Obama for America

it HAS to be richardson - governor kaine in VA is great but doesn't have the foreign policy experience -

AND hillary went to NM but i didn't see that she is going to VA...

nader said barack would pick hillary as JFK had to ask LBJ - canNOT imagine that -

he mentioned sam nunn, too 

2 day [fact-finding, on the ground?] trip?

that DOES suggest it's biden for VP - for the foreign policy angle [even though richardson is as good and as well qualified on that] -

gotta be richardson or biden... 

after i saw that hillary clinton was in NM on sunday and barack doing a town hall in NM on monday, i thought Of Course... she is there to heal the whatever rift [or pretend to, more precisely] -

mark warner is the keynote and that is such a sure and necessary win for the senate seat in VA -

patti solis doyle appointed as the chief of staff for a VP when there wasn't one yet -

it all added up - which is very barack.  nothing is a great surprise - they're playing chess while most of the rest of us are playing checkers - and they're mostly WAY ahead of us As We Want A President To Be...

but also they are reliable and even predictable... steady. Nothing will seem a surprise or so unexpected, etc... not from an obama administration that Includes The People and proceeds forth doing what is right for the people by a value-laden decisionmaking process with certain predictable elements to it -

a good ticket, i think -

howard dean looked positively euphoric on saturday - he's worked so hard, so much of this is possible because of him - we owe him immeasurably and it was so sweet to see him enjoying himself after putting in a killer 3+ years laying the groundwork for this -

A Great American, howard dean -

barack is holding a town hall meeting in New Mexico tomorrow; hillary is there today -

mark warner is giving the keynote address and also is 40 points ahead of the repub in his senate race in virginia...

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surely, tom ridge is mccain's smartest choice - that's the bumper sticker of 2008 - President Ridge [or Romney]???

given that john mccain has outlived his dad and grandfather by 10 and 20 years - and had more stress and a life-threatening bout with malignant melanoma -

just the facts -  

and nice platitudes...

Morning In America [myth while the reality was that the country and its companies and communities were Carved Up and jobs shipped overseas and the rich got richer and there was NO trickle down in the voodoo economics that started the Era of Greed Run Amok]

Shining City on The Hill

Kinder, Gentler Nation [still waiting - that was promised by George HW Bush mouthing peggy noonan's words in august 1988, fully 20 years ago when we couldn't imagine how greedy and selfish we were YET to become in america]

1000 points of light - ditto

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last night, john mccain saying we are a beacon of light - maybe for an admiral's son, the son of an heiress, the husband of an heiress ---

but not for the Americans i talk to - the obama supporters are trying to do what they can - others are scared to death or too much in need in a land of PLENTY...

it is the REPUBLICANS who do the Nice Speeches and no action -

john mccain said last night that he wants to inspire a generation to join the Peace Corps, the initiative of a Democratic President Kennedy 

or Americorps... which the Clintons promoted and supported heavily 15 years ago ---

SO... which party is known for the Nice Speeches? and which is known for memorable oratory then

i have been to NH, SC, NC, Northern VA and now OH...talked to hundreds of people in parking lots and grocery stores...everywhere -

and i have seen that smears are irrelevant. truly.

the people who need to think badly of michelle - are just deflecting politically incorrect not wanting to vote for barack [for a VARIETY of excuse/reasons] -

muslim, pledge of allegiance [it wasn't that - it was the star spangled banner], elitist --- it's all excuses tacked on to someone Who Wasn't Going To Vote For Barack anyway.

honestly... you can show someone ABSOLUTELY how false something is, they move to a different baseless complaint -

and so i realize that all our talk about hope and change to believe in and believing in our ability to make change --- we gotta Walk The Walk on this one --- and as i have struggled with my own moments of fear or clenching or anger at What The Other Side Is Putting Out -

i realize i gotta believe. i gotta believe in other americans. i gotta believe in whatever has brought all of us here and is gonna take us OUT [which is God to many people but not many others] -

i gotta believe in The Good - the triumph of good because evil is always repulsive once it is clear that is what it is - we all shrink back from The Bad...

