❧❧❧ Whatever you can do or dream, you can BEGIN IT. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Goethe ❧❧❧
❧❧❧ You were born whole, not broken. Sandra Hammel ❧❧❧
Obama drew more than 10,000 people to his speech at the University of Denver. They packed a hockey arena and crammed into two overflow rooms and still were lined up outside to get in. Colorado is a caucus state, one of 22 to hold nominating contests Tuesday, and is one of a handful of states where the Obama campaign is predicting victory. Clinton has the advantage in several others, while several are still up for grabs. From cbs4denver
As president, Barack Obama will implement a 21st century economic agenda to help ensure that America can compete in a global economy, and ensure the middle class is thriving and growing. He will increase investments in infrastructure, energy independence, education, and research and development; modernize and simplify our tax code so it provides greater opportunity and relief to more Americans; and implement trade policies that benefit American workers and increase the export of American goods.
Matt Jerzyk wrote this: I just got off the phone with Congressman Kennedy and posted my interview with him about his Obama Endorsement on my blog: http://www.rifuture.org
I just got off the phone with Congressman Patrick Kennedy and wanted to share with you some of his thoughts on the presidential election and his endorsement of Barack Obama for president:
Question: What did it feel like to be in that crowd today?
It was electric, absolutely euphoric. You felt a part of something much bigger than yourself.
We are looking past the prism of narrow minded special interests and looking for a greater vision of this nation and the world. The Obama campaign is an inspiring thing to be around.
When you work in Washington and the work is dominated by individual issues competing with one another – to have this much bigger idea of unifying everybody –this idea of inclusiveness – is just terrific and it resonates with everybody. Everybody wants to believe again and everybody wants a better country. We have been dominated by a politics that doesn’t ask the American people to participate; the only people that run the country are “the professionals.”
That an ordinary person in America should have a say in the process is at the heart of what this is all about. Obama is the perfect antidote of 8 years of cynicism and an effort by the Bush administration to drive people away from the political process.
Question: Did you talk with Sen. Chris Dodd before making the endorsement?
Chris and I have spoken. Chris talked a great deal about the new patriotism in his campaign. It was a patriotism of national service and it was a cornerstone of his campaign and something I was very attracted to. He spoke about how he was called to service by President Kennedy and about how he - once again - wanted to bring Americans together around service – not just in military service, but serving as mentors, teachers, in the community. He hit the tone that’s necessary to bridge the divide in this country. In addition, I felt like Chris had the ability to repair our image in the world. We need the world to see us as a friend. Barack has the same strength with his ability to repair our international image and improve our standing in the world.
Question: Will you be getting involved in the grassroots campaign in Rhode Island to support Barack Obama and, if so, how?
Absolutely. We want to work with all of Barack’s supporters in RI to get the vote out.
The Clintons have spent a lot of time in RI and we’re up against a formidable challenge with the number of supporters who have endorsed Hillary. But there is a great network of enthusiastic supporters on campuses around the state and people who want to get involved in the Obama campaign.
This is a terrific opportunity to get the grassroots going and give people a chance to show that this democratic process can be changed by their participation
No one could have thought that this race is as wide open as it is right now and Rhode Island is going to matter. Rhode Island is going to count and the people out there working hard are going to count.
…My office will be working closely with Barack Obama supporters in Rhode Island to do whatever we can to get out the vote on election day.
Let me just add that I told Congressman Kennedy that I can only imagine the amount of political pressure that the Clinton machine was putting on him and his family and that I commend his courage and his vision in endorsing Obama. It certainly wasn't the most politically expedient thing to do. But it was the right thing to do.
I never have to hear George W Bush give a State of the Union speech ever again. Yay!
Here is Barack Obama responding to George: ....................................................................
.................................................................... Militia kill 21 in West Darfur-residents, rebels Tonight George Bush gave a little "lip service" to Darfur and the 5 year old genocide that he has done essentially little to end. The following article is from WORLD Africa 01/23/08 Darfur Hijackings
Darfur hijackings hit food distribution
Story Highlights
World Food Program says 22 of its vehicles attacked and stolen this month
Five separate attacks targeted aid workers in Darfur on Tuesday alone
WFP says it doesn't know who was behind the latest attacks
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) -- A surge of truck hijackings threatens to cut off food rations for more than 2 million people in Darfur, the World Food Program said Wednesday, after 22 of its vehicles were attacked and stolen this month alone.
