Team Obama, St. Johns/ Flagler

Barack Don't Be Shy!

Richard — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:36:17 EDT

The recent TV interview with Barack and his family was great! The interview portrayed Barack as an average Joe who is trying to do what's right with his family.His children are remarkable. So Barack don't be shy about family interviews! Your family is a positive asset for you! What do you think?

Change We Can Believe In

Richard — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:23:53 EDT

Sen. Barack Obama's speech at the NAACP Convention is Change We Can Believe In! His combining Personal and State Responsibility in his speech is Proof of that. That was a Gutsy Speech but one We All Needed to Listen To.It was a Positive Speech! What do you think?

Enough Is Enough!

Richard — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 13:57:20 EDT

First I want to say that I believe in healthy debate on the issues of the day. That being said,Enough Is Enough regarding FISA and Barack's vote. With so much at stake in our country,can we have an honest debate over the Issues! We also need to focus on Electing Barack Obama! The prospect of a McCain Presidency would only lead to More Of The Same Bush policies that wrecked our country for almost 8 years! What do you think?

Americans No Whiners

Richard — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 11:39:58 EDT

Americans were recently critized by the McCain campaign as being whiners and or being in a mental recession! This shows How Out Of Touch with Americans the McCain campaign really is! With rising gas,food prices,home foreclosures,pensions being at risk, How Dare McCain call Americans whiners or being in a state of mental recession! Oh I forgot how do you expect one(McCain) to have empathy for his fellow citizens when he worth 100 million. I bet he doesn't have to worry about gas or food or healthcare. The Average American Does!

The Passing of Tony Snow

Richard — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 08:17:21 EDT

The passing of Tony Snow will be felt by every one in the News Media. Regardless of your political affiliation he was respected by all. He was a decent human being: an anomaly in the Bush Administration.

July 12 Party in the Park

Elizabeth Gillette — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:26:58 EDT

http://my.barackobama.com/elizabethgillette

Sign up for our July 12th event as we are doing voluteer recruiting, voter registration and just having fun!!! 10-3 at Holland Memorial Park. If you want to help or just come for the festivities sign up or call Elizabeth Gillette.

386-986-7111 for further questions.

Questions and Ideas !

Kelly — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:58:29 EDT

I have some questions for anyone reading this: If I were to buy several copies of Obama's books and hand them out to family, friends and neighbors while handing out yard signs, bumper stickers, buttons etc., would the cost of the books be considered part of my financial campaign contribution? And if so, how would I report such?

Secondly, if anyone out there has some really unique and creative ideas on how to campaign and spread the word about Obama, I'd really love to hear your stories!

Empathy

Gary Brown — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:42:19 EDT

I support Senator Barack Obama to become the next President of the United States because of his unique ability to unite so many people of different backgrounds. Barack Obama is not a perfect man, but he is real. He is sincere and has the ability to touch the hearts of people here in the U.S., and abroad. His compassion for others comes through when he speaks. He invites us to take the high road. As our next President says,"ordinary people united can do extraordinary things." He calls on us to unify, no matter what race, economic status or even party affiliation. When he speaks, the one word that continues to enter my mind is empathy. Only with empathy, can unification truly be achieved. Because of his empathy and because of his call to the nation's people to be empathetic, a movement has started like no other. The people are begining to recognize that we have a unique opportunity like never before. Let us all work to unify and get him to the place that he belongs. Let us work to heal this nation and heal the world. Let those that believe in good, use whatever they can. We can give money, or give in our actions, or good speech that will motivate others to action. Whatever it is you can do, we need to do this for the good of the people. We all live on this planet, and we all have to take responsibility. What type of America do you see in your future? What do you see for the generations to come? Do you know that what you do now, today, will effect this world's future? What do you see? I say to you, "Yes We Can." By the way, I am a muslim, and not in the least bit ashamed of who I am. I learned about Barack Obama by listening to him directly. If we listen to one another, without the "spin", our world can heal. I believe that under his leadership, religious groups, and different racial groups will be able to come together and live in peace. I know that we all are ready for something better. We are ready for a change we can believe in. Let's make it happen. Join your local group and "get busy."

New Obama?

Richard — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:04:17 EDT

With all the discussion over FISA and public finance, has Barack Obama turned into a "new" Barack Obama? Or, is he trying to appeal to centrist voters for the general election? I personally don't feel Barack has changed any of his core beliefs.I think he is focusing on Winning The General Election. Let me know what you think.

