In this Discussion
- beckysioux May 2008
- canoe7grape May 2008
- chancefrench11 December 2009
- cross98bengal February 2008
- DJRose May 2008
- dollarflame6 May 2008
- manx9shrine February 2008
- mayonaise January 2008
- moveadvice72 March 2008
- QueenofthePosers February 2008
- target35ghost February 2008
- Tempe Arizona September 2008
- thephantommilk May 2008
- tune1shade April 2008
- week84crab February 2008
- women60banana September 2008
Comments
A President like My Father:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/opinion/...tml?ref=opinion
A President like My Father:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/opinion/...tml?ref=opinion
Wow. I just read that to my mom and dad and Adam - we're all quite moved.
Senator Ted Kennedy is endorsing Obama tomorrow. This is wonderful and amazing; Senator Kennedy is very respected.
It's hard campaining sometimes. Sometimes I help people come to a decision by giving them more information, and that feels incredible. And I meet the nicest people, who tell me really interesting views and stories and thank me for doing what I'm doing as a volunteer. But some ppl are just plain rude and mean- I mean, they say horrible, nasty things. But today I tried imagining that Andy and Damian are going door-to-door at the exact moment I am, and making phone calls at the exact same moment I am, and giving out stickers at the exact same moment I am. This is silly, but it's fun to think about and helps not thinking about the mean ppl.
if you came campaigning to my house, I'd be nice
seriously though, Sally, I think it's really cool that you're so involved in campaigning for what you believe in
oh, and Ted Kennedy's going for Obama as well?
nice.
If I was up in Mass. I would TOTALLY help you campaign. Then we can both take on the mean, nasty, rude people! haha
And if you happen to be in NY at any time, find me, and we'll go Obama crazy! haha I really wish you can come to Barack Rock. You would totally enjoy it.
1) I have not decided who I am going to vote for. I honestly have not been looking into this as much as I should and since Dennis Kucinich has dropped out. I'm a little lost. Let's all take a moment to honor Dennis Kucinich; he is a crazy, but someone has to be.
2) This is directed at NO ONE on the boards, at all. It is just a GENERAL complaint with the political race. You know that I respect your political views and it would be completely against my argument to criticize anyone for taking a stand in what they believe in.
OK? OK.
That being said, I'm currently undecided. That's fine. I have time to figure things out about which candidate I'm going to vote for in the primaries (assuming my absentee ballot comes on time). But I HATE that when I say that I think I might vote for Hillary that I'm bombarded by the fact that her campaign has been pegged as "uncool." It's not hip to like Hillary, despite the fact that her platform isn't half-bad. Sure, she's engaged in all the same political tactics as others, using emotion to get votes. But seriously, both sides are doing it, just is different ways. You don't think that appealing to the general feeling of malaise and disunity in the US by promoting oneself as the unifier might just be another way to appeal to emotion? Surely it's not "fighting back tears," but to say that it's not playing to emotion seems off to me. Plus, there's no way to argue against it. It feels that by saying that I'm just thinking about not voting for Obama, that I'm against unification of the US, which isn't true in the least.
Again, I am seriously considering voting for Obama and I'm sure that Hillary is toting out the same exact tactics. But seriously, I'm so tired of people avoiding talking about policy and instead relying on emotive but empty words. And, yes, it's nice to be on the board and have people give me concrete information about platforms. THAT'S helpful. However, when Hillary's name is booed at Obama rallies, JUST as Obama is booed at Hillary rallies, don't you think that's an indicator of something?
And second, no one should harass you for your views and opinions on the topic. What I think is really cool about all the people here, is that we can have these political discussions and no one is getting blasted or completely criticized for their view.
My roommate and I seriously adored Kucinich. I'm pretty sure we watched the Kucinich on Colbert segment a few too many times. Sure, he wanted to replace the Pentagon with the "Department of Peace," but I genuinely think that he was such a crucial part to the democratic race simply since he could say things that no one else could (since I assume he realized that he probably wouldn't get the votes). I love him.
