Here we go again, just as I get settled in on my chair. I open to the Times editorial and the blood, already pumping a good supply of caffeine from my two cups of 'regular' Alterra, begins to move a bit faster. The fault of this whole financial mess, around the world no less, comes down to those pesky rotten "sub-prime" borrowers. Yes, all 1.7 trillion dollars worth of them. Yeah, Mr. Thomas does go on to use his broad unedited New York Times paint brush to color in the people who made the loans to the sub-prime borrowers, but then he quickly moves into his example. Poor little 'Jose' just up from across the border and making $14,000 a year from God knows what. Mowing lawns, fry-cooking in some back street restaurant. We are not told. But Jose gets himself onto a lender who gives him a 'no payment for two years' loan of $72,000 for a home. Jose takes it. Jose keeps it for two years but then can't make the payments. And Friedman's logic seems inescapable, which it is not. Friedman is merely dedicated to the corps of right wing idiots he has been supporting all along. "We are a flat earth and business will be spread from now on all over the planet" type thing, which was an open permit for the U.S. to send all of our manufacturing and decent employment abroad. Thank you Mr. Friedman. And now we get more from this dunderhead (who has been annointed as a financial genius by the others of his thieving genus). Jose took the money. Whom would not? You see, we live in a country wherein, if you do make fourteen grand in a year, you believe right down to your core that that situation is temporary. That you will, quite naturally, make a lot more as time passes. It is that kind of a country, or at least it used to be.
But, in reality, 1.7 trillion dollars worth of toxic mortgages (lets assume they are all bad) is a drop in the bucket. And Friedman, of all people, knows that. We are already seven trillion dollars deep into the 'bailout' and going ever deeper. Hell, the entire United States mortgage holdings only total a bit over 13 trillion, depending on who is doing the totalling. Friedman is brush-blocking us. In professional football a brush-block is a manuever the offense uses to protect the passer. They brush-block the charging defensive players to the outside, so that their momentum and direction is changed, sending them to a spot where there is nobody to tackle. This is what our dear Thomas is doing this day. Mis-directing us. In fact, he is also lying outright and doing a bit of immigrant bashing, as well. This is a worldwide problem, not a local or national problem. The financial disaster befalling us, I mean. Maybe I will get a Nobel, like Krugman. Hell, he didn't deserve it...but he took it. Yes, he is an economist, of sorts. But what he really did was merely write an opinionated column about the financial situation which was pretty damned accurate. Worthy of a Nobel? No. Not unless they develop a category for punditry, which they have not. Or maybe, on the other hand, they have! Economics is now the category for punditry. So I have a chance. Trouble is, when I am proven to be correct those guys won't have any money left to pay out! Rats. Like my book coming out next year. So I have to hope I am wrong. That all of this is going to go away, just as soon as we arrest Jose and get him back down there with the rest of 'them.' Just as soon as enough of these corporate executives get paid sufficiently to leave with him. We'll be left with the land (which they will still own from 'down there' in their resorts, of course). We'll be left to rebuild.
Since we are so damned Calvinistic and Puritanical in our attitudes here, how about if we turn that from the pursuit of drug and alcohol offenders to the pursuit of those executives? And you have to love this. Also today, the guys heading up UBS, a Swiss consortium of banks, have decided to take salaries of only one dollar each for the coming year. That will be their salary. The very next sentence written in that 'news' article (the reporter was recovering from a bit of overstimulation using marijuana tincture, medicinal) said: "the amount of stock transfer, options and bonus was not to be revealed." A glimmer of truth slipped by that addled writer of fiction. Those guys! You gotta love it!!! More 'lime humor' to start our day.
