Context Is Everything

It makes me think about Barack's grandparents.  About the colossal amount of crap they must have endured for loving and helping to raise their African American grandson.

Thanks Al for posting this video.  I know I could have gone to YouTube and tried to find it, but honesly, I didn't think of it.  Now, I have been able to email it everyone I know, and ask them to send it on to their friends.  Of course, I cried again watching it.  I am so grateful to you, and my fellow Field Hands, and all the millions of us working to elect this human being President of the United States.

Going to Digg it.  Thanks, Al, really, thank you.

My eyes welled up. And I'm a dude.

Wonderful post. Thanks for it.

Speaking as a film editor, but when communicating in any form, the trick is getting the format and length right.  Is this a 30 second idea?  Is this a novel?  Is this a magazine article?  A good idea can get buried under the weight of an overly ambitious execution.  This past week was such a satisfying one, seeing our candidate rolled out to the biggest audience yet, and with integrity and finesse.  Despite all the hand-wringing during days 1-3 about hitting hard enough blah blah blah, it all ended where it should.  Obama stood there, introduced to the nation as what he is, an honorable person with a unique vision at a time that is exactly what we need.

And then he gave his speech, and man did he bring it.  He went right up to McCain's door, knocked, and said, "We need to talk."  As Twain said (paraphrasing), "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still getting it's boots on."  Well, we've got our boots on, and it's time to hit the pavement.  Phonebanks are making the calls for an efficient GOTV, and we have 2 months to lock this thing down.  We've had our show, McCain has proved his cynical recklessness in his VP pick, and we can win this thing.  GOTV!

I'm so pleased to have the opportunity to watch that again.  I loved how it introduced the candidate we all know and respect in a way that was true and easy to follow. 

I enjoy how it introduces the concept of service to the county.

The symbolism in the video that stands out most for me was the picture of Barack at the airport at Christmas time.  That image is bound to resonate with so many with absent fathers who only showed up during the holidays and then only briefly enough to be seen coming and going from an airport.

 

 

 

...at Daily Kos.

I was extremely impressed with this film, right down to their choice of narrators.  David Strathairn is a fine actor and has a commanding, reassuring delivery.  His voice is soothing and familiar, but not so instantly recognizable that it distracts from the film or comes off as a gimmick.

Thanks so much for posting this film. I'm sending it to everyone I know. Well done and well done.

Agreed -- a masterful video. Hit me in the gut. The music especially, I thought, was really beautiful and really connected with the viewer, invited the viewer in, and made the film more intimate and powerful as a result. Anyone know what the music (at the beginning) is? Oh and I thought David Strathairn did an excellent job narrating; again, a voice that connects with people without feeling heavy handed makes the film even more effective. But my fav part is the last line -- "And that's worth fighting for." Amen amen amen. That line transformed the rest of the emotional, feel good film into a call to action. Onward!

the campaign for quite a while now and still learned something from the "newsreel." I wondered what the speech would be like after that.

Does anyone know how to capture videos. I want to be able to share this with friends who don't have fast digital hook-ups.

I recieved two phone calls from friends. Both calls were to thank me for working all year for Barack. My girlfriend who was big HRC'r was crying and said she was so excited about BO becoming President and thanked me profusely for realizing it so early on. The other was a Repub who has decided to come aboard the O'train after watching the above video and the speech. I called her back after the VP pick and she was not impressed by McSame's choice. Loving it!

of what at stake in this election.

pick Hillary. Why isn't the media doing the same to McCain about Mitt Romney/Huckabee ? Why aren't they asking him on teevee on why did he pick this woman and follow that up with more questions ?  After all she could be the President in heartbeat.

amk

Fourty million people watched Sen. Obama's introductory film and his speech live: that doesn't include the house parties where multiple people were present or the internet viewings at all. Fourty million. And the Obama team was smart; they began the film at 10:04, immediatly after the networks signed on and said Hello this is Brian Williams (Charlie Gibson, Katie Couric) at Invesco Field and went all the way to 10:53 leaving only 7 minutes for comments that were pretty much WOW.

Gov. Sarah Palin was a clear attempt to create division within the Democratic party and wedge women from Sen. Obama as well as shore up the base while recreating the maverick McCain image.

McCain got his headlines: but he also lost crediblity with the MSM imo. I just read playbook: a lot of Republicans are upset and Charlie Black in today's NYT admits Palin has no forigen policy experience but she'll learn from the master McCain.

Sen. McCain's goal has been to turn this election into a personaltiy one: the celebrity ad and attempt to make Obama and "other" and when it didn't work he attempted to get pizzaz on his own ticket. But the Republican women who are qualified can easily be labeled more of the same.

This was a smart political pick, a Clarence Thomas to tie Democrats into knots and knock Obama off message. I'm glad his ad "No Change" is all about McCain. Because that is what this election needs to be about.

John McCain: More of the Same.

But Thursday night Americans got an unfiltered look at the Obama campaign, what it means, what he stands for, and how this is going to change THEIR lives.

And they understood: ENOUGH. We can't go back to Bush.

John McCain's media created kerfuffle over Gov. Palin will subside and I have no dobut she'll get rock star coverage: she's gorgeous and she's the first female GOPer on a presidential ticket. But Fallows @The Atlantic makes a great point. They can't hide her ignorance from the media and the Time interview shows she has a lot to learn. And as smart and incredibly on she may be; she doesn't have the time to become presidential material.

Thanks, Al for bringing me back on track. After yesterday and reckless night of sleep, I needed this beautiful reminder of what "WE CAN CHOOSE" in this election. This moment in time is truly defining each of us as much as it is defining our country. We are all having to assess our own lives and our own futures. Where do we see ourselves heading? What do we really stand for? How much will we allow to slip away from our country? I am so thankful we have this man standing in front of us leading our charge...but as he so wonderfully stated, this election has never been about him. It's about US(A).

Nice observation, Al.  Fortunately, the recent New Media technological advances, and online video in particular, are perfectly suited for these "newsreel" type video.

It's an exciting time to be alive!  "Our future's so bright, we gotta..."  well, you know the rest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqY3uVDM85g

I thought Thursday night was really wonderful.  I enjoyed the whole convention, but when I watched Mon - Wed, I had some sort of feeling of watching an insider-type process that did not really include me. But throughout Thursday evening, watching speakers like Kaine, Durbin, Richardson who had really been involved in the Primary campaign, the will.i.am video, the camera panning the faces of the crowd, seeing David Plouffe, and the Colorado state organizer doing the texting, the great music (so different from the other three nights), and then Obama really speaking to us - this is the populist grassroots campaign that I've been involved in.  Oh - and the "ordinary" people who told their stories - they were all fantastic (I hope some of them were on some of the TV channels).