With 18 drivers still missing, the U.N. agency said its main contracting companies refuse to send more food convoys into Darfur.
"If the situation continues, we'll be forced to cut rations in parts of Darfur by mid-February," Kenro Oshidari, the head of WFP operations in Sudan, said in a statement.
The increase in violence comes barely three weeks after the United Nations took over peacekeeping in the remote region of western Sudan where 2.5 million people have been chased into refugee camps by five years of war.
Five separate attacks targeted aid workers throughout Darfur just on Tuesday, officials said. Among those were ambushes of two WFP convoys in West Darfur and the detention of five WFP staff when their cars were stolen near the North Darfur state capital of El Fasher.
"They've now been released, but it was pretty traumatic," said Emilia Casella, the WFP spokeswoman in Sudan.
A vehicle from the United Nations security services was also attacked near the West Darfur capital of El Geneina, while an aid group's car was attacked inside the capital, which is under Khartoum government control.
The agency said it didn't know who was behind the latest attacks, which it blamed on "bandits."
Top U.N. aid officials met with the Sudanese government Wednesday to extend by a year the agreement that allows international aid groups to work in Sudan, but the meeting didn't address the increased hijackings.
Over the past year, WFP has been feeding between 2 million and 3.2 million people in Darfur. It plans to distribute some $500 million worth of food in the region during 2008.
The food convoys to Darfur form the world's longest humanitarian route, with nearly 1,864 miles (3,000 km) to cross between the nearest port on the Red Sea to the desert town of El Geneina, near the border with Chad.
Nearly twice as many WFP trucks have been hijacked this month than in the previous four months combined, and the U.N. said seven humanitarian vehicles have also been stolen so far.
Some 369 tons of food were looted in the latest attacks, and the lack of trucks means deliveries will be cut by half.
"Without these deliveries, WFP faces a rapid depletion of stocks" and could face a shortage by the time seasonal rains block most roads in May, Oshidari said.
The escalation came as the U.N. launched a new peacekeeping mission to try to quell the chaos in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have died since early 2003, when ethnic African groups rebelled against the Arab-dominated central government and accused it of discrimination.
Khartoum denies accusations of widespread atrocities against civilians.
The U.N. mission had a supply convoy attacked by the Sudanese army days after taking over from the previous African Union force on January 1. The new mission is meant to grow to 26,000 peacekeepers and police officers, but less than half have reached Darfur.
"We are still lacking the aircraft, equipment and troops that are crucial for us to be present everywhere in Darfur and improve the situation," said Noureddine Mezni, the spokesman for the U.N. mission, known as UNAMID.
Sudan's government opposed for months a U.N. deployment before agreeing last June to a "hybrid operation" jointly run by the world body and the African Union. But Khartoum has since vetoed troops from some European and non-Muslim Asian countries, and U.N. officials say a series of bureaucratic hurdles could impede the deployment of an effective force.
The peacekeepers also lack some heavy military equipment such as attack helicopters.
The previous AU mission was viewed as having largely failed because it was understaffed and under-equipped.
Jean-Marie Guehenno, the chief of U.N. peacekeeping operations, is touring Darfur to assess the mission's needs. Mezni said UNAMID's leadership was appealing for U.N. members states to offer the equipment and troops "vital for the mission to succeed."
Khartoum continues to make a mockery of the international community by elevating a known Janjaweed leader who has been sanctioned by the UN to a high level government post:Africa Reuters Top News
KHARTOUM, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Armed militias backed by Sudan's government killed 21 people in an attack on a village in West Darfur, anti-Khartoum Sudanese rebels said on Sunday.
