or discriminatory in some way, who has had the very foundations of their beliefs turned 180 degrees by the mere fact of working with, getting to know personally, or otherwise personally relating to the object of their discrimination. This happens everyday on main streets across this country; on factory floors and in offices; in schools and churches and hospitals and communities.
Racism, like any other form of discrimination, cannot stand up to any kind of scrutiny. We all know that. But, when we are presented with an opportunity to hear the stories and share the experiences with people who are different, we realize, on a very personal level, how connected and similar we all are.
This election is the nation's first opportunity to share this experience on a national level in a way that no other President has been able to do with mere "dialogue".
I not only believe that Obama is the best candidate for President right now -or at any time on our history- regardless of race, I welcome the opportunity this country has to grow up and out of it's long history of racism and to embrace the genius and leadership that can only come from equal representation.
For the first time, we are facing the possibility of a leader who can represent the best America has to offer, in a package that makes that representation meaningful to everyone.
So, let's roll up our sleeves a little further, dig deep in our pockets, and do whatever we can to make this dream (and it is a dream come true) a reality.
We've got about 15 days left until we can wake up to a brighter, more just and rational world...
Im so excited!
I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....
* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."
* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.
* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.
* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.
* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.
* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
* If you want to teach children about sexual predators, you are irresponsible and eroding the fiber of society.
* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.
* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America 's.
* If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that hates America and advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.
OK, much clearer now.
Perhaps many of you remember, as I do, some comments on FOX News a while back suggesting Obama's kids could "end up in a bell tower" because their folks "don't buy them Christmas presents," "proof that they're socialists," etc. Do you remember? Pretty nasty stuff.
When Governor Sarah Palin was announced as McCain's VP pick there was immediate gossipy discussion about her family issues from our side. It wasn't as gratuitous as the FOX News garbage, and it didn't make main stream news until Gov. Palin announced that her daughter, Bristol, was pregnant and unwed. At that point, Obama loudly and angrily declared that the family was "off limits", promising to fire any staff who tried to make political hay of the situation. His declaration was the perfect response, because people DO remember that FOX bullshit, and the ugliness of the attack is evident, ESPECIALLY in light of Obama's noble refusal to countenance the same from HIS people...We should never forget Obama's frequent reference to the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you", and its possible corollary, "...even when others do ill unto you first."Our candidate is holding the high ground, and winning it, in ways even his supporters can't fathom. His admonishments regarding Palin's family issues are part of a consistent theme of sticking with the issues that really matter, and avoiding the ugly methods of Karl Rove's political philosophy. I have a sense that his perseverance is beginning to pay off. As his team continues to paint a canvas with the bright colors of high principal, the GOP's continued resort to innuendo, character assault and outright lies stand out in sharp contrast as mud brown.On the spectrum of American political opinion, between the partisan extremes of left and right, there exists a blending continuum of objective, critical thinkers in varying degrees of doubt. They are invariably the ones who have to be sold. Up to now, Rovian methods have been winning because they have been DEFINING "politics as usual" in cynical fashion, alienating non-partisans from the process. But Obama is offering a REDEFINITION. He has pointedly, repeatedly, called for discarding the cynical politics of division. That is only accomplished by the arts of inclusion, effectively encouraging the alienated center to rejoin the American quest, a return to American ideals.We partisans can be excused for the revulsion we feel for the things that appear in our mail: The bogus lawsuit to disqualify our candidate as a non-citizen; McCain's accusation that Obama has "never" been bipartisan; Palin's claim that he has "never" proposed significant legislation; the inexperienced liberal elitist tax-and-spend baby-killer who hates America... It surely makes you want to slap their faces, grab them by the collar, shake and shout, "What the hell are you trying to pull? You liar! You cheat!", and throw them against a brick wall. Fact is, their response would be to step back, straighten their clothes, grin and say, "Thanks for your cooperation. We win..."It's tough. It's frustrating. Continue your mailings, your forwards, comments, investigations and debunking. Leave no stone unturned. And don't hide your exasperation. Advertise McCain's graduating class rank, the planes he crashed, his less-than-unique POW status and his temper. Post Palin's weakness as a parent, her credit for facing down Russia and leading her Alaskan troops to war, and her fundamental(ist) ambitions. Point out the Mass Media lies, distortions and partiality, and take them to task for their objective failure.Just don't call for Obama and his team to join in.It has struck me from the very start of this race that the issue has never been about an ABILITY to lead -- experience, voting record, blah, blah, blah. It has always been about HOW to lead. Do we attract and appoint the able, or do we select the loyal? Do we address opponents with respect and high expectations, or do we deride their ideals and denigrate their abilities? The HOW of leadership is the only thing to be demonstrated in a campaign. The rest is just vague dross, promises that may become less than practical when office is won and the limitations of reality descend. But the tone, the quality of leadership remains, and our man is ahead, and gaining, on that score.Barack Obama has often applied the term "defining moment" to this election. This is not fluff, or bluff, or empty rhetoric. It's a fundamental TRUTH. As tempting as it is to join the mud-slingers in the pit, doing so would betray the very principals that brought him into this contest, and in winning it would hobble his ability to fulfill those lofty promises. If he fails while staying true, on the other hand, it only means that America is not ready for a redefinition. That's the point of this election: to test the maturity of the electorate and our readiness to accept the next stage of democratic evolution. I think we're winning.A remarkable confluence of people and events has conspired to make it possible for the high road to WIN, sending Karl Rove and his minions, the off-cue applause machine of the GOP convention, back to the garbage dump that spawned them, and they know it. They're running scared. That's why you see the attacks multiplying, and they'll continue. For the first time they see a genuine, serious challenge to their continued rule of the dialog, they will make every devious effort to defeat it, and they will continue when this campaign is finished.Keep fighting. Keep the high road. Be not afraid. Yes we can. GoBama...