And it was so satisfying, to watch Barney Smith, and Pam from NC and the rest of them, speaking in front of the "greek" columns, framed by the so-called "Pantheon" and I'm thinking, there you go McCain - there's your "celebrity" - there's your arrogance.

"What the naysayers don't understand is that it's not about me, it's about you" - Barack Obama, Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech

(wasn't that the loudest cheer of the night when he said that?)

KD

just now, my heart was bursting witha wide array of emotions..
joy and pride that this country found the courge to give this man a chance, that this man is welling to take the monumental task of fighting for the voiceless, that above all, he knows that his priorities are for his family...
and My heart was beating so fast with little fear.. fear that the fores of darkness and the past will some how find a way to steal hope from us.

great post, loved watching it again. about a month ago Barack started to smile a lot. he lights up and the hearts of all who see him.

McCain rarely smiles and when he does he fights it.

Yes, this film is excellent. And it destroys the number one attack point of the Rs. As George Will (an asshole I know but sometimes an astute observer) said on an interview with Charlie Rose,  that Obama would be president unless the people think that he's "not one of us." That's the "celebrity" ads are about, it's what the phony e-mails are about, the Muslim story etc., that he's not one of us. It's why Michelle led off with her story, and their story. What too many of us don't consider is that human beings make meaning through story, and see reality through the lens of the common American cultural story. The theory is called social constructivism and it holds true. Some like to pooh-pooh as irrational the story of American exceptionalism, but it is ingrained in each one of us, and in our history, for better or worse. We believe, and want to believe that being an American is about having the freedom and the opportunity to realize our potential in this lifetime, and making a contribution to the larger community.

It's what my Italian immigrant grandparents, my Irish immigrant great grandparents believed, and have passed on to my parents and to me. Obama in this video is connecting his story to the American story in a powerful way and we can see him and identify with him, because he is Us (US) and we are him in the community we call the United States of America. This identification, combined with our shared values and commitments to the policy changes he offers and his ability to communicate and build consensus, makes him a strong candidate.

I sniffled when I watched this Thursday night then went into a full blown cry when City of Blinding Lights began and THERE he was, getting ready to give a speech for the ages.  I feel so lucky and blessed to feel like I got to know Barack through his many visits here, to have walked the streets here on his behalf sharing his story and helping this campaign overcome the 20 point deficit last fall.  This documentary is bookmarked, along with the many articles, videos, and speeches that I've loaded my computer with!

YES, David Straithairn as the narrator...  awesome choice!

Just back from a long morning registering voters in Indiana. We took a neighborhood and knocked on every single door in it. Most people were already registered and were Obama supporters. But in this one little area in this one brief moment--in the context/shadow of Obama's speech and convention--we registered 25+ brand new voters, 90% of whom will show up to vote (probably a higher percentage here because of good early voting opportunities despite the ID law). On top of these new voters and Obama supporters, making contact with all those other people as they are gardening, walking dogs, washing cars, eating brunch, etc. and talking about Barack was huge because they will say to friends--damn, these guys are out early. It's still August!!! 

So then I go to the Post Office, with Obama button on, and the postal worker at the counter promptly asks me what I think about Palin, prefacing the question with the statement that she voted for Barack in the primary.  I said what Kaine said that the choice speaks volumes about McCain's judgment.  She cut in to say something to the effect of: "that man must really think we are stupid," this even after she said Palin was attention-grabbing.  

So, then I go to the sub-shop. The two young people behind the counter (and African American young man and a white young woman) suddenly perk up and say in unison: "we were just talking about Barack!"  They are both registered. And both now plan on coming over to the campaign office after work today to volunteer.  When I asked them what they were talking about, they said 1) Barack's speech was awesome and 2) the Palin pick demonstrates McCain is desperate and running scared. The youth of small town Indiana!

The lesson is simple. Get out there and talk to everybody about Barack... the pizza guy, the car wash attendant, the nurse, or office temp. Wearing a button prompted 3 distinct conversations with strangers in the space of 30 minutes. How many votes might that be? And, of course, McCain hardly has a single office in the entire state of Indiana!

Just wanted to check in, are any of the Field Hands in the path of Gustav, or have family who is? 

For me, it was the highlight of the night - I though the speech itself was a B-plus and went where it had to go (Obama 2.0 with Joe Biden and economic populism, for the win) but the film had my whole family riveted to the television. Great theater.

My only quibble: they shorted the community organizing, and used it as a love story intro rather than as the basis for how well Obama organized this campaign, which really is his shining accomplishment. I'd honestly like to know more, and we were too quickly into the legislature.

Sure, the thing was hagiographic but it also worked for this Hillary voter - and I suspect, for millions more.

Thanks for your good stories and thanks for ALL the work you've done for Obama.  I hope to get out and canvass tomorrow and on Thursday we are having Neighborhood Team meeting to recruit others and teach them how to use the tools.  The Neighbor to Neighbor tool and the phonebanking tools are so easy to use and easy to convince people to use because they can do it all from their homes.  I think it makes it much easier to get people to participate.  They don't have to find the campaign office, go to the campaign office and get their marching orders.  It's all so empowering.  A lot of people contributing even a little can make a difference.

..But first a thanks to Brendan for sharing his experience - keep up the great work!!

Now on to my question (which I hope you see Al and are able to answer) - I'm NOT being a CL Al, I want to make that clear from the start, but I was struck on Thursday night (or Friday morning as it was here) whilst Barack was speaking and I was checking out your live blog of the event that you were so certain that Obama was not only going to win in November, but do so by a landslide.

I figure you aren't the type to get caught up in the moment of something and get carried away, so I truly would love to know WHY you think that (and has your opinion changed at all in the days since - I certainly hope you're right. As a non-American I can say I've NEVER cared so much about who wins a US election (though I have been an observer of US politics for a long time now) as I do this time and I'm truly worried about the mess that we would all be in if the worst happened come November - its tough watching from afar and not being able to do anything about something so vitally important.

Anyway thanks!

Perhaps Barack Obama met Walt Whitman along his journey to the presidency, a poet who said:

 

"This is what you shall do; Love the

earth and sun and the animals, despite riches, give

alms to everyone that asks, stand up for the stupid and

crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate 

tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and

indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to

nothing known or unknown."

 

... I was so glad to read Barry Crimmins about The Speech and this convention:

I got to watch the speech again and clearly Barack Obama and his strategists have decided they don't have to appeal to me to win this thing. Low points included the Afghanistan jingo-jangle and the dildoic Brooks and Dunn song at the end of the speech. The bottom came when many in the crowd burst into a USA! USA! chant. So Homer Simpson is now for Obama.

and earlier:

Do I disagree with Barack Obama on any number of issues? Absolutely. In particular, I can't abide his promise to increase military spending nor his assertion that Afghanistan requires an escalation of American martial involvement. I am unequivocally anti-nuke, he isn't. He is Chicago School of Economics, my views were shaped in Managua. I'm for single payer healthcare and he thinks the current profiteers just need some redirection. And I strongly disagree with his belief that humanity needs the USA at the front of the parade of nations.