Remember when Hillary Clinton said she would be going after the votes in American Samoa when she lost in South Carolina to Barack Obama by 28%? American Samoa and Guam both have 3 pledged and 3 unpledged (super) delegate votes respectively to cast at the Democratic Presidential candidate nomination convention. For an explanation about voters, pledged delegates and super delegates go to bluebloggin.
Governors, senators, state chairs, and even Bill Clinton get automatic vote
By Tom Curry
WASHINGTON - It’s called the Democratic Party, but one aspect of the party’s nominating process is at odds with grass-roots democracy.
Voters don’t choose the 842 unpledged “super-delegates” who comprise nearly 40 percent of the number of delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination.
The category includes Democratic governors and members of Congress, former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, former vice president Al Gore, retired congressional leaders such as Dick Gephardt, and all Democratic National Committee members, some of whom are appointed by party chairman Howard Dean.
The Republicans do not have a similar super-delegate system.
These super-delegates don’t have superhuman powers, but unlike rank-and-file Democrats, they do automatically get to cast a vote at the convention to decide who the party’s nominee will be.
Although dubbed “unpledged” in Democratic Party lingo, the super-delegates are free to come out before their state’s primary and pledge to support one of the presidential contenders.
Why the 'super-delegate' system?
Why did the party adopt this partly undemocratic system?
Super-delegates were supposed to supply some Establishment stability to the nominating process.
Before 1972, party elders, such as Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and Charlie Buckley, the boss of The Bronx who helped John Kennedy clinch the 1960 nomination, wielded inordinate power.
But in early 1970’s, the party’s rules were reformed to open the process to grass-roots activists, women, and ethnic minorities.
Sen. George McGovern, the leading anti-Vietnam war liberal, won the 1972 nomination. McGovern turned out to be a disaster as a presidential candidate, winning only one state and the District of Columbia.
So without reverting to the days of party bosses like Buckley, the Democrats decided to guarantee that elected officials would have a bigger voice in the nomination.
Senator Edward Kennedy chooses Obama, spurning Bill Clinton plea
"I'm looking for the leader who is going to be able to inspire," Kennedy said last year on ABC News's "This Week." "I want to see who out there is going to be able to inspire not only our party, but others, because I think we're going to need the inspiration in order to bring a change in American foreign policy and domestic policy."
After Obama won the Iowa caucuses, associates to both men said, Kennedy concluded that Obama had transcended racial lines and the historical divisions the Kennedy family had worked to tear down. Kennedy was also impressed at how Obama was not defined as a black candidate, but seen as a transformational figure.
It was then, associates said, that Kennedy began talking with family members, including Caroline Kennedy, who had reached her own judgment some time ago independently of her uncle. They then agreed last week to move ahead with their endorsement, coordinating their decision before the Feb. 5 contests.
Kennedy has a long history of working with both the former president and Senator Clinton on health, education and other social issues and, according to Kennedy associates, has a good relationship with both, coupled with respect for the work ethic and determination of Senator Clinton. While the Clintons were in the White House, the families socialized and sailed off Cape Cod.
But multiple sources said Kennedy was upset over what he saw as attempts by the Clinton campaign to highlight Obama's race and by what he viewed as distortions of Obama's statements and record. He made those views known in a call with the former president.
Obama courted Kennedy as well, using late-night sessions in the Senate to get some tutoring from his senior colleague about the intricacies of the institution. Conversations about the White House began more than a year ago, with Obama paying Kennedy a visit to seek his thoughts about whether he should run for president. Kennedy told him that he should because such opportunities rarely come along. This is page 2. For page 1 see: The International Herald Tribune
.................................................................................. Tavis Smiley Part I interviews Senator Ted Kennedy regarding his announcement to endorse Barack Obama for the Democratic candidate for President.
.................................................................................. Tavis Smiley Part II interviews Senator Ted Kennedy regarding his announcement to endorse Barack Obama for the Democratic candidate for President.
