I awoke early at 5:30am to get ready for the election. Though election day was not a fashion show, I could not show up dawdy looking because if Barack got elected, I could not had told my children that I was in wrinkled garb! Like Sheryl Underwood said on the Tom Joyner Morning Show. Initially I was going to wear my silver turtleneck with matching slacks but after watching the weather report, I changed to wearing my Ann Taylor sweater. Hey I got to put on the good stuff!
Walking to my polling place at 6:58am, there was a line around the corner past M Street, the Union Club and a couple of embassies. Initially I thought that I would be finished by 10am enabling me to still complete all of my daily tasks. Immediately upon my arrival, two more men came and we discussed everything: the election, where we came from and previously voted (I voted in Virginia and Ohio and one man voted in Florida), and debated voter fraud (Though one man asserted that there was fraud on both sides. I disagreed because when Republicans proclaim voter fraud that was a dig towards black people. They feared our high turnout so they said these people were more susceptible to voter fraud!), and the DC metro area (One man exclaimed that though he liked residing in Wisconsin, he was an East Coast dude now. Even with the snow I could not see myself abandoning Cleveland. It was my birthplace and I had not morphed into this big time person enough to move on from it! It was too hard to shelve 28 years of my life over career progress!).
Though I heard many blacks' retelling how emotional it was to cast their ballots for Barack, the spirit did not well up in me because I had been voting for 12 years. Though a viable black presidential candidate was new, exercising my full franchise was not. So I waited in line for thirty-five minutes then a man asked me if my last name was between I and L, I replied yes, he instructed me to head into the church where I verified my address (I took my voter identification card just in case there was a mix-up. www.barackobama.com listed my Virginia address and polling place in its reminder email), took the blue ticket stub and waited in line to vote.
The DC electronic voting process was different than the Ohio and Virginia punch card balloting. I took this huge sheet of paper, penciled in the arrow for the candidate of my choice then waited in another line to feed it into this electronic feeder which read my vote! The elderly woman volunteered shouted at us to stand behind the line. I told the lady in front of me that she was a retired school teacher who commandeered her charges in one single-file line against the lockers!. She called my name and I fed my paper ballot into the electronic voting machine. Exiting the church I was rejuvenated to see the long lines because all of them are voting for Barack Obama.
Entering my apartment building to I talked to the front desk lady about casting my vote. I told her the reason why I finished early was because my last name was Jenkins. She replied that was the shortest line. Her surname started with a B then the lightbulb went off that she had to stand in line with all of the people named Brown and Black. Right after that my apartment I turned on my TV to see CNN and watch Senator Barack Obama cast his ballot!
http://www.nationaljournal.com/congressdaily/cda_20080910_6421.php?
TECHNOLOGY Tech Czar Might Rule Policy Under Obama
Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008
An administration run by Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., would likely create a national technology czar with broad authority to develop policy, elevating high-tech issues to the cabinet level in a major recalibration of the government's approach to regulating the communications sector.
The move would have substantial implications for the FCC, an independent agency that could be answerable to a new layer of bureaucracy or bolstered by it, depending on political circumstances.
The plan is being floated by the Democratic presidential nominee's top tech-minded advisers and supporters, including FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, widely viewed as a contender to run the agency if Obama is elected.
"There's a need for a single source at a White House level to coordinate technology policy across different agencies," Adelstein told CongressDaily late last month after a speech in Denver at the Democratic National Convention.
"They're extremely serious about it," he said of the Obama team, describing the proposal as a "fundamental tenet" of the Democratic nominee's tech agenda.
A chief technology officer would play a lead role in developing national broadband policy, drawing on the expertise of a wide range of departments, including Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, EPA, HHS, HUD and Treasury.
The appointee also might coordinate inter-agency efforts to establish tax certificates designed to boost minority ownership of media properties, oversee spectrum policy and help improve the government's reliance on information technology.
But the idea of a federal tech czar is proving highly controversial, with critics raising concerns about the level of authority he or she would have and increased prospects for turf battles and gridlock that could undermine the overarching goal.
