We need to have some major grass roots rallies across the country this summer in support of healthcare reform. The people have been silent on this important issue. Healthcare costs are robbing our futures.
We need the same kind of public show of support that we had during the election. How do we get this off the ground?
Obama Election Night Rally. Flickr Album
What a great night! Got to the gates around 730. They let people in around 830. Three security checkpoints. We sat on a hill about 150 yards from the podium. From 830 to 1000 they had CNN on the big screen. When they declared Virginia and then the election for Barack, the crowd of 65K+ erupted. Reports of 125K-200K include the overflow area where people without tickets were placed.
Bettie in West Bloomfield sent us these photos from a rally in West Bloomfield. We need your help in these last nine days to help Get Out the Vote! Sign up today to help in your community, or around the state! From phone banking to canvassing, there's so much work to be done, and so little time left. It's fun, and rewarding to know you can make the difference that brings real change. Sign up today to help Get Out the Vote!
We also could use your help:
Along with 100,000 other St. Louisans, I attended Barack Obama’s rally under the iconic Gateway Arch on Saturday, October 18th. It was a gorgeous, sunny fall afternoon with a contagious electricity and excitement. You could sense the delight and hopefulness of the crowd that was represented by all races, all genders, all age groups and I’m quite sure all political affiliations.
Over the last 20 months, Barack has grown as an orator and as a leader. I am so proud of him, not just as a fellow African American, but more importantly as an American. He vowed to run a positive campaign, one devoted to the issues that we all find crucial to our safety and well being, and he has done just that. Despite the McCain campaign’s negative ads, the mudslinger and the relentless character attacks, Barack Obama has truly stayed above the fray, kept to his message of change and has remained Presidential.
As the McCain campaign throws the kitchen sink at Barack, under the guise that everything is fair game, he has not pressed John McCain to explain past associations of his own (e.g., Jack Abramoff, John Hagee or most importantly Charles Keating). To his credit, Barack wants to keep this election about the issues. He has brought nobility and immense voter interest back into the political process. And not only are Americans taking notice, other countries are as well. It has been reported that polls show other nations (e.g., Switzerland, Canada, France, Britain, Japan, and Mexico) clearly prefer Barack Obama to John McCain – in some cases Obama receiving up to 70 and 80% to McCain barely getting more than 13 or 14%. After the disgraceful last eight years of George Bush, we need Barack Obama to bring back dignity and respect to this country.
I've been so disheartened by the "true colors" we're watching unravel in this election - I've taken that sadness and channeled it into creating an informative video - please view & feel free to pass along. I'm not a slanderous person, and truly feel I'm only stating facts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHXZ5bxm-CE
Peace and Blessings
Fellow "Seeker of Justice", Misty
Ohio has played host to the Clintons these past couple days while they hit the trail for Barack. Today, Senator Hillary Clinton held rallies in Youngstown and Delaware to address why Ohio needs a Democrat in office.
In Delaware, she was preceded by Delaware County Field Organizer Libby, who told the heart-wrenching story of her reason for change: her father, who worked hard, paid his taxes, and passed away in January of a heart attack, with no access to healthcare. She asked the crowd to think of their own reasons for change, whether it be a parent or a child, adding,
It's not enough to hope for change, or pray for change, or vote for change. You have to bring about change.
She encouraged everyone to volunteer, make calls, and go door to door to bring about change.
Another Delaware volunteer, Linda, was thrilled to introduce Hillary, her longtime personal heroine.
Hillary looked right at home in the Buckeye High School gym, and her speech proved her deep understanding of Ohio and Ohioans' needs.She recounted her last trip to Ohio earlier this year, as well as her impressions of the people of Ohio:
I was heartened and impressed, not just by the resilience of the people I met, or by how hard Ohioans work, but by how much Ohio deserved a better future.
Everyone knows that Ohio is a critical state for every presidential election. However, Hillary pointed out how this election is especially critical for Ohio. She noted that four of the top ten cities most affected by foreclosures are in Ohio. The crowd broke out in cheers and applause as she explained why she believes her fellow Democrats, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, are the answer to Ohio's troubles.
I have been fighting for the middle class for a long time...because I know that if we don't have a prosperous middle class, we don't have a prosperous America. That's who I'm fighting for today, that's who Barack and Joe are fighting for, and because that's who they're fighting for, I'm fighting for them.
In the course of the afternoon, Hillary also unveiled her idea for a new slogan, one she feels captures the feeling of our times. To the delight of the crowd, she shouted,
Jobs, Baby, Jobs!
While the enthusiasm and energy in the gym was infectious, Hillary warned that no one should take this election for granted, no matter what the polls say. She reiterated Libby's call for volunteers, also noting the importance that young Americans who are excited and involved for the first time encourage their friends to get out and vote.
This campaign depends on you. Not only your vote, but your canvassing, your phonebanking, your conversations with your friends, will determine the outcome of this election. As the Senator concluded,
On the morning of November 5th you're going to wake up and think one of two things...either four more years, or change is on the way!
Brian 1:2 So spake the Fool in prayer before the angry masses on that 11th Day of October 2008, the year of our Lord: "there are millions of people around this world praying to their god—whether it's Hindu, Buddha, Allah—that [Barack Obama] wins, for a variety of reasons. And Lord, I pray that you will guard your own reputation, because they're going to think that their God is bigger than you if that happens."