My sister told me about this girl in her class believes that Obama was a Muslim who became Christian to run for president, that he lived in Iraq, that he's a terrorist, and that we don't know who he is. And when my sister was like, "um, I don't think your sources are accurate," the girl was like, "Yes, they are!" And my sister didn't want to argue b/c this girl is at the top of the class and is all, "I'm smarter than you."
I mean, Obama has been a senator for 12 years, he was born and always has been a Christian, he went to Harvard, and he wrote two books- TWO- about his life. He has laid his life out right there for ppl to scrutinize but instead of reading his books, reading his platform, watching the debates, and examining his record, ppl hear smear campaign rumors and eat them up. Suddenly Hillary is who you vote for if you're a feminist and Obama is who you vote for if you're a South Carolina black person. It's enough to make a person go absolutely mad. I talked to a guy who said, "This damn media should stop talking about race and report this as an ELECTION." He threw in a lot more "damns" and "hells" and I absolutely loved him.
And there have been ppl who flat out said to me that they're voting for Hillary b/c of her husband. So many ppl can't understand that we're electing the leader of a superpower here.
And this morning, I get on the subway, and there's more garbage in the republican paper about Obama. I really, really want to be a good person and a true liberal and accept and tolerate all ideas and publications- but no, what I honestly want to do is grab all of those pieces of trash propaganda and rip them up. The press has an obligation to tell the truth, so why are there nothing but lies and distortions in this paper? Everytime I see someone reading it, I want to tell them, "Those are lies!" But I can't- that would make me a crazy person screeching on the subway. But so what's left? How can a grassroots campaign possibly counter the machinery of right-wing propaganda?
ooo, how awesome would that be?! I'm mostly door-to-door in Cambridge, Alston and Brighton, but if I ever see you, eee! We should have hot chocolate!
And if you happen to be in NY at any time, find me, and we'll go Obama crazy! haha I really wish you can come to Barack Rock. You would totally enjoy it.
oo, yes! We would be Bret and Jemaine team-worthy! And we'd have songs! I wish I could go- Obama fundraiser and OK Go? Why, that's a magic combination! Ta-dah!
But I'm so glad you're going! I can't wait to hear all about it! And piccies, please! It'll be fantastic!
And thanks, guys- you're so nice! I wouldn't say it's particularly admirable tho...It's just that he's a person of true goodness, virtue, honor and justice: he embodies everything we value. We need such an amazing leader; it's been a long time since someone of such truth and caring has entered our political arena. It hurts to think we could lose him. I only campaign b/c otherwise, I'd be overwhelmed by helplessness and afraid that dirty politics would prevail again.
Edit:
I got there and had to be seated in an overflow room where we'd only get audio of her speech. It didn't matter. She was amazing. I only wish I didn't have to leave before she finished (Stupid one hour lunch, I was even a half hour late coming back). That decision is so made. Caroline Kennedy is 100% right.
http://dailykos.com/story/2008/1/31/14828/7435/444/447054
That, my darlings, is a FRONT PAGE Daily Kos article written by my dear husband on this afternoon's event.
I know this might not be the right place for it, but I just want to thank you guys, I think I never had so much interest in politics before I started reading here, all your knowledge amazes me and it feels so good to actually talk about the views to others and have your insights as arguments and I can't help it, I always thought politics is like the most boring thing ever, but right now I'm awfully interested.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/us/polit...amp;oref=slogin
"The history of the bill shows Mr. Obama navigating a home-state controversy that pitted two important constituencies against each other and tested his skills as a legislative infighter. On one side were neighbors of several nuclear plants upset that low-level radioactive leaks had gone unreported for years; on the other was Exelon, the country’s largest nuclear plant operator and one of Mr. Obama’s largest sources of campaign money.
Since 2003, executives and employees of Exelon, which is based in Illinois, have contributed at least $227,000 to Mr. Obama’s campaigns for the United States Senate and for president. Two top Exelon officials, Frank M. Clark, executive vice president, and John W. Rogers Jr., a director, are among his largest fund-raisers.