They emphasized that the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy already tackles some responsibilities the CTO would be tasked with.
At a communications forum in July, three of Adelstein's FCC colleagues expressed caution.
Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps said he prefers to make the agency more independent rather than "politicizing" tech issues at the White House, although he is open to a more narrowly focused national broadband czar.
Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell suggested that each party's view of a CTO hinges on whether it controls the executive branch, while fellow GOP Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate also worried about harming the commission's independence.
Adelstein dismissed concerns that more bureaucracy and bickering would result. "I really think that there can be better coordination. The FCC alone can't deal with all of these issues," he said, adding that there is a need for a "central focus" on high-tech matters in the White House.
He insisted the proposal is not a byproduct of recent controversy about the commission's approach to regulation. "I think it's really a positive vision for how to improve and deal with some of the inadequacies of the last eight years," he said, referring to the Bush administration, which has been criticized by Democrats for ineffective regulations governing media and telecom companies.
Bill Kennard, who headed the FCC during the Clinton administration and is now a telecom and tech adviser to the Obama campaign, said no determination has been made about which government department, if any, a CTO would join. "We haven't gotten to that level of detail," he said. Kennard is now a managing director with the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm.
Ed Black, president of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, was cautiously supportive, noting during an interview in Denver that a CTO would send a "symbolic message" about Obama's commitment to making technology a bigger priority.
But he cautioned that the new title is not a "silver bullet" for fixing years of what he insists has been neglect. "Such a person can be an advocate and a centralized place to get information," he said.
There have been technology officers at various agencies and departments in the Bush and Clinton administrations but there has never been a government-wide CTO.
Last year, the White House closed its Technology Administration, a division of the Commerce Department, and eliminated the title of undersecretary of technology, a role widely viewed as weak and ineffectual.
The Democratic Party platform calls for creating a CTO "to ensure we use technology to enhance the functioning, transparency and expertise of government," while the GOP platform does not broach the matter.
"I don't think that making a new presidential appointment and adding a layer to the federal government" is the solution, said former CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a senior policy adviser to the campaign of Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona during a recent interview with C-SPAN.
by David Hatch
Prior to moving to Puerto Rico, I voted in 4 presidential elections. I am about to miss my 4th as an unenfranchised citizen. People should know that 1.3% of the US population has this status. We, as citizens of the USA, cannot vote for our leader, the most powerful person on earth. Now, if I were to move to, say, Russia, I believe I could vote. I would simply register with my last state of residence and request an absentee ballot. Not so for those of us in Puerto Rico, or Guam, etc.
This time it hurts worse than most (though I yearned to vote against Bush twice). That is because there is finally a candidate I want to vote FOR.
http://www.commonblog.com/story/2008/8/22/123647/812
Where do the two major party candidates stand on the media reform issues we highlight in our new report, "Media and Democracy in America Today: A Reform Plan for a New Administration"?
It's a mixed bag.
McCain has a strong record of supporting Low Power FM Radio, increasing diversity of media ownership, funding public broadcasting and free air time for campaigns. However, he has opposed stopping media consolidation and is against net neutrality.
Obama on the other hand has been a vocal supporter of net neutrality and has actively opposed media consolidation. While generally good on most of the issues we highlight in the new report, he has less of a record to show for it.
And there are gaps in our knowledge. That's why we would like to hear from their campaigns and anyone else who can tell us where they stand on issues like reforming the processes at the Federal Communications Commission and if they support PEG Access TV.
We have a full chart of their stands on the issues we raise in our new report - as far as we know them. Check it out, and let us know if you have any more information.
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I am happy to read above that Obama has been a "... vocal supporter of net neutrality and has actively opposed media consolidation." However, my prime media issue is PEG Access TV. From this web site, link to Common Causes' "full chart of their (Obama's and McCain's) stands on the issues." Follow that chart to "Public Access (PEG)". Under Obama, you'll see no finding concerning Obama's stated position or legislative record on Public Access (PEG).
How does a voter find out Barack Obama's views on Public Access (PEG)?!
Wallace Stuart
