CHANGE HAS COME TO AMERICA! - Humility, Gratitude, Sacrifice

WOW! What an amazing and historical event! People of America and the world over should be proud of the progress that America has united behind!

I felt that Andrew Young, longtime friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, said it best...
..."Barack Obama's election has made us tremendously proud, but it has given us, I'm afraid, too much hope. I'm constantly reminding [the black community] that he has never once promised, "Yes I can." He has always said, "Yes WE can." He has never set himself up as a savior of the world. He set himself up as someone who articulates and represents and can hopefully lead us to be the best America that we can be. He isn't just black; he's an Afro-Asian-Latin European. That means he's a global citizen and an all-American boy. He defies categorization. The fact that his father and grandfather on one side were black doesn't make him any more of a black President than his grandfather on the other side being white would make him a white President. We claim him, and we are proud of him, but the fact is that he has not had the experiences of deprivation, humiliation and racism that I had to grow up with — which is good. He has the label without the scars."

Clarence B. Jones, former advisor and close friend to Dr. King, also summarized...
..."When I think about Barack Obama and I think about Martin King, I think about that saying that Martin used in many different versions, the saying of Victor Hugo's, paraphrased, "More powerful than the march of mighty armies is an idea whose time has come." And one could say prophetically that Barack Obama is an American idea whose time has come. And that's the power of it.

To me, and so many others, this has nothing to do with Obama, other than the fact that he is the vehicle for change. This has more to do with millions of voices calling for change.
..."We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change. We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we shouldn't try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people. Yes we can!"

... and YES WE DID!! The speech was eloquent, direct and selfless. He never truly paused for applause, giving us every indication that he will press forward steadfast and do his very best to preserve, protect and to defend this great country.

I was surprised how I didn't cry as much as I thought I would... But for some reason, his words had this calming effect, that gave me hope and faith. That's when the world had confirmation that this man would help be the change we believed in.

His inaugural address included only 3 mentions of the word "I" - the fewest mentions ever in an inaugural address.

I am, once again, proud to be an American!!!

CHANGE HAS COME TO AMERICA - President-Elect Barack Obama

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

...and so begins the most quintessential part of the Declaration of Independence... and the truest fundamentals of all human beings, regardless of your religion or faith!!


...And on this day, history was made!... Barack Obama has been elected to serve as the 44th President of the United States!!! We have taken such grand steps in finally making this a reality... It has been a long time coming... But we still have a long way to go to realize our rights as human beings in order to truly be considered equal. However... finally... little boys and little girls of all races, ethnicities, cultures & creed can dream again... dream that they too can one day be a part of something bigger...


This election outcome was also proof of the following line from the Declaration of Independence…
"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government..."

And this, in my opinion, is what we witnessed tonight! People, who were fed up with the way we were being governed, decided to stand up and let their voices be heard!

Ladies & gentlemen, we have just witnessed one of the largest displays of a peaceful revolution!!!!


"There is not a liberal America and a conservative America. There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America. There's the United States of America."
-- Barack Obama

WASSUP 2008!!! DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON TUESDAY 11/04!

When the BudLight “WASSUP” guys first introduced themselves, through the magic of television into our living rooms eight years ago, the economy wasn't doing so badly. In fact, we were actually experiencing one of the first budget surpluses this country had seen in a very long time.

Fast forward to now and there is so much turmoil affecting our daily lives that we seem to be losing the lighter side of life. It’s difficult when your house, the American dream, is going through a foreclosure, your son/daughter/mother/father are off fighting in a horrible unjust war… some may never come home, you are being laid off as your jobs are being outsourced to other countries… The list goes on and on….

…It has been eight long years since the boys said "WASSUP!" to each other. Even with all these difficulties we face, they are still able to come together and stay true to what really matters…

Help make a smart choice on next Tuesday, so that we can try and turn our country back in the direction of progress, by electing Barack Obama to serve as our leader of this great nation!!!

THE JUXTAPOSITION OF FACTS... A USEFUL DEBATE ON RACISM (BIGOTRY) IN AMERICA

A question of perspective: Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Palin. A lot of people want to say that racism plays no part in our perceptions. It has been said that if you truly want to understand somebody, walk in their shoes… So, what if some facts about the candidates were switched around? …Would the country's collective point of view be different? …Could racism be the culprit?...

Ponder the following…What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?

What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once and Obama was a divorcee?

What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe disfiguring car accident?

What if Obama had a long affair while he was still married?

What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers, but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five?(The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)

What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker? What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?

What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?

What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?

You could easily add to this list... Would we be hearing a different story about each of these candidates if their skin color were switched? This is what racism can do. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference. It is what makes a person of color work twice as hard as a white person to attain the same results.

…Alright. I'm going to say it, even though nobody wants to talk about it. I feel that the narrowing lead is due to blatant racism. Grampy W. McSame is such a joke that, at first, very few would consider supporting him as their candidate, not even the far right!

