Obama talks to students, BIG DEAL!

Wow. Talk about make something out of nothing and yes, I know the democrats did the a similar things when Bush was president. But, there is a difference with saying you don't agree with it and attacking him, saying he is a socialist or commie. I get tired of what people are doing and calling it "politics". Washington folks are in a big business to keep their asses up there, so they can speak (many times incorrectly) for the people and at the same time keep their prostitutes (lobbyists, big business, and yes even a few women or men...) Hell I think both sides may not even believe what they say but will say it if it keeps them up there with great perks, health benefits, and all the pork they want.

OK, back to the Obama speech to kids. I got tired of hearing it on the news and reading both points of view, so I had a bright idea. Get the information from the actual source and think for myself. Check out details on White House Gov. Man are kids going to be disappointed when they hear him talk about hard work and importance of education and setting goals. The materials listed on the site seem to be very helpful discussion to kids as well. Nothing troubling if you are a democrat, republican, socialist, communist, or martian...

I guess I can expect it out of the politicians but don't really get it from typical American folk.
Presidents have done it in the past and in a time of economic hardship and kids struggling as well why not try to motivate kids to do their best. Obama is not gonna brainwash our kids. Don't the kids see all sorts of stuff on the news, movies, music, and real life that parents may not agree with? This would be a good opportunity for them to print out the 6 min. speech and read it the day before and discuss with their kids what they agree and disagree with. If parents do this then their is nothing to worry about, except for a kid who will grow up and think for themselves....

One day I will wake up and find out in order for our kids to be friends, we will have to be apart of the same political party :)

Hell, many kids sit at home playing Grand Theft Auto where you can steal cars, rape women, and create a gang. Well maybe letting the kids stay home and play that Tuesday would be better. So the kids can learn capitalism from the streets :)

Obama Wins!

WOW, he won. America made history! That's a wonderful milestone, but not the reason so many of us voted for him... I was excited to see overall turnout so high. Young people not only voted, but volunteered in large numbers.

Obama has a huge database of excited volunteers, imagine if he leverages the Internet, as he did in his campaign, and uses it to motivate, challenge, and empower those volunteers. Turn them into the Obama Ground Team. The team could be dispatched to help during a crisis or various key initiatives. Through the Internet he can engage with so many people and motivate them to action. I would love to see this!!!!!

I really appreciated his speech last night. My hope, is he can now work across party lines, bring the nation together, and get things done!




I cannot do the night justice, so I'm posting an article about Obama's speech from Ragan Communications. By Fraser Seitel (A Republican)

Maybe, just maybe, Barack Obama really is different.

Maybe he is not at all like the men who preceded him in the White House or the self-righteous blowhards with whom he worked in the Senate. Frankly, I’m not convinced (Hey, I voted for John McCain, so shoot me!).

But … if his victory speech this morning was any indication, president-elect Obama may be very different indeed.

His speech declaring presidential victory was unlike any in history.

Traditionally, election night victory speeches are perfunctory and formulaic: 1.) Talk about how “humbled” you are, 2.) acknowledge your opponent, 3.) thank your supporters and family and 4.) mention the “challenge ahead” and then start partying.

Most such November victory speeches are quickly filed in the dustbin of history. (John F. Kennedy in Hyannis in 1960 simply read conciliatory telegrams from President Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon, thanked the people, and left.)

But Obama’s 16-minute oration, begun promptly at the stroke of midnight ET, was something different.

The rhetoric—word choice and syntax—was soaring. The delivery—emphasis, cadence, eye contact, gestures—was inspired. And the speech construction was unlike any previous presidential victory speech in our history.

1. The opening "moment."

Out of the gate, Obama confronted—with neither preamble nor overstatement nor false humility—the overwhelming significance of this moment in America.

“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.”

It took but this simple, stunning opening sentence to summarize the unprecedented, historic occurrence.

Immediately on display were Obama’s subtle mastery of the rhetorical rule of threes to prove his points and the use of staccato lists—“young and old, rich and poor, Democrats and Republicans, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and non-disabled”—to drive home his promise as a leader bent on unifying.

His opening point—that “change has come to America” —required no further substantiation.

2. Respect.

Next, the new president acknowledged the man who had been his adversary for the last year. Again, this is standard.

But while Bill Clinton casually recognized Bob Dole and George Bush briefly alluded to John Kerry, Barack Obama took quality time to praise the merits and measure of the man he had just soundly beaten.

“He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he’s fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifice for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.”

It seemed heartfelt and sincere—the opposite of what one feels when Clinton speaks. This was different.