Hear hear. Don't mis Naomi Klein's piece Crimmins linked to.

To piggyback off of some previous comments:

My husband went for his morning coffee and wasn't paying much attention to two men picking up the newspaper. He's run into these men before many times as this is an every day ritual for these guys. Without prompting one guy turned to my husband as they were checking out and said, "Can you believe this VP pick of McCain's? What was he thinking?" My husband really didn't need to say anything as the two men blathered on about how they have always voted Republican but won't be this year. Don't know if they intend to vote for Obama, but staying home is OK with me.

my dear friend,
remember those days of the primaries?
I was sitting today and thinking about the wreklessness of John McCain and his VP pick, and it hit me that even if some how Hillary became the nominee....I would have voted for her.
the backwardness of the McCain/Palin ticket, and cheer chutzpah of thinking that he relly doesn't need a VP filled my heart with a profound apperciation to the senator from New York and all she stands for.
If anybody still doubts that this party is united, then you should have watched Obama, Hillary, and Bill at Stephanie Tubbs Jones funeral today. As much as I was angry at president Clinton, I couldn't but feel pride and joy at the reception he recieved at the convention, and I think he felt the love too...

I watched the video on CSPAN right before Obama's speech.  It got me all teared up, and all I could think was my God we've got to get this guy elected.  Actually said it outloud.  Obama's real, and he strikes me in a way I can't recall ever feeling about an American politician.  Maybe its because he's my generation, but I feel this deep affinity and emapathy with the guy.  That video - more so than any speeches - reinforced the notion that's been developing for some time that Obama gets what's going on in the American street, and his ambition appears to be to bring that awareness and understanding to the Executive Branch.  After Bush tis a huge turning point for the nation.

Sometimes I think my general review of Obama is too glowing.  Yet even so I'm convinced what we have here is an earnest, sincere public servent.  Its like through the reletively unconventional choice of Obama we get a return to an exalted old American civic ethic, and that's precisely the spirit we need for renewal.

The USA chant?! Brooks and Dunn?! Well, I guess that's what happens when you let the unwashed masses be a part of a political convention. Whatever. I was thrilled to see the flags and hear the chants, because for too long the Republicans have claimed love of country as their exclusive domain. Thursday night was about taking that back. So if that makes me Homer Effing Simpson in the eyes of Mr. Crimmins, so be it.

Thanks! I'm with ya...all the way.

@ okke ornstein

Obama is a patriot and he wants to get the guys that got us on 9/11 who are alive and well in Afghanistan, who want to cause more hurt. And Democrats can love their country and chant "USA, USA". I don't have a problem with that. And I don't have a problem with Obama being schooled in market economics at the U. of Chicago and not being a Marxist from Managua. Apparently you do. So if you you're hear to diss the O-man, why??

One quick thought on the documentary/newsreel: it achieves transparency.  By this, I mean that its subject literally disappears from view even as he remains the subject. Obama does not become an everyman, and the everymen and women in the film do not become Obama. They do not look at him as an image of themselves. Something far more remarkable happens: at the moment the focus is most on Obama, a citizenry emerges. This oscillation occurs throughout the ten minutes. Obama is who he is; a citizenry is who it is.  But his presence allows this citizenry to be made manifest--to appear, to become embodied. It is a subtle effect and devastatingly effective because it fits with the man himself, the message, and the campaign.

And in light of Barry Crimmins's (today) and Steven Hunt's (yesterday) valuable encouragement of a collective sobriety--a sobriety that is genuinely politically useful--I want to share a powerful and equally sober quotation  that does the hard work of bringing into alliance a healthy and productive skepticism and the joy attendant to unalloyed hope. 

Thomas Hardy, the great English novelist and greater English poet, wrote the following in his "Apology" prefacing his 1922 volume of poems:

 

If I may be forgiven for quoting my own old words, let me repeat what I printed in this relation more than twenty years ago, and wrote much earlier, in a poem entitled ‘In Tenebris': ‘If way to the Better there be, it exacts a full look at the Worst:' that is to say, by the exploration of reality, and its frank recognition stage by stage along the survey, with an eye to the best consummation possible: briefly, evolutionary meliorism. But it is called pessimism nevertheless; under which word, expressed with condemnatory emphasis, it is regarded by many as some pernicious new thing... and the subject is charitably left to decent silence, as if further comment were needless.

Happily there are some who feel such Levitical passing-by to be, alas, by no means a permanent dismissal of the matter; that comment on where the world stands is very much the reverse of needless in these disordered years of our prematurely afflicted century: that amendment and not madness lies that way. And looking down the future these few hold fast to the same: that whether the human and kindred animal races survive till the exhaustion or destruction of the globe, or whether these races perish and are succeeded by others before that conclusion comes, pain to all upon it, tongued or dumb, shall be kept down to a minimum by loving-kindness, operating through scientific knowledge, and actuated by the modicum of free will conjecturally possessed by organic life when the mighty necessitating forces - unconscious or other - that have ‘the balancings of clouds', happen in the equilibrium, which may or may not be often..."

 

I won't indulge in a reading of this statement other than to say that Hardy's life and writing genuinely believed in "the Better" as real possibility only accessed by a serious apprehension of "the Worst."  For me, Obama as our nominee for President represents a full grasping of the Worst that has been in American history not to mention the last eight years as well as a sober way to "the Better." Obama will never be the "Best," as in perfection; after all, he is American. But his "Better" will give us a new access to an even better "Better" down the road.  

 

Spent the afternoon phonebanking here in LA.  It's my first time, and I heartily recommend that any of you who haven't yet gotten involved do so.  The main reason is that your time will not be wasted - this thing is scary organized.  Without going into too much detail, once you get over the initial butterflies and dive into a list of phone numbers, you see the detailed information that you are picking up, piece by piece, for the campaign.  Who is not worth bothering with, who is solid for our guy, who needs a ride to the polls.  There's not much discussion, since most people don't want to be bothered, so it's not like you need a ton of policy info at your fingertips.  It's about creating a list of names that they can come back to later and get to the polls, since we've weeded out the lost causes.

It's magnificent, the sense of this thing growing up from the bottom, from one little phone call, that gets added to all the rest and creates this flood of data, the solid footing for the campaign to zero in right where it counts.  And it's not random, though sometimes the specific strategy may be vague, it's clearly about identifying voters and districts, local issues and downticket preferences in all parts of those swing states, building a group of volunteers that know that area and will babysit it all the way to November.

My best call was a 92 year-old woman who loves our guy, complaining about the religious right smearing him.  Made my day. (She needs a ride to the polls - now she's going to get one.)