Transference is the process in psychoanalysis or other psychotherapy whereby somebody unconsciously redirects feelings, fears, or emotions onto a new object. When anyone, including myself, makes a judgment statement or criticism I ask myself if transference is happening. In other words, is the judgement or criticism valid or is it a reflection of the person making the claim. I ask this when I watch the Presidential candidates. And I ask it about the political pundits, especially Pat Buchanan. With Pat Buchanan I am certain that my judgment is clear and true. Pat Buchanan is guilty of transference when it comes to Barack Obama. He constantly makes judgments about Barack that are not merited. They are false. But Pat Buchanan is redirecting his own personal feelings and fears upon Barack. And he is so blatantly wrong about Barack and illustrates that he is being anything but fair, clear-thinking and valid. Buchanan should lose his job of political analyst. He isn't analyzing but he is using his "platform" to slander Barack. MSNBC shouldn't be giving Buchanan the leverage to spit his anger and agenda-driven comments about Barack.
"You have something others envy ~ your freedom" is what Edward Mutanguha said to us on a Saturday afternoon in late October in Providence, Rhode Island on the State Capitol grounds. And with that comes responsibility to use that freedom. We gathered to make a statement that we were standing up to end the now 5 year old genocide in Darfur. Edward and his twin brother, Edwin, had first hand experience. They are Rwandans that necessarily lived in exile due to the genocide in their homeland of Rwanda. I believe firmly that we must become knowledgeable and engaged in the political process or we will lose our freedoms.
I sent a letter to my Senators Reed, Whitehouse and Representative Patrick Kennedy asking for their endorsements for Barack Obama for President. Here is the one I sent to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse:
Subject: Health of our Country and Darfur
Dear Senator Whitehouse,
I am writing to you on behalf of my heart and genuine love for our people and the people around the world. I am a grass roots Darfur ~ Stop and Prevent Genocide ~ activist with the Save Darfur Coalition. I organized the Rhode Island state Torch Relay in regards to China and Darfur. I am sure you know about China's role in the genocide of the Darfur people. Omar al-Bashir has been jerking "our" chain and plays games with us especially about getting the UN Peacekeepers in place as agreed upon July 31, 2007.
I have lobbied you in person regarding Darfur in your Providence office on May 29, 2007 with constituents, including several high school students and the past executive director of STAND, as well as Frank Caprio, RI General Treasurer.
A separate reason for writing is that I am a proud and strong supporter of Barack Obama for President. I volunteer for his campaign, including a week in New Hampshire, running up to their Primary. I have never in my 59 years done anything like this before. I can tell you that the 18 and 22 year olds that were organizing all of our canvassing were committed, hard workers and made me extremely proud and humble. I will never vote for Hillary, which leaves me somewhat afraid.
Would you please consider endorsing, very publicly, Barack Obama? This would be in my humble opinion a very genuine and good message to our nation and the world, that We Do Want to Be Unified and NOT the divided United States of America. Time is of the essence.
Thank you for your kind consideration.
I admire you for what you have done in the past regarding Darfur, however we need to get the helicopters in Darfur immediately for the UN Peacekeepers. What has been going on recently in Darfur is extremely troubling and going on under the media radar.
Thank you for your continued support regarding Darfur and our humanity.
CHINA PLEASE: Bring the Olympic Dream to Darfur. The 2008 Olympic theme is ONE WORLD, ONE DREAM. www.dreamfordarfur.org "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead www.savedarfur.org I post all of my Darfur events on this website. Click on "Darfur Events Center" on right hand side of Home Page, Type in zip code 02840. ............................................................... ............................................................... This is a reminder of how to behave. This is Barack Obama's speech after he conceded to Hillary Clinton who got 2% more of the votes from New Hampshire. However, know that Hillary and Barack received equal number of delegates. I was there this night. I am so glad that I was.
Hillary didn't even meet together with her volunteers in South Carolina after she conceded to Barack on the telephone. Volunteers work very, very hard on the candidates' behalf. Volunteers go door-to-door and meet with all variations of welcome or unwelcome. And it is good manners for the candidate to meet with the volunteers at the end of the time in the state after the primary or caucus.