Big Oil

Parrish Jones — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 08:32:40 EDT

The last week has seen a sea change in support for oil drilling offshore and in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. President Bush has been a supporter of such drilling ever since whenever. The only reason he did not push harder on it was that brother Jeb was governor of Florida and was afraid of the consequences of supporting it. Now there is an opening. Having created a crisis by lifting the oil prices to what seem stratospheric levels, the public, they think is anxious for a fix. They may be right. I hope that the public sees their ploy for what it is.

I am sure our candidate will not express his opposition in exactly religious terms, but there is much about being a person of faith that leads one to oppose off shore drilling and oil exploration and drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. Our code word for that is environmental stewardship. That is to say, our need/desire for oil is only one consideration. We know that the earth is tied together like any organism and when we cause pain or injure one part we also threaten the whole organism. As Christians we understand that we are not to inflict such pain on God's creation.

The oil companies want us to believe that because we can do something that we should. And they are right. The problem is the thing we could have done and should have and now should do is develop alternative energy sources. Not a new idea, but one the oil companies simply do not want to entertain unless they can make a profit from it. When they figure out how to charge us for the sun, they will.

In essence they simply wish to join land to land and build more and more houses in which they cannot live until they make the one house we all share unlivable. Their greed seems unquenchable. Despite having unused leases for exploration and drilling for an area larger than the state of Florida, they want more now.

They, of course, do not accept that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness there of. Instead, they view the earth as belonging to whomever can take possession of it, a form of colonialist mentality. Wendel Berry, Long Ago, introduced the idea that we were colonizing the future, by which he meant that we were going into the future and mining resources intended for that period and using them for our enrichment. The proposed leases for off shore and the Arctic Wildlife Refuge are just such a proposal. Yet, it is also a present form of colonialism. We call it economic. If they are leased, they will bid on the leases and despite any attempts to do make changes by the government, they will essentially control a huge area of the earth.

We expect courage from our candidates. Here is an opportunity for true moral courage. They can stand up to what is nothing less than environmental and economic injustice. They can refuse to let oil companies get what they want through market manipulation and fraud or reject their fraud. John McCain has chosen to be partner to the fraud as have the President and Florida's governor.

Of course, the prophets of the Old Testament tried to get Israel's kings to stand against fraudulent and unjust economic behavior. Sadly, they failed and Israel fell. Can we expect more? We have a candidate from whom we expect more.

10 Reasons

David Royall — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:01:10 EDT

Ever since last Friday I have been engaged in a back and forth email discussion with several former collegues; most of whom are McCain supporter's. After a few negative sounding rounds we decided to list 10 positive reasons for voting for our respective candidates... I sumitted these off of the top of my head:

Keith asked we submit 10 positive reason's for voting for my candidate (I am limited to only 10 but I could give more). So in that spirit I submit the following:

1. Understands the U.S Constitution
This is the first and foremost qualification for the office of President. Each president swears under oath to uphold the constitution. Senator Obama taught constitutional law. He fully understands what it means and what it stands for. Further he understands how fragile the original document is in our ever-changing world. He has written extensively on how to be faithful to the constitution while still providing citizens the freedom to grow in an advanced society that the founding fathers could not foresee.

2. Strong leadership/managerial skills
Senator Obama designed, built, and managed the most efficient primary campaign in our lifetime. A comparison of the Obama campaign to any in modern times shows a phenomenal ability to lead and manage a highly effective national organization. As with any organization, they have made a few mistakes; but they quickly admitted them and recovered from their mistakes without a lot of drama. This skill is sorely needed in the Executive Branch of our government. Any of you who have had management experience have to be impressed by the efficiency of his operation, whether you like him or not. He has done much more but this is the most recent.
3. Ability to inspire our youth
More of America's young people have become engaged in the political process as a result of being inspired by Senator Obama. Many of them will help run our government in the future; instead of staying home and complaining about it.
4. Willingness to listen.
Obama is an outstanding communicator. The most overlooked communication skill he has is his ability to listen and understand what is being said to him.