So, if you haven't already, take the plunge.  Own a piece of this thing.

Hey Brendan,

That's the best post I've read on a blog in years.  Many, many thanks.  And thanks as well for keeping Thomas Hardy in people's minds.  A too much neglected writer, IMHO.

 

cheers,

Bruce

Bravo!  When I started reading your comment I did NOT expect to have to engage my brain so fully (especially having just come from a three hour phonebanking session here in L.A. to call Las Vegas voters), so thank you for waking up more of my brain cells!

The Hardy quotation and your take on it, I think, are spot on.  Obama is, hopefully, a SIGNIFICANT step towards the better and one who, if the process can be changed, WILL change the process to make it more easy for future 'betters' to emerge and participate.

When Obama says "it's about us," it's not just about helping us (as opposed to the political/monetary elite), it's about inspiring us, mobilizing us, mentoring us in a way, and one day watching us do him one (or two or three) better.

And as for 'Change,' well, almost by definition, change is the natural order of things.  Things either atrophy and die or change in some way, so why not harness change for good?

So, while I might fret about Obama's positions/evolution on FISA, nuclear energy, capital punishment, and opposition to gay marriage, I also take great consolation in the fact that, by his election, and by my (and others') engagement in this election and in political life, the CHANGE I seek might be closer to reality than I would have ever thought possible since his emergence on the national scene. 

 

I think we were probably at the same phonebanking get together!

There were a ton this weekend all over town, but I was at the one in Venice on Electric.  I had mostly "not home"s and mccain voting Republicans, but I did get one 21yr old Republican female voting for Barack AND willing to volunteer!

If you have a chance to drive to Vegas on one of the canvass trips, you should.  I went last weekend, and it was fun and rewarding.

Before she was running against him, Sarah Palin [...] thought it was pretty neat that Barack Obama was edging ahead of John McCain in her usually solidly red state. After all, she said, Obama's campaign was using the same sort of language that she had in her gubernatorial race. "The theme of our campaign was 'new energy,' " she said recently. "It was no more status quo, no more politics as usual, it was all about change. So then to see that Obama--literally, part of his campaign uses those themes, even, new energy, change, all that, I think, O.K., well, we were a little bit ahead on that." She also noted, "Something's kind of changing here in Alaska, too, for being such a red state on the Presidential level. Obama's doing just fine in polls up here, which is kind of wigging people out, because they're saying, 'This hasn't happened for decades that in polls the D' "--the Democratic candidate--" 'is doing just fine.' To me, that's indicative, too. It's the no-more-status-quo, it's change."

McCain not only co-opts Obama's campaign "Change" slogan, but have you noticed he's copied the rally card style?

The desperation of Republican internet friends (or as they call themselves these days, "former Hillary supporters") is a sight to behold, and their attempt to justify Palin forces them to reveal their stunning ignorance about Barack Obama's record. I had one miniature Peggy Noonan today tell me that, unlike Obama, Palin has actually done something about ethics reform, whereas Obama did nothing about the situation in Illinois. Of course, Obama passed massive ethics reform packages both in Illinois and D.C. These people are actually buying the McCain campaign's pathetic "Palin is more experienced than Obama" line and they're flying off cliffs like Freeper lemmings.

Please read the whole post that the quotes came from before you give me shit. And then make your shit specific and I will try to reply.

In the meantime, let me excerpt someone else:

Reverence for one's own sacred things--parents, religion, flag, laws and respect for one's own beliefs--these are feelings which we cannot even help. They come natural to us; they are involuntary, like breathing. There is no personal merit in breathing.-- Mark Twain -- Following the Equator

 

 

I've seen those 'ethics' talking points vis-a-vis Obama peppering the blogs today as well. They're all drinking from the same cup.

So in the interest of saving all of you time replying to this tripe, copy these, and use them with abandon. I rounded them up from various sites.

“Obama Forged Political Mettle In Illinois Capitol”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/08/AR2007020802262.html

 

"How Obama defied Reid and got real ethics reform passed"
http://www.raisingkaine.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=12761

 

"Senate begins work on ethics bill"

http://obama.senate.gov/news/070108-senate_begins_w/

 

Floor Statement of Senator Barack Obama on Ethics Reform

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Floor_Statement_of_Senator_Barack_Obama_on_Ethics_Reform

 

Feingold and Obama Introduce the Lobbying and Ethics Reform Act
http://feingold.senate.gov/~feingold/releases/07/01/20070108.html

 

Klobuchar talks about Obama's ethics bill
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/08/25/klobuchar_dnc1/?...

 

“Obama unveils ethics reform proposal”

http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/06/23/news/local/doc467c1d870b87a974283047.txt

Great reply.

Hey Bill R,  Nice McCarthyistic slander but, as is often the case with such jingo-jangle, you hit the wrong target. Okke quoted me so  I was who you should have gone after with your "marxist" sniffle. Here's why you won't deter me: I was in Managua (and elsewhere in Sandanista Nicaragua) and there I saw socialism employed to elevate desperately poor people.

I wrote what I wrote, how I wrote it because we will never move this country to the left until people own up to their beliefs. I'm a socialist. Big effing deal! Except it really needs to be said. I believe what I believe even though saying so will signal some brainwashed Americans to treat my rather mainstream worldwide view as if its as stupid as creationism.

When I criticize the Democratic candidate, I do so from the left. I don't do it with rancor, I simply take issue. It is my right to do so and it is of almost no significance anyway. That said, I  truly hope Obama is elected president and is tremendously successful. I also hope you lose your rather narrow way of looking at things, Bill R.

¡Viva Sandino!

Barry Crimmins

So? I'm far from doubting Obama's patriotism after the flag waving parade of the last days.

But his Afghanistan policy is neither "change" nor intelligent. What the US is actually doing in Afghanistan is turning it into another Colombia, and it only fuels rebel groups, hampers development and sustains human suffering. And Obama wants more of that recipe and presents that as change. It's ridiculous. I was in Kabul end 2006 and found that the US wants nothing but intensify the war on small poppy farmers and all the people I met with from, let's use that horrible word "civil society", were complaining that they didn't get any support in their own efforts to rebuild their country. See here and here. And what's Obama's answer? Stage a cave hunting party.

Then, if the Democrats think that they can repair the bridges that have been destroyed by misguided flag waving and gung-ho jingoism with more jingoism and "leader of the world" talk they obviously have no clear understanding of what actually transpired over the last eight years.

 

Greg Mitchell of Editors & Publishers updated his HuffPo piece on the Alaskan reaction to Palin. A must-read.

 

It was amazing. I watched the speech online, hadn't seen the vid. Was moved moved moved by the speech. But the vid pushed me right over. Thanks Al.

Fascinating article by the editor of the Jewish Journal, Rob Eshman, about the contentiousness in the Jewish community over Palin. As Eshman writes "Oh, now it's getting good."