Brian 1:3 And lo, the huddled mob—rabid with loathing and stricken, like others before them, with a fear of change and leaders of color—praised the Fool with applause. And both were pleased in their ignorance. The fool in question of course is Arnold Conrad, former pastor of Grace Evangelical Free Church, pleading with God at a John McCain rally in Iowa. However, unlike the shrewd fools in literature from Socrates to Shakespeare, this one is anything but wise. For the sake of argument, let's ignore the fact he's a pastor and alleged scholar of religion and give the Fool the benefit of the doubt. After all, an imbecile can't reasonably be expected to know that Hindu is not a god (or even a proper noun for that matter), Buddha isn't a deity either, and neither are prayed to by anyone. Anywhere.
And of course, while any average idiot—except this one apparently—knows Allah is the same God prayed to and worshiped by Christians and Jews, we needn't require Pastor Arnie to understand these or other religions and cultures. Why? Because, despite his Doctor of Ministry degree, that brand of cultural sensitivity and theological understanding is anathema to a myopic and intellectually incurious fundamentalist. The pomposity of this self-righteous dolt notwithstanding, I'm always amazed by proselytizers who pray, prattle and pontificate with the arrogant assumption they know who God is rooting for—as if God has a stake or interest in a particular candidate.
Prayers like Pastor Arnie's are futile of course and as patently absurd as asking the almighty to intervene in the Superbowl. But the obvious silliness doesn't stop so many evangelicals from so frequently contending Republicans are the party of God and John McCain (R-Nazareth) is Christ's personally vetted nominee for President. Their presumption is as comical as their worldview is provincial. My personal hunch is that God doesn't much care about American electoral politics but, if s/he does, I doubt s/he'd be categorically opposed to a Democrat. Barack Obama is a Christian. He was "saved," he was baptized, and he was a regular congregant in a Church of Christ for over 20 years. Besides—from the right to universal health care, nondiscrimination, and racial/gender equality to the eradication of poverty, earning of a living wage, dealing with AIDS and tax relief for those who actually need it—Democrats and their standard-bearers have traditionally favored policies uniquely more suited for and geared towards the middle and working classes and the poor/disenfranchised. In other words, Obama's policies tend to support the very people that the foolish pastor's God named "the Salt of the Earth" in the best-selling book s/he "authored" thousands of years ago. Christ didn't say much in favor of the free market, unprovoked war, assault weapons for "hunting," or tax-cuts for the rich and he was completely silent on those "cardinal sins" of abortion and gay marriage. But he did have an abundance of opinions about equality, justice, compassion, tolerance, forgiveness and love, as well as leaving judgment of others to God and taking care of our neediest brothers and sisters. So frankly, Pastor Arnie, I still don't think God is rooting for either candidate, but if s/he is, given their agreement on the issues, my money's on Obama. I'll give you 5:1 odds on your money for McCain, but I'd call that a Fool's Bet. Matthew 25:40 "And the King answering shall say to them, 'Verily, I say to you, Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it to me.'"
Rachel Maddow has a great video on the violent sentiment that has been encouraged at McPalin rallies and McCain's too-late attempt to put the bomb Obama genie back in the bottle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBmO6YAszGU
Shame on McCain and Palin, the real traitors to our democracy!
October 12, 2008Op-Ed Columnist
The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama By FRANK RICH
IF you think way back to the start of this marathon campaign, back when it seemed preposterous that any black man could be a serious presidential contender, then you remember the biggest fear about Barack Obama: a crazy person might take a shot at him.Some voters told reporters that they didn’t want Obama to run, let alone win, should his very presence unleash the demons who have stalked America from Lincoln to King. After consultation with Congress, Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, gave Obama a Secret Service detail earlier than any presidential candidate in our history — in May 2007, some eight months before the first Democratic primaries. “I’ve got the best protection in the world, so stop worrying,” Obama reassured his supporters. Eventually the country got conditioned to his appearing in large arenas without incident (though I confess that the first loud burst of fireworks at the end of his convention stadium speech gave me a start). In America, nothing does succeed like success. The fear receded.Until now. At McCain-Palin rallies, the raucous and insistent cries of “Treason!” and “Terrorist!” and “Kill him!” and “Off with his head!” as well as the uninhibited slinging of racial epithets, are actually something new in a campaign that has seen almost every conceivable twist. They are alarms. Doing nothing is not an option.All’s fair in politics. John McCain and Sarah Palin have every right to bring up William Ayers, even if his connection to Obama is minor, even if Ayers’s Weather Underground history dates back to Obama’s childhood, even if establishment Republicans and Democrats alike have collaborated with the present-day Ayers in educational reform. But it’s not just the old Joe McCarthyesque guilt-by-association game, however spurious, that’s going on here. Don’t for an instant believe the many mindlessly “even-handed” journalists who keep saying that the McCain campaign’s use of Ayers is the moral or political equivalent of the Obama campaign’s hammering on Charles Keating. What makes them different, and what has pumped up the Weimar-like rage at McCain-Palin rallies, is the violent escalation in rhetoric, especially (though not exclusively) by Palin. Obama “launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist.” He is “palling around with terrorists” (note the plural noun). Obama is “not a man who sees America the way you and I see America.” Wielding a wildly out-of-context Obama quote, Palin slurs him as an enemy of American troops. By the time McCain asks the crowd “Who is the real Barack Obama?” it’s no surprise that someone cries out “Terrorist!” The rhetorical conflation of Obama with terrorism is complete. It is stoked further by the repeated invocation of Obama’s middle name by surrogates introducing McCain and Palin at these rallies. This