Feeling down lately: Here is Glimmer of hope in the sea of Gloom : Cheer yourself with an eFortune courtesy of Healthy Choice & Ang, Gwan Liong. Internet: click on: http://www.healthychoice.com/home/home.jsp On Lonely Fortune writer, click on: find your fortune; Watch how this Out of Work indonesian-chinese immigrant Lonely Fortune-cookie writer overcame his depression, use his (newly learned) American Ingenuity, and transformed himself to become a successful eFortune writer; then: Find your own personalized eFortune just for you or for a friend. If you like your personalized eFortune made specially for you, please send your comments to the Message Board and forward it to a friend, so they could find their own eFortune too.
Maybe Barack could use these eFortunes to cheer up feeling down voters in these time of Gloom, by giving the HOPE, especially once he is elected the new President of this great country.Best regards, Ang, Gwan Liong (I am the person you see on the screen) Email: anggli@yahoo.com
"The Character Factor: U.S. Policy toward Cuba determines elections nation wide."
The following is a list of articles related to Cuba policies, politics and Barack Obama.
Being pro or against the embargo on Cuba seems to be one question that reveals
a politicians character.
If a politician is for a Cuba policy that has failed for 47 years, they should NOT be in political office.
Please take a few moments and review some of the articles.
Our commitment is to abolish the 47 year old failed U.S. policies against Cuba.
By Luis Cuba Moro
Table of content as of June 28th - at this blog:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/Cuba
Cuba: A world that works for everyone, with no one left out. Jun 27th, 2008 at 10:14 am EDTCuba: Barack Obama is a mulatto; does that make him a white man? - Jun 26th, 2008 at 4:58 am EDTCUBA: The European Union's lift sanctions against Cuba. - Jun 25th, 2008 at 7:52 pm EDTCuba: Cuba approves, makes available lung cancer vaccine. - Jun 25th, 2008 at 12:47 pm EDTCuba: Obama has a 16 point lead in a South Florida poll - Jun 24th, 2008 at 8:17 am EDTCuba: There is no U.S. Embargo on Cuba.- Jun 24th, 2008 at 8:13 am EDTCuba: I'm sorry. - Jun 24th, 2008 at 6:45 am EDTCuba: If Cuba was a white (Och!) Country, there would be no embargo. Jun 21st, 2008 at 1:01 pm EDTCuba: 1,400 free photos of the Real Cuba today. - Jun 20th, 2008 at 2:03 pm EDThttp://www.EveryThingCuba.comCuba: The Death of Political Insanity: The Case Of Cuba. Jun 20th, 2008 at 1:37 pm EDT
Luis Moro comment on article
Cuba approves, makes available lung cancer vaccine - *See article below from: Reuters by Jeff Franks.
Luis Moro writes:
I’ve been personally aware of the high-end private negotiations that are active with certain sectors of industry with Cuba. One such area is the pharmaceutical field. I am not claiming to be an expert or authority on the topic. But I do believe this is accurate information given the source and, again, my own personal conversations with actual attorneys handling the on-going subject.
With that said, I expect that many of the pro-embargo against Cuba community will say this if false information, propaganda and more communist lies. Odds are, these will be the same people who say there is “no embargo on Cuba.”
Barack Obama now has an entire new community of voters who should move like “Chain lighting” to abolish the embargo.
Cancer patients all over America, the world; should know that in Cuba there is a possible cure for cancer. At the very least in Cuba, a cancer patient might have a viable new option. I could personally hold a grudge towards Cuba or Pro-embargo enthusiast given my mother and her brother (my uncle) have both died of Cancer. One in Cuba, without the treatment of the privileged and mom in America, without the treatment of the privileged.
With that said, the one thing that is certain, to get the treatment for Cancer in Cuba, it will take the same “product” as in the U.S.; it will take you lots of money.
Good luck and God Bless everyone who may need and actually get the opportunity to use this new Cancer treatment in Cuba. I suspect many pro-embargo against Cuba cancer patient will soon want to abolish the embargo. (Och!)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cuba approves, makes available lung cancer vaccine
Tue Jun 24, 2008 8:37pm BST
By Jeff Franks
http://uk.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUKN2435519120080624?sp=true
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban scientists said on Tuesday the first vaccine to extend lives of lung cancer patients has been approved by Cuban authorities for use and is available in the island's hospitals.