"There has never been anything false about hope. ...When we're told that we're not ready....that we shouldn't try or that we can't....Yes. We. Can. ...a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation, Yes, we can......Yes, we can to justice and equality....Yes, we can to opportunity and prosperity, Yes we can heal this nation, Yes, We can repair this world...Yes, We Can...We will remember that something is happening in America, that we are not as divided as our politics suggest, that we are one people, we are one nation and together we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words, from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea. Yes. We. Can." Barack Obama, January 8, 2008 in Nashua High School gym, New Hampshire
Barack and Michelle Obama, January 26, 2008, in Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, South Carolina
The Right Change Can Be Ours
Pat Buchanan said on MSNBC tonight that the Clinton's have Barack Obama ~ after the South Carolina Primary ~ right where they planned. . . right where they want to be. Pat Buchanan is for Hillary Clinton because he expects Hillary to unify his party, the Republican party. He should be fired from his job. I'll reserve my reasons. But I'll say this much, when you can spin a 55% Barack Obama win and a 27% Hillary Clinton loss ~ to be in Hillary's best interest, something is off-balance in the brain.
He is so blatantly weird. And that is nicer than how I want to say, what I feel about this male. How would it be spun if Hillary had won? Would that have been in Barack's bestinterest?
Hillary won in New Hampshire by 2% and even then Barack got the same number of pledged delegates from New Hampshire. How can you win by 28% as in South Carolina, and it is just what Bill and Hillary were hoping for? That is what Pat Buchanan said tonight. What kind of thinking does it take to come up with this reasoning?
Barack Obama's Speech text as prepared for delivery in Columbia, South Carolina...
Over two weeks ago, we saw the people of Iowa proclaim that our time for change has come. But there were those who doubted this country’s desire for something new – who said Iowa was a fluke not to be repeated again.
Well, tonight, the cynics who believed that what began in the snows of Iowa was just an illusion were told a different story by the good people of South Carolina.
After four great contests in every corner of this country, we have the most votes, the most delegates, and the most diverse coalition of Americans we’ve seen in a long, long time.
They are young and old; rich and poor. They are black and white; Latino and Asian. They are Democrats from Des Moines and Independents from Concord; Republicans from rural Nevada and young people across this country who’ve never had a reason to participate until now. And in nine days, nearly half the nation will have the chance to join us in saying that we are tired of business-as-usual in Washington, we are hungry for change, and we are ready to believe again
But if there’s anything we’ve been reminded of since Iowa, it’s that the kind of change we seek will not come easy. Partly because we have fine candidates in the field – fierce competitors, worthy of respect. And as contentious as this campaign may get, we have to remember that this is a contest for the Democratic nomination, and that all of us share an abiding desire to end the disastrous policies of the current administration.
But there are real differences between the candidates. We are looking for more than just a change of party in the White House. We’re looking to fundamentally change the status quo in Washington – a status quo that extends beyond any particular party. And right now, that status quo is fighting back with everything it’s got; with the same old tactics that divide and distract us from solving the problems people face, whether those problems are health care they can’t afford or a mortgage they cannot pay.
So this will not be easy. Make no mistake about what we’re up against.
We are up against the belief that it’s ok for lobbyists to dominate our government – that they are just part of the system in Washington. But we know that the undue influence of lobbyists is part of the problem, and this election is our chance to say that we’re not going to let them stand in our way anymore.
We are up against the conventional thinking that says your ability to lead as President comes from longevity in Washington or proximity to the White House. But we know that real leadership is about candor, and judgment, and the ability to rally Americans from all walks of life around a common purpose – a higher purpose.
We are up against decades of bitter partisanship that cause politicians to demonize their opponents instead of coming together to make college affordable or energy cleaner; it’s the kind of partisanship where you’re not even allowed to say that a Republican had an idea – even if it’s one you never agreed with. That kind of politics is bad for our party, it’s bad for our country, and this is our chance to end it once and for all. We are up against the idea that it’s acceptable to say anything and do anything to win an election. We know that this is exactly what’s wrong with our politics; this is why people don’t believe what their leaders say anymore; this is why they tune out. And this election is our chance to give the American people a reason to believe again.