sleight of hand at once synchronizes with the poisonous Obama-is-a-Muslim e-mail blasts and shifts the brand of terrorism from Ayers’s Vietnam-era variety to the radical Islamic threats of today.That’s a far cry from simply accusing Obama of being a guilty-by-association radical leftist. Obama is being branded as a potential killer and an accessory to past attempts at murder. “Barack Obama’s friend tried to kill my family” was how a McCain press release last week packaged the remembrance of a Weather Underground incident from 1970 — when Obama was 8. We all know what punishment fits the crime of murder, or even potential murder, if the security of post-9/11 America is at stake. We all know how self-appointed “patriotic” martyrs always justify taking the law into their own hands.Obama can hardly be held accountable for Ayers’s behavior 40 years ago, but at least McCain and Palin can try to take some responsibility for the behavior of their own supporters in 2008. What’s troubling here is not only the candidates’ loose inflammatory talk but also their refusal to step in promptly and strongly when someone responds to it with bloodthirsty threats in a crowded arena. Joe Biden had it exactly right when he expressed concern last week that “a leading American politician who might be vice president of the United States would not just stop midsentence and turn and condemn that.” To stay silent is to pour gas on the fires.It wasn’t always thus with McCain. In February he loudly disassociated himself from a speaker who brayed “Barack Hussein Obama” when introducing him at a rally in Ohio. Now McCain either backpedals with tardy, pro forma expressions of respect for his opponent or lets second-tier campaign underlings release boilerplate disavowals after ugly incidents like the chilling Jim Crow-era flashback last week when a Florida sheriff ranted about “Barack Hussein Obama” at a Palin rally while in full uniform. From the start, there have always been two separate but equal questions about race in this election. Is there still enough racism in America to prevent a black man from being elected president no matter what? And, will Republicans play the race card? The jury is out on the first question until Nov. 4. But we now have the unambiguous answer to the second: Yes.McCain, who is no racist, turned to this desperate strategy only as Obama started to pull ahead. The tone was set at the Republican convention, with Rudy Giuliani’s mocking dismissal of Obama as an “only in America” affirmative-action baby. We also learned then that the McCain campaign had recruited as a Palin handler none other than Tucker Eskew, the South Carolina consultant who had worked for George W. Bush in the notorious 2000 G.O.P. primary battle where the McCains and their adopted Bangladeshi daughter were slimed by vicious racist rumors.No less disconcerting was a still-unexplained passage of Palin’s convention speech: Her use of an unattributed quote praising small-town America (as opposed to, say, Chicago and its community organizers) from Westbrook Pegler, the mid-century Hearst columnist famous for his anti-Semitism, racism and violent rhetorical excess. After an assassin tried to kill F.D.R. at a Florida rally and murdered Chicago’s mayor instead in 1933, Pegler wrote that it was “regrettable that Giuseppe Zangara shot the wrong man.” In the ’60s, Pegler had a wish for Bobby Kennedy: “Some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow falls.”This is the writer who found his way into a speech by a potential vice president at a national political convention. It’s astonishing there’s been no demand for a public accounting from the McCain campaign. Imagine if Obama had quoted a Black Panther or Louis Farrakhan — or William Ayers — in Denver.The operatives who would have Palin quote Pegler have been at it ever since. A key indicator came two weeks after the convention, when the McCain campaign ran its first ad tying Obama to the mortgage giant Fannie Mae. Rather than make its case by using a legitimate link between Fannie and Obama (or other Democratic leaders), the McCain forces chose a former Fannie executive who had no real tie to Obama or his campaign but did have a black face that could dominate the ad’s visuals. There are no black faces high in the McCain hierarchy to object to these tactics. There hasn’t been a single black Republican governor, senator or House member in six years. This is a campaign where Palin can repeatedly declare that Alaska is “a microcosm of America” without anyone even wondering how that might be so for a state whose tiny black and Hispanic populations are each roughly one-third the national average. There are indeed so few people of color at McCain events that a black senior writer from The Tallahassee Democrat was mistakenly ejected by the Secret Service from a campaign rally in Panama City in August, even though he was standing with other reporters and showed his credentials. His only apparent infraction was to look glaringly out of place. Could the old racial politics still be determinative? I’ve long been skeptical of the incessant press prognostications (and liberal panic) that this election will be decided by racist white men in the Rust Belt. Now even the dimmest bloviators have figured out that Americans are riveted by the color green, not black — as in money, not energy. Voters are looking for a leader who might help rescue them, not a reckless gambler whose lurching responses to the economic meltdown (a campaign “suspension,” a mortgage-buyout stunt that changes daily) are as unhinged as his wanderings around the debate stage. To see how fast the tide is moving, just look at North Carolina. On July 4 this year — the day that the godfather of modern G.O.P. racial politics, Jesse Helms, died — The Charlotte Observer reported that strategists of both parties agreed Obama’s chances to win the state fell “between slim and none.” Today, as Charlotte reels from the implosion of Wachovia, the McCain-Obama race is a dead heat in North Carolina and Helms’s Republican successor in the Senate, Elizabeth Dole, is looking like a goner. But we’re not at Election Day yet, and if voters are to have their final say, both America and Obama have to get there safely. The McCain campaign has crossed the line between tough negative campaigning and inciting vigilantism, and each day the mob howls louder. The onus is on the man who says he puts his country first to call off the dogs, pit bulls and otherwise.
IF you think way back to the start of this marathon campaign, back when it seemed preposterous that any black man could be a serious presidential contender, then you remember the biggest fear about Barack Obama: a crazy person might take a shot at him.