The drug, CimaVax EGF, has been shown to increase survival rates on average four to five months and much longer in some patients, they said in a news conference at Cuba's Center of Molecular Immunology.
In contrast to chemotherapy, the traditional treatment for lung cancer, they said CimaVax EGF has few side effects because it is a modified protein that attacks only cancer cells. They said it was the first lung cancer vaccine to be approved anywhere in the world, although there are others currently being tested.
"It's the first vaccine for lung cancer registered in the world," said Gisela Gonzalez, who headed the development of the vaccine, begun in 1992.
The drug is in various stages of clinical trials in a number of other countries and is most likely to be approved next in Peru, where it could be publicly available by year's end, Gonzalez said.
She said several private companies had been licensed to market the vaccine, but it will be produced in Cuba. Cost for the treatment had not yet been determined, Gonzalez said.
Other cancer vaccines under development elsewhere include one made by Antigenics Inc against melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, and another made by Avant Immunotherapeutics Inc and licensed by drug giant Pfizer Inc that attacks glioblastoma multiforme, the most common and deadly type of brain tumor.
FOREIGNERS WELCOME
Tania Crombet, director of clinical investigations at Havana's molecular immunology center, said people from outside Cuba can come to the island for treatment.
"It's possible to provide this vaccine to any patient, because it's available in Cuba, it's approved by the Cuban drug agency so we can market the vaccine in Cuba and we can receive patients from outside," she said.
The exception would probably be Americans, she said, who are restricted from Cuba travel by the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba in place since 1962.
"Even though there is a new therapeutic tool approved in Cuba they probably wouldn't be able to come to Cuba to receive it because of the embargo," Crombet said. The drug has been approved for clinical trial in the United States, but its possible use there is at least two to three years away, Gonzalez said.
Cuba's state-run biotechnology sector includes around 50 research and development centers and is considered one of the most advanced in the developing world.
I’m sorry.
I did not mean to offend anyone with my recent post. If you actually read it through again, you should realize the title is not the point.
My point is not about race, rather lack of conciseness. A white rich Cuban politician out of Miami does not have the best interest of a black, white, green poor Cuban in Cuba or America. There is 47 years of evidence to prove that. AND I do agree 100% the embargo is not a race issue, but color, like gender, still a distinction that can't be ignored. I trust you accept what I am saying next. I do not think the embargo is a race issue, it is a conciseness issue, an awareness issue. You and I are first aware of our own interest. I can bet everything I own that the most politicians supporting the embargo on Cuba have no idea who we really are, or care. For example: most people refer to Obama as black, he is actually mixed. His mother is white. I personally don’t care, I’m for any person who actually thinks and makes decisions based on Character. I truly hope you get what I am pointing to, and by no means do I intend my point to be about race. Even though calling me “Negro” is perfectly find for most Latin’s, except of course if you are “Negro.”
I laugh at any name a person calls me. I give credit to that old school way of thinking. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Thank you for giving me your time and consideration. Luis Moro www.EveryThingCuba.com.
Racism is alive and well for Black Latin’s. The irony is America goes crazy if someone other than a black person calls a black person a “N…r”.
Yet the white Hispanic community will call Afro Latin’s “Negros” like it’s a term of endearment. It’s not.
Simply look at the majority of faces in Cuba and then look at the faces of who supports the embargo in Cuba. I personally don’t think it’s intentional racism, but rather a function of limited or no consciousness. Especially by Cuban and other politicians who’s families aren’t in Cuba, don’t have friends in Cuba and are well off financially in America.
It’s been rich white politicians from Miami that have high jacked and manipulated our laws, traded congressional votes and used PAC money to keep the failed 47 years of U.S. embargo policy toward Cuba in place. These fact should wake anyone up from thinking the current politicians, Republican or Democrat, have the peoples best interest at hand.