...
The Obama campaign said in written responses to questions that Mr. Obama “never discussed this issue or this bill” with Mr. Axelrod. The campaign acknowledged that Exelon executives had met with Mr. Obama’s staff about the bill, as had concerned residents, environmentalists and regulators. It said the revisions resulted not from any influence by Exelon, but as a necessary response to a legislative roadblock put up by Republicans, who controlled the Senate at the time.
“If Senator Obama had listened to industry demands, he wouldn’t have repeatedly criticized Exelon in the press, introduced the bill and then fought for months to get action on it,” the campaign said. “Since he has over a decade of legislative experience, Senator Obama knows that it’s very difficult to pass a perfect bill.”
Asked why Mr. Obama had cited it as an accomplishment while campaigning for president, the campaign noted that after the senator introduced his bill, nuclear plants started making such reports on a voluntary basis. The campaign did not directly address the question of why Mr. Obama had told Iowa voters that the legislation had passed.
...
In place of the straightforward reporting requirements was new language giving the nuclear commission two years to come up with its own regulations. The bill said that the commission “shall consider” — not require — immediate public notification, and also take into account the findings of a task force it set up to study the tritium leaks.
By then, the task force had already concluded that “existing reporting requirements for abnormal spills and leaks are at a level that is risk-informed and appropriate.”
The rewritten bill also contained the new wording sought by Exelon making it clear that state and local authorities would have no regulatory oversight of nuclear power plants."
I sent in my absentee ballot yesterday. I'm not going to say who I voted for, but I will say that no matter who becomes the democratic candidate, I actually feel OK backing either.
Go voting go!
It's been a long day. I started with phonecalls. And I went door-to-door in Sommerville today. And I worked really hard- like, State House to City Hall to Elections Division Building to MBTA legal offices to even the governor's office hard- to get a permit to campaign in the MBTA, and so I've been doing that these past few days. And today, I also added on hours of visibility: from the Common to the shopping district to the rich shopping district to the bohemian shopping district (aka Downtown Crossing, Newburry, Harvard Square). I think I lost 10 pounds today. And yeah, when I met haters, I put them in their place, particularly 1) girls claiming all women should vote for a woman (I'm sorry- I didn't know having a you-know-what made you a good person...Would you vote for Ann Coulter? How about Hitler's gf? Try thinking about the issues instead of bodyparts. 2) People claiming Obama doesn't say the pledge (wooow. You believe the smear campaign lies of Billary? She actually left robocall messages full of lies about EDWARDS and you believe her? If you don't believe tabloids, why why would you believe Billary's corrupt smear campaign lies? If you actually cared about being an informed voter, you could watch sessions of Congress on PBS where Obama actually leads the pledge. Better yet, go read Obama's books! He wrote TWO, for God's sake! 3) Ppl who claim Billary has more experience. Billary had 7 years in the senate. Obama had TWELVE. Billary's only experience comes from being married. She has the same experience as Monica Lewinsky. Why don't you vote for Monica? 4)A**holes who are like, "omg, Obama supports nuclear power." Hey, a**, France is run heavily on nuclear power. Nuclear power is actually SAFER than what we have now...I totally scared that kid....I kind of screamed that I'm a physicist and he's grossly misinformed, not a good tactic, according to my friends who were with me. But he said he would be voting for Nader anyway, so I didn't lose a potential voter (oh, b/c you want another case of "Bush is re-elected b/c Gore's votes went to Nader"?)
And now I'm losing my voice. But I'm still campaigning tomorrow and Monday..and until he wins. Barack Obama is honest (the ONLY candidate to have ZERO lobbyist money...hmmm, Billary has a lot of interest money and her health plan in the 90s failed b/c she sold out to the interest groups. In fact, she worked for anti-union Walmart. When Obama found out a donor was a corrupt guy, he gave the $19,000 to charity) and good (he turned down lucrative jobs after graduating from Harvard Law so he could become civil rights lawyer and help the disadvantaged in the streets of Chicago). He is a man of benevolence and peace (the ONLY candidate who opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning). He is a man of what it really means to hope and dream and achieve; he is a man of justice and fairness; he is a man who embodies American values and ideals. He is a leader for the ages and we need him. We really need him.