3. The thank you.

The obligatory “thank yous” also began like all the speeches that came before—acknowledging running mate, family, campaign workers. But then Obama suddenly switched oratorical fields and focused on those “hard-working, middle-class folks” to whom he was most indebted.

“It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston … built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give the five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause.”

Once again, with simple language and well-chosen words, Obama had honored the spirit of the millions along the way who had flocked to see him and captured, with eloquence, the context that had resulted in this landslide.

4. The mission.

Where his predecessors had been content to bask in the glory of the victory moment and let the big issues wait for another day, Obama was all business. He quoted Abraham Lincoln and called for action to meet the litany of challenges the nation faced.

“Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers—in this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people.”

It was as if there was so much to do, the new president didn’t have time to wait for tomorrow. The call to mission was that pointed; the delivery of the message that urgent.

5. One last living metaphor.

And finally, this new president with the new speaking style, needed to cite one last, living metaphor.

He chose a black woman he had met along the campaign trail, who cast her ballot in Atlanta—“like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election, except for one thing—Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.”

And thereupon, Obama launched into a brief historical tour, through war and Depression, through segregation and assassination, ending with the election of the nation’s first black president.

Cooper’s journey—a metaphor for the hope and promise of positive change in America—was a fitting way to conclude a remarkable victory address on a memorable, historic evening.

Fraser Seitel has been a communications counselor, lecturer, TV commentator and teacher for 30 years, and is a prominent public relations author. He can be reached at yusake@aol.com.

Final round

The final days of the election are before us. If Obama wins, I hope he can live up to the expectations he has set and others are setting for him. I know I have my expectations of change in the government, health care reform, economy, poverty, and better global relations. WOW can anyone meet these demands with the situation things are in? In reality we should not look to the president for these solution, we as individuals, communities, organizations, churches need to push for change and make it happen from the bottom up. That is what has started change since the beginning of our country.

HOPE....CHANGE....

Obama gets Colin Powell's endorsement

He still draws huge crowds, tons of new voters, and in Republican states draws crowds of over 100,000.

If Obama becomes president can he live up to everyone's expectations? His campaign is built around "grassroots" effort and ideals based on "hope" and "change". Is real change possible?? Yes. Is it possible now? We will see...

RNC Week

Since I watch the DNC all last week, I thought it was only fair to watch the RNC this week. Few random comments about what I saw:

• OK, he was a POW years ago, I get it. I respect that, but think it is overkill now. His POW story may show part of his character, but I felt like that was the main theme. That and how we won't be protected if Obama gets into office. POW does not mean you will make a good president.
  
• If I hear "Maverick" one more time, I'm going to puke. From what I know he voted with Republicans a large percent of the time and his maverick days have far gone. Now, he's claiming he can be the solution and a critic of politics in Washington, when he has played the game forever.
  
• Did you see how negative every one's speech was, directly at Obama and his ideals. I was amazed how condescending and hateful they were. You can attack political views without being hateful. Also, these ideals are millions of peoples ideals and they laughed at them. Not a way to win people over.
  
• McCain did OK on his speech. I found it interesting how "nice" he was compared to all the other speeches. Some interesting themes:
• I will fight for you, I will fight corruption, We will fight, fight with me
  
• Change - Guess this was working to good for Obama
• He did things because it was right, Obama because he wants a career as president
• Vote for Obama and taxes will increase. Hey, McCain how are you gonna pay for everything, including the wars we are in? Let's borrow money from China and make our grandkids worry about it.
  
• What I did not hear this week
• Real solutions and how to pay for them, Obama made some attempt, but not much either
• Sounds like they do not know who the middle class are
• Social justice
• How we deal with world situations and our current reputation
  
• Hey where was George and Dick. Funny how they acted like they did not know them
  

Here is a good summary of his speech.

Obama's DNC Speach

A great American story. From simple beginnings, attended Harvard and became the first African American president of Harvard Law School. He turned down the high paying jobs to work on community development, was elected to the Senate, and now the first African American to be a democratic nominee.

I watched the DNC all week. Tonight 90,000 supporters filled the stadium and millions watched on TV. Obama's speech is historic and on the anniversary of MLKs "I Had A Dream" speech. Obama gave a wonderful acceptance speech.

I am proud of him because along his path, he touched peoples lives and used these experiences to take action and become a voice of hope. He is not Superman! There is no way any president could solve all the issues in 8 years. But, maybe he can start changing how Washington works and make it more transparent. Maybe he will inspire us all to make change for the positive. Even if that means sacrifices. Whatever he does, he will not live up to anyones expectations....