i am going to always try to recallibrate back to faith and hope and believing - even with the negativity...

i am going to honor those who gave so much 40-50 years ago in the struggle for civil rights - to manage the negativity that is far less dangerous or threatening as we get the negativity of anti-obama citizens who are enraged because they know The Gig Is Up...We Won't Be Fooled Again...

i am going to remember to keep the faith, keep hope alive, believe in my fellow americans as i believe in my own efforts...

i am NOT going to give into fear... i am not going to worry - i am going to be happy in the community of now, the wonder of this time and that i have lived to see it and have been free to be part of it - 

bumpersticker seen in walmart parking lot in columbus OHIO, available on www.northernsun.com

not inflammatory, just wry... 

he brings it on home so many times -

and we all need to give OUR all too -

the vietnam sad thing about how "All Gave Some, Some Gave ALL" -

we need to be doing our citizenship, civic part -

esp with school starting, if you can give some money to the best teachers at the local schools to make sure that all kids have a cool outfit or cool school supplies or sneakers or WhatEVER this season - in the name and cause of Americans and obama supporters coming together to make america everything we all can be and should be and were meant to be -  

they look childish whiners - they coulda won if the edwards extramarital affair had come out in iowa or NH, if michigan and florida yada...

NO - 1/2 the country hates the clintons and Loves To Hate them... you cannot bring a country together with leaders who are so flawed and can't run a decent and civil campaign -

NO ONE wants a leader whose call is That It's Time For A Woman - it is never the time for A woman or A black or A anything - not in big jobs that matter - it has to be the best human for the job - and hillary had a resume and a LOT of pork for NY state - but notsomuch else - and she had shameless moments that the dems should not have stood for from january 7 -

and she's helping her supporters nurse their feelings of oppression, etc - at a time when EVERYone is oppressed by the terrible last 8 years - not women first or even most - EVERYone is suffering - the poor the very most, the sick and disabled... a lot of women are doing very well and have done well with affirmative action etc since 1972 - it is NOT a woman thing - it's a poor thing...

i hope the DNC and obama campaigns tell the clintons to shape up or be scaled back to almost no role at the convention -

no one likes a junior high queen wannabe...no one likes someone who can't Get Over It. the country was not screaming for hillary - it wasn't going to happen...and she couldn't have gotten anything done with 1/2 the country hating her and following bill clinton everywhere -

we didn't need clinton drama anymore - we have plenty else to deal with - 

i'm sorry - i've just finished 2 mccain books - the timberg book and mark salter's ghostwriting - and i think mccain has been mostly for his own ambition since running for congress and winning -

the commerce committee, his own fundraising [maybe he can claim not asking for pork barrel projects in arizona BUT HE SURE HAS RAISED A TON OF MONEY IN EVERY ELECTION - and are we to believe those people want NOTHING in exchange for their financial support???]

mccain can't even run his own GOP and didn't stop the NC GOP bad ad that a raleigh NC tv station refused to run...

and he can't even lead his own supporters and staff to knock it off on the bs tearing down of barack obama who attracts MILLIONS of people...a multiple of the numbers interested in seeing him...

even his own mom said the repubs would have to hold their noses to vote for him - and several repubs i've talked to are NOT into voting for him -

the straight talk and maverick is ALL talk - and i say this as someone who gave him money in early 2000 to beat back bush-rove...and rooted for him being a good candidate - then he caved in and stumped for bush in 2000 - when he could have put country FIRST instead of party and his own ambitions for now...

i'm sorry - i don't see it.  it's mccain first ALL THE WAY - and his time was 2000 - it's way past - and reagan has shown us that maybe 70-76 is TOO OLD...reagan claimed not to know about iran contra - can't have a president who doesn't know these thins are going on right under his nose... 