5. Understands the interplay between domestic and international issues.
Whether we like it or not, the United States cannot isolate itself from the world community. Example: Look around the room you are sitting in. I bet you can see at least five items that came from overseas. I can name seven without turning my head. Most jobs in the United States depend on materials, tools or services that come from other countries. With satellites and the Internet the world is becoming closer knit than ever before. Senator Obama understands we must not focus on international policies to the detriment of our domestic needs, and vice versa. The domestic/international coin has two sides. One policy cannot exist without considering the other.
6. Strong economic savvy
It is not how much you take in... it is how you spend it. Many of Senator Obama's economic advisors remember how to turn a deficit into a surplus. They know how to create jobs here in the USA that will boost the economy. Just one example: Does anyone remember the information superhighway that thrived under the last Democratic administration? Those were jobs that created jobs that created more jobs. Our info superhighway collapsed when abandoned eight years ago, although similar economies are still thriving in other countries.
7. Create incentives to develop renewable energy
Today's needs call for renewable energy sources. Senator Obama is studying the success of the Germans, the Japanese, Brazil, and others who have surpassed the United States in the ability to harness power from the wind, sun, soil, and sea. Renewable energy industries will create more jobs (see number 6 above).
8. Determined to beef up the military
Senator Obama feels that our military is stretched too thin. We are wasting resources that can be used to strengthen the armed services so they can be deployed in a manner that will make us safe, instead being used to make our neighbors angry.
9. Aware of the world around him.
Obama is a guy who is aware of the world around him. He understands his friends and works to understand those who he does not agree with. He is not afraid of the unknowns in the world. He is just as comfortable listening to an unemployed veteran in the street as he is in speaking with world leaders.
10. Intelligent.
Obama is smarter than anyone who has lived in the White House during my lifetime.
Dave

Why a Christian Supports Obama

Parrish Jones — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:45:01 EDT

I am a Christian and a minister of the Presbyterian Church USA. I do not in anyway wish to imply that the only conclusion one can reach as a Christian is mine. However, this is why "a Christian", namely, me, supports Obama.

I believe that Jesus did not nor never would condone the use of weapons against others. That claim is a conclusion based on an argument that I cannot make here. The most I believe Jesus would allow in the way of violence is protecting oneself, family or others with whom one is in direct contact. That exception is made on the basis that self-defense responds immediately and directly to the one attacking. No collateral damage. There is no way war is self-defense even of a nation and it also involves massive collateral damage and, let nobody fool you, contemporary war is more violent and causes more collateral damage than any time in history.

Jesus taught that love was the tool of Christian response. Does that mean Christians need to be whimps. Quite the contrary, Christians must be persons of incredible courage, but not courage derived from oneself or from adrenaline, but from the soul fed on the spirit of God. We have seen such courage expressed by Christians and non-Christians. Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Lech Walensa, Nelson Mandela, and even the young people at Tianamen Square, thousands of Philippinos who stood against Ferdinand Marcos. The book "A Force More Powerful" tells the history of peaceful movements that led to revolutions in the 20th century or effectively confounded the Nazis in Poland, Denmark, Hungary, and against the Czars and Soviets.

Thus I support Obama who I hope and pray will end the Bush era trenchant for using war to carry out U.S. policy. There are many other ways to deal with the regimes we find threatening. Yet, we also need a less ideological approach to determining who is really a threat. Senator McCain seems bent on continuing the hard line approaches of the COld War. We need more diplomacy. Who knows, if we actually talk to Iran instead of sending ultimatums as the EU just did, they may actually come around. After all, they want to participate in the world economy and their people want freedoms we have, but are willing to forego freedoms in the name of national esteem.

I also support Obama because I believe he wants and will work for a more just and hospitable culture with themes of compassion instead of fear and anger. The scriptures are filled with the demand of social, economic and political justice. We even pray in most churches every Sunday "thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven." As Jim Wallis says, "What is it that Christians don't get?" Is not heaven supposed to be a place of justice, peace, economic equality, and so on. So what are we praying for? We must be praying that through the body of Christ, we will work for those aspects of the Kingdom to be realized on earth.

I am also for Obama because the Earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof. That means a concern for the creation must be high on our priority list. While Senator McCain is far better than GWB on this issue, he is not likely to buck the leadership of his party, nor their dependence on supporters who wish to trash the environment. With Gore as a supporter and adviser it is most likely that Obama will be an environmental president.