Some voters told reporters that they didn’t want Obama to run, let alone win, should his very presence unleash the demons who have stalked America from Lincoln to King. After consultation with Congress, Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, gave Obama a Secret Service detail earlier than any presidential candidate in our history — in May 2007, some eight months before the first Democratic primaries.
“I’ve got the best protection in the world, so stop worrying,” Obama reassured his supporters. Eventually the country got conditioned to his appearing in large arenas without incident (though I confess that the first loud burst of fireworks at the end of his convention stadium speech gave me a start). In America, nothing does succeed like success. The fear receded.
Until now. At McCain-Palin rallies, the raucous and insistent cries of “Treason!” and “Terrorist!” and “Kill him!” and “Off with his head!” as well as the uninhibited slinging of racial epithets, are actually something new in a campaign that has seen almost every conceivable twist. They are alarms. Doing nothing is not an option.
All’s fair in politics. John McCain and Sarah Palin have every right to bring up William Ayers, even if his connection to Obama is minor, even if Ayers’s Weather Underground history dates back to Obama’s childhood, even if establishment Republicans and Democrats alike have collaborated with the present-day Ayers in educational reform. But it’s not just the old Joe McCarthyesque guilt-by-association game, however spurious, that’s going on here. Don’t for an instant believe the many mindlessly “even-handed” journalists who keep saying that the McCain campaign’s use of Ayers is the moral or political equivalent of the Obama campaign’s hammering on Charles Keating.
What makes them different, and what has pumped up the Weimar-like rage at McCain-Palin rallies, is the violent escalation in rhetoric, especially (though not exclusively) by Palin. Obama “launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist.” He is “palling around with terrorists” (note the plural noun). Obama is “not a man who sees America the way you and I see America.” Wielding a wildly out-of-context Obama quote, Palin slurs him as an enemy of American troops.
By the time McCain asks the crowd “Who is the real Barack Obama?” it’s no surprise that someone cries out “Terrorist!” The rhetorical conflation of Obama with terrorism is complete. It is stoked further by the repeated invocation of Obama’s middle name by surrogates introducing McCain and Palin at these rallies. This sleight of hand at once synchronizes with the poisonous Obama-is-a-Muslim e-mail blasts and shifts the brand of terrorism from Ayers’s Vietnam-era variety to the radical Islamic threats of today.
That’s a far cry from simply accusing Obama of being a guilty-by-association radical leftist. Obama is being branded as a potential killer and an accessory to past attempts at murder. “Barack Obama’s friend tried to kill my family” was how a McCain press release last week packaged the remembrance of a Weather Underground incident from 1970 — when Obama was 8.
We all know what punishment fits the crime of murder, or even potential murder, if the security of post-9/11 America is at stake. We all know how self-appointed “patriotic” martyrs always justify taking the law into their own hands.
Obama can hardly be held accountable for Ayers’s behavior 40 years ago, but at least McCain and Palin can try to take some responsibility for the behavior of their own supporters in 2008. What’s troubling here is not only the candidates’ loose inflammatory talk but also their refusal to step in promptly and strongly when someone responds to it with bloodthirsty threats in a crowded arena. Joe Biden had it exactly right when he expressed concern last week that “a leading American politician who might be vice president of the United States would not just stop midsentence and turn and condemn that.” To stay silent is to pour gas on the fires.
It wasn’t always thus with McCain. In February he loudly disassociated himself from a speaker who brayed “Barack Hussein Obama” when introducing him at a rally in Ohio. Now McCain either backpedals with tardy, pro forma expressions of respect for his opponent or lets second-tier campaign underlings release boilerplate disavowals after ugly incidents like the chilling Jim Crow-era flashback last week when a Florida sheriff ranted about “Barack Hussein Obama” at a Palin rally while in full uniform.
From the start, there have always been two separate but equal questions about race in this election. Is there still enough racism in America to prevent a black man from being elected president no matter what? And, will Republicans play the race card? The jury is out on the first question until Nov. 4. But we now have the unambiguous answer to the second: Yes.
McCain, who is no racist, turned to this desperate strategy only as Obama started to pull ahead. The tone was set at the Republican convention, with Rudy Giuliani’s mocking dismissal of Obama as an “only in America” affirmative-action baby. We also learned then that the McCain campaign had recruited as a Palin handler none other than Tucker Eskew, the South Carolina consultant who had worked for George W. Bush in the notorious 2000 G.O.P. primary battle where the McCains and their adopted Bangladeshi daughter were slimed by vicious racist rumors.
No less disconcerting was a still-unexplained passage of Palin’s convention speech: Her use of an unattributed quote praising small-town America (as opposed to, say, Chicago and its community organizers) from Westbrook Pegler, the mid-century Hearst columnist famous for his anti-Semitism, racism and violent rhetorical excess. After an assassin tried to kill F.D.R. at a Florida rally and murdered Chicago’s mayor instead in 1933, Pegler wrote that it was “regrettable that Giuseppe Zangara shot the wrong man.” In the ’60s, Pegler had a wish for Bobby Kennedy: “Some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow falls.”
This is the writer who found his way into a speech by a potential vice president at a national political convention. It’s astonishing there’s been no demand for a public accounting from the McCain campaign. Imagine if Obama had quoted a Black Panther or Louis Farrakhan — or William Ayers — in Denver.