we must support barack and michelle with our energy and resouces and ask EveryOne else we talk to to do the same -

ideally, 10% of our net money and 4 hours weekly or 16 monthly...

it can't be about him... and if we are doing more to start CHANGE NOW then the mccain yada about how barack has nice words will ring stupid because obviously there are millions of DEEDS to back barack up...

we gotta back him up... we gotta do it NOW and from now on...

that  is what we do to win this election - and to win something that matters and starts a new start....

dick morris... who i have found to be ALWAYS RIGHT....

increasingly in the past 2 weeks, absolutely positively in the last week, i have seen more and more how people are truly scared of this economy, they're pulling in to take care of themselves -

and while this is so understandable and a natural instinct, i am SURE that this is when we must stay as generous as we can be with our time and our money and our resources...

when i asked people in the charleston area in the spring if they could give something to helping north charleston high school, people who TRULY were strapped or had little couldn't give cash - but when i would ask Do You Have AnyThing at home - a present you didn't like, something you bought and never wore, dishes, books, cds, an old tv, whatever extra... IN PERFECT CONDITION, first class all the way only - that you could donate... people brightened and said YEAH!!!

even if people just did that - all of us.  Women have TONS of clothes, most unworn or barely worn... jewelry we never wore, bags that are in amost-new condition or could be cleaned up to be -

if we could ALL do what we can... donate items to a nearby poor school or high school for the principal and counselors and teachers to put in sortof a rewards store for kids to be able to choose something - kids who are good kids or who are trying or who do community service or who have brought up their grades or who just need a little SomeThing extra miraculously ---

i am CONVINCED this is what we need to do most for barack and michelle - we have to BE THE CITIZENS WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR.... we must step it up -

just when we are feeling we need all we have for ourselves... it isn't true, it's never true...

we must dare to stretch ourselves to hope a Little More - not for our own safety and security but for a safer and more secure country and world to END THIS FOREVER what we put ourselves through in ou overstriving for too much comfort for ourselves...

and we must start NOW -

even just $1 a month or an hour a week...but let us begin NOW... because august IS the month t to take barack down - mccain will flub and flounder by mid-end september - there is SO MUCH he can't say or won't say and he's playing only to win that he's going to be a confused mess in another 6 weeks or so, in the wake of a slumbering desperate convention that is lackluster at best and will be a ratings disaster unless people are watching it to be a kind of political Gong Show...

let's start now?

let's head that bs off at the pass, too -

we're leaving ourselves wide open sometimes as latte-sipping, volvo driving, aged hippies, retro kennedy nostalgics...

OBAMA works must be OBAMA citizenworks... putting new programs in place that go past the election or even the next 4 years - a new way of being citizens in America requiring whatever we can commit to giving - 10 minutes a week or 1 hour a month, hopefully $10 a month EVERY month to something...

they'll mock barack and deride michelle [the question is did any of those who make her out to be terrible ever liked her and changed their minds... i doubt it] -

but if WE do OUR part, they cannot argue with citizen action and service projects and community outreach and a new commitment to ALL of the children our children go to school with ---

the best thing we parents can buy for our children is a better world and happier, more secure and grounded kids in their classrooms and hallways...

we only have 100 of these blessed days before barack wins big and then there will be  BlowBack from the powers that be - they'll be furious because the gig is up - and we are going to quickly learn how really bad a shape the country is in, as bill clinton found out about the economy he inherited from "41"...

there'll NEVER be another time like this certainly in my lifetime but maybe ever again - a time of hope and when we can voluntarily and joyously step up and step it up -

i hope to God more and more of us set aside as much time as we can and devote the energy we can to this very very special 100 days when there COULD BE  a groundswell of joy and renewal of our ideals and values...

we obama people have GOT to be doing good works, doing MORE in our communities starting NOW -

 i've talked to enough different kinds of people from NH to SC to NC and now in NoVa and i am thrilled to see that a good 1/3 of people are lovely Obama People -

