BARACK OBAMA and PATRIOTISM

Barack Obama has been a community organizer, a civil rights attorney, and a professor of constitutional law. In both the Illinois and U.S. Senate he tackled ethics reform and been an aggressive advocate for veterans rights.

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Message:	Hey, As the Democratic primary process heats up, we're seeing a lot of politics-as-usual campaign tactics in the media and online. Barack Obama stands for a new kind of politics -- without partisan bickering and smear tactics. Take a minute to read a little bit about Barack and learn why he is the only candidate who represents change we can believe in: http://my.barackobama.com/patriotismfacts Barack was born in Hawaii on August 4th, 1961. His father, Barack Obama Sr., was born and raised in a small village in Kenya. His mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in small-town Kansas. Her father worked on oilrigs during the Depression, and then signed up for World War II after Pearl Harbor, where he marched across Europe in Patton's army. Barack's grandfather taught him to say the Pledge of Allegiance and love his country. After graduating from high school in Honolulu and attending Columbia University in New York, Barack became a community organizer working with churches on the South Side of Chicago. He then attended Harvard Law School, where he was the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review. Barack's patriotism and profound belief in the underlying principles of this country led him to teach Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago. He also worked as a Civil Rights attorney in Chicago, protecting the voting rights of minority communities. Eventually, his commitment to the people in his community led him to run for office as an Illinois State Senator where he served for 8 years representing the 13th district. In the U.S. Senate, as a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, Senator Obama has fought to help Illinois veterans get the disability pay they were promised, while working to prepare the VA for the return of the thousands of veterans who will need care after Iraq and Afghanistan. Barack believes that you show your patriotism by how you treat your fellow Americans and veterans. In November of 2007, General Tony McPeak, Major General J. Scott Gration, and Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig wrote an open letter praising Barack's commitment to our troops and to US veterans. Here's an excerpt: "We also admire his strong support for our troops and veterans. As a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, he has fought to improve care for wounded troops, slash red tape, and reform the disability review process. He also passed legislation to combat homelessness among veterans. As President, he will expand housing vouchers, and launch a new supportive services housing program for at-risk veterans and their families. In addition, he will improve mental health screening and treatment at all levels: from enlistment, to deployment, to reentry into civilian life." I know there's been a lot of Washington smears going around, so I just wanted to send this message and share an honest portrait of Barack Obama. Below is some more information about Barack's patriotism. You can get the facts about Barack and his background by visiting the Obama for America website: http://my.barackobama.com/patriotismfacts --- Here's what others have had to say: ASSOCIATED PRESS: "Obama said, 'My grandfather taught me how to say the Pledge of Allegiance when I was 2...During the Pledge of Allegiance you put your hand over your heart. During the national anthem you sing.' WASHINGTON POST: "Anonymous attacks by e-mail are, or at least should be, un-American. This particular one was also wrong on the facts: the ceremony in question had nothing to do with the pledge of the allegiance.” ST PETERSBURG TIMES: "Danzig, McPeak, Gration: 'Barack Obama Is A Patriot.' 'Senator Obama's attackers are peddling lies and smears because they disagree with his strong opposition to the war in Iraq and the rush to war in Iran,' wrote Richard Danzig, secretary of the Navy under President Bill Clinton, and retired Gens. Merrill "Tony" McPeak and J. Scott Gration. 'We have served this nation for decades, and we know a true patriot when we see one. Barack Obama is a patriot.'" DES MOINES REGISTER: "Still, when a reporter in Iowa asked presidential candidate Barack Obama why he wasn't wearing a pin, it turned into a national news story. The pin, Obama said, 'became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security. I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest.' He rightly noted that some people wearing lapel pins don't act very patriotic. Staff from other campaigns criticized him. One political analyst said the absence of the pin might hurt him politically. Reporters started asking other candidates about the whereabouts of their pins. Perhaps in an image-fixated world, a flag secured to one's lapel speaks louder than words or actions. But Obama is right. It shouldn't."
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Obama for America

BARACK OBAMA and PATRIOTISM

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