Palin Repeatedly Professed Desire To Renew Federal Funding For ‘Bridge To Nowhere’

From one of the links in the Think Progress story above:

Republicans have been heavily touting Sarah Palin's reformist credentials, with her supposed opposition to Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere" as Exhibit A. But how hard did she really fight the project? Not very, it seems. Here's what she told the Anchorage Daily News on October 22, 2006, during the race for the governor's seat (via Nexis):

5. Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?

Yes. I would like to see Alaska's infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now--while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.

Stretching it a bit tonight?

I watched the Obama foreign policy group presentation, off the main screen from the convention. I didn't hear a vindication of current policy as you accuse. They were speaking of direct and indirect action, the latter included several examples of transforming Special Forces missions into infrastructure development (including dentistry). In fact this was the fundamental course of action and the so called cave hunting simply the necessary adjunct action to prevent hostile sabotage of community building.

Your version of the Afghanistan policy seems to be missing the key points and focusing on a shallow interpretation. I would like to see what really does get proposed and what really is done before I agree to your vague assumptions.

what is a "freep" and "freeper"?  Here in Detroit, "Freep" is short for the Detroit Free Press newspaper--ergo "Freep"...but recently I've seen that word used elsewhere...please tell me...I HATE not knowing EVERYTHING!  thanks...

 

waterprise2 AKA Pam

Liberal with a Capital L!

 

Freeper refers to participants in an odious blog: 'Free Republic'

I understand "Freeper" to be a kind of knuckle-dragging troglodyte that issues from or creeps back into thefreerepublic website, home to a tattered army of bloggy orcs and callow Rovians. 

Seeing is believing I guess. I commented on what I heard, and what I have heard Obama repeatedly say is that ending the war in Iraq would allow more troops to be send to Afghanistan to "finish the job there", meaning getting rid of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The infrastructure building meme is not new. I've been hearing that for years.

I just learned that Pakistan has now made it to the top of the list of Most Dangerous Countries In The World according to Obama/Biden because it has nukes. As if the US isn't the greatest agressor of modern times.

But my most important point is this: After eight years of agression, war and destruction in which the US-left itself has consistently labeled people like Cheney war criminals, a modest attitude would be appropriate instead of more gung-ho talk and speculating about how America will lead the world again. The decent thing to do would be to assume responsibility, as a nation, for having killed about 90,000 civilians in Iraq alone in an unjust and misguided war, but all I hear Obama about is veterans. I am, as you call it, "stretching it a bit" because, living and reporting mainly on the receiving end of US foreign policy, it indeed angers me to listen to more jingoism and USA chanting; it upsets me to see that the hope candidate doesn't seem to realize the seriousness of the massacres his country has caused.

When war criminals like Bush and Cheney and their cabal have caused as much death and destruction as they have, one would expect from anyone replacing them a sense of modesty, guilt even, and at least an openly stated willingness to right was has been done wrong. But nothing of the sort. It's not just that it angers me; it won't mend any bridges either.

Okke,

Try reading 'Three Cups of Tea'.  That is the approach that Obama would like to take for Afghanistan.  The biggest problem is that the people have to trust you and we haven't done much to develop that trust.

I haven't read all of your comments so I apologize if you have addressed this but... what are your thoughts on how to deal with the drug lords in Afghanistan?  To me this seems to be the biggest roadblock to stability.

Wow. Is this how people like to spend a Saturday night after the greatest (and most effective) progressive political speech in the United States in 45 years?

On one end, we've got some folks commenting that, now that Obama has really achieved becoming the first African-American nominee for president by a major party ever, are having spasms of freak out that they didn't have during the primaries.

On another end, we've got other folks overreacting to those folks, bordering on red-baiting, unable to consider what has been quite mild dissent from those freaking out. So they're freaking out right back.

And in the middle is most of us that think both sides are full of piss and bad manners.

Listen up - and I'm speaking to some people on both sides of that divide (and, yes, I mean a few co-publishers, too): Don't come here to crap all over what has been for months now one of the only places for civil discourse on the Internet. And don't think that a co-publisher account is a license to insult other commenters, even if they're not co-publishers. If I have to dole out a few refunds to weed this garden it will be money well spent.

I will deal with people's misconceptions about Obama's position on Afghanistan on another thread (Here's a hint: how many soldiers are in two brigades? That's the number of troops he proposes sending there and unless and until you know the answer to that question you're embarrassing yourselves by painting it as the equivalent of a war.)

But it in the meantime, anybody on any side of that or other differences that can't deal with differing views here respectfully, without heaping personal insults (or getting over sensitive in response to them) needs to find a new blog to hang out at. Period.

And I know that the great majority of commenters here - I've heard from some of them tonight - want a stop to this spasm of rancor, too, and will not be unhappy if I have to take out my weed-whacker.

Capice?

There were 11,250 US soldiers in Afghanistan when I was there and Obama proposes to send at least 7,000 more. He also wants to negotiate with NATO partners who currently impose restrictions on what their troops can do; some European countries limit activities to peace keeping and rebuilding and "winning hearts and minds". The Obama plan apparently wants them to be able to go on the attack as well.

@Mary: There was a good plan by the Senlis Council to legalize poppy growing and use it to produce medicin like morphine of which, they say, there is a shortage. A similar approach was succesful in Turkey decades ago, they told me. This obviously cuts out the druglords. Alas, the US wouldn't hear of it, pressured the Afghan government and its European partners out of endorsing the plan and then (unsuccessfully) moved to get the Senlis office in Kabul closed down.

Thank you, and whack on if you must! The last 48 hours have been somewhat dismaying in the Field...

The value of the comments section here goes down significantly when it degenerates into several people arguing with each other instead of discussion about the original post. A lot of this discussion would be entirely relevant in the comments section of Barry Crimmins's post on his own blog and it might be a good idea for folks interested in continuing the discussion to take it there. Or to the Field Hands site, where there is a nice discussion forum for this purpose.

The 38 million people who watched the Obama video that Al highlights here and then the speech that followed is greater than the number of people who voted in the Democratic primaries, and by my calculation is about 60% of the votes Obama will need in November. The first presidential debate may have a larger audience but this is most likely the largest audience Obama will ever have just for himself before the election. And, boy did he make the most of it!

Okke - Exactly. Two brigades have between 3,000 and 8,000 soldiers. That's the size of a police force for a small city.

If that's the price to pay for getting 160,000 soldiers out of Iraq without creating the impression on the media-poisoned minds of so many that would otherwise see it as a surrender or retreat, I think it's a small price to pay.