Rachel! Adam's piece is awesome!!! Yay!!!!
I usually spend 1-4 hours a day campaigning...I spent 12 hours campaigning today...I'm pooped.
edit: I am sick and tired of Billary's "win at all costs- honor be damned" campaign. She just compared Obama to Bush. What a total BITCH. What was her idiotic reasoning? "Bush was a risk just as Obama is a risk." Ummm, what??
And of course Bill is now visiting all the black churches in LA. Wait, I forget- which Clinton is running for president again?
Listen, first of all, I'm totally for Barack. I think he's a good speaker and would be a great democratic candidate. The article was to point out that NO ONE's perfect, to give the other side of the story. Especially with your above statement. I mean, the article clearly states that Excelon has been giving Barack huge contributions towards his presidential race (Since 2003, executives and employees of Exelon, which is based in Illinois, have contributed at least $227,000 to Mr. Obama’s campaigns for the United States Senate and for president. Two top Exelon officials, Frank M. Clark, executive vice president, and John W. Rogers Jr., a director, are among his largest fund-raisers.") Maybe it doesn't count as "lobbyist" money, but to say that it doesn't count just doesn't make sense.
Um, and the potential first lady almost always campaigns for their spouse. Bill may be an asshole sometimes, but he has just as much a right to campaign for Hillary as Michelle does for Obama.
As for spouses- to my knowledge, none of the other candidates' spouses are using the celebrity power of being a former president. Bill's not saying, "vote for Hillary," he's saying, "I've done a lot for the black community. Remember that when you see my family name on the ballot." Moreover, Bill has made a lot of distortions and negative comments, enough to make a rep of SC ask him to "chill," as I've described in an earlier post. Bill's not being a supportive spouse: he's being a dirty politician who wants to be in the white house for a third time.
I am more than willing to hear Obama's plan, but honestly, what I'm concerned about now is how the candidates plan on handling our economy's current crumbling (17,000 jobs were lost in January, all the meanwhile, the Pentagon is asking for the highest annual budget since WWII). It will be hard to revolutionize the education system (something that, I COMPLETELY agree, needs to be done) unless there's a steady base on which to build it.
Here's what I know, c/p'ed from my blog:
Obama's plans, on the other hand, can be described as functioning through "behavioral economics." That is, his plan centers on the belief that what happens and what works on paper is not necessarily going to happen or work in real life. Writes Leonhardt:
"The problem with Mrs. Clinton's savings plan, according to the Obama view, is that many people won’t save even when they are offered subsidies to do so. After all, many workers who are eligible for 401(k) matching funds don’t take advantage of them now.
So Mr. Obama would instead require companies to deduct money automatically from their employees’ paychecks and place it in a savings account the employee owned. Employees could opt out of the program. But if they did nothing, they would end up saving money. It’s an idea that comes directly from academic research showing that savings rates have jumped when individual companies have adopted such plans...
Mr. Obama isn’t opposed to narrow tax credits, but his agenda isn’t organized around them. Instead, he has proposed an across-the-board $1,000 tax cut for every family in the bottom 90 percent or so of the income distribution. As he notes, the middle-class squeeze is caused by slow-growing wages and the rising cost of energy, education and health care. It’s not a narrow problem."
In short, Clinton's plans, while pretty enough on paper, just aren't as substantive and safe as Obama's. She's got the butter but not the bread.
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/02/business/02leonhardt.html
btw, La Opinion, Ethel Kennedy (RFK's widow), Susan Eisenhower, moveon.org... and Garrison Keillor just endorsed him. Prairie Home Companion, hahaha, that's so random.