Obama represents a transformation this country, planet and humanity could benefit from. “A world that works for everyone, with no one left out.” You the reader, may know who I am by that statement. And if you don’t know me, I trust you can see that the world many of us are standing for includes you, includes me and includes us all having a life that works. “A world that works for everyone, with no one left out,” starts with me, then you, then us voting for a new generation to lead America.
With that said, I’m voting for Obama for one simple reason; he has the character to stop the insanity of 47 years of failed politics with Cuba. With that, I believe Obama will also stop the insanity in many other political arenas in Washington, DC.
Thank you for making the time to read these words, please forward if you find they can benefit another.
Luis Moro
See 1400 Cuba images free at www.EveryThingCuba.com
www.EveryThingCuba.com SEE 1,400 EXCLUSIVE ORIGINAL PHOTOS OF CUBA.
www.UrbanFamilyEntertainment.com
ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN MAY/JUNE 2008 ISSUES OF
THE IMMIGRANT MAGAZINE
The Character Factor: The death of Political InsanityThe Case Of Cuba
By Luis Moro
Insanity may be defined as doing the same thing repeatedly with the expectation of a different result. A politician who supports a failed 40-year-old policy could be diagnosed with "Political Insanity". It is time we killed off Political Insanity by our elected U.S. officials. This and many more facts will be explored in the next issue of Immigrant Magazine.
Would you trust a person who continues to make the wrong decision for almost fifty years? Would you support a person who will speak in the name of helping people, PEOPLE who continuously say that person is not helping them? Would you believe a person who upon receiving a financial donation would change their vote?
"The Character Factor" is a full coverage story about the U.S. Embargo on Cuba and how a failed policy is still supported by so few even though it negatively affects so many. You will be surprised to find out how a one thousand dollar donation ($1,000) can buy a vote in Washington, DC. And even more surprising is how many politicians actually sell their votes for money. It is as blatant as one day they are against our U.S. policies against Cuba; they get a donation and the next day they vote for the failed policy against Cuba. We will explore why a few white politicians in America and Cuba strangle Cuba, a country with a predominantly black population.
With the duplicity, outright lying and misrepresentations by many of today's politicians there is one clear question that separates today's candidates for the U.S. Presidency. Are you for or against the four- decade failed, U.S. Policy on Cuba? The answer to this question could be the one answer that will determine the vote of every American.
Nobody can deny that U.S. Policies towards Cuba have failed over the last several decades. We all know that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. It is clear in these times of political insanity that no politician can hide from his or her history. And all politicians should be judged on their present character to determine our future. The character factor requests all Americans to bring to the forefront politicians who sell themselves. If a politician votes for and supports a failed U.S. Policy, they clearly are not able minded, equitable and perhaps even honest leaders.
It is known that in our nation's capital, legislative votes are for sale and barter. But no one will get away from the factual report revealing once and for all our nation's leaders who have lost their character factor.
Are you for a four-decade-old failed U.S. Policy on Cuba? Your character factor will now speak.
About the author: Luis Moro is an award winning filmmaker. He was born in Cuba and now resides in exile in the United States. His family has been separated for 38 years due to the failed polices of both the U.S and Cuban politicians. www.EveryThingCuba.com
Contact Luis@MoroFilms.com
The above article reflects the opinions of L.Moro and in no way the opinions of The Publishers Of The Immigrant Magazine. We welcome your perspectives on issues that affect you and the Immigrant Community at large. Please write to us at publisher@immigrantmagazine.com.
Pamela Asobo AnchangPublisher/Editor-In-ChiefThe Immigrant Magazine Inc.http://www.immigrantmagazine.com/
This blog is to disseminate information, news, discussion on the immigrant origins of our nation and iimmigration's still vital and vibrant contributions shaping who we are as a people, as a nation and where we are going with Barack Obama uniting us and leading us to fulfill our history and our destiny as an immigrant nation. Our local focus will be on Long Island and the vital contributions made and still being made from the material and spiritual renewal and aspirations of today's newest immigrant arrivals, who continue to build on the immigrant labor of courage and devotion of our forebears that settled, founded and defined what we mean as a nation by the defining concept of democray and its implementation in our everyday lives. --mo
Well, I finally did it. After all the years of just watching politics and debating politics i finally decided to get involved in my own little way... I made a donation haha. It's a big first step for me so i thought i'd document it with this posting.