From the climactic end of the Democratic Convention through the shocking selection of Sarah Palin, I have sensed a GOP attack machine in high gear, using all their devious arts to try and damage our candidate. They put some of their ugly message into our convention coverage (thanks to the MSM), and they’re recycling the old character attacks, plus submitting new ones. But their attacks are getting shriller and shriller, even taking on an edge (in my opinion) of desperation. That desperation is born of the realization that Barack Obama is beating their game, slowly but surely.Obama’s acceptance speech subverted the GOP message, canned in advance, which anticipated fluff and empty rhetoric. Instead, he presented substantive proposals, and millions of the doubtful were watching. Those millions must have wondered at the GOP message, asking themselves if the critics were talking about the same speech they saw. Doubts.When rumors about Gov. Palin’s 5th child achieved MSM status, Sen. Obama nobly and forcefully denounced the rumor mongers and seriously threatened any staff members who participated. Millions heard it. When the GOP accuses the Democrats of unfairly attacking Palin’s family, those millions must wonder if they’re talking about Obama’s Democrats. Doubts.When Hurricane Gustav threatened New Orleans, McCain’s “presidential” response was to travel personally to a few hundred miles from the coast. Obama offered his millions of supporters for volunteer relief and no one, to my knowledge, claimed it was an empty gesture. The undecided millions must have wondered who was being truly presidential and who chose the standard photo-op. Doubts.Stay tuned.The attack ads and e-mails and VP appointments that worry us so much are aimed at the true believers, the 25% who believe G.W. Bush is doing a “heck of a job,” and the millions just beyond them who still have doubts about this new guy. But the doubts are slowly being turned around. Obama and his team are skillfully turning the tables on the methods that have always worked before. The watchers who have always been ready to accept GOP claims are beginning to wonder if they’re being lied to. Skepticism, slowly but surely, is on the rise.I’m starting to liken this campaign to a wagon train of settlers moving toward a new frontier, the far horizon. We are debating the choice of wagon master. Our candidate insists that the high road is the best way to reach the Promised Land. We believe him. In our hearts we’re sure it’s true. But sometimes, when the going gets rough, we can’t believe how difficult it is. It’s stony and steep and full of hazards. The road has been neglected and untraveled, so we have to chop at the narrow places, rebuilding bridges and culverts, removing debris and obstacles caused by erosion. Sometimes we have to put our backs to the wheels to get them over the boulders and fallen trees, many put there by rivals to impede our progress.The opposing candidate is leading a section of the wagon train to the low road, knowing it’s easier and better traveled, and he claims it leads to the same place. You and I don’t think so. We’re sure it only goes deeper into the valley and ends at a swamp of cutthroat competition, leaving the less able to sink out of site in the mud.The writing of the American Constitution and the creation of a unique form of government of the people, by the people and for the people was a high point of human progress achieved on this continent more then 200 years ago. America has since surmounted other high points on the road to its destiny of leading mankind toward freedom and self determination. There will be others to climb, followed by gullies and canyons to be crossed on the journey to a high, fertile plateau. Maybe we can’t see it yet, but we know it’s there, on the far horizon, where people from all the tribes can prosper in peaceful commerce.We should consider ourselves the scouts and engineers of the high road. As we use and improve the neglected track way, making it smoother and easier to travel, more wagons will follow. As more follow, the wider and smoother it becomes. But it will always tend uphill, and require steady effort.
The slope that we're on now rises to what I call a Rennaisance of Reason. After years of political destruction based on division and rancor, Americans are now hungry for leadership based on rational debate, rather than mutual recriminations. Barack Obama can provide it. He and we are the new pioneers, following the dreams of our nation's founders, the extraordinary leaders who have come after them, and the great thinkers who have gone before. The destination is a society in which no one is denied the opportunity to do their best for themselves and for each other, with liberty and justice for all.
Slowly but surely. Wagons Ho.