I am also proud that he ran his campaign in a more positive and grassroots way. It amazes me to see the weekly house parties and voter registrations going on for Obama. He has leveraged the Internet, not just for donations, but to help bring people together and including them in the campaign. Did you know most of his donation are $50 or less.

What is the right experience to become president?
I think it is the only job, without a real list of prerequisites and that amazes me, since it is the most important job in America. JFK and Clinton were both said to not have enough experience. Yet their experience and leadership lead this country to better places. I just hope unlike Clinton and Edwards, Obama really does have the better judgment when it comes to his libido. Specially, if Obama Girl is close by....


Obama's DNC speech mentioned:

• Environment
• Energy solution, not just drilling and we need to act now
• Education - better education, teacher pay, affordable college education for all
• Poverty
  
• Health care - Lower premiums, get coverage as good as Congress, stop discrimination of chronically sick, require employers to provide paid sick days and leave
• Economy
• Income - fair wage for all, equal pay

All of the changes cost money, how does he plan to pay for it?

• Close corporate loops holes
• Eliminate programs in the federal budget that does not work
• Government can lead, but we all have a part how we impact our community, families, and the world. From the light bulbs we use to fathers taking responsibilities for their kids.

Obama said we may not agree on things, but can work together on solutions that will help all.

• Reduce abortions, even if it is legal
• May not agree on same sex marriage, but allow them rights (visit partner in hospital)
  
• Immigration - As we try to figure out the problem, treat them fairly with good judgment
• War - As a last resort. Work with other world leaders in a more willing way. Need better ways to deal with terrorists. Can't Help Georgia due to lack of resources and manpower
• World politics - Restore what we stand for and how we treat other countries
• Character - Wont tear down McCain, it is about politics and we need to all work together as America, not left or right. We should disagree respectfully, but work together.
  
• Politics - Trying to scare people to vote using untrue tactics should stop.

Obama used a quote from MLK:
"Something is stirring. We want change in the political system and it comes when we as Americans rise up and are given hope that we make a difference."

My thoughts?
Like every acceptance speech, it is full of promises and little proof of a plan to pay for it. Obama's was no different. But, unlike others since JKF, Obama seems to connect people and give them hope.

"America our destiny is linked to each other, we can't walk alone, must march ahead".
Is Obama the one who can lead us, inspire us, give us hope and start the change in Washington we need? I hope so. I am voting on it.

I know he is a good speaker and people say he has nothing else to offer. But that is too simplistic. As I watched his speech, I was moved because I am inspired by him and the hopes and dreams he has for the country. Not only for me and my kids but the "least of these" in the US and around the world. What each of us do and how our country responds to other nations not only affect us and generations to come, but others all over the world. I believe Obama gets that.

It is easier to worry about our pile of stuff, we don't want to dare think we have a moral responsibility to worry about others, specially if they are not next store or think the same way we do..... The oppression or struggles others face will eventually affect us and it is happening now with the mortgage crisis, poverty around the world, and government borrowing from China to operate, global warming, and the oil situation. We are encouraged to spend money to make the economy better, while our credit card debt is the highest in the world. There has to be a balance and right now as a whole we tipped the scales and need to be smarter as individuals and a country on who we owe and how we operate. As individuals we can make a difference, but the Government should be an example and inspire us.

I hope for a better world. Helping other countries and dealing with situations in a more diplomatic fashion. Even if you have to say "OK, that did not work, lets regroup and figure this out."

May the next 3 months come quickly. I am addicted to CNN and tired of watching the pundits. Next week is the RNC and I plan to watch it with an open mind as well, but my vote is already going to Obama. So maybe I will watch it with a closed mind :)

Research & Vote

I have seen a few sites similar to http://glassbooth.org/, but this site not only lets you see what candidate your most aligned with, but allows you to compare many of the issues in detail, including quotes and votes on issues. It displays your rank vs. theirs.

No matter who you vote for, take this quiz and check out the details. It is a good indicator.

My family is gonna see I am one of those liberals... Who the heck is Mike Gravel?

• Mike Gravel 80% similarity


• Barack Obama 78% similarity


• Hillary Clinton 74% similarity

Go shop and save our economy

The bells are ringing again. First, after 911 the government asked us to show our patriotism by shopping to stimulate the economy.

Now the economy is in trouble again. The government plans to borrow money from China, to send it to all its citizens, in hopes they will go out and shop.... If it even works, it is such a short term gain. It does not fix the situation, but adds more debt for us to worry about.

I struggle with this, because I am not gonna send the money back. We have plans to pay down our own debt on loans or the dreadful credit cards. We have a personal deficit because we decided to be a single family income in order for the kids to have a parent at home and like a lot of people we also have many unexpected medical bills.

