"There's not a Red America, or a Blue America, there's the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA." ---Barack Obama, 2004

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

An Obama Thanksgiving 4 U

Here's links to all the latest and greatest in our new reality known as the BARACK OBAMA UNIVERSE...and yes, his universe has universal appeal...aren't I punny?

The following should give you something to gnaw on besides a turkey leg. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Sarah unleashed!

So how's that Fleetwood Mac song go?

"Sara, you're the poet in my heart,
Never change, and don’t you ever stop..."

Wrong spelling of Sarah, but you get the idea...anyway.

She's the gift that keeps giving. She's the mustard stain on the tie that won't come out. She's the termite infestation that keeps returning to eat away at the foundation, despite continued efforts to exterminate...she simply refuses to go away.

...and I couldn't be more amused!!!

Sarah Palin might very well be the greatest bomb to go off in the face of the GOP...and as a Left-leaning Independent, I'm just crackin' another beer and kicking back to enjoy the show.


I really, really hope Sarah Palin keeps talking and blabbering away.


The more she opens her mouth, the more the oxygen is sucked out of the Republican room...and the more she sandbags the GOP's efforts to get breathing room to retool and strategize.

Like, for example, today...when she totally hijacked the Republican Governor's meeting and steered the biplane right into King Kong's swatting fist.


I love how she chases her tail in the spotlight, being the self-proclaimed "pit bull with lipstick" that she is...just chasing her tail...going faster...and faster...and faster! Until all the china crashes all over the floor!!!

I can hear Republicans seething with every word that comes out of her mouth. Even if Republicans start telling her to shut her mouth, that will only rile her up even more and spin her into new heights of "Sarah unleashed."


Perhaps Sarah's fire will burn out, but it doesn't look like that will occur anytime in the foreseeable future.

I'm beyond amused with this gift known as Sarah Palin that fell out of the sky. Sarah! Sarah! Keep talking! Don't stop! Go on, and on, and on, you little energizer bunny! Don't leave us anytime soon!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Revisiting MLK's 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech

I find that many of us have heard about it, and have heard it referred to numerous times over the years...and many of us may have referenced it ourselves.

...but have you actually sat down to watch the entire thing?

You should...it's some of the best 17 minutes of your life you'll ever invest in.

It's ESPECIALLY interesting following Obama's election to the Presidency. You can see what Obama has referenced to in his speeches; especially in his DNC acceptance speech last August. it's fascinating to see where he's channeled MLK and borrowed lines from him, such as "NOW is the time."

Check it out here, all 17 minutes of it...actually, we should know the entirety of this speech by heart. It's arguably the most critical, transcendent, sweeping speech in our nation's history.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

The healing has begun

As the dust settles from the historic election several days ago, my thoughts have been all over the map on the hope and possibilities that lie ahead for America.

More than anything, I keep going back to the complicated issue of race relations, and where we stand today. The lives lost in the Civil War and the family trees that could have been... the bloody and insanely protracted history of racism since... the civil rights movement and Dr. King's martyrdom... the misconceptions and gaffes I had growing up in Seattle, arguably the least racist part of the States... the Rodney King riots and resulting destruction that I witnessed firsthand... my conversations about race with black fraternity brothers in college... witnessing racism firsthand in Tucson against Latinos and confronting it... everything. Everything I've ever read about, heard about, discussed, or witnessed firsthand.

...and now what having an African-American in the White House means.


It means everything, especially for black America. I'm hoping it starts putting many of the issues I just touched on to bed, and accelerates the healing.

As Sheri Shepard said on The View, "No more limitations." A black mother or father can now look their kid in the eye and tell them that they can become President --- and mean it. It can't be questioned. It's indisputable. We can point to proof.

I believe Barack Obama has the ability to heal this nation in ways that we can't begin to imagine...even in ways that HE can't begin to imagine.

The light is shining in...let the healing begin!


Here's Sheri Shepard from The View, see below...but have a handkerchief ready, this is powerful stuff.


Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Relive the Obama Presidency victory announcement on CNN

Here's a video of CNN, covering the last minute before Obama was announced as the President-elect.

I'm glad someone put this out there...I have to say I missed most of the coverage after the announcement due to a bizarre reaction I've never had before...a combination of hysterical weeping and laughing at the same time...what one might feel, perhaps, if their team won the intergalactic Super Bowl.

A personal message from Obama

Checking my email today, I got this message from the Obama Campaign last night.

While I realize it's just something routine, it's the message I've been waiting to read...I can't believe that I'm seeing this...dear God, this day tastes sweeter than I could have ever imagined!!!


Sweva --


I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.

We just made history.

And I don't want you to forget how we did it.

You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change.

I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign.

We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next.

But I want to be very clear about one thing...

All of this happened because of you.

Thank you,

Barack

A chessboard sweep in Seattle

Last night was a FANTASTIC night up here in Washington State and in the Seattle area.

The following took place:
  • Democratic Governor Chris Gregoire got reelected...and I think we dodged a HUGE BULLET on this one, as Dino Rossi would have been an utter nightmare, like another Bush. He's such an ass...it's the second straight election loss where the guy's refused to concede...and this time he got his ass handed to him. So then, Dino, GO AWAY.....
  • Prop. 1 passed, which extends the light rail lines to Bellevue and moves toward completing a light rail corridor that links Everett to Tacoma. This is a massive, massive, move in the right direction for the region to alleviate traffic congestion...we have some of the worst in the nation.
  • Initiative 195 failed...which would have made our traffic woes even worse...it was a citizen-based initiative driven by our local village idiot, Tim Eyman. Let's just say it's a long story on that scab that's not worth going into.
  • Washington passed a death with dignity law. It allows terminally ill patients to get prescriptions from their doctors to end their lives if they have less than six months to live (from a severe cancer diagnosis, etc.).
  • The House Rep race between Darcy Burner and Dave Reichert still hasn't been called...we'll keep our fingers crossed on that one. Go Darcy!
  • ...and last but not least...Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States of America!!! Woohoo!!!