My son and I were talking politics one night, discussing Barack Obama’s campaign for President, when he revealed that he had broken up with his girlfriend. It was pretty painful for him, his first relationship that seemed to have depth and serious potential, touching on love. They’re only 21, barely at the beginning of their life journeys, and there is so much more to learn. I advised him that this blow was just one of life’s lessons: Youth and the confusing interplay of love and lust, passion and compassion, friendship and companionship. They had been close for only a few months, but at their age time is fleeting and emotions run high. My suggestion was that this experience would help him grow. Always in the background of a new relationship is the echo of a hope that this is real, serious, and will last forever. Youth is impatient for forever, not realizing that life will be full of brief encounters, with many disappointments and surprising satisfaction.We talk politics fairly often. He's been pursuing an English major with a minor in political science and he has some pretty strong opinions, especially on international affairs. We’re both big Obama fans, and on this night the subject was Barack’s struggle for acceptance among voters who are ready to believe the worst about him. Our candidate often declares his wholehearted love and admiration for America and his readiness to take on the awesome responsibility of leadership. Yet his critics paint him as shallow and pretentious at best, traitorous at worst, sowing the suspicion that he doesn’t really honor America. Our greatest frustration with this campaign is the ease in which Barack Obama is cast as alien and suspect. How many times does he have to loudly, bluntly declare, “This is the greatest nation on Earth; nowhere else could a story like mine even be possible”, “This country is not perfect, but it is perfectible”, “It’s not about me; it’s about us; together, we can solve the momentous problems that we face”, before the mass of Americans take him at his word? The mere hint that he has a secret intent or hidden motive injures him. As in any courtship, whispers of doubt can be deadly.My son needs conversation above the level of gossip and trivia, and his girlfriend was good for that. But more then that, he says the attraction was based on the idea that they could help each other achieve their respective dreams. Yang and Yin. What one lacks, the other provides. Like Obama’s petition to American voters, my son tried to convince her that, together, they could achieve great things. But, as he came to learn, suspicion can destroy a budding relationship. I tried to encourage him by pointing out that his attitude showed a distinct level of maturity. It’s frustrating, I told him, but love is not the initial goal. It’s the final one. The more immediate task in any relationship is the establishment of trust, each convincing the other that vulnerability will never be taken advantage of. If there’s a wound, bandage it. If there’s an offense, forgive it. If there’s a fear, set it aside…. Obama’s critics insist that he’s a fake and a poser, unworthy of America’s affection. He’s a self-important egoist, they say, who’s only in this for the sake of power and prestige; that it’s really only about him. Entire books are published with the aim of impugning his character from every angle. They don’t want him to win us over because they say his intentions are bad, even suggesting he plans betrayal. His goal is not the nation’s welfare, but her destruction. Some, of course, subtly suggest that a person of his complexion simply shouldn’t be allowed into the family. He’s not “one of us”.My son discovered that his attempts to understand and appreciate his girl’s strengths and wishes were rejected out of suspicion for their motives. The more he informed himself in the areas that interested her, the more she drew back. As he tried to get close to her feelings, and reveal his own, she became guarded. He says she worries that she’s incapable of intimacy, and feels awkward in social situations. He’s sociable, open with his emotions, and he wanted to help her out of her shell. There was a fear to be overcome, and he thought he could help her beat it. But he couldn’t gain her trust and his first brush with love came to an end. I told him not to be discouraged. There will be others, perhaps even another opportunity with this young lady who briefly captured his heart.This may not be true for America, however. Obama’s candidacy might be her best opportunity to break from the fears that hold her back. Reservations are justified, of course. He is, after all, just a man, a human being with the flaws and weaknesses of any human being. But the nobility of his manner and his aspirations for this great nation are worthy of acceptance. Obama’s unique quality is his willingness to address the American electorate as a mature audience. It can’t be overlooked that a candidate of his caliber doesn’t come along often. Like the girl my son was courting, it will be necessary for America to set aside her fears if this relationship is to bloom.Barack Obama is wooing America. He says he loves and respects her right down to the core of his soul. The guy doesn’t claim to be perfect; he only claims to care. He seeks a partnership where everyone wins in the struggle for social progress. He’s willing and able, he says, to lead her out of the well of doubt and insecurity, to help her be the best she can be.It’s something of a consensus in world and national opinion that the leadership blunders and misshapen policies of the last eight years, and the divisive, deceitful political methodology of the last 40, has made a mockery of American ideals. From pre-emptive war and the acceptance of torture to the damaging excesses of deregulation, our country is said to be going in the wrong direction. A fine example is the observation from Obama’s opponent that, “In the 21st Century, countries don’t invade other countries”. This doesn’t jibe well with Senator McCain’s support for the invasion of Iraq, but it should be noted that this is one of the unvoiced goals of the liberal democracy evolving from our Constitution: Abolishing the scourge of war. It’s a civilized idea, hardly attainable