My uncle, a die hard republican from Ohio, has been telling me for the last year that he will not, can not vote for Barack, has just sent an email saying that he has early voted for Barack!
What changed his mind was Colin Powell's endorsement and this list of ten reasons Conservatives should vote for Barack Obama.
http://www.uaprogressiveaction.com/node/556
A lifelong Republican from southern Ohio and strong McCain supporter for the last 6 months, switched his vote in the closing hours of this campaign.
Anything is possible!
'Throw the bums out!' — say the bums
From the Boston Globe Letters to the Editor today.
FORGET ABOUT hockey moms and pit bulls. If the answer is "Lipstick," the real question is, "What's the difference between Sarah Palin and George Bush?"
They're both feisty evangelicals who combine surface charm with a my-way-or-the-highway management style. They both believe invading Iraq was a task from God, but protecting the earth from climate change isn't. They both talk freedom while working to restrict it. And they both talk bipartisan while trashing those who disagree with them.
Wait a minute! Bush never made it to the convention, but Palin did. Bush and Palin have never been seen on the same stage together. Is it possible that Palin is Bush in disguise?
One thing is clear: They both work from the same script, and neither seems concerned about whether it's true.JOHN TEMPLE, Barnstable
Please vote against FISA.
I do not believe that there is any benefit in giving up fundamental civil liberties. They are what has made our country great.
We should not be motiviated by fear.
I've been a long-term supporter of yours and want to continue to believe that we can change, that we can turn the page on the old style politics and do the right thing.
Sincerely,Mark from Lexington, MA
Where we started the fight for our freedoms!
McCain: I'd spy on Americans secretly
If elected president, Senator John McCain would reserve the right to run his own warrantless wiretapping program against Americans, based on the theory that the president's wartime powers trump federal criminal statutes and court oversight, according to a statement released by his campaign Monday.
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/06/mccain-id-spy-o.html
Great article on Obama and Israel from the NY Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/opinion/18friedman.html?em&ex=1211428800&en=6d0a4e1874cbb980&ei=5087%0A
"Personally, as an American Jew, I don’t vote for president on the basis of who will be the strongest supporter of Israel. I vote for who will make America strongest. It’s not only because this is my country, first and always, but because the single greatest source of support and protection for Israel is an America that is financially and militarily strong, and globally respected. Nothing would imperil Israel more than an enfeebled, isolated America."
"...under Mr. Bush, America today is neither feared nor respected nor liked in the Middle East, and that his lack of an energy policy for seven years has left Israel’s enemies and America’s enemies — the petro-dictators and the terrorists they support — stronger than ever. The rise of Iran as a threat to Israel today is directly related to Mr. Bush’s failure to succeed in Iraq and to develop alternatives to oil."
"But if Israel is your voting priority, then at least ask the right questions about Mr. Obama. ..focus first on what kind of America you think he’d build and second on whether you believe that as president he’d have the smarts, steel and cunning to seize a historic opportunity if it arises.
Here is an interesting NYT article "Drilling for Defeat" that details how the republican position on the environment has split the republican party.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/magazine/18wwln-phenomenon-t.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
I received an email from friend this morning asking me to consider Hillary as our vice presidential candidate. He felt that having HRC on the ticket would help unite the party. My thoughts follow:
Her management of her campaign was horrible. She makes her decisions based on the latest polling data. Even her own staff was bitterly divided, constantly fighting with each other. She has a huge debt. We might find ourselves paying that debt off if she was the VP candidate.
I turn the channel whenever anyone starts reviewing the exit polls.
There is only division in those numbers.
The only data that matters is how the united people of the USofA vote.
We've seen those results. Obama has won more delegates, more popular vote, more states. He now has an insurmountable lead.
The voters in NC and IN said, quite clearly, let's move forward with Obama and turn the democratic party's focus to McCain and winning the general election.
The voters have spoken, we should listen. No need to spend anymore time on HRC.