And it really depends on what is done with them, right? To presume that what Bush did with troops in Afghanistan would be what the next administration does is, I think a huge stretch. Given the toxicity of what has been fed into US public opinion since 2001, and the utter failure of the US anti-war movement to raise public consciousness beyond certain old paradigms, the aikido maneuver of saying "refocus the effort" works a lot better than simply saying "out now" but it accomplishes the same.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/opinion/31rich.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

 

 

Al, I want to thank you soooooo much for bringing the weed-whacker out of the barn....

I'm donating funds toward the maintenance of the weed-whacker, just in case you need to use it.

(This post was edited by Al as part of today's "keeping it civil" campaign.)

Thank you Al...see why I immediately called for you on Friday?!?!?

1) Obama's newest ad is already out..."he [McCain] made his choice..." and the rest of the ad moves on and stays on message that this is about McShame...

2) she-who-will-not-be-named 2 is NOT the story, McMansion's judgment is!

I told hubby that Barack and Al are THE mostest about what is going on and what should and should not be done or said...of course we can have our opinions, but...both Barack nor and Al have been proven right over and over and over from 'way back...

Told hubby that it makes me want to start singing "Ebony and Ivory"...

BTW: still trying to find out about my stepdaughter in NOLA...she just got there 2 weeks ago to do an internship...trying to get her to my daughter's (her sister) in Austin...

will keep you posted and thanks to Amy and others for their concern...means a lot to me...

 

waterprise2 AKA Pam

Liberal with a Capital L!

 

Sorry...took down the embedded cartoon because it was messing up my computer everytime I refreshed the comments page...here's the link to the cartoon's home

I came in during the speech and I gotta say I now see why I wasn't quite as enthused as people who saw the whole thing.

Hill-arious!  Thanks!

 

waterprise2 AKA Pam

Liberal with a Capital L!

 

to plug Jay Leno's show.

amk

when McGovern ran against Nixon.  My twin brother and I not only convinced our mom to vote for McGovern, but actually got her to drive people to the polls on election day.

Mark and our buddy Jim went to the local campaign office in suburban Boston and got big campaign signs that we held up -- all day -- across the street from our school, which was a polling place.  Rich old ladies sniffed as they walked past, as though there were a foul odor in the air.

I have my beefs with the Dems, of course, but I'm damn proud of the party, and this little film and Obama's big speech were thrilling to me.  And I've been thinking I needed to find Saturdays without my kids around to go to NH to register voters, but I'm going to take them with me.

I think election night's going to be a lot of fun.

Great article on Obama outwitting the bloviators on MSM, but then that probably wasn't very hard to do. Thanks, Pam, from Elizabeth in the TX hill country. And thanks, Al, for getting out that weed whacker. I have to deal with such nonsense right and left here in Texas(my own family, no less). I go to The Field for sane, civil commentary and information. Whack away!

Okke,

Thanks for the link to Senlis Council.  It looks interesting and I'll check it out.

My stepdaughter made it from NOLA to Austin to my daughter's house...

Relief!  Thanks, everybody!

 

waterprise2 AKA Pam

Liberal with a Capital L!

 

My son, who moved to NOLA after Katrina seeking his yet-to-be-attained FEMA reconstruction fortune, evacuated with his wife to Dallas on Friday. Their first wedding anniversary will be Monday.

Mikell Hagood

I'm glad to hear the good news that your family members are safely evacuated Pam and Mikell

I am enraged that the McCain campaign seems to be considering using the potential tragedy of Gustav for political showmanship especially after the Bush Administration's criminal mis-handling of Katrina in 2005. As reported by The Washington Monthly and Politico:

"McCain was scheduled to deliver his acceptance speech Thursday but now may do so from the devastation zone if the storm hits the U.S. coast with the ferocity feared by forecasters"

They're considering using human tragedy for a backdrop after having fussed about some columns?! Any official visit would only be for sheer vanity and self-promotion. It would pull away resources desperately needed by those in the local area! This is not folly, it would be deplorable, reprehensible! That he can even consider it shows a staggering moral bankrupcy, a complete lack of concern for those actually affected.

John "Let Them Eat Cake" McCain celebrated his birthday with Bush while the people of New Orleans suffered and died. I go into a sight-dimming, blood-bounding rage whenever I think of this shameful and horrible part of our country's history.

John McCain and Bush smiled and laughed for cameras

while American citizens (mostly poor and African American citizens) were left with this:

See this blog entry from Culture Kitchen for more information (note: there are disturbing images of drowning victims in this entry. They are disturbing as you contemplate the shameful disregard for human life, disturbing as you contemplate that this never should have been allowed to happen and disturbing as you contemplate that almost *no one* in this criminally inept and unwilling Administration was ever punished!)

By the way, here's some of how Obama responded

That the McCain campaign sees this as a political opportunity is an abomination! Everyone should be reminded every day, every hour, every minute of how the Bush Administration, which John McCain proposes to extend for another four years, beytrayed and abandoned its citizens in 2005.

The disaster that struck New Orleans was compounded by the fact that Bush had appointed completely unqualified people to posts of great responsibility (remember "Heck of a Job Brownie"?). Let us consider this too as we look at the judgment of McCain in choosing Palin.

Field Hands are in action - thanks to organizing by Lee (aka We won't be fooled again). Pam, good to hear your family is safe. Anyone interested in being available to help, please, in addition to whatever else you're doing ( Red Cross, etc.) check in with the Field Hands:

 

http://fieldhands.ning.com/group/fieldhandcommunityreliefgroup

Oh, I forgot. My son and his wife most likely won't go back to Nawlins. I was there last week. That is a sad looking place.

on why JM picked the CIC (Cheerleader In Chief)

For someone young, he is very intuitive.

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=RJZCJF7Ssqo

amk

Yes, it is deplorable to turn human tragedy into political photo ops. Yet, it appears that a Mayor (D), a Gov (R), and a Senator (D) have developed a plan with the help of the (R) Feds that is working this time.

Let the "compassionate conservatives" have their day, while we keep our eye on GOTV to elect the Obama/Biden team. With refugees storm victims displaced through out the SE, and elsewhere, it can be time for the O-team to mobilize and help out at the local level.

That's exactly what Barack meant in his speech...

speaking of "Freep"---thanks for the answers, everyone--the Detroit Freep has a big pic of McCain onthe front page saying his "maverick-ness" will be a PLUS for Michigan!  NOT...

Again...the Corporate Media "doesn't get it"...

We who hang out here and on the Field Hands site know we've got a LOT of work to do, but we're ready!

The NERVE of McCain/Palin going to the hurricane area even if Haley Barber asked them to...shame on him, too!  There are more important things for them all to do...

Speaking at a disaster area for your acceptance speech?  And THAT'S supposed to upstage the O-man?

Just more pandering...

ENOUGH!

 

waterprise2 AKA Pam

Liberal with a Capital L!

 

He will be accepting the nomination in a disaster zone.