in the short run, but which abides at the heart of a political system founded on “certain inalienable rights”. It's one of the many inherent ideals of a government “of the People, by the People, and for the People”.The United States has a special destiny in human affairs, carrying the torch of “Liberty and Justice for All” into the future. Perhaps the responsibility of living up to that destiny is what we fear. Denouncing torture and refusing to take part supposedly makes us vulnerable. Restrictions on corporate enterprise supposedly make us weak. I say the failure of law to protect the powerless from the potential depredations of government and commerce is far worse. It may take centuries to find the right balance in order to attain such idealistic goals, but ABANDONING THEM IS NOT AN OPTION.Obama partisans have been characterized lately as “love struck teenagers”, enamored of a shallow celebrity. But this is not love for most of us, at least not yet. It is merely hope that America can chose a leader who will bring her through a crisis of confidence, as did Washington, Lincoln and FDR. Supporters might consider how this campaign is a courtship. Voters need to be convinced that this man is worthy of their trust, that he does indeed hold their best interests in his heart. If it leads to betrothal in November and “I do” in January, America, in my humble opinion, will have made a wise choice. Judging from Obama’s obvious show of intellectual heft and tactical smarts, we can hope that the issue from such a union will, over the years, include a renaissance of reason, spiritual maturity and peace in the household.It has been famously argued that no one can be fully prepared for the awesome task of the American Presidency. The same might be said of the intimacy of marriage. As with any relationship, issues have to be worked through. Nothing is easy. Often, it just gets harder.Maybe, like my son, I’m succumbing here to youthful idealism, anticipating more than I should. Of course it’s foolish to bet all on such an outcome in a world full of deceit, but we should not be blind to persons of high ideals. America is a young country in many ways, and Barack Obama has the potential to be a superb leader. Nevertheless, since I’m no youth, I’ll know to expect many disappointments and surprising satisfaction.
I wanted to find out if anyone has caught subliminal advertising like this so far. I think it is something the Obama supporters should be alert to, since it can be very effective to make up any minds of the independent voters out there who have not yet committed to either candidate. We know from previous elections how effective such subliminal advertising is.
I am posting a link to a web page by the organizers of Science Debate 2008. They originally scheduled several debate venues and times along with invitations to all the Presidential candidates to debate these key questions about their commitment to the role of science and technology in solving very big issues.
All the candidates either flatly declined or ignored the invitations, apparently because they felt the topics were too specialized or not general enough to be of interest. Whatever the reason, these questions that were to be considered are too important to ignore. Here they are: http://www.sciencedebate2008.com/www/index.php?id=35
I recommend that everyone look over these questions and start to pester the candidates with them until we get an idea about their policy positions. These questions relate to the very quality of life in this country and how we can balance the resources we have to solving some big problems. The Obama campaign has these questions now, and needs to address them soon.
Spies Among Us By Laurie Singh - Mar 17th, 2008 at 6:00 am EDTSEE LINK
Spies Among Us
By Laurie Singh - Mar 17th, 2008 at 6:00 am EDT
SEE LINK
HILLARY’SSTACKOF LIES!
HILLARY’S
STACK
OF LIES!
Hillary v. Barack
Stephen Colbert has set up a contest to help students in PA.
Please spread THIS far and wide everybody!
March 11, 2007Jodi KantorThe New York Times9 West 43rd StreetNew York,New York 10036-3959Dear 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 PastorTrinity United Church of Christ
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SOURCE OF ABOVE LETTER:----- Original Message -----From: Monique HayesTo: One Million MySpace Friends for Obama'08!Sent: Monday, March 24, 2008 6:39 AMSubject: [OneMillionMySpaceFriendsforObama08] Copy of Rev. Wright's letter to Jodi Kanton of the NY Times
March 23 2008
Winter Soldier: Ignored by the Media and the Presidential CandidatesBy Joshua Frank / March 19th, 2008It could have been the defining moment of the campaign season. But last weekend’s Iraq Winter Solider Hearings were not only ignored by the corporate press, they were also snubbed by the mainstream candidates including alleged antiwar Democrat, Barack Obama.None of this should come as much of a surprise if you’ve been watching Obama backpedal over the last few months. Somehow the Democratic frontrunner seems to believe Hillary’s defeat will only come about if he steers clear of a legitimate peace platform, merely paying lip-service to the conflicts in the Middle East instead. While John McCain pronounces the US will be in Iraq for ten more bloody decades, Hillary and Obama aren’t raising any qualms in their policy papers. In fact, as author Jeremy Scahill has pointed out, Obama’s plan for Iraq not only includes continued funding for the gargantuan US Embassy in Baghdad, the senator also wants to leave at least 40,000 troops to roam about the country and allow mercenary forces like Blackwater to operate above the law indefinitely. Hillary Clinton, of course, seconds Obama’s thirst for more occupation and both senators aren’t the least bit hesitant to leave “all options on the table” in regard to Iran. Warmongers all of them.Sadly, many have unwittingly gulped the Kool-Aid this year, swallowing the notion that Barack Obama somehow represents a mild, pragmatic antiwar position. Even Antiwar.com’s Justin Raimondo, who usually provides keen insight into our militarized political sleaze, believes Obama may be the real deal.