We need a president who builds bridges with those with whom we may have disagreements. We need a president who provides opportunities which will allow us to work together. We need a president willing to build bridges between the wealthy and the working class, between Republicans and Democrats; between blacks and whites, even when there may be a political cost for taking that stance. Senator Obama offered Wright an opportunity to work together, to do the right thing. Unfortunately Wright squandered the opportunity he had been given.
There is no other candidate for president holding out a vision of a better America, and the hope that we can be a better people than we have been in the past.
John McCain says I have news for you, there will be more wars. Meanwhile he abandons his "maverick" positions on taxes, torture, and campaign finance reform in order to meet the litmus tests required of the old style politics. He says let's Bomb Iran.
Hillary says it is all about tactics and I'm in my element in the dirty political environment that just won't change. Hillary says, I'd go one better than John McCain, I'd nuke Iran if they attacked Israel.
The choice is so stark. Between hope and despair.
Barack has been successful in energizing so many in our country to believe we can be a better people, a more united people, a country that the rest of the world will look to for leadership once again. He offers leadership that will get us back on the right course once again.
That is a call well worth working and fighting for.
Last night Barack gave another great speech in Philadelphia!
Barack is a truly inspirational leader.
It is indeed time to declare our independence from the cynical politics of division and fear. It is beyond time for us to declare our independence from the lobbyists and special interests who think they control our government.
It is time to declare that we are willing to stand up for change.
It is time to let Washington know we are coming! It is time to let the world know that we will be the change that we have been waiting for.
Signed, The United People of the United States of America.
Global warming has plunged the planet into a crisis and the fossil fuel industries are trying to hide the extent of the problem from the public, NASA's top climate scientist says.
"We've already reached the dangerous level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere," according to James Hansen, 67, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. "But there are ways to solve the problem" of heat-trapping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, which Hansen said has reached the "tipping point" of 385 parts per million.
Hansen calls for phasing out all coal-fired plants by 2030, taxing their emissions until then, and banning the building of new plants unless they are designed to trap and segregate the carbon dioxide they emit.
The major obstacle to saving the planet from its inhabitants is not technology, insisted Hansen, named one of the world's 100 most influential people in 2006 by Time magazine.
"The problem is that 90 percent of energy is fossil fuels. And that is such a huge business, it has permeated our government," he maintained. "What's become clear to me in the past several years is that both the executive branch and the legislative branch are strongly influenced by special fossil fuel interests," he said, referring to the providers of coal, oil and natural gas and the energy industry that burns them.
"You need a new Kyoto protocol with all the major emitters committed to it. Then you are cooking with gas."
Barack delivered yet another amazing and very inspiring speech on the anniversary of Dr. King's death.
At the end of the speech he quotes Dr. King. "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
Then Barack comments –
“But, here's the thing, it does not bend on its own. It bends because each of us, in our own ways, put our hand on that arc and we bend it in the direction of justice, because we organize, we mobilize, we march, we vote, we parent, we're active in our community, we're active in our schools. So on this day of all days let us each do our part to bend that arc, let's bend it towards justice, let's bend that arc towards opportunity, let's bend that arc towards prosperity for all. And if we can do that and march together as one nation and one people, then we won't just be keeping faith with Dr. King's dream, all that he lived and died for. We'll be making real the words of Amos that he invoked so often and said, "Let justice roll down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream."
Here's the speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABdDSxI6eSY
Someone asked last night for help on what to say when making calls to undecided voters.
Here are a couple thoughts. Please add your suggestions!
1) He isn't taking any money from lobbyists2) Ethics - He tells the truth3) He was right on the war. 4) This country has been on the wrong track for the last 7 years and he's the candidate most likely to get us working together and back on track. Many republicans are supporting him. 5) He's for creating green jobs here in the USA that will help our economy, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, lower the price of gas, improve our national security and reduce pollution. 6) The change we need to see in this country is already happening with groups inspired by Obama's leadership - like Obama Works that started in PA and is sweeping the country.
7) Sit back and watch as the super delegates respond to their constituents' request for action.