Called JM calculating and a "prisoner of right wing". Nice jab there.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=5694357

amk

of the weed whacker warming up! Thanks Al. I send lots of people here for Al's great blogs and the civility and intelligence of the comment, the ONLY comments section I can read and endorse in the 'sphere.

In other good news, was doing some voter reg yesterday, we got several switches from Rep. to Dem. Yeah!!!

Have a great day Hands!

Heather aka gratitude

Don't forget...Condi was busy "shoe shopping" on Thursday while her fellow Americans were drowning...she said it wasn't her responsibility because she was in charge of foreign affairs, not domestic--not that she had found the time to read a certain report in August '01---

AND...don't forget that "Mama Bush" said that the evacuees had it better in the Astrodome than in their own homes in NOLA...and said they should be grateful...

AND don't forget that it was Michigan's own Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick who made people stop calling Katrina victims "refugees" and start calling them "evacuees" or "victims"...while "refugee" was TECHNICALLY the correct term--they were seeking refuge--psychologically, it made AMERICANS seem as if they were NOT Americans and were from some 3rd-world country...you know, not "one of us"...sound familiar?

AND MOST OF ALL, don't forget that it wasn't the hurricane that drowned NOLA, it was the breaking of the leevees...remember that when you hear President Obama talk about us spending $10B/month in Iraq while American infrastuctures are crumbling...remember who consistently votes against re-building our infrastructure (hint JSMIII and Pawlenty)...

If you ever get the chance, buy several boxes of Kleenex and then rent Spike Lee's award-winning "When the Leevees Broke"...

 

 

waterprise2 AKA Pam

Liberal with a Capital L!

 

Thanks to Carol from Houston for posting the link to the Frank Rich article.  I had a minor epiphany when reading it.  All his analysis about how clueless the MSM is about what the Obama campaign is up to made me wonder if maybe Rove is just as clueless.  Could he be as much of a dinosaur as Mark Penn?  Yesterday a friend and I ticked off the list of everything choosing Palin does for the McCain campaign.  On the surface, it looks like a brilliant choice.  But what if Rove really did fall into the trap of trying to lure the Hillary supporters away from Obama?  What if he doesn’t really see that they were McCain supporters all along?  All this brings Rove down off his pedestal for me and makes him just as subject to poor judgment as Mark Penn.  Maybe Rove just doesn’t get it any more than JSM III.  It’s not as though Rove has special access to information about the voting public that no one else possesses.  It’s entirely possible that he’s just as vulnerable as the media to all the hype.  It’s going to be interesting to see if Obama is poised to pick off Rove the same way he did Penn.   

 

On another subject:

I’m curious…is there, in fact, enough time for McCain’s base to rally and effectively organize to support this new ticket they’re so excited about?  Can they suddenly pull a ground game out of their hat?  I don’t know how the fundamentalist base activates their GOTV apparatus, so I have no way to know how much time they need to be effective.

Face the Nation: Giuliani argued Palin has more experience than Obama and Biden combined [...]

 

Would some adult in the MSM or political world please stand up and state that if the Palin has more executive experience than Obama and Biden combined (because they're senators) then it also means she has more executive experience than Senator McCain.

Robert Elisberg wrote this about the Palin pick:

But it's far worse than Dan Quayle, who was a sitting senator. Worse even than Geraldine Ferraro, who at least served in Congress for three-terms. And far worse than William Miller, a choice so obscure when selected by Barry Goldwater that he (honestly) later did an American Express commercial asking, "Do you know me?" And that ad was after the election. But even Miller had been a Congressman for 12 years. And been a prosecutor during the Nuremberg War trials against Nazis. Sarah Palin lists her credits as a hockey mom.

[...]

It's not that Sarah Palin is inexperienced. It's that this is gross political misconduct.

[...]

Do you know what the first two "powers and duties" are for the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska? Check their municipal code:

1. Preside at council meetings. The mayor may take part in the discussion of matters before the council, but may not vote, except that the mayor may vote in the case of a tie;

2. Act as ceremonial head of the city;

 

Palin served two terms as Mayor of Wasilla before 20 months as Guv.

A note of peace from someone who made a comment to me concerning all the distractions — the sideshows over policy purity and strategy second-guessing — with respect to this election. It hit home with me. 

Fiddling as Rome burns. And yes, that's unfair to Nero.  Cheers.

Peace

Something to keep in mind when weighing the larger stakes in all of this, it seems to me. Keep your eyes on the prize.

 

 

 

Obama's response to Gustav: coordinating locally, mobilizing volunteers, not drawing away resources

From Ben Smith

Sen. Obama gathered the pool outside after services at St. Luke's Lutheran Church. He told us that his camapaign plans to mobilize its huge e-mail list of supporters to volunteer or send money once the impact of Gustav becomes apparent and authorities know better what kind of help is needed. He said his campaign is coordinating with local authorities.

"We can activate an e-mail list of a couple million people who want to give back," he said. "I think we can get tons of volunteers to travel down there if it becomes necessary."

Your pooler asked him if McCain's visit now is appropriate.

His response: "A big storm like this raises bipartisan concerns and I think for John to want to find out what's going on is fine."

"The thing that I always am concerned about in the middle of a storm is whether we're drawing resources away from folks on the ground because the Secret Service and various security requirements, sometimes it pulls police, fire and other departments away from concentrating on the job."

"I'm assuming that where he went that wasn't an issue. Were going to try to stay clear of the area until things have settled down and then we'll probably try to figure out how we can be as helpful as possible."

The mention of using the email list to get volunteers and raise money is a fantastic indicator of what Al has pointed out several times - for Obama, this isn't just about getting elected, it's about leading, it's about grassroots organizing and about all of us coming together to be our brothers and sisters keeper.

Juan Cole of Informed Comment (a great resource if you're interested in what's happening in the Middle East) has a new essay "McCain, Palin and New Orleans"

He cites:

' Forty Senators and 100 members of Congress visited New Orleans before he [McCain] did; he finally got there in March 2006. He voted against establishing a Congressional commission to examine the Federal, State, and local responses to Katrina in med-September 2005. He repeated that vote in 2006. He voted against allowing up to 52 weeks of unemployment benefits to people affected by the hurricane, and in 2006 voted against appropriating $109 billion in supplemental emergency funding, including $28 billion for hurricane relief.'

Cole also notes:

"'In the Senate, he consistently voted against more funds for FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency], against making it an independent agency as it had been in the 1990s, and even against the creation of a commission to investigate how the government failed after Katrina. That indifference to learning from experience and adjusting accordingly is a central characteristic of movement conservatism.'"

 

 That's what I call 'Karma'! McCain has to postpone his party,that said. It is horrifying that this is happening to NOLA, & the gulf coast again. I pray for the residents and families affected. I would never wish this on anyone.