And what we’ve seen in these last weeks is that we’re also up against forces that are not the fault of any one campaign, but feed the habits that prevent us from being who we want to be as a nation. It’s the politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon. A politics that tells us that we have to think, act, and even vote within the confines of the categories that supposedly define us. The assumption that young people are apathetic. The assumption that Republicans won’t cross over. The assumption that the wealthy care nothing for the poor, and that the poor don’t vote. The assumption that African-Americans can’t support the white candidate; whites can’t support the African-American candidate; blacks and Latinos can’t come together.
But we are here tonight to say that this is not the America we believe in. I did not travel around this state over the last year and see a white South Carolina or a black South Carolina. I saw South Carolina. I saw crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children. I saw shuttered mills and homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from all walks of life, and men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. I saw what America is, and I believe in what this country can be.
That is the country I see. That is the country you see. But now it is up to us to help the entire nation embrace this vision. Because in the end, we are not just up against the ingrained and destructive habits of Washington, we are also struggling against our own doubts, our own fears, and our own cynicism. The change we seek has always required great struggle and sacrifice. And so this is a battle in our own hearts and minds about what kind of country we want and how hard we’re willing to work for it.
So let me remind you tonight that change will not be easy. That change will take time. There will be setbacks, and false starts, and sometimes we will make mistakes. But as hard as it may seem, we cannot lose hope. Because there are people all across this country who are counting us; who can’t afford another four years without health care or good schools or decent wages because our leaders couldn’t come together and get it done.
Theirs are the stories and voices we carry on from South Carolina.
The mother who can’t get Medicaid to cover all the needs of her sick child – she needs us to pass a health care plan that cuts costs and makes health care available and affordable for every single American.
The teacher who works another shift at Dunkin Donuts after school just to make ends meet – she needs us to reform our education system so that she gets better pay, and more support, and her students get the resources they need to achieve their dreams.
The Maytag worker who is now competing with his own teenager for a $7-an-hour job at Wal-Mart because the factory he gave his life to shut its doors – he needs us to stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship our jobs overseas and start putting them in the pockets of working Americans who deserve it. And struggling homeowners. And seniors who should retire with dignity and respect.
The woman who told me that she hasn’t been able to breathe since the day her nephew left for Iraq, or the soldier who doesn’t know his child because he’s on his third or fourth tour of duty – they need us to come together and put an end to a war that should’ve never been authorized and never been waged.
The choice in this election is not between regions or religions or genders. It’s not about rich versus poor; young versus old; and it is not about black versus white.
It’s about the past versus the future.
It’s about whether we settle for the same divisions and distractions and drama that passes for politics today, or whether we reach for a politics of common sense, and innovation – a shared sacrifice and shared prosperity.
There are those who will continue to tell us we cannot do this. That we cannot have what we long for. That we are peddling false hopes.
But here’s what I know. I know that when people say we can’t overcome all the big money and influence in Washington, I think of the elderly woman who sent me a contribution the other day – an envelope that had a money order for $3.01 along with a verse of scripture tucked inside. So don’t tell us change isn’t possible.
When I hear the cynical talk that blacks and whites and Latinos can’t join together and work together, I’m reminded of the Latino brothers and sisters I organized with, and stood with, and fought with side by side for jobs and justice on the streets of Chicago. So don’t tell us change can’t happen.
When I hear that we’ll never overcome the racial divide in our politics, I think about that Republican woman who used to work for Strom Thurmond, who’s now devoted to educating inner-city children and who went out onto the streets of South Carolina and knocked on doors for this campaign. Don’t tell me we can’t change.
Yes we can change.
Yes we can heal this nation.
Yes we can seize our future.
And as we leave this state with a new wind at our backs, and take this journey across the country we love with the message we’ve carried from the plains of Iowa to the hills of New Hampshire; from the Nevada desert to the South Carolina coast; the same message we had when we were up and when we were down – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope; and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people in three simple words:
........................................... Victory (This is new to me, so I am fiddling around with this way of sharing my beloved music, until I learn how it works.)
THIS ELECTION IS ABOUT PAST VERSUS FUTURE ~ Barack Obama January 26, 2008
From the New York Times
January 27, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor
A President Like My Father
By CAROLINE KENNEDY
OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.