“Clearly, Obama is the candidate the neoconservatives fear and loathe: the loathing is on account of his antiwar views, at least when it comes to Iraq, and the fear stems from the fact that campaigning against him will be difficult,” Raimondo recently wrote. “Hillary they can handle: she’ll mobilize the troops and weld together the fractured Republican coalition in opposition.”The Republican establishment certainly deems Obama a serious threat. Not for the reasons Raimondo notes, however. The neocons fear Obama because of his grassroots support, not his “antiwar views”. Simply put: Obama is not antiwar but his following seems to be. At least when it comes to the turmoil in Iraq. But a true antiwar movement should not get behind a candidate that promises to pander to Israel and continue an aggressive policy toward Iran — which includes threatening to murder the poor bastards if they don’t comply with our hypocritical demands. On the contrary, those who oppose war ought to oppose candidates that support Empire in any of its ugly forms.The differences between the big three campaigns at this point are only marked by rhetorical persuasions and not on the ground strategy. Iran will be threatened, Israel will be funded, and the war in Iraq will rage on despite it all.Movements are most effective when they remain independent, refusing to wrangle their pleas in the circus of electoral politics. The tearful testimonies given by our bold veterans during last weekend’s hearings are an indication that dissent is growing, not only among the public, but also among the military. And that’s a good thing. Americans are becoming fed up with perpetual war and the political machinery that enables it. Without a doubt Barack Obama would love to capitalize on this mounting disgust. But co-opting our efforts won’t end the war, it will simply finish off the movement that is seeking to end it.Source: Dissident VoiceJoshua Frank is co-editor of Dissident Voice and author of Left Out! How Liberals Helped Reelect George W. Bush (Common Courage Press, 2005), and along with Jeffrey St. Clair, the editor of the forthcoming Red State Rebels, to be published by AK Press in June 2008. Read other articles by Joshua.
March 23, 2008
Every American,
I am writing to you because there is an urgent need for action today.
The Pentagon has decided not to allow the outgoing Commander of the U.S. Central Command, who was responsible for the overall military strategy and actions in the Middle East, to testify before Congress. See article below for details.
This is a time of critical foreign policy decision making and the American public needs to have testimony under oath from Admiral Fallon. News reports indicate Admiral Fallon left due to disputes with the White House over whether a military attack on Iran should be pursued.
The U.S. should not move toward a military attack on Iran without public discourse on the subject. These should include congressional hearings where people like Admiral Fallon testify under oath about whether opening a third front of combat makes sense at a time when things are going so poorly in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
We request you do the following (doing all three will take less than one minute!):
Forward this email to people you know.
Contact the Pentagon; tell them that they should let Admiral Fallon testify. The American public needs to hear the views of the most senior military official for the Middle East.
Contact Congress and tell them to subpoena the testimony of Admiral Fallon. They have the power to require Admiral Fallon to testify. This is a critical juncture for U.S. foreign policy. The U.S. is already fighting a two-front war - and failing on both fronts - and should not be adding a third front in Iran.
Thank you for your time. We appreciate you taking action on this important request.
Sincerely, Kevin ZeeseExecutive DirectorVotersForPeace
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Pentagon will not send Adm. Fallon to Congress on Iraq
REUTERSReuters North American News Service
Mar 21, 2008 12:06 EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Adm. William Fallon, who is resigning after a magazine reported he was challenging the White House over Iran, will not appear before Congress to discuss the war in Iraq, the Pentagon said Friday.
Only Gen. David Petraeus, top U.S. officer in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker will go to Capitol Hill in April to update lawmakers on the war, said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell.
"I know there have been requests in fact from members of Congress to have Admiral Fallon testify with Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker and I can tell you Admiral Fallon will not be testifying," Morrell said.
Fallon, commander of U.S. Central Command headquarters responsible for the Middle East, said earlier this month that he would quit after Esquire magazine described him as urging President Bush to avoid war with Iran.
Fallon cooperated with the author during the article's preparation but strongly criticized the story after it appeared.
He will hand responsibility to his deputy by the end of March but will remain an active-duty four-star officer.
Petraeus and Crocker are expected to testify to Congress in early April, offering lawmakers their first update on the war since the two went to Capitol Hill in September.
"The process that we used last time worked quite well and we're going to stick with that again this time," Morrell said.
Morrell pinned the decision against Fallon's testimony to his resignation, saying Fallon would no longer be acting Central Command commander.
Asked if the Pentagon was concerned that lawmakers would use Fallon's appearance to ask questions about Iran, Morrell said, no. (Reporting by Kristin Roberts, Editing by Jackie Frank)
Source: Reuters North American News Service
Take the VotersForPeace Pledge! "I will only vote for or support federal candidates who make a speedy end to the war in Iraq, and preventing any future war of aggression, a public position in his or her campaign."
VotersForPeace2842 North Calvert StreetBaltimore, MD 21218301-270-2355Copyright 2006 - 2008 VotersForPeace.US All rights reserved
Greetings. This is a long announcement and very short notice, but it looks like something well worth the time, if you can fit it in.