What a glorious day today is. These sorts of victories don't happen very often...but last night was a massive, massive victory night!!!

Puget Sound residents have invested in their future, and invested wisely...now let's roll up our sleeves and get to work!

Obama's win is an indescribable feeling

It's difficult for me to absorb the feeling I had when I woke up this morning, or even to describe it.

As I awoke, all I could hear were victory trumpets going off in my head...you know, like the ones from King Arthur, being blown by those duke dudes in tights with feathers in their hat?

Shut up...you know what I mean.

I opened the window and all the little creatures in the woods were waving at me as they danced in a circle holding hands.

Not really...but it certainly feels that way!

It's a beautiful day...my heart feels fuller than it has in a long, long time. Hope has prevailed.

It's a feeling that's been hard fought and won. After knocking on all those doors...after raising more than $1,500 for Obama's campaign...after representing him as a 41st District representative in the primary...after all the caucusing...after all the days of frustration...after all the days of not knowing what the future would bring...after pining over the future of the planet...after suffering the loss of a classmate in Iraq...after the thieves left us standing in our living rooms with an empty bag in our hands in 2000...after a razor-edged steel toed kick in the balls in 2004...after screaming in anger and pain all the way to work the following morning the day after...

...after going through all that...all that garbage...after being beat down so hard again, again, and again...so hard that you can't look up anymore...

...IT'S THAT MUCH SWEETER.

The dawn of a new day has come. I have a little more steam in my stride today.

Oh, and when the sun rose today, it looked like the Obama logo coming over the hill...how about that?

Not really.

Now the REAL WORK begins...let's get busy! Hop to it!!!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

HISTORY


The vote has been cast...

Here it is...the vote!

The day has finally arrived!

...and not a moment too soon.

What you see here is my actual vote for the U.S. Presidency from my absentee ballot, which I scanned before dropping it into the mail last week.

Tonight (God willing) we will have a new President-elect. Someone to hopefully lead us out of the mess we're currently in.

Better days lie ahead for this country and the world...I know this...I can feel it.

Let's just keep our fingers crossed and get the damn thing over with!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Toots and my hair stylist: on Election Eve, it's all about them

Going into the last day before the election, things certainly aren't short on drama.

First, Obama's grandmother, who's lovingly referred to as "Toots," passed away today, hours before the election.


My condolensces to Barack Obama and his family...and I like to think she has a higher calling right now...somehow she's needed to help with tomorrow.

However, I can't imagine what's going through Barack's mind right now, and the strength and resilience he's putting on display. As if the road to Election Day isn't difficult enough to begin with, the guy loses his grandmother the day before...sheesh.

Be strong, my man...I know you are. We're all in this with you.

Then there's the story of my hair stylist, Brenda, who I've been going to for about 4 years now...not that she "styles" my hair, as all I require is a basic cut.

So...why speak of these individuals in the same post? What do Toots and Brenda, both who never met nor know of one another, have in common?

They share the same dream: to see Barack Obama elected President of the United States of America.


This is how I see it: Toots shaped Barack's upbringing and brought him to this moment to -- through a chain reaction, or network if you will -- inspire people like Brenda, who is a Taiwanese-American who was born in Asia and immigrated here with her family some time back, and finds herself now voting in her very first election.

Not only is Brenda voting in her first election, which was triggered by her registering to vote in just this last month, but she has engaged numerous family and friends in the voting process.
By educating them, she got them to send in their voter registration last month in time to vote in tomorrow's election.


...and why this election? Why now for Brenda? Why, in 2008, at this point in time, is she so engaged in the future of America?


Perhaps it involved a conversation the two of us had about six weeks ago about the future of America, the last time she was cutting my hair. We spoke of Obama and how we liked him, but in the conversation I discovered that she wasn't registered to vote...and with a bit of a perceived language barrier, or lack of knowledge of the process or where to go, she seemed a bit too busy or distracted to do anything about it.


So I decided to bring the process to her.

Following the haircut, I stopped by a library and put together a packet for her, with some registration forms and Obama propoganda that I printed from online. I even included a reader's digest version of the issues between the two campaigns as they view them, to provide both the Democratic and Republican perspectives.


A couple days thereafter, when I was passing by her work, I dropped off the information for her...I had no way of knowing what she'd decide to do with it.


It was only until I went in today, on the eve of the election to get my hair cut, that I found out the efforts she had made in the last six weeks, and all the other people she got registered to vote.

I told her the greatest feeling I have as an American -- as a free individual exercising my right in a democracy -- was when I vote.


She plans on going to her polling place tomorrow morning with her sister to experience that feeling for the first time. She expressed excitement about the prospect of voting in her first election as a free American.


I couldn't be prouder of her. LET FREEDOM RING!

Toots --> Barack --> me --> Brenda --> her family = 6 more votes for Obama.


GObama!!!

Now let's go out and win this thing!!!

Saturday, November 1, 2008