My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.
Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.
We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960.
Most of us would prefer to base our voting decision on policy differences. However, the candidates’ goals are similar. They have all laid out detailed plans on everything from strengthening our middle class to investing in early childhood education. So qualities of leadership, character and judgment play a larger role than usual.
Senator Obama has demonstrated these qualities throughout his more than two decades of public service, not just in the United States Senate but in Illinois, where he helped turn around struggling communities, taught constitutional law and was an elected state official for eight years. And Senator Obama is showing the same qualities today. He has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people — known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics — to become engaged in the political process.
I have spent the past five years working in the New York City public schools and have three teenage children of my own. There is a generation coming of age that is hopeful, hard-working, innovative and imaginative. But too many of them are also hopeless, defeated and disengaged. As parents, we have a responsibility to help our children to believe in themselves and in their power to shape their future. Senator Obama is inspiring my children, my parents’ grandchildren, with that sense of possibility.
Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign. He has spoken eloquently about the role of faith in his life, and opened a window into his character in two compelling books. And when it comes to judgment, Barack Obama made the right call on the most important issue of our time by opposing the war in Iraq from the beginning.
I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.
I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.
Caroline Kennedy is the author of “A Patriot’s Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love.”
www.barackobama.com >:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>: Hey Edward and Edwin Mutanguha!! Song of Celebration .............................................................. ..............................................................
I watch the nightly TV politico-pundits tell me what is important and what we all should think is important in the candidacy for my President. Our President. And I have to admit that I am a Democrat. I was raised in the Bible belt, in the northeastern part of Indiana, near Fort Wayne. Born in all-white, Huntington, Indiana, home of the Vice-President Dan Quayle Museum ~ you remember him ~ the choice of VP by George H W Bush. Probably one of the most inept VP's we have had my whole lifetime. My family was transparently Republican and probably never voted for a Democratic candidate for President. And our family got down on our knees every night after a Bible story was read with follow-up questions. So I have an inside perspective on conservatives, fundamental Christians and Republicans.
I am a Democrat. I have never voted for a Republican Presidential candidate, although I have voted for a Republican for other roles. And I am very worried with what is going on with the Democratic Presidential candidacy right now. I am a proud supporter of the man Barack Obama for President. I voted for Bill Clinton, twice. I once was a supporter of Hillary. I now have lost all respect for Hillary Rodham Clinton. I think she is a liar. I think she lacks the most important quality for what we need as our President ~ someone who operates from truth, integrity. I believe Barack Obama operates from truth and has the integrity I am looking for.
We have had a President who would do anything to win. One who lies. George W Bush. Dick Cheney. I don't want Hillary because I believe she lies when she finds it at least convenient for the moment.
I have gotten sick of the pundits, even one I like ~ Chris Matthews. I turn off any show that has Pat Buchanan on. Pat Buchanan admitted weeks ago that he wants Hillary to win the Democratic nomination for this reason ~ she will unite the Republican party. So Buchanan continually repeats the distortions and lies of Bill Clinton and "Hillary's representative mouths" who have spewed intentional, "power of suggestion" covert racist statements just to keep it all alive out there for his not so hidden agenda. He might as well be a paid employee by the Bill and Hillary campaign.
The truth is that all of the candidates are fallible. So the minute, pundit and media selective parsings really muddle up what already lacks clarity on the campaigning stage. The candidates are human. And the populace is busy living daily lives. Many hate or avoid politics and find it a challenge just to get to the polls to vote. And being immersed enough to sort out the truth is not a priority. So. We have some problems that are in place and easily seized upon by inscrupulous candidates campaigning.
We had President Bill Clinton, who loves to campaign, but takes his womanizing and extra marital affairs into the Oval Office and allowed his human flaws to get in the way of doing the right thing at times due the country's and media's attention to such things as "I never had sexual relations with that woman." Then we get George W Bush who also lies. I am so tired of getting Presidents who have a pattern of lying. We could have known that both of these men operate with lying as a part of their character before we voted for them.