The operatives who would have Palin quote Pegler have been at it ever since. A key indicator came two weeks after the convention, when the McCain campaign ran its first ad tying Obama to the mortgage giant Fannie Mae. Rather than make its case by using a legitimate link between Fannie and Obama (or other Democratic leaders), the McCain forces chose a former Fannie executive who had no real tie to Obama or his campaign but did have a black face that could dominate the ad’s visuals.
There are no black faces high in the McCain hierarchy to object to these tactics. There hasn’t been a single black Republican governor, senator or House member in six years. This is a campaign where Palin can repeatedly declare that Alaska is “a microcosm of America” without anyone even wondering how that might be so for a state whose tiny black and Hispanic populations are each roughly one-third the national average. There are indeed so few people of color at McCain events that a black senior writer from The Tallahassee Democrat was mistakenly ejected by the Secret Service from a campaign rally in Panama City in August, even though he was standing with other reporters and showed his credentials. His only apparent infraction was to look glaringly out of place.
Could the old racial politics still be determinative? I’ve long been skeptical of the incessant press prognostications (and liberal panic) that this election will be decided by racist white men in the Rust Belt. Now even the dimmest bloviators have figured out that Americans are riveted by the color green, not black — as in money, not energy. Voters are looking for a leader who might help rescue them, not a reckless gambler whose lurching responses to the economic meltdown (a campaign “suspension,” a mortgage-buyout stunt that changes daily) are as unhinged as his wanderings around the debate stage.
To see how fast the tide is moving, just look at North Carolina. On July 4 this year — the day that the godfather of modern G.O.P. racial politics, Jesse Helms, died — The Charlotte Observer reported that strategists of both parties agreed Obama’s chances to win the state fell “between slim and none.” Today, as Charlotte reels from the implosion of Wachovia, the McCain-Obama race is a dead heat in North Carolina and Helms’s Republican successor in the Senate, Elizabeth Dole, is looking like a goner.
But we’re not at Election Day yet, and if voters are to have their final say, both America and Obama have to get there safely. The McCain campaign has crossed the line between tough negative campaigning and inciting vigilantism, and each day the mob howls louder. The onus is on the man who says he puts his country first to call off the dogs, pit bulls and otherwise.
If you appreciated this message, then please have a look at the rest of my blog, http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/henrymu and if you appreciate my blog, then please donate to the campaign: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/henrymu/gGgFDD
Henry M
During the past week, the McCain-Palin campaign has intentionally whipped their fringe supporters into a frenzy. At rallies, there have been calls to kill Obama, to bomb Obama (here in Georgia), and outbursts labeling Obama as a terrorist and killer...all within earshot of McCain and Palin. The ugliness reached its climax on Friday as a couple of ill-informed supporters of McCain called Obama an Arab and stated that they were afraid of bringing a child into an Obama presidency. McCain, looking quite embarrassed, actually defended Obama - calling him a decent family man. He was then booed by his own supporters.
With the level of hate and ignorance shown and brought to the fore-front this week, do you fear for Obama when he's elected? The McCain-Palin campaign has created an atmosphere that breeds the type of hatred that is comparable to level of hate that the young Islamic terrorists have for the US.
For years we've known the right-wing fear strategy to be a cornerstone of their operations, but now, its as if that fear has taken on a whole new level, and turned itself into rage for his supporters and fear for everyone else.
See: www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/10/mccain.crowd/index.html
What I am seeing at the Palin & McCain rallies is very offensive, and doesn't bode well for our future and our ability to survive this crisis.
McCain needs to put his country first NOW, and stop inciting folks who are already frightened by our economic crisis to a lynch-mob furor.
This is a good article, excerpt below as well
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_10/015114.php
John Weaver, McCain's former top strategist, said top Republicans have a responsibility to temper this behavior.
"People need to understand, for moral reasons and the protection of our civil society, the differences with Senator Obama are ideological, based on clear differences on policy and a lack of experience compared to Senator McCain," Weaver said. "And from a purely practical political vantage point, please find me a swing voter, an undecided independent, or a torn female voter that finds an angry mob mentality attractive."
Weaver added that the Republican Party should be "ashamed" if it allows this to continue. Given what we've seen of late, they should be ashamed anyway.
NOT THIS TIME - NOT THIS YEAR! Restore HOPE!
Sarah Palin has been telling anyone who will listen that Barack Obama is "not like us." The Republican rallies are becoming increasingly venomous. Barack Obama's middle name--Hussein--is used as a slur, to prove his differentness, and to foster the idea that he somehow has ties to the Arab world, and by extension, terrorism. It's working. Audience members shout that he should be killed, that he is a terrorist. Even uniformed police officers, who should know better, fan the flames.
The divisiveness as perpetuated at the Republican’s rallies, at a time when good leadership would require a greater unity and healthy democracy to better handle the economy which affects everyone, is a terrible shame and almost treasonous. These comments are against the nation.
How Low Will It Go
House met and agreed on a 700 Billion dollar rescue
Our country was ailing and it was the only thing to do
Wall Street and Main Street were in dire straits
Lehman Brothers fell and soon others met similar fates
One after the other like dominoes they fell
Worrying investors didn’t know if they should sell
When will it stop and how low will it go
Investments dropped the lowest I know
Lots of Americans shifted their fears, it was on their face
Letting the Campaigning become one of personalities and race
I heard “Hoodlums” to describe the side polled to win
This all endorsed and brought on by the divisiveness of Palin
Got appeals at McCain’s rallies to “Kill him!” How low!
Obama has been cool but How Low Will It Go?.