So, I made my $50 contribution and then noticed the "share your story" box at the bottom of the page. Hmm my story huh? It's such a broad topic and it really got me thinking. Anyway here's what i wrote:
My Story: Though my years on this Earth are not many, when I sit down and think back, I am astonished by all that has changed for those around me.
In 1980, a Vietnamese couple and their two daughters ended a tortuous journey suffering through dangers and acts, unmentionable here, to start anew in a world unimaginable to them. America was their dream, and they crawled,
I was 11 years old in 1964 and proud of being the latest New Yorker promoted to the 8th grade. The familiar smells of my mother’s Spanish cooking added to the comfort of being included in the monthly gathering of my father, an “old-world” Puerto Rican, and his two brothers and their families. My father was the elder and, for as long as I could remember, like clockwork, these men met at my house, every month, to discuss politics, the month’s novelties, my cousin Nancy’s first Holy Communion, Uncle Oscar’s new job, who would be on Ed Sullivan, and so that everyone could tease my mom about her ongoing obsession with feeding my dad and I to death. This "five-foot-dumpling" of a wife and mother was convicted in her certainty that the measure of a woman’s worth, was found in the girth of her family's waistlines! As the kids ran about to the sporadic heralding of “…if you make me get up from here…” and the women discussed Lucy Ricardo's latest dress, the talk at the smoky table… where the men sat…always seemed to turn to HONOR. It was a subject spoken of in "broken English" by those who clutched the fierce objective of arriving at these shores, not merely to live in America... but to BECOME IT. HONOR: At that table, it was measured by how well each man there cared and provided for his family; how well each had repaid America’s hospitality and, each was accountable to the other two for compliance. It was, they said, what gave our family name its worth. HONOR; it was a word that seemed to be a big deal to these men and any one of them would grow by two inches when acknowledged with it by the others, but specially by the women of the clan. They were larger than life, those men, and as they donned their fedoras and left, I was always left with a yearning to somehow...one day, grow up to be just like them. Most of all, I wanted to grow up to be like my dad; the patriarch. On this particular night, just as he closed the door behind the last to exit, he turned to me and asked “Are you a man of HONOR, son?” I was startled... I wasn’t expecting the question! Searching for what I felt he was expecting as the “right” answer, I said “SURE, dad!” Pleasing him was my life's purpose. “Why," he asked. "Well... because I’m your son.” This must certainly be the right answer. A silent moment ensued, as he seemed to study me with an unsettling scrutiny that I had never before seen in his eyes. It made me uneasy…like being on stage…and forgetting your lines. “Then, you won’t mind explaining… what honor IS.” As I fumbled and scoured my brain for an answer, he stopped me in mid “fidget” and said... with something between a smirk and a smile,“You cannot be that which you do not know. Honor is different things to different people but, to all, it is the thing that, when choosing which fork to take when life’s road splits, compels a person to DO THE RIGHT THING. So from today forward, because you are my son, I will ask that you begin to reflect on the things that you are... and on things that you would like to become... so that you may grow into what you are meant to be. Whatever that may be, son, I need for you to become it…like your uncles and like me; as one of the "Basora men" who always try, no matter what, to DO THE RIGHT THING.” "You know..." he said, starting down the hall, "...the best gift that I can ever give your mother... and this country... is to build them AN AMERICAN."