…Then along comes Sarah and the country witnessed a mood shift from the far right base to suddenly begin supporting McSame! Even though, typically speaking, conservatives don't respond well to women in power, unexpectedly a tremendously unqualified, terrifying woman is added to the ticket and the racist bigots finally have an excuse to hide their votes behind!

Obama should win this election in a landslide, due to his eloquence, experience & education …coupled with the incredible inadequacies of the Bush Admin; however, I feel that ignorance is now beginning to rear its ugly head. If Obama were white, he would win in the most decisive victory this great country has ever witnessed. ...But because of racism, this election is probably going to be closer than one might think. And because of this, the Republicans (along with Diebold) could eventually just steal the election anyway. Look at what’s going on in many states that carry early voting:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/26/voter.suppression/index.html
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_10817171

It's time for TRUE Americans who really care about this world to stand up and say, “I'm not going to take this anymore!”

Take a look at our economy and to the threats that our country faces today… Then ask yourself, can I... wait, I mean... can MY CHILDREN afford to handle 4 more years of this nonsense?! So... get out the vote PEOPLE and flush this indecency down the drain to the sewers where ignorance belongs!!!

PARTNERSHIP FOR A McCAIN-FREE WHITE HOUSE - The Time To Act is Now!

http://www.mccainfreewhitehouse.org/


Not sure if you all watched the final Presidential debate last night, but if you were ever on the fence, I certainly hope you did!

Now the outcome of this campaign is up to all of us. We, as Americans, need your help to actively get the message out - and to get out the vote!

The most dangerous thing that we can all do right now is nothing. Everyone’s support and hard work are exactly what we need between now and Election Day.

While he didn't mention the middle class, John W McSame chose to repeat the same false, negative attacks that make up 100% of all of his advertising these days.

The truth is that John W McSame’s choices say more about his campaign than they do about Barack Obama. Stealing the fear-mongering ways of the Bush campaign, he has drummed up ignorance and condoned hate-speak in people calling out for Obama’s death! This is never acceptable and McSame has never ‘repudiated’ all of these attacks – just the ones he finally chose to when face to face with the mob and when pressed by the media.

…But McSame and his allies are not going to stop fighting or issuing these malicious attacks until the very end.

However, the Obama-Biden campaign has decided to do this a different way. Last night Obama talked about the real problems ordinary people face during this economic crisis and concrete ways that his administration would help to create jobs, cut health care costs, build a new energy policy and get our economy moving again in the right direction!

…But time is running out… The strength and success of the Obama campaign in these last 20 days depends on you!

We are running out of allies in this world and our list of enemies is growing stronger, we need to implement change now to help turn this ship back around!

Please help spread the word and get your friends, family & neighbors to talk about the real issues we are facing and lend a hand to help educate people on the direction we must head in order to progress as a nation and once again become one of the leaders of this global community. The one that people of other nations look to in order to help solve the issues that all of us humans (not just Americans) face today!!!

ENOUGH WITH THE HATE SPEECH AND SCARY MOB-LIKE CROWDS!!!

Rep Lewis on McCain-Palin: Sowing Seeds of Hatred & Division



Down in numbers, the McSame campaign has decided to take the low road and has gotten down & dirty. Much of this hatred was fueled by Caribou Barbie, McSame and other people involved with the campaign. As the saying goes, “Desperate times call for desperate measures" and this is becoming increasingly evident in mob-like showings along the Presidential Repub campaign trail, while the conservative faithful grow weary & frustrated that Obama’s lead in the polls is growing daily.

A man at a McSame rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin directed hostility toward Obama by saying, "When you have an Obama, Pelosi and the rest of the hooligans up there going to run this country, we have got to have our head examined. It's time that you two are representing us, and we are mad. So, go get them.”

Another man said, "I'm mad. I'm really mad. And what's going to surprise you, it's not the economy. It's the socialists taking over our country.”

One man, at Thursday's rally, was more pointed, saying, “And we're all wondering why that Obama is where he's at, how he got here. I mean, everybody in this room is stunned that we're in this position.”

One attendee at a campaign event in Jacksonville, Florida, Tuesday shouted out "treason." And at another rally in the state Monday, Caribou Barbie’s mention of the Obama-Ayers tie caused one member to yell out: "kill him" -- though it was unclear if it was targeted at Obama or Ayers.

At several recent rallies, Caribou Barbie has stirred up crowds by mentioning the "liberal media." Routinely, there are boos at every mention of The New York Times and the "mainstream media," both of which are staples of her stump speech.

Some audience members are openly hostile to members of the traveling press covering Palin; one crowd member launched a racial epithet at an African-American member of the press in Clearwater, Florida, on Monday.

At a McCain rally in New Mexico on Monday, one supporter yelled out "terrorist" when McCain asked, "Who is the real Barack Obama?" McCain didn't respond.

And most recently, at a rally in Minnesota on Friday October 10th, a woman told McCain: "I don't trust Obama. I have read about him and he's an Arab."

McCain shook his head and said, "No ma'am, no ma'am. He's a decent family man... citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. That's what this campaign is all about."