Finally, for today. I am for Obama for my children and grandchildren and not for the usual reasons, although those are a part. When children are baptized they are not baptized by one congregation or minister, but by the church in the name of God, Christ, and Holy Spirit. As members of the body of Christ, they share a unique identity with all Christians and all Christians vow to nurture them. I do not want my children growing up believing that revenge and violence are proper responses to danger. Nor do I want them living is a perpetual state of fear. Eight years of that is enough. [One may say that we've only had six, but from the beginning of his administration, GWB was perpetrating the notion that we lived in a dangerous world (Axis of Evil) where we had nothing to do but be afraid and depend on him to protect us]. I hope for a world in which my children and grandchildren and yours and theirs will not see people who differ from them, will not see those who live outside our borders or wish to cross our borders as dangerous and threatening. I hope for a world in which children are nurtured in hope and compassion.

Peace, if it means anything, is a sense of certainty that the overwhelming majority of people in the world want that for themselves and their children also.

Peace

Islam? Not an issue!

Parrish Jones — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:31:14 EDT

We've heard the rumor that Senator Obama was/is a Muslim. The defense so far has been that he is not and never was. That is a defense from facts. It is perhaps the only defense possible at this time, but the real question is, "Why does it matter?"

Most of our best known founding fathers were not Christian in the sense most on the Christian right would like. Those who were "Christian" were only nominally so. Our first president, for example, never used the word God except in one of his oaths of office. Since we have no voice recording, only a scribal notation, we cannot be sure that Washington ever uttered those words.

That argument is of no real point because the reality is he only referred in writing to "providence" a rather vague and abstract term that neither affirms a creator or a savior just the Deistic notion that there seems to be some force in the universe that drives things. He could have just as easily believed in the "Star Wars" force. Whatever that was!

The real argument is the constitution which has served us well as a nation despite its flaws regarding slavery and the recognition of all humans as full persons. The constitutional requirements for office were simple, namely that the president had to be a natural born citizen of at least 35 years of age, a ripe old age in those days. No mention of faith commitments. No mention of God (in the whole thing), no oath stating "so help me God". No mention of religion except one, the first which assure non-establishment of religion and free expression thereof.

Why this absence of religion? Simple, most 18th century Americans still remembered the disastrous situations in Europe caused by established religion, and the uproar and violence that happened every time the king/queen changed and then tried to convert the country to whichever Christians tradition they supported. Our founding fathers had the right idea. We need to keep it.

Whether a candidate is Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, agnostic or atheist is of no importance. What matters is their competence, integrity and moral courage, qualities our present president and VP lack.

Keep Up the Fight

Chauncey — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 20:39:35 EDT

What a day for US we have the people behind us we are getting support from everyday Americans who are hungry for change for the country we love so much Good Bless America and the World and keep up the fight to take our country back. Hey Hillary I have a song for your campaign its called ONE LOVE by BOB MARLEY thats what our movement is about.

Swine Story

Carol Sladon — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 13:48:36 EDT

President Pork
Pierre Tristam/Candide’s Notebooks,

Pork cutlets in Potomac marinara sauce

“The House and Senate bills have too much pork,” President Bush declared on Wednesday, referring to the latest “supplemental” spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pork? Let’s see. The bill is a monstrosity. No question about that: $122 billion to finish off the year’s fighting — and raise the cost of the wars this year alone to $200 billion, or $3.8 billion a week, or, essentially, $500 million a day. Put aside for now the demonstrated futility of it all. Let’s just take that $500 million a day, most of it in Iraq, some of it to feed Halliburton’s various frauds as it pretends to feed, clothe and toilet the troops, and compare the $500 million a day to what Bush calls Pork. According to a Times blog, the entire porkish amount adds up to some $5.5 billion, $4.2 billion of which being agricultural supports, and $640 million for something called “LIHEAP.” Hmmm. Sounds suspicious. Let’s see.

Ike Spiked

Carol Sladon — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 16:13:57 EDT

What Bush Squandered
Pierre Tristam/Daytona Beach News-Journal, March 13, 2007

Browsing through a used bookstore the other day I did something I hadn’t done since reaching the age of consent two and a half decades ago. I picked up one of those old National Geographic issues with the pictures of doffed and frolicking natives. Except that the natives inside weren’t the bouncy kind from Bali or Burundi . They were from countries we’ve come to know as breeders of anti-Americanism or out-and-out enmity: France, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, the kind of places where, if President Bush was to venture — as he has been venturing through Latin America last week — he’d be burned in effigy and local authorities would have to mobilize the equivalent of two military brigades to protect him. Colombia , the third-biggest recipient of American aid in the last decade and supposedly its greatest ally south of the Rio Grande , had to do just that for a Bush stop-over lasting just a few hours on Sunday.