Thirty three years later, mom succeeded and fed him to death. In my arms and surrounded by love; his two favorite Shepherds, like sentries, flanking his bed, I had never wished so hard for anything in my life, as I wished for that day; that he could speak to me from beyond this thing, this coma...just one more time...just one more time before he left me. "You're my best friend," I muttered. "I still need you. How can you even be certain that I've become this... man of HONOR?" His eyes parted slightly; mom, a nurse and my wife gasped... wide, reddened eyes... hands cupped to their mouths... as if frozen. "Because... it was you that compelled me... to never... ever... stop being one," he whispered... and died.
It has taken those 33 years of a work-in-progress to write this. It found its origins in the ways of my father and inspired, yet further, by the ways of WOLVES; the noble, social creatures that they are; a species that forsakes the frenzied existence of "the individual," living solely to amass "THE MOST THINGS" in favor of caring for their old... for their injured and disabled; of raising their young in a culture with no ORPHANS; of insuring the survival of THE PACK and in embracing a wondrous commitment by ALL… to doing THE RIGHT THINGS.
The Way of the WOLF Doctrines and Covenants of the Alpha MaleHonor is the inherent dignity of the doctrines and covenants by which one lives and the values that compel you to embrace them.To live with honor fulfills a life. To die with honor fulfills a destiny.Respect is the premium owed only to those with the courage to earn it.Nothing good will be written of the coward, the tyrant or the mediocre.Courage is not found in the absence of fear. It is found in the ability to step forward in spite of it.The tyrant orders the charge. Only the leader will head it.The tyrant fights all…to appear to be right. The leader fights for all…and for all that is right.Power not tempered by wisdom and compassion defines tyranny.Love with your heart; commit with your soul; believe with your gut; lead with all three.The true measure of strength is found in the ability to choose not to use it. But…if you must… Hurt before you injure; injure before you maim; maim before you kill; choose DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR.To ignore abuse is to endorse it. Love is the unselfish pursuit of the happiness of the beings you cherish.If you cannot express love, no one will know that you do.As you give of yourself, you will give to yourself.At the point of arrogance does pride lose its virtue.True partnership can only be achieved by separate and whole beings that retain their uniqueness even as they unite.A friend’s worth is measured by the stature of the person you become when they enter your life.Accept your relatives. Choose your family.A man’s honor can only repose in the heart of a woman whose strength and virtue proclaim and confirm the substance that it took to earn her.When life is allowed to yield less than its best, it will.Put mind in gear before mouth in motion.Dreams are the children of hope that whisper of all things that can be…in words that were never written…yet refuse to remain silent. Dreams are the blueprints of a better reality.Those who howl at the stars will be heard, at least, on the moon.For a pack without a destination, no trail is favorable.To solve a problem, you must first acknowledge that you have one.Doing nothing means nothing will change.Those who believe their own lies have fools as their witnesses.Pursue what you wish to do until summoned by what you are meant to do.Evil, like the blackest of nights, is the necessary darkness without which the magnificent aurora of virtue could never appear as splendid.Goodness is but a choice. Even the minions of the morally bankrupt are no match for one child clad in virtue and armed with truth. Nurture and proclaim him for in his spirit rests the seed of the alpha male, the heart of the pack, KING OF THE WOLVES. Rick F. Basora, son of Fil Basora, an Alpha Male
The Way of the WOLF
Doctrines and Covenants of the Alpha Male
But…if you must…
Rick F. Basora, son of Fil Basora, an Alpha Male
When I left my country in 1995 to emigrate -legally- to the USA with my sons, I was a woman fleeing from violence, terrorism, religious extremism and threats of civil war, hoping for a better life for my children, in the land of justice and liberty for all. I parted with my family, my friends, my culture, my language, but never with my principles, so when I chose to become an American citizen in January 2001 , I registered as a democrat .
Then president Bush declared war in Iraq , and I felt betrayed . I could not believe that Democrats would not stand for the truth and fight for what was right. Democrats, who I thought were heirs of the man who spoke to the world of peace, defining it as “Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war” (Read JFK’s most admired speech by non-Americans http://www.ratical.org/co-globalize/JFK061063.html ). JFK, the man whose words resonated then so strongly that, to this day, there are still avenues or public places named after him in countries like the one I fled from.