One man at the rally said he was "scared of an Obama presidency." McSame later told the man he should not fear Obama.

"I want to be president of the United States, and I don't want Obama to be," he said. "But I have to tell you, I have to tell you, he is a decent person, and a person that you do not have to be scared as President of the United States."
McCain's response was met with boos from the crowd.

After numerous days of headline-grabbing rage directed at Barack Obama by some McSame campaign rally attendees, Rep John Lewis issued the following statement:
"What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.”

I believe that only because McSame’s back was up against a wall, he decided to defend this poorly directed anger. I will give him some credit for this, because had he not, he would have easily written his permanent history as an instigator to cultural hatred.

ABUSE OF POWER - CARIBOU BARBIE FOUND GUILTY!!!

An Alaska BI-PARTISAN committee found Caribou Barbie guilty of usurpation of power. How can you ever trust someone to be a part of the leadership of our country, when they have been found guilty of abusing power in previous leadership positions?

It seems that some people, as of late (who should definitely know better) claim that even talking about Palin's TROOPERGATE scandal is equivalent to making a victim of or defending her ex-brother-in-law. That is tremendously absurd!

You see… the thing is that we rely on our elected officials to lead with the fundamentals of moral understanding and misuse the power of public office to pursue personal agendas or vendettas. It's simply an ethical violation of an abuse of power.

Yesterday’s ruling stated that there was ample evidence that Palin misused her gubernatorial power to have her ex-brother-in-law fired. When his boss refused to fire him, she fired him. She first denied Monegan's assertion of intimidation & pressure to fire Wooten and then had to revise her account when evidence proved otherwise. The available proof now suggests that she:
1) Tried to have an ex-relative fired from his job for personal reasons, which is clearly an ethics violation, and perhaps illegal, though possibly understandable in human terms.
2) Fired a state official for not himself acting inappropriately by firing the relative.
3) Lied to the public about what happened.
4) And continues to lie about what happened.

With this kind of abuse of power and erratic examples of leadership… IF these 2 were SOMEHOW elected to lead this country… we could all pretty much assume that they rule much the same as Bush & Co. So... if you want another 4 years of no accountability and a reckless, deplorable sense of reality toward simple, common moral issues... by all means... please vote for John W. McSame.

But if you truly want positive change in this world, to build a stronger foundation for ethics in this new millennium and a better future for our children, then please vote for Barack Obama on Nov. 4th!

…Here are a few articles on the ruling that Caribou Barbie abused her powers as Governor of Alaska:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Palin-Troopergate.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7662820.stm
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/10/palin.investigation/index.html

Interesting Senate Vote on Immigration - Fact Check

I just actually opened my email the other day and saw this message from someone near & dear to me from the previous month! I guess when all you do at work is email, the last thing you want to do when you come home from a hard day's work, is send… another email! :)

...So anyway, I just thought I'd take a second to weigh in on this one... I have included a couple links to some different outtakes on this subject. These sites are really good fact-checking tools for you to use whenever you receive this type of manufactured, biased rhetoric. It is just too bad that this kind of stuff is circulated & too often believed.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/englishvote.asp

...It appears that this goes a little deeper than what is portrayed in this email forward, as this e-mail is only partially true and the issue brought up was due to certain wording. The particular wording used would have made it nearly impossible for legal immigrants to even apply, because, in order for them to apply for a Visa, it would require them to already comprehend English. And if there was a legal immigrant who wanted to enroll in an English language class, they would be required to already speak English in order for them to apply for the class they were enrolling in! And it also mentioned that even if the government issued forms in another language those forms would be considered "less legal" than the English forms.

As a whole, the bill was deemed as flawed, and thus, many Senators voted against it. They looked beyond the bold language, dissected the small print and made a conscious decision that it wasn't in the best interests of Americans and didn't reflect what America stands for. How else did all of our ancestors become Americans? Such a law, had it been introduced in the late 1700's, would have prohibited us all from even existing here in this great country today.

As a side note... There were a total of 351 total amendments on record that were suggested to amend that bill from both sides of the aisle.


In regards to the Lincoln quote at the end, which claims that Lincoln said:
"Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damages morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, quickly tried and hanged!!!"

Here are a couple other sides to this... it seems that Mr. Lincoln never even said that:
http://www.factcheck.org/misquoting_lincoln.html
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/andrewmcdonaldpdx/gGxd2d


The lessons here are... Don't believe everything that you hear & read! ...And thank god for Google!!! :)

If you ever receive this kind of email, I ask that you please you do your part and forward one of the below sites or quickly grab a line of text and throw it into Google to do a quick fact-check. You will be doing others a great service by spreading the truth.

Here are some really great sites to use to do a quick fact-check just to be sure before you forward these on:
http://www.factcheck.org/
http://www.snopes.com/
http://urbanlegends.about.com/

Since there is so much info (lies) being stuffed down our throats every day, I use the above sites all the time to stay informed and stay above the lies and phony outrage!

Stay informed! Stay tuned!