From: Ron Carpenter
24 years Air Force (4 in munitions - 20 doing intelligence work)
2 years Compaq Computers
4 years teaching at-risk students (gang members & drug users)
Stepdad married 22 years
... and changing from Independent to Democrat
McCain is trying hard to scrape Bush off his shoe.
I've thought of a way to make that impossible. A way to make sure everyone smells what McCain's been stepping in the last 8 years.
It's a new slogan to use before and after speeches, on bumper stickers, at gatherings, and on podiums and television backdrops.
It may unite and energize an audience, and it's a strong clear message for public speaking. It's sheer simplicity will make it an effective message and fund raiser.
It looks like this:
UV_XY
NO MORE W's
It is the strongest possible rallying cry for loyal Democrats and undecided Independents. It says in a simple way get rid of the "W" (Bush and his follow-ons).
(1) Everyone recognizes the oval office monkey by his nickname "dubyah" or "W".
(2) Every Republican ran out to buy "W" bumper stickers.
(3) Every loyal Democrat might use the "UV_XY" sign and slogan. People would see it on bumper
stickers on every highway and every parking lot in America, on front lawns, and tee-shirts.
(4) From now on, energize people with the simple chant "U-V-X-Y" and "NO MORE W's".
It is memorable and to the point, like Mr. Obama himself.
As a slogan it exposes the Republicans' biggest weakness: that link between Bush and McCain. They are doing everything they can to break that link before November, but this tactic will forge it into an unbreakable chain.
Republicans didn't even want "W" at the convention. The hurricane was just a flimsy excuse for his absence.
Mr. Bush ... the man who stayed to watch the Olympics when war broke out between Russia and Georgia ... the man who kept reading a nursery book to school kids after he heard the twin towers were destroyed ... the man who did nothing about Katrina for days ... the man who vacationed at his ranch every time the world went to heck ... that same Bush pretended a hurricane was keeping him busy.
Don't allow the Republican and Bush track record to slip into the background!
Every television backdrop should be showing "UV_XY" and NO MORE W's. Every speech should start with the "UVXY" chant and high spirits. Every car driven by every Democrat should proclaim the days of George Bush and his kind are over .
"U-V-X-Y" and "NO MORE W's" would also refocus the campaign on McCain and away from that awful woman Palin. It would reinforce in every listener's mind, Independent or Democrat or other, that McCain is just another Bush.
And one more thing. In the 2000 election Bush was relentless claiming he'll be a better President than John MCCain. With Bush's record, what does that say about McCain?
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There's been a lot of talk about change in this Presidential race. Some of it real, and some of it just talk.
I do admit the Republican party has made some very real changes.
For instance, after the Democratic party brought a woman so close to the White House, the Republican party finally brought one into the picture.
After the Democratic party demanded we consider other options in Iraq, the Republican party also began talks about ending the war ... a war which has lasted nearly 2 years longer than World War II.
After the Democratic party talked about curbing the abusive profit-taking of big oil, the Republican party did eventually admit something needed to be done.
And after the Democratic party talked for years about the need for major changes in the way the White House does business, the Republican party dropped its long held mantra "stay the course" and began calling itself "the party of change."
Oh they've made changes all right. The trouble I see is that they only do it when they're backed into a corner. When the majority of Americans are suffering and an election is coming.
And you can't really talk about majorities without talking about minorities.
Remember we are all Americans. We are not part rich and part poor, part black and part white, part Hispanic and part Asian. We are the people , every last one of us. Your government shouldn't pick and choose who gets all the benefits, who gets immediate attention after a hurricane and who doesn't, who gets laws passed for their personal benefit and who does not.
But the Republican party doesn't seem to see it that way. In this great democratic process of electing the next President, the Democratic convention floor was a cross-section of all Americans ... the Republican convention was a different story.
The Democratic party has long held the doors open to minorities, to Hispanics and the young and women and African-Americans and others ... in short to all Americans ... but the Republican party is slow to accept these differences.
This year a quarter (24%) of the Democratic delegates were African-American. On the Republican side, the number was less than 2%.
At the Democratic convention, almost half (44%) of delegates were the minorities of this country. Twelve percent (12%) of them were Hispanic ... at the Republican convention that number was a mere 5%.
It seems to me that if the Republican party is reluctant to lead the country towards real equality and opportunity for everyone, the Democratic party is more than willing!
The Republican convention this year did have more women delegates than in the past, and one woman even made it onto the ticket. But the Republicans had only a handful of African-American delegates, of handicapped, Hispanic or Asian, or young people ...
... and certainly no one they think of as undesirable ... or who dares to challenge the party line.
Republican gatherings have frequently been preceded by the signing of loyalty oaths ... and party loyalty, not competence, has been the chief requirement for Republican appointees to government positions.
For women in the Republican party things look pretty good right now ... not so good for others. But I suppose if you're only going to talk about change you don't need to go into it with your heart and soul.
I guess what I'm saying is that when you talk about leading the way ... making America a fair and free land for all Americans ... you have to actually do it ... to show it ... you have to mean it .
I often wonder what must be going through the minds of voters.
When John McCain's economic advisor called us a nation of whiners, did voters think perhaps the Republican controlled White House, Congress, and Supreme Court have given them plenty to whine about?
And what must the more open-minded voters think of the Republican way of viewing the world today?
A frequent Republican goal seems to be amassing personal wealth. They rub the shoulders of big oil and wall street firms and major banks. John McCain even had a billionaire speak for him at the convention. The speaker mentioned how hard it is to get by in America today, with the high price of gas and food and everyday necessities.