 1/4 are die hard Won't Consider Barack, Michelle is awful...which is fine: we don't need them and those types can NEVER be brought around - it's a battle against a lifetime of inferiority and superiority and narrowmindedness and lack of perspective and possibilities and just bad stuff -

the thing that gets me is the Not Sure folks - barack just a few years from being a state senator, inexperience, talk is cheap but will the aging hippie flower children really put their shoulders to the wheel yada... just because we are idealistic and returning to our founding values, we're dismissed as immature, childish, lacking endurance, commitment, fortitude, stamina...

i'm tellin' ya, everyone, we have GOT to start CHANGE NOW in our communities, stepping up and stepping it up - to PROVE this is not all a bunch of nice feel-good hooey...

please, if each of us could do just one act of kindness, generosity each week from now to the election -

go through our closets and garages and get our kids to and give away some of our nice stuff that is overstuffed stuff for us but would be bare necessities for someone else...

WhatEver suits you - especially to start a new ongoing program in your community to help those who are struggling -

to buy a movie gift card and give it to the principal monthly for a kid who doesn't have the money to go...

for dancers or musicians or artists or martial artists to teach kids afterschool a couple of hours one day a week --- for kids who are nominated by teachers as deserving with good grades OR community service or something else...

 i am scared at how we really AREN'T doing enough - and it isn't just enough to get barack elected... mccain will not do well in the election, i think barack will do very well... it's about building a groundswell, not just getting Our Guy IN and beating Their Guy...

 we gotta start the change now - it's alarming to me, the complacency...

and it would surely make barack and michelle and The Two Davids and everyone feel so gratified for how much they have sacrificed and persevered in pretty rough waters...

 anticipate the hype on hope - and pre-empt it - ask mccain nation to join obama people in making america a better place for everyone starting now - not in november or in january - but now - let's have a competition as to who can do the most good the fastest and biggest and mostest and longest...

dick morris on fox last night

and he thinks ridge rather than romney or pawlenty for mccain...

www.dickmorris.com is a must watch site

www.politico.com

zogby international is the only poll worth watching, to my lights, since they called the /NH primary right for Mccain winning big in 2000...

interesting -  surely ridge is the MOST attractive VP candidate mccain could choose - i saw mitt romney in NH and he was so darned phony -  ann romney seems lovely - but seeing mitt made me wonder if it's just too hard to follow a Great Man as your dad...he's too smooth and slick by half - and i believed and admired he had saved the Salt Lake City olympics -

also he had quite a nasty streak - saying about hillary that we didn't need an intern in the White House the day before the debate in PA when she then flubbed the immigrant/driver's license question that started her visible decline ---- she seemed unnerved that night in that debate...

as i see some people giving SO MUCH of themselves to this campaign - and others giving some but notsomuch...

and as i have been reaching out to people for 6 months now... i have seen that barack has his work cut out for him because too many of us Don't Get It yet. not really...

Suze Orman - the blonde financial wizard on tv, oprah's favorite money guru - wrote The Bible on money called 9 Steps To Financial Freedom - and she explains the value To The Giver of giving just 10% to others of both time/energy and money... the benefit of feeling wealthy enough to Do For those who have less, rather than grasping for ourselves, feeling we need all we have for ourselves...

John Edwards tried to get us to think about The Two Americas in 2004...

there are more and more stories in the press about how the rest of the world resents us, the US, for using up 25% of the resources when we are only 5% of the population - i remember DECADES ago reading that every Chinese person couldn't have a refrigerator, as we take for granted in the US, because it would put too much of a strain on the environment... and here we are.

are we in obama nation going to start voluntarily conserving, doing more with less materially... to stop excusing what is unabashed greed and grasping...

will we start thinking of how to reduce our individual standard of living and put the overage to helping those who have too little?