Mayor Nagin just said it was surreal, that is what I have been thinking and feeling.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/31/154534/718/357/581369

Rump session. Of two guts. One gut is scared that the stunt might actually help, the other one says that the Republicans have lost at least one night where they could dominate the News Cycle, bash Obama, introduce their new VP and rebut the stuff already circulating the intertubes. Indeed, if the storm is bad enough, they may skip/miss a crucial week of publicity and the needed work to integrate Palin into their campaign.People will be paying far more attention to these storms than anything the Republicans have to say.

Even without a storm, the scheduling is horrible. They have chosen to have a convention on the last Summer Weekend of the year ' Lots of people are out of town, and will not be back until Monday. These tired travelers with sore feet, exhausted from cramming tired bodies into cars and planes would rather (or have to) turn in early to make it to work or school the next day on time.

Those who have stayed home and outside all day will be will be wrapping up barbecues and whatever around 7-8 in the evening and will also turn in early.

The Democrats had the last good week of the summer. A lot of folks take their Summer vacation so it ends Labor Day, and if you're home, you can stay up and watch everything every night. And I bet the Democrats knew it as well.

The Field is now, to me, the official gold standard of mindful neo progressive discourse. Go nuts with the weed whacker. As someone who has used the actual implement in one of my many underpaying jobs, I assure you it is wonderfully effective once the little angry engine kicks in.

The echo chamber despair and hand wringing of the fossil progressives had been astonishingly depressing until I found this thing. Whee!

And the most amazing thing about the Obama effect is how ready he is to apply his vast system to problems right now such as a potential cyclone disaster more efficiently than FEMA. Even if he isn't elected, (a total long shot at this point), the mere impact of the system he and his colleagues have built already is a huge benefit to the nation. His wonderful single minded focus on the uility of organizing is having collateral impacts beyond the pursuit of the presidency.

Can anyone name any candidate EVER who brings this much good to the left behinds from the pure joy of being functional and effective at whatever level?

Senator Obama is very Zen if you are familiar with 'Zen and the Art of Archery'. The presidency is the bulls eye but zen tells you to imagine beyond the bulls eye. The guy wants the job only because of the platform it gives him to do what he was doing anyway. Most idiots seek this hapless office out of some megalomaniac grandiosity and sad need to prove something to themselves.

Senator Obama seeks this office merely because it gives him a more effective scope and forum for what he is going to do anyway. How odd.

Mikell Hagood

Today was day three of my local teams "four days to make history."  We represent Obama volunteers in East Point and College Park, Georgia.  These two cities are a part of Fulton County of which Atlanta is the county seat.  They lie just north and south of the Hartsfield/Jackson International Airport.  And they are overwhelming black and working class and lower middle class.

A few weeks ago I joined the campaign as a volunteer and this past week I was named team leader after the original team leader left town.  We have had several voter registration drives, but today's six hour drive was the longest.

Last night I received a call from a new volunteer saying he was coming to help out today.  Right after I set-up the table Mr. Larkins came up and introduced himself and got right to work.  As we talked and told each other about ourselves, he told me that he used to be a singer and that he was a member of "Archie Bell and the Drells."  All of us urban dwellers over a certain age should remember "The Tighten-up" by that group from Houston, Texas.  I was impressed.  I noticed that he had on a Free Masons ring.  Within an hour some of his "brothers" stopped by.  One of them, an elderly gentleman, told me that he brought former Mayors Andy Young and Maynard Jackson into that group.  He also said that his organization should be doing what we were doing and he would find out more and get back with me.

But the highlight of my day--other than my team registering 71 new voters--was another volunteer who came out to help.  A beautiful woman in her mid-sixties with a short graying Afro was sitting at the table when I checked back after registering some people at a nearby gas station.  She asked me if I had heard of Walter Rodney.  I said yes and that I had read his book, "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa," at least three times starting shortly after its released in the US in 1973.  It was and probably still is the seminal work on the how the West's pillaging of Africa was directly responsible for the wreckage of African economies over the past few centuries while received an enormous shot in the arm that continues until this day.

This is truly one of the great crimes of human existence.  And this is one of the reasons I support Barack Obama.  If nothing else, he is bringing pride and dignity to the most disrespected and economically depressed people in the world,  the Africans.

Where else, but in this campaign would an ex-PanAfricanist Muslim convert(me) find common ground with black Free Masons and come to meet the widow of one of his intellectual heroes.

What a day.

Oh, and two of my daughters and one of my nephews were part of my team today.

On to Wellcome All Park for more registration tomorrow.  Our team has registerded about 450 new voters since Friday.

It's late and I am waiting on the sighting of the Ramaddan moon, so I am posting without previewing.  Forgive any typos, etc.

 Thank You for all your work, and your wonderful story Mikell, what a great day indeed!

Great story, thanks for sharing. It has been my experience that when you are in the right place doing the right thing, little miracles just seem to fall into your lap. Clearly you were aligned with destiny today.

Jed comes through again. 

I called home. They're ecstatic over Palin. They think she's innovative. They think McCain has X-Ray vision into the election.

They didn't watch the Dem Convention "much."

I have a de minimus amount of clout. I gave my 'women' argument to my redneck Irish sister -- trust me when I say my mother was in the vanguard over female issues before it was even a blip on the national radar, age three with me; I was raised on her intelligence which was vast. [Obviously, singular; only aimed at informing me; she read two heavy-meat books a day and told me what she learned. She read 400 of the English classics, and wrote their names down, all 400, by the age of 11. I still have the list she wrote for the nuns. Who reads War and Peace and The Scarlett Letter at age seven and submits book reviews that make sense decades later? In exceptional, adult English?]

I am just effing speechless over what I just heard. But now I know my sister is a racist; thank God she doesn't read The Field.

This is a stupefyingly remarkable day in my life. My brothers and sisters are fucking idiots. And I am deeply upset at having to recognize this.

Debunking the most common GOP spin regarding Palin: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/1/11138/16184/957/581802

It's all minor league stuff, but I thought it'd be good to have the counterpoints and links on hand.

Also, scroll down the page to see my epic flame war with Ohiobama, probably the most vicious and arrogant of DailyKos' many Chicken Littles. This one has been declaring the election over for months, all because Obama refuses to heed his brilliant advice about southern Ohio!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/us/politics/31reconstruct.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

The Rovian goons have been scrubbing Palin's  info, but someone at Kos picked up this doosey

 

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/1/4231/18477/878/581881

Great story, Mikell. As a native Georgian, I've got my eye on what GA will do. Wish I could be there with you, GOTV-ing. Alexa, same here: one of my family members has such a closed mind, I try to avoid conflict about the election, but emailed everyone I knew a list of issues re: Palin from MoveOn.org. He sent back a nasty list of how great she is, but without citing the source. I just don't get it. But, I am feeling much better having seen Andy Sullivan's analysis of the independent response to McCain's VP choice: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/08/undecideds-...