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Wheels of Justice will roll into town this coming week. The educational tour in a bio-diesel bus always includes speakers who can talk about their grass-roots solidarity work against the occupations in Iraq and in Palestine. There are five pages of brief bio's of activists involved at <http://www.justicewheels.org/> - among them are Iraq Veterans Against the War founding member Kelly Dougherty, Kathy Kelly of Voices in the Wilderness, Anna Baltzer and Joe Carr. Coming to Utah next week are Ed Kinane who was in Iraq most of 2003 - before, during and after the U.S. invasion - and journalist Mark Turner who just returned from nine months in the West Bank of occupied Palestine. Hannah Mermelstein takes Mark's place after Tuesday (read their activist bio's at the justicewheels website, excerpts are below).Bus organizer for the Utah segment of their travels is Henry Norr. Henry was a technology reporter and regular columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle in 2003; he was fired after getting arrested in protests against the U.S. invasion. The Chronicle was already unhappy with him for his public speaking on his International Solidarity Movement trip to Palestine. Henry had been in Palestine again before the end of 2003 when the Chronicle made a generous settlement to end his lawsuit against the newspaper.Bus driver Bill Hill spent time in Federal prison after blocking the doors to the Federal building in his home town of Tucson, Arizona to protest the 1991 Gulf War. A military veteran who drove a tank in Vietnam, Bill now also drives a bus for the Pastors for Peace.You are invited to meet these inspiring activists who will be in Conference Room A of the Salt Lake downtown public library at 7pm on Monday evening March 24.They are also making presentations on Tuesday 12noon in room 403 of the Computer Science building at UVSC/UVU in Orem and on Thursday 12noon in room 161 of the Union Building at the UofUtah. ___________________ Mark Turner is a human rights activist and the founder of the Research Journalism Initiative, an educational media exchange designed to foster better understanding of international conflict issues. Mark recently returned from a nine month stay in the West Bank, Palestine, where he has been engaged in non-violent direct action against violations of international human rights law since 2002. Mark is the director of Ripples Cross, a full length documentary about the experiences of foreign activists in Palestine. His own video footage of Israeli military incursions into the West Bank city of Nablus and its refugee camps has been published by media outlets across the world including the BBC, al Jazeera, Reuters and the Associated Press. The Research Journalism Initiative is the continuation of Mark's work to support non-violent conflict resolution and reconciliation through education, and to build alternatives to the established corporate media in the United States.Ed Kinane, 62, has long been committed to nonviolence and social justice. Ed is a retired educator. He used to teach math and biology in a one-room Quaker school in rural Kenya and anthropology in a community college near Seattle. He is also a writer of letters to the editor, op-eds, articles and reviews. Off and on since the seventies he has been an editor of the Syracuse Peace Council's Peace Newsletter.During the late eighties and early nineties Ed worked with Peace Brigades International providing protective accompaniment to local activists in Guatemala, El Salvador, Haiti and Sri Lanka threatened by death squads (some financed by U.S. military aid). Ed was chair of PBI's Sri Lanka Project and a member of the PBI national coordinating committee.During the mid- and late-nineties Ed worked closely with School of the Americas Watch, a grassroots organization seeking to expose and close the U.S. Army's notorious anti-insurgency training school at Fort Benning, Georgia. For his protests against the SOA Ed has twice served time in federal prisons. Upon his release, he served on the SOA Watch national board.In February 2003 Ed joined the Voices' Iraq Peace Team, remaining in Baghdad throughout "shock and awe" until the invasion's end. In August 2003 he returned to Baghdad with Voices for ten weeks to help monitor the occupation. Back in the States Ed has worked against the U.S. occupation of Iraq and has spoken to many classes, congregations and communities about his Iraq experience. He has done two tours already with the Wheels of Justice throughout the U.S.Hannah Mermelstein worked with the International Women's Peace Service (www.iwps.info) in the West Bank for 8 months between 2003-2005, joining Palestinians in nonviolent resistance against occupation and documenting and intervening to interrupt human rights abuses. In 2005 she co-founded a program called Birthright Unplugged (www.birthrightunplugged.org), which brings mostly North American Jews to Palestine to expose them to realities of life under occupation and encourage them to become part of the solution; and brings Palestinian youth who live in refugee camps to Jerusalem, the sea, and their ancestral villages. Hannah feels called to work to stop the injustices that are happening in her name as a Jew and with her money as an American. While in the US, Hannah is involved in local organizing and activism, and has spoken about her experiences at universities, high schools, churches, synagogues, and homes.
Sam Harris
What Barack Obama Could Not (and Should Not) Say
Posted March 21, 2008 | 12:59 PM (EST)
Barack Obama delivered a truly brilliant and inspiring speech this week. There were a few things, however, that he did not and could not (and, indeed, should not) say:
He did not say that the mess he is in has as much to do with religion as with racism--and, indeed, religion is the reason why our political discourse in this country is so scandalously stupid. As Christopher Hitchens observed in Slate months ago, one glance at the website of the Trinity United Church of Christ should have convinced anyone that Obama's connection to Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. would be a problem at some point in this campaign. Why couldn't Obama just cut his ties to his church and move on?