We can know that Hillary Rodham Clinton lies before we vote for her too. But many will vote for her anyway. It is a puzzle to me.
I detest her at this time due to how she has run her campaign. She runs her campaign with lying a central part of it. She runs it with intentional distortion as a part of it. She uses the psychological behaviors of transference and displacement in regards to Barack Obama. At the last debate she said that Obama had come rehearsed to the debate. She is the one who uses rehearsed statements as a major tactic. The "slum lord" comment toward Barack was rehearsed.
Hillary Clinton, Tony Rezko, the accused slumlord of Hillary and Bill.
On paper I keep hearing that Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are no different. Hillary stood behind Bush in striking first for the Iraq war. Obama was against going to war.
But all aside, the one that I believe operates from truth and integrity is Barack Obama. And Hillary Rodham Clinton operates from "I'll do anything to win and hope you'll forget it later". I know that Barack Obama has run his campaign with integrity, from a place of wanting to stand in truth. I saw that first-hand when I volunteered in New Hampshire in the run up to the New Hampshire primary. And I have been watching how Hillary has run her campaign. And I loathe it. And that loathing goes to her ~ from me.
The division that Hillary and Bill Clinton are utilizing, generating and perpetuating about racism in South Carolina are politically, for me obscene, sickeningly calculating and bigoted. How does anyone believe it is a good thing to "use" the black vote in South Carolina as a divisive campaign strategy as Hillary and Bill are doing? Barack Obama has been trying to bring together America. Hillary has not.
Hillary is a divider and not a uniter. We have a current President who claimed to be a uniter and really is a divider. What are people thinking to vote for a woman who has no reservation about dividing people along race lines, using it to pave her way to the Whitehouse and sleep on the President side of the bed?
Rafael Nadal is my favorite tennis player. But Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France was in a zone that no one could have touched, in my humble opinion at the Australian Open. Swiss Roger Federer or Serbian Novak Djokovic will play Tsonga in the Final. That match airs on ESPN2 Friday morning at 3:30 a.m. and reairs on Friday at 3:00 p.m.………………………………………………………………………………………………… Rafael Nadal interview
Bits of the Match Rafael Nadal versus Jo-Wilfried TsongaSemi-Final at the Australian Open ‘08
Tsonga's interview This is Hatice from Australia and her children with Rafa at his hotel in Melbourne. Hatice is the Rafa fan who went to all of Rafa's matches at the Australian Open and posted her daily encounters with Rafa and other exciting stories at Rafael Nadal. She and her daughter were on ESPN2 a lot waving the Spanish flag in support of Rafa.
She also gave us the two pictures here of Rafa at a practice court.
I love my life. I love where I live. And I am passionate about my passions. I love to dance. Necessary to live: music, piano, singing, writing, acting, painting.
I have been fighting for and supporting the arts all my adult life. Since 2004, I have been working with other activists to end the Darfur genocide.
I have traveled to Europe many times since my early twenties. Places I have been: many USA states including Hawaii, Montreal, Canada, Barbados, France, Spain, Luxembourg, England, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and Germany - and have wonderful memories.
My last trip was in May - June 2013 to Spain.
I would like to travel to Europe and Kyoto, Japan.
I love the southwest where I have visited Hopi, Navajo, Zia and San Idlefonso potters.
Life is exciting and I intend to live it full-out to the end.
B.S. and M.M., both in music
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Khartoum, Sudan Stop Genocide Time
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Spain Time
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Melbourne Time
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Hawaii Time
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RAFA NADAL -BRING BACK LONG PANTS - SLEEVELESS TOPS
Double Click on Videos to Enlarge
Darfur - The Abandoned Genocide - a video by Sandra Hammel
Want to help? Call 1~800~GENOCIDE
"May I Suggest" by Susan Werner
Satchita - Playing for Change
Stand By Me ~ Playing for Change
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Genocide is not only a word,
it is crying of the whole human race.
There is nothing redeeming about being silent
when speaking up is the humane thing to do.
The honor and integrity of the human race is at stake.
Caroline Kennedy introducing Barack Obama in Denver, Colorado 
Supporters making Obama sign posts in garage