Few thoughts:

• We are very luck to be able to have a parent home and stay afloat
• I hate to see so many people with the mortgage crisis, but wonder how many were trying to keep up with the Jones, and buy a house they really could not afford using an adjustable or interest only to pay for it. On the other hand I see how expensive houses are getting and maybe this is a result of the overall inflated housing market, things are never as black and white as they seem.
  
• This stimulus package, does not fix the issues with economy - loss of jobs, gas prices, investments being low, and at the same time corporate profits at all time high. Something else has to change.
• It makes me sad to see so many people struggling and how easy it is for them to become faceless or a statistic
• I was emailed this letter about the tax rebate and found it compelling, thought I would share it:

Open letter to: President George W. Bush

First of all, we want to thank you for your hard work and efficient cooperation in responding to the growing crisis in the U.S. economy. This is a model of bipartisanship that many citizens, of every persuasion, long to see and rightfully expect.

Nevertheless, we also want to voice some deep and abiding questions about the economic stimulus legislation approved by Congress and signed into law by President Bush on February 13.

Individuals in our congregation have varied opinions about the relative effectiveness of this legislation—not unlike many other citizens. What we are in agreement on, however, is the deliberation leading to this federal action appears to have neglected more fundamental questions: Whose economy is in fact being stimulated? What vision is being served? Which arrangements are being strengthened and which are being breached?

Your own statistical research offices continue to document a frightening, and escalating, pattern of economic disparity both in the U.S. and between the U.S. and the larger family of nations. In our judgment, it is politically dangerous, economically unstable and environmentally ruinous.

In the language of our faith, this massive disparity is a sin, the evidence of spiritual distress. Our Scripture, tradition and conscience are insistent at this point: being faithful to God and constructing just relations within the human community (and with the earth itself) are parallel commitments.

We assure you that we are committed to fruitful economic activity. We are thankful for those individuals and groups who labor creatively and intelligently to create wealth. But, again, the questions arise: Wealth for whom? Under what terms? In whose favor?

We claim no privileged expertise in formulating economic policies that would foster more equitable sharing of the earth’s resources. Neither do we believe that our Scripture, tradition and conscience have ready-made answers. That task rightly belongs to a much wider mix of people willing to work hard and negotiate long, with intelligence and passion, for the sake of the common good.

We do believe, though, that there must be more commonness in the good we pursue.

We expressly do not believe that shopping is an appropriate response to our collective trauma—whether it be that of the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, or the crumbling lives now caught in our tumbling economic outlook. There is something fundamentally awry in this assumption. Our gluttony, literally and figuratively, is laying waste to our commonweal.

We are not ascetics, at least in the way most people understand that term. Our congregation shares wonderful potluck feasts after our weekly worship service. A frequent invitation at our communion table is “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). We say amen to the teaching from the Jewish Talmud Yerushalmi: “On Judgment Day God will hold us accountable for the permitted pleasures we failed to enjoy.” We celebrate God’s promise of “the fatness of the earth” (Genesis 27:28) and echo the psalmist’s confidence: “I believe that I shall see the goodness of God in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13).

But the Bible also speaks of “fatness” in a profoundly different and troubling way: The wicked “have no pangs. . . pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes swell out with fatness, their hearts overflow with follies. They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression” (Psalms 73:4-8).

We fear that our nation has become infatuated with security, with eyes swollen shut to the reality that the only lasting security is mutual security; that terror cannot be overcome with more terror; that clenched fists cannot unravel the legacies of discord and enmity that inflict neighborhoods and nations alike.

Given our convictions about what it means to follow Jesus, and given our dismay over the skewed perceptions and scandalous policies governing current economic arrangements, we pledge that members of our congregation will donate all or part (at minimum, a 10% tithe) of the expected tax rebate to organizations that foster the well-being of people on the economic margins. We also pledge to encourage other communities of faith and conscience to make similar commitments.

To be sure, this is a modest step and—if the harvest of peace is to be sown in justice—must be accompanied by many other personal and public commitments. Our hope is that enough others will make similar pledges and create the political will needed to nudge our nation away from current arrangements and toward new solutions rooted in restored imagination and renewed moral clarity.

All such commitments will come at a cost. We believe the consequence is worth the cost. Which is why we ask you, our nation’s leaders, to go back to your chambers to ponder a different set of questions and formulate a different set of policies.

Respectfully, and with appreciation for the burdens of your duty,


The Circle of Mercy Congregation
Asheville, N.C.