Well, among other inexpediencies, this might have put his faith in Jesus in question. After all, Reverend Wright was the man who brought him to the "foot of the cross." Might the Senator from Illinois be unsure whether the Creator of the universe brought forth his only Son from the womb of a Galilean virgin, taught him the carpenter's trade, and then had him crucified for our benefit? Few suspicions could be more damaging in American politics today.
The stultifying effect of religion is everywhere to be seen in the 2008 Presidential campaign. The faith of the candidates has been a constant concern in the Republican contest, of course--where John McCain, lacking the expected aura of born-again bamboozlement, has been struggling to entice some proper religious maniacs to his cause. He now finds himself in the compassionate embrace of Pastor John Hagee, a man who claims to know that a global war will soon precipitate the Rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (problem solved). Prior to McCain's ascendancy, we saw Governor Mitt Romney driven from the field by a Creationist yokel and his sectarian hordes. And this, despite the fact that the governor had been wearing consecrated Mormon underpants all the while, whose powers of protection are as yet unrecognized by Evangelicals.
Like every candidate, Obama must appeal to millions of voters who believe that without religion, most of us would spend our days raping and killing our neighbors and stealing their pornography. Examples of well-behaved and comparatively atheistic societies like Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark--which surpass us in terrestrial virtues like education, health, public generosity, per capita aid to the developing world, and low rates of violent crime and infant mortality--are of no interest to our electorate whatsoever. It is, of course, good to know that people like Reverend Wright occasionally do help the poor, feed the hungry, and care for the sick. But wouldn't it be better to do these things for reasons that are not manifestly delusional? Can we care for one another without believing that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is now listening to our thoughts?
Yes we can.
Happily, Obama did a fine job of distancing himself from Reverend Wright's divisive views on racism in America, along with his fatuous "chickens come home to roost" assessment of our war against Islamic terrorism. But he did not (and should not) acknowledge that the worst parts of Reverend Wright's sermons, as with most sermons, are his appeals to the empty hopes and baseless fears of his parishioners--people who could surely find better ways of advancing their interests in this world, if only they could banish the fiction of a world to come.
Obama did not say that religion's effect on our society, and on the black community especially, has been destructive--and where it has seemed constructive it has generally taken the place of better things. Religion unites, motivates, and consoles beleaguered people not with knowledge, but with superstition and false promises. Surely there is a better way to bring people together in the 21st century. The truth is, despite the toothsomeness of his campaign slogan, we are not yet the people we have been waiting for. And if we don't start talking sense to our children, they won't be the ones we are waiting for either.
Obama was surely wise not to mention that Christianity was, without question, the great enabler of slavery in this country. The Confederate soldiers who eagerly laid down their lives at three times the rate of Union men, for the pleasure of keeping blacks in bondage and using them as farm equipment, did so with the conscious understanding that they were doing the Lord's work. After Reconstruction, religion united Southern whites in their racist hatred and the black community in its squalor--inuring men and women on both sides to injustice far more efficiently than it inspired them to overcome it.
The problem of religious fatalism, ignorance, and false hope, while plain to see in most religious contexts, is now especially obvious in the black community. The popularity of "prosperity gospel" is perhaps the most galling example: where unctuous crooks like T.D. Jakes and Creflo Dollar persuade undereducated and underprivileged men and women to pray for wealth, while tithing what little wealth they have to their corrupt and swollen ministries. Men like Jakes and Dollar, whatever occasional good they may do, are unconscionable predators and curators of human ignorance. Is it too soon to say this in American politics? Yes it is.
Despite all that he does not and cannot say, Obama's candidacy is genuinely thrilling: his heart is clearly in the right place; he is an order of magnitude more intelligent than the current occupant of the Oval Office; and he still stands a decent chance of becoming the next President of the United States. His election in November really would be a triumph of hope.
But Obama's candidacy is also depressing, for it demonstrates that even a person of the greatest candor and eloquence must still claim to believe the unbelievable in order to have a political career in this country. We may be ready for the audacity of hope. Will we ever be ready for the audacity of reason?
Sam Harris is the author "The End of Faith" and "Letter to a Christian Nation." He can be reached at http://www.samharris.org/
Read more HuffPost coverage and reaction to Obama's speech
Democratic registration brisk in PA
By PETER JACKSON, Associated Press Writer
POSTED to LINK 1 hour, 51 minutes ago
WAYNE, Pa. - Pennsylvanians are rushing in record numbers to sign up as Democrats so they can vote in the April 22 presidential primary between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Many are lured by the historic drama of two U.S. senators vying to be the first black or female president. But the two campaigns also are busily recruiting independents, disgruntled Republicans and those who weren't previously registered at all.