In Barack Obama, I have found a true echo of JFK’s inspirational message , the same hope to work to bring peace, end violence, educate our children , and reconcile the belief that, as a nation we can be proud, not of being the best in the world, but of making the world better for all.
i think this song has a great message and is relevant not only to my life, but also relates to obama's campaign.
download it and give it a listen!
"Paradigm"I was born to two immigrantsWho knew why they were hereThey were happy to pay taxesFor the schools and roadsHappy to be hereThey took it seriouslyThe second job of citizenryMy mother went campaigning door to doorAnd holding to her hand was meI was just a girl in a room full of womenLicking stamps and laughingI remember the feeling of community brewingOf democracy happeningBut I suppose like anybodyI had to teach myself to seeAll that stuff that got lostOn its way to churchAll that stuff that got lostOn its way to schoolAll that stuff that got lostOn its way to the house of my familyAll that stuff that was not lost on meTeach myself to see each of usThrough the lens of forgivenessLike we're stuck with each other (god forbid!)Teach myself to smile and stop and talkTo a whole other color kidTeach myself to be new in an instantLike the truth is accessible at any timeTeach myself it's never really one or the otherThere's a paradox in every paradigmI was just a girl in a room full of womenLicking stamps and laughingI remember the feeling of community brewingOf democracy happening
-ani difranco
Many of you are facing a very important decision in your state with the upcoming democratic primary. Because our country is at a critical juncture and I see a rare confluence of experience, judgment, compassion, and insight, that I believe parallel some of the great leaders of this world, I have been motivated to become an advocate and I feel compelled to share my journey through this difficult choice.
I am an unlikely individual to write on the behalf any candidate. Growing up, my family’s participation in the democratic process consisted of voting at the national and state elections. Now for the first time in her 34 years in this country, my Indian-American mother will make calls for one of the candidates. If you would have told me in early February that I would actively campaigning for one of the presidential candidates and become a delegate, I couldn’t fathom it.
I am a first generation Indian-American woman who voted for Bush in 2000, even though I didn’t agree with many of his positions. I am profoundly disappointed in what has happened to our country since that time and I have found myself searching for a candidate who has the skills to be an effective commander-in-chief, who respects the position of President, who truly understands the struggles of everyday people, and genuinely wants to make this country a better place. And I have finally found a candidate within Senator Barack Obama.
What kind of magic does Sen. Obama have? He doesn’t talk about any policy specifics and all he seems to do is fill up stadiums with fanatical people. Is this guy for real? If you look at his actions, the short answer is yes.
I’d like to share my perspectives with you as someone with a unique vantage point. Since I lived in New York and Illinois when both candidates launch their respective first U.S Senate bid, I had the unique opportunity to critically evaluate both nominees. Recently, I have attended talks from both candidates during their current presidential bid. I have no doubt that both are passionate about changing this country for the better. But I have struggled with, “How will each candidate bring about this change? Who will be the most effective?”
Part of effectiveness is experience. Obama has been criticized for not having enough experience. Comparing the candidates, I find Obama’s experience rooted in the right kind of experience. His desire to help and enlighten people is authentic. Preeta Bansal pointed out, in her endorsement of Obama that his experience mirrors that of another Illinois leader, Abraham Lincoln. In 1992 Bill Clinton, when answering questions of his own perceived inexperience said, "The same old experience is irrelevant….mine is rooted in the real lives of real people, and it will bring real results if we have the courage to change.” After studying International Relations, he spent years as a community organizer - a difficult job in one of the most economically depressed areas of Illinois. After attending Harvard Law, he returned to Chicago and continued to work for the community as a civil rights lawyer. Simultaneously he was an active member in the Illinois State legislature and taught constitutional law for 11 years at one of most world renowned law schools in the country. Being an alumna of the University of Chicago I have directly experienced the critical independent judgment the school emphasizes in its teachings. He has demonstrated his critical independent judgment most notably with stance against the war in Iraq. In contrast, Sen. Clinton’s experience in public office began by bidding for the New York state Senate seat that was being vacated by a retiring Sen. Patrick Monyihan. She re-located to the state only a few months before announcing her candidacy and had not been involved with any state activities prior to the announcement.