i'm in alexandria VA - a LOVELY wonderful place - talking to people about The Two Alexandrias...could a community as blessed and privileged as this is reach out to those who breathe the same air and walk the same ground and drive the same streets but who have Not Enough...

could we each decide what is a minimally acceptable standard of humane living... and then decide to reach out to make sure that everyone within an X radius of us is at that minimal standard -

could there be a groundswell of consciousness-raising and of voluntary sacrifice that starts change in our country NOW in the summer - those of us who have heard the call of barack and michelle to BE better and to DO better...

to start change NOW...

to prove to repubs and cynics and skeptics and those who would like to believe but just can't bring themselves to dare to hope one more fruitless time... 

could we rise to the occasion individually and collectively to demand more of ourselves, to reach for something higher as a community of Americans...

could we set up trust/slush funds for teachers and guidance counselors to draw from to make sure that when they see a kid who needs something, they can just take care of it - or to offer an incentive for kids to bring up their school performance [make honor roll this term and you get an ipod]... not as charity... but because this is the kind of civilization we want to live in - and that we want for the kids who walk through the same school halls our kids do...

could each private school ask their parents to provide a slush fund for the poorest local school...to adopt a local poorer school...?

can we start thinking, all of us, about what our ideal society WOULD be like? and then take a step, try to figure how to manage even giving 5% of our resources, 2 hours a week to bettering our communities and country...

not as charity but as the cost of citizenship, in gratitude for Having More...

could we in obama nation make barack and michelle obama as proud of us as we have been of them so often in this campaign? could we surprise and delight them with taking this ball and running with it ourselves?

whatever it "costs" us will buy our ideals back... and if it is true that the secret to staying young is not losing one's ideals... then maybe THIS is the true Fountain of Youth...striving each day in some way to do something to make a little more heaven evident on earth?

5%... just 5%... is a good start?

this is a bargain - and even if you aren't going to use it yourself, give it to someone who will be THRILLED to put it on their car...

i'm tellin' ya... if you aren't wearing a tee shirt or hat or button... and don't have something on your car, you are missing out on so much fun...people smiling broadly at you, saying something to you, giving you a thumbs up -

you will Fall In Love with your fellow Americans...

i will post later a few paragraphs on the phenom of the Danish Resistance in 1943 - when danes throughout the country went up to jews/strangers on the street - and told them come with me and hid them so when the nazis got there to round up jews for the concentration camps, there were few...

 heads rolled, all the local authorities were tortured and killed - but it is the bravest coolest thing i have ever heard of citizens doing...

we obama people do well to let each other know who we are and How Many of Us There Are...

and we need to start community service projects and outreach NOW... i am convinced since february that this is what we need to do to assure doubters and cynics that we are serious about change and it is starting NOW, not in nov or jan... but NOW...

 if you think of something you'd like to do [particularly donating to local schools for the teachers and counselors to be able to fortify kids who need a special something]...then start something, even small where you are living... do it in the name of Obama and healing the Two Americas...

after today's Usual Suspects/Usual Chatter...

after a week of countrywide mourning of the best, almost the only, valuable news program... and the shocking realization that there are not other great journalists in the pipelines at any of the networks yada...

it's clear that we need our Fourth Estate to get really good really fast - they need to get up to speed for a campaign that is smart and wise and visionary and knows how to get it done -

man, do we miss Tim Russert - maybe now more than ever -

and for 2 months, we'll be Dancin' In The Streets... even the die-hard repubs will see this is a GREAT thing for America - probably the BEST thing since JFK's inaugural speech and the space program...

then on inauguration day, we will be so profoundly moved and feel as one with so many millions of others - it'll be so deep and high and mighty and all-pervadingly contagious -

even those who wanted a different outcome will, perhaps grudgingly, have to grant It's ALL Good...

as they see the world give us a clean slate and a new start to be the America they need us to be and the America we ourselves need to be -

but now to november - will be the BEST time...

"i think it's so groovy now... that people are FINALLY getting together... i think it's WONDERFUL now..."