By the way, that speaker really opened my eyes. I can now say in all honesty that I'm no longer surprised the Republican candidate doesn't know how many houses he owns ... or the difference between millionaires and the struggling middle class. People of enormous wealth, though they may be very good people, live in a different world from the rest of us.
... We didn't have a billionaire guest speaker at our convention because, quite frankly, they understand the problems of the average American. They are much more familiar with Republican support of big business.
Another conservative political mantra is a free market economy. The Republican party still seems to believe the more money you put into the hands of the wealthy, the better off everyone will be. It's that trickle down theory they've chanted since the days of Ronald Reagan.
Yet when John McCain's economic advisor, Mr. Graham, threw away many of the restrictions on profit-motivated banks earlier this year, the economy took a nose dive and millions of investors were hurt.
This is not to say that all major U.S. companies are interested only in the bottom line, but it does seem like most of them are.
And when you tell a company CEO and stockholders they can make all the money they want, by whatever means, and no one will be watching ... there are those who just might take advantage of the ordinary American.
Like big oil. Their profits under President Bush have been record-setting.
There's one report that Exxon made over $35 billion profit last year, while claiming they only raised prices to cover increased costs. On profits alone big oil could practically pay for the Iraq war, without putting the burden on us taxpayers.
It's no secret this administration and John McCain and Ms. Palin are all for letting big oil drill anywhere it wants and make whatever profit it can. But will unrestricted drilling reduce the price of filling up at the pump?
Let's examine the Republican "trickle down" theory in actual practice.
The price of crude oil has dropped over a third since it's record high, but at the pump the price has dropped more like an eighth. You can be certain that between 33% and 12% is a huge profit that went into someone's back pocket, and it wasn't mine. Nor was it the average American's.
And when the Republicans' chief economists and political figures loosened other government oversight, turned their heads away from the mortgage lenders, it was a clear signal to market predators they had the government's blessing to chase down every last crumb of mortgage profit. They lured millions of American families into buying more house than they could afford.
Mortgage lenders also pressed hard to convert Americans across the country into refinancing existing homes with Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs). Americans were told this would be their ticket to bigger and better things, not to worry about the rates going up. But the rates did go up ... driving many of those same families into foreclosure.
Homelessness plays no part in the American dream as I understand it.
Surely some innocent Republicans are suffering along with the rest of America in the housing crisis. But the die-hards never seem to accept reality. They never seem to see the light of day.
The die-hard Republicans ... and I'm not talking about the typical Republican party member ... whose only concern is the good of the country ...
... but the die-hard Republicans like the Karl Roves and Henry Paulsons ... the John McCains and Sarah Palins ... they forge ahead continuing to support the same policies, the same political tactics, and the same administration. In the face of overwhelming evidence that things are not going as hoped, they stay the course .
Perhaps they're sticking to their guns in the mere hope their economic strategies will do better in the future ...
... though I've heard many Republicans claim Mr. Obama’s message of hope is merely a hollow promise. He has been attacked by die-hard Republicans for carrying his message of hope and the belief in a better tomorrow.
Let us not forget the Republican White House and Congress have been telling us the Middle-East, Iraq, the economy, and our standing and security in the world will all improve … all without a sliver of evidence. It sounds to me like they are saying “hope” only means something when they say it does.
Still it seems to me that hope has its place. Just not where the die-hards are looking.
Die-hard Republicans are hoping the job market will improve, even when their government does little to help ...
They're still hoping the price of oil will come down, when the government is backing the oil industry over the consumer ...
Hoping big corporations will trickle their profits down to the average American, when history tells us otherwise ...
Hoping the war will end, that our sons and daughters won't be dragged into that war, though the government refuses to consider the options ...
Hoping the world will be a safer place, when we go after the wrong targets ...
Hoping our civil rights will remain secure, when the very government meant to protect those rights is taking people to prison without trial, spying on our e-mails and phone calls without warrants ...
They're hoping college will be affordable, and opportunity will come knocking, when the government is spending less and less on college education ...
They're hoping people will get help when disaster strikes, though Katrina victims waited days for the Republican President to even acknowledge their plight ...
Most of all they're hoping the world will end up a better place for our children, despite the fact they keep putting the same kind of people and the same kind of policies back into power ...
It seems to me that's where the false hope lies.
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I believe in hope, but of a different kind.
I believe in hope ... when it's backed by honest commitment, and it's not just a last-minute political label.
I believe in hope ... when I can see a political party that includes all Americans in that message.
I believe in hope ... when people say they're ready for change.
We cannot go on as before. We cannot survive as a nation if we continue to exclude everyone except the rich and powerful and closed-minded. We must change for the good of all.
This country does not belong to just a few of us ...
... to just 1.5% of the African-Americans ...
... to just 5% of the Hispanics ...
... to just those who support war ...
... or just those who support big business ...
... or just those who support Republican policies ...
This country is our land, rich and poor, black and white, Asian, Hispanic and everything in-between.
It's time to take the "W" out of the White House. It's time to give this country back to its people.
Say it with me. U-V-X-Y. No more W's.
Currently in Raleigh, NC, where there are an incredible amount of Obama supporters!! It's great but I want to be home to do the work that I think needs to be done in my town of Yelm. I haven't seen any events posted yet there. I'll be driving back in the next couple of weeks, and trying to keep up with this as I drive cross country. Would love to find some supporters on my way that I can photograph and post here. I plan on getting to work very quickly after I get back, voter registration, rallies and the like. I am pumped. I want more people in Yelm to get involved. This is a huge opportunity!!