Effectiveness is also about how you get results. Obama has earned a reputation of being a unifier. And that is standing that is necessary to bridge gaps across diverse groups, including evangelicals, independents, and conservatives. Looking at Sen. Clinton’s current execution of her campaign, it disappointingly seems that it continues to be a win-at-all-cost approach with no regard of the long-term impact. I hoped the references to race and other personal attributes had ended at South Carolina. Sadly Clinton supporters, such as Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, continue to make racial remarks without rebuke from Clinton’s campaign. One of the main responsibilities of a leader is to set the tone within their organization. While I appreciate that Sen. Clinton may not be able to control what people say, in such a high-stake campaign, a candidate’s staff is very aware of what is being said and who is saying it. And while Sen. Clinton hasn’t made such remarks directly, they have come from her staff and supporters on her watch. This is the same candidate who swiftly rebuked MSNBC for a statement regarding her daughter that people under-40 would not find offensive. So I am left to wonder. And yet I have yet to hear similar personal attacks from the Obama camp. Clinton has a consistent, perhaps unfair reputation, as being divisive. Sadly the tactics above, perhaps unintentionally, underscore this.
The recent events also bring up a question of judgment and confidence for me. Doesn’t Sen. Clinton believe in herself? Why is she resorting to the tactics of a bad comedienne who believes that the only way she can get a response from an audience is to appeal to the lowest common denominator and bring up race or sex. It’s particularly disappointing because Sen. Clinton is qualified so that she doesn’t need to resort to such devices.
Lastly it is about who can motivate this country and impact change. When I reflect upon the primary race, Sen. Obama has energized and motivated people to get involved with the democratic process and has stopped the consistent wave of apathy that has blanketed the country. To me this is an important earmark and one that underscores his desire to empower people to become the change they want to see. I’ve met throngs of people who represent the world in ethnicity, age, and religion that are moved to participate for the first time in this process because they had found a candidate who understood them. Recently, I overheard three white teenage suburban boys at a gas station excitedly talking about their hopes that Obama would be elected. My friends from both parties have thanked me for motivating them to participate in their parties’ elective process. I can’t recall the last time someone has been able to bring such divergent groups of people together. It is because of all these factors that I find Sen. Obama with a sense of authenticity, experience, judgment, skill, maturity, and courage that I believe is needed and required to lead this country for the next 4 years.
Swatee Surve
41st Legislative District Delegate, Washington State
Video: Hayne's StoryWhen critics try to dismiss this movement as a fad that's not grounded in reality, I hope they'll actually take the time to listen to the stories of our supporters. Long before they were filling stadiums to listen to Barack's speeches, they were canvassing their neighborhoods and having in-depth conversations about what "change" and "hope" really mean to them.As a public defender who sees a lot of hopeless situations in her daily work, "hope" means something very concrete to Hayne Yoon. While she worked in the juvenile court in East L.A., she saw children who were caught up in the race wars and afraid to go to school – clients who later returned to the courts as adults. "It seemed like patterns that would continue across generations... The system had failed them," she said.We met up with Hayne when she was canvassing an immigrant neighborhood – mostly Korean and Salvadoran – last October. She said she was inspired by Barack's history as a community organizer to actually get out in the neighborhood herself and talk to people about how to change the country.Part of Barack's leadership, she says, is to show us "what we can be."She recognizes that it's "so easy to go back into these entrenched positions where it's black against white, or black versus Latino, where everybody's kind of fighting it out." But she believes that Barack "transcends racial politics" and hopes to see an end to the division in her lifetime.