But the Geographic was dated May 1960. The 63 pages featuring all those countries fell under the banner of a single article entitled, “When the President Goes Abroad.” And in every country, in almost every picture, Dwight Eisenhower’s presence was cause for delirious celebration. It didn’t matter where: Madrid , Kabul , Teheran, even Karachi , that now-seething Pakistani sweatshop of hatred for America . (Daniel Perl, the Wall Street Journal reporter, was beheaded by Islamic militants he was investigating in Karachi ). “From his open car,” the Geographic wrote of Eisenhower’s stop in Karachi , Eisenhower “waved to cheering Pathan tribesmen wearing baggy white trousers, long-tailed white shirts, and faded turbans.” The car he was traveling in was actually an open horse-drawn-carriage, slow and providing not even shade from the sun.

The Weekend Essay, Britney, Harry, Anna and Me

Carol Sladon — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 22:15:13 EDT

Pierre Tristam/Candide’s Notebooks, March 9, 2007

James Madison didn’t have Britney Spears and Harry Potter in mind when he worried about the tyranny of the majority. His concerns oriented more toward the danger of political blocs acting like mobs by force of numbers. Madison’s solution: the Bill of Rights as a legal check, and the multiplication of political factions for civic balance. Great for the polity. But what about majorities outside the political process, where market forces apply but the Bill of Rights doesn’t, where most of us spend our lives and sustain the cultural swarms and smarms of Nielsen ratings and Hollywood IQs, where careers and counter-trends are made, mangled and spat out on whims, where the narrow aperture of what makes a news cycle and how long it makes it for is a modern Crock Inquisitor? Tyranny in those cases is so alive in the United States, so bouncy, that it provides a full-frontal view of American society’s Achilles’ hells (no, not heels): love of judgment, the need to conform, the comfort of mobs. It’s a story as old and treaded over as “The Scarlet Letter,” “Main Street,” “The Crucible” and “The Human Stain.” If those are refined examples, lost for the most part on dozing English majors and faithful choirs, the themes behind those works have been on display for the last few weeks with the vengeance of the Furies. The people involved — Britney Spears, Anna Nicole Smith and Daniel Radcliffe, the 17-year-old star of the Harry Potter manufacturing co. — are either dead or rich, famous and seasoned enough in public-lynching theater to handle it. But it doesn’t diminish the luridness of the spectacle, or what it says about those who pile it on. And the society they pile it on.

Pounce it on is more like it: Should Britney Spears have been partying so much? Should she have shaved her head? Was that an unshaven hair under her left armpit? Was her bikini wax Brazilian enough? Should she have gotten so many tattoos? Shouldn’t she be wearing underwear more often?

Massachusetts Democratic Party chairman supports Obama

Carol Sladon — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:34:41 EDT

Democrats' party chief casts his lot with Obama

By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff | March 9, 2007

Philip W. Johnston, the Massachusetts Democratic Party chairman who served in the Clinton administration, declared his support yesterday for Senator Barack Obama, Senator Hillary Clinton's top rival for the party's presidential nomination.

Calling Obama "the future of our party," Johnston also said the first-term Illinois Democrat's strong opposition to the war in Iraq was an important factor in his decision. Johnston, who met with Obama last week in Washington, said he will join the candidate's national finance committee and offer advice on healthcare.

Johnston, who plans to step down this spring as state party chairman, was appointed New England regional administrator of the US Department of Health and Human Services during President Clinton's first term. He now operates a healthcare consulting business.

Backing Obama "was a difficult choice, in that I had been a Clinton appointee and I know Hillary, and I respect her a great deal," Johnston said.

Johnston, who won the Clinton administration post because of his strong ties to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, said he is disappointed that Mrs. Clinton, a second-term senator from New York, has not acknowledged that she made a mistake by voting in 2002 to support the Iraq war resolution.

Johnston is not the first significant Bay State Democrat with Clinton ties to join the Obama