Obama's effort has generated the most fanfare as his campaign has laid down a steady drumbeat of radio ads and e-mails leading up to the deadline for switching or joining parties.
"For real change, register as a Democrat by Monday, March 24," advise Obama ads airing throughout the state.
Only registered Democrats can vote for their party's candidates in the state's April 22 primary, and Obama is hoping the recruits will help him overcome Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's solid lead — 12 points in one poll taken last weekend. At stake are 158 delegates to this summer's Democratic national convention — the biggest bloc of delegates still to be awarded.
Since last fall's election, statewide Democratic enrollment has swelled by more than 111,000 — an increase of about 3 percent in less than six months that state elections Commissioner Harry VanSickle said is apparently unprecedented. With days to go, Democratic registration is barely 5,000 votes shy of a record 4 million.
"The volume is very large, very steady," said Jim Forsythe, director of voter services in Chester County, a Philadelphia suburb where Democratic enrollment grew by nearly 7 percent — the second-largest gain among the 67 counties.
The smaller statewide enrollments of Republicans and voters not registered in either party have both declined slightly.
Neither the Obama nor Clinton campaigns will offer a public estimate of how much they contributed to the increased registration, and certainly other factors are at work.
But hundreds of Obama volunteers have stepped up their voter registration efforts in recent weeks on the streets, on college campuses and in nightly telephone canvassing among the nearly 1 million registered independent voters. In earlier Democratic primaries where independents could vote, Obama has outpolled Clinton, 54 percent to 40 percent, according to exit polls.
The Clinton campaign has also mounted a major registration effort in Pennsylvania, the first time in the primary season it has done so. While the former first lady has drawn most of her support in other states from traditional Democratic "base" voters, her aides believe she is positioned strongly enough in Pennsylvania to draw a significant number of independents, especially independent women.
The Clinton campaign is using extensive phone banks to identify likely switchers, targeting voters "who fit the profile'" of the New York senator's supporters and sending them registration applications upon request, said campaign spokesman Mark Nevins.
While all of Obama's ads urge non-Democrats to join the Democratic Party, he is using some regional targeting as well. The ad in the Pittsburgh and Harrisburg areas is tailored to young voters, mentioning Obama's opposition to the Iraq war and his plan to help loan-burdened college students. In the Philadelphia area, Obama's ad specifically talks to Republicans and independents unhappy with the country's direction and then recounts Obama's role in passing ethical reforms.
An Obama supporter, Russell Simmons, co-founder of Def Jam Records, announced a "Hip-Hop Team Vote: Turn up the Vote" campaign at the University of Pennsylvania on Wednesday that he hopes will register 15,000 to 20,000 voters before Monday. The group plans to use public service announcements from hip-hop recording artists and actors, including Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Wyclef Jean and Will Smith.
Heightened interest in the Democratic contest and disenchantment with the Bush administration have likely spurred many Pennsylvanians to join the party on their own. More than a few Republicans have switched sides — at least for the primary.
At a makeshift registration center that Obama volunteers set up on a sidewalk recently in this affluent Philadelphia suburb, one woman boasted that she and five friends — like her, all Republicans — had simultaneously changed their registrations to Democratic to vote for Obama, who she called "a fresh face" in politics.
"I do feel he's honest. I think he's hard-working, and I think he can understand what the people are going through," said Linda Lemmon of Kennett Square.
But asked whether she would remain a Democrat through the general election, she replied, "I can't say that."
Mining the state's computerized voter registry for trends, the Pennsylvania Department of State, which oversees elections, has found that:
• Since January, more than 100,000 Pennsylvanians who were not previously registered to vote did so.
• In that time, more than 68,000 registered voters changed their affiliation to one of the major parties, with those switching to Democratic registration outpacing those turning Republican by more than 3-1.
• The nine counties with the biggest percentage increases in Democratic enrollment since last fall — more than 5 percent — are mainly in two tightly contested areas — the Philadelphia suburbs and the state's vast central region. Despite the changes, Republicans still outnumber Democrats in all those counties.
One man who registered to vote for the first time at the Obama station here in Wayne was Tzvetan Tzonev, a newly naturalized citizen from Bulgaria.
But Tzonev said Clinton will get his vote, because Bill Clinton was president when he first arrived in this country and times were better then.
"It was a fantastic time," Tzonev said. "We thought maybe she will kind of continue this period of time, and we'll be out of all this mess."
One woman who stopped at the Obama table was Nina D'Iorio, already registered as a Democrat. She was carrying a bag of books including two by Obama.
D'Iorio said she was leaning toward him and wanted to learn more about him. While she longs to "see a strong, powerful woman thrive" as president, she worries that former President Clinton might hold his wife back.
Obama, she said, has "that JFK feel."
___
Associated Press Writer Beth Fouhy and AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.
LOOK FOLKS, OBAMA IS STILL ON TOP IN THIS MSNBC POLL BY A LARGE MARGIN!
REFER TO LINK.
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