I believe.
I read where McCan'ts people want him to "spruce" up his image. Apparently, they were shocked by the Portland rally. One of the things they have suggested is for him to wear designer sunglasses that reflect a more youthful image. For some strange reason, I find the concept of a "youthful McCain" to be an oxymoron.
Next, they will probably have McCan't wearing an enameled designer flag pin. Then he will criticize Obama for wearing a generic flag pin. Oops, I forgot, McCan't only wears a flag pin infrequently. Something conservative right wing talk radio seems to ignore.
If the McCan't people really want to do it up right, they need to book better lead in music. Maybe something along the lines of the Cranberries. I know the perfect Theme Song for McCan't:
Zombie
It's the same old theme since 1916In your head, in your head they're still fightin'With their tanks, and their bombsAnd their bombs, and their guns
The far-wrong of the Republican Party in various blogs and articles today were downplaying the significance of the Oregon rally in Waterford Park. There were numeous comments that Oregon is noted as a Liberal state and such a rally is to be expected in someplace like Oregon. The blogs went even further, asserting that if the rally had been in Virginia, it would not have been anywhere near as large as the estimated 74,000 to 82,000 people.
My question to the McCan'ters (Supporters of Sen. John McCant) is this, "Exactly where in the conservative states has McCant had his 75,000 person rallies?
I must have missed them on the news. With all the lobbyists on his payroll, McCant should have gotten Somalian warlords or Saudi princes to back a rally for him somewhere.
Is anyone leading an effort to give voters a ride to the polling locations in North Carolina?
We should be taking advantage of the one-stop early voting opportunity...
We should be hitting colleges, churches, and doing "Rally Ride-Overs" to the polling places after the rallies. We have to get folks to the polls--especially when they're fired up(like me)!
I can see it now--buses of people from all different backgrounds, colors, creeds, and economic levels riding to the polls in droves if done correctly.
Am I the only one thinking like this?
I'm in Georgia, but can fly in to help.
Obama supporters around the world are taking photos of rallies on famous or scenic bridges--the bridge being the ideal symbol for his candidacy.
In Vancouver during the recent international gathering of Democrats Abroad, Obama supporters trooped out to Burrand Bridge with a fantastic Obama banner signed to Barack and Michelle while kayakers paddled far below with their own Obama posters reading "Kayakers for Obama"!
To see the pix and join the effort:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/obamasbridges/
and more Vancouver rally pix at: http://picasaweb.google.de/MichaelSteltzer/ObamaBridgeWalkVancouver2008/photo#5190014301374461938
Other bridges where rallies have already been photographed include the Nelson Mandela Bridge in Johannesburg, the San Angelo bridge in Rome and various bridges over the Danube in Vienna and over the Thames in London.
Coming up this weekend in Istanbul is the Bosphorus Bridge. Sidney Habour bridge in Australia is set for May 3rd and the viaduct at Millau in southern France on May 11th. To see the current list of bridges and Obama groups around the world have targeted, visit: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pvmab7tp2AwW8csp8_uASQA
Yes we SPAN!
You can participate in this project by organizing a bridge photo in your home town!
Visit our site for further info!
I have worked on a lot of campaigns. I've driven elderly voters to the polls, I've stood near entrance ramps to highways in near DC holding signs, made thousands of phone calls, and stuffed a lot of envelopes.
"What can I do?" is the question I've been hearing a lot lately. First, get on the phone, but for those of you that live in PA, IN, and NC, we need to show the political establishment that it is possible to win with grassroots organizing for things campaigns used to pay for.
1. Volunteer to drive voters to the polls.
In the past ward leaders dipped into campaign coffers to pay for drivers, there is no need for this. We have done incredible things across this country the new way - with internet organizing and a volunteer army! We have to show the country we care, and one of the best things you can do for this campaign is to help get every voter to the poll you can - give them the freedom to cast their vote. Don't let age or poverty be a barrier to Democracy! It's also a lot of fun - I heard great stories from older voters about elections held 50 or 60 years ago, the crazy political machines that used to dictate who won, stories about WWII, the depression, and the civil rights movement. You will be tired after a day of doing this, but you'll feel incredible and leave with a greater understanding of our country's people, past, and political process!
2. Be an Obama Ambassador! Put out yard signs, wear Obama gear, write letters to the editor of your local paper, put bumper stickers on your car, and a sign in the window!
Most of all learn the issues, familiarize yourself with what Obama has accomplished in the Senate, state legislature, and as a community activist. I actually sat down and wrote a point by point position paper on why I support Obama so I could more easily communicate my position when speaking to potential voters on the phone and when speaking to friends and neighbors who aren't as involved in politics as I am.
3. Organize a rally for April 19 - NationForChange.com and ObamaBrigade.com have state by state areas on their sites so you can find others in your area and have a rally. In many places they already have rallies planned, but they need you to show up! Make sure you contact local TV stations, newspapers, bloggers, and radio stations to let them know about the rally. Ask them to make an announcement that it's happening and ask them to cover it!
Why do this? We need to show Super Delegates and Pledged Delegates how much support Obama has and that we expect them to support the candidate that voters chose in their district/area.
4. Set Goals - here are some ideas:
Thanks for your time! The primaries may seem far off still, but we need every vote we can get and it will take hard work to win these primaries and unite the party behind the best person for the job, Barack Obama!!!
Stephanie Schiffman Marushia
