Barack's Message to the Jewish Community During High Holy Days

Dear Friends,

On Wednesday, September 17, Senator Barack Obama participated in a historic national conference call with over 900 Rabbis representing all the major denominations in American Jewish life. He extended to the Rabbis his personal New Year's greetings as they prepare to celebrate Rosh Hashanah with their communities later this month. Never before have so many of America's Rabbis come together to hear a major Presidential nominee reflect on his relationship with the Jewish community and share his vision for a better future.

Senator Obama discussed the pressing issues at stake - for both Jewish Americans and all Americans - in the upcoming election. He asked that, as we think about the coming New Year, we also reflect upon our common vision for America's renewed promise.

Several leading Rabbis spoke and posed questions to the Senator, including Rabbi Jeffrey Wohlberg, of the Rabbinical Assembly of Conservative Judaism; Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb of the Orthodox Union; Rabbi Eric Yoffie of theUnion of Reform Judaism; and Rabbi Dan Ehrenkrantz of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.

Introducing Senator Obama were Rabbi Sam Gordon of Congregation Sukkat Shalom in Wilmette, Illinois, and Rabbi Elliot Dorff,Vice-Chair of the Conservative Movement's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards and Professor at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles,California.

Rabbi Gordon, along with Rabbi Steve Bob, is co-founder of Rabbis for Obama, a grassroots group of nearly 500 Rabbis from every corner of the country, who have publicly declared their support for Senator Barack Obama to be the next President of the United States.

In his opening remarks, the Senator thanked all of those who joined the call and shared his thoughts on the nature of Rosh Hashanah. "I know that for rabbis this is the busiest time of the year as you prepare for the High Holy Days. So I am grateful for a few minutes of your time. I extend my New Years greetings to you and to your congregations and communities. I want to wish everybody a Shana Tovah and I hope that you will convey my wishes to all of those you pray and celebrate with this Rosh Hashanah.

"The Jewish New Year is unlike the new years of any other cultures. In part because it's not simply a time for revelry; it's a time for what might be called determined rejoicing. A time to put your affairs with other people in order so you can honestly turn to God. A time to recommit to the serious work of Tikkun Olam; of mending the world."

The Senator's remarks included a discussion of key policy issues on the minds of many voters in the Jewish community this election season. From the economy to health care, foreign policy to support for America's seniors, Senator Obama shared his view of where we stand and how to move America forward to repair this country and the world.

"We have a severe financial crisis in this country that is having an impact worldwide. We also have an economy that, even before the problems on Wall Street, has been putting families and communities across the country under enormous strain. People are working harder for less; we have had 600,000 people lose their jobs since the beginning of the year; we are seeing wages and income flat for the average American at a time when the costs of everything, from health care to college education, are skyrocketing. ...BinLaden is still on the loose; Iran is issuing vile threats against Israel and developing nuclear weapons. So it's a challenging time. Our security is at risk; the security of Israel is at risk and even the planet is in peril.

...Repairing all of that is a task that is beyond any one man or one woman. It can be daunting and I do not presume that I can, as President, repair all of this on my own. I am absolutely convinced that when we come together with determination we can make the situation better.

'I know that one of the most profound Jewish teachings is that you are not required to complete the task but neither are you free to desist from it. That, I think, is what we have to do: we have to begin the hard task of repairing our economy and our foreign policy and that is, in my mind, what this election is all about."

Senator Obama also reiterated his "unwavering" support for the State of Israel and the deep ties between our country and Israel. Promising to restore America's role as an "effective partner," the Senator repeated his call for active engagement in the peace process and a strong stance against Iran's nuclear ambitions.

"I think that it's also important to recognize that throughout my career in the State Legislature and now in the U.S. Senate I have been a stalwart friend of Israel. On every single issue related to Israel's security, I have been unwavering, and will continue to be unwavering. My belief is that Israel's security is sacrosanct and we have to ensure that as the sole democracy in the Middle East, one of our greatest allies in the world, one that shares a special relationship with us and shares our values, we have to make sure that they have the support - whether it's financial or military, to sustain their security [amid] the hostile environment. And it's also important that we are an effective partner with them in pursuing the possibilities of peace in the future, and that requires not only active engagement and negotiations that may take place with Palestinians, but it also requires that we stand tough and with great clarity when it comes to Iran and the unacceptability of them possessing nuclear weapons."

Concluding the call with a reflection on one of the Rosh Hashanah's most significant rituals, Senator Obama expressed a deep sense of hope and optimism for the future. "I know that the Shofar is going to be blown in your synagogues over Rosh Hashanah, and there are many interpretations of its significance. One that I have heard, that resonates with me, is rousing us from our slumber so that we recognize our responsibilities and repent for our misdeeds and set out on a better path. The people in every community across this land [who] join our campaign, I like to think that they are sounding that Shofar to rouse this nation out of its slumber and to compel us to confront our challenges and ensure a better path. It's a call to action. So as this New Year dawns, I am optimistic about our ability to overcome the challenges we face and the opportunity that we can bring the change we need not only to our nation but also to the world."

In the spirit of the echoing shofar, the call to action Senator Obama describes, we encourage you to forward this recap of his conference call with America's Rabbis, to your congregation's Rabbi, your friends, family, colleagues, community lay leaders, and fellow-congregants.

May the NewYear be filled with health, hope, and happiness.

Shana Tovah U'Metukah,
Eric LynnMiddle East Policy Advisor & Jewish Community Liaison Obama for America
Dan Shapiro
Senior Policy Advisor & Jewish Outreach Coordinator Obama for America

Missed the Debate on Friday...

I wasn't able to watch the first Presidential debate on Friday as we were on our way to the women's retreat. Does anyone have a recap for me, or do you know an URL where I can go to see the whole thing? I saw 20 minutes of it at one URL, but the rest was missing...

Let me know! Thanks!

Keeping Them Honest -- or at Least Exposing Outright Dishonesty!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26859857

How Obama and McCain will Handle the Health Care Crisis

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26761504

Needless to say, I'm with Obama on this one.

(So far, I only disagree with Obama on school vouchers. I think vouchers should be allowed; he doesn't.)

Loan Titans Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac Backed McCain

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26831560

And to think that McCain has been running ads saying that Obama has been advised by former Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae operatives (which both Obama and the "adviser" deny, see full article).

How's that for the pot calling the kettle black?

One of McCain's present campaign advisors, Rick Davis, was a lobbyist for the two giants to the tune of $35,000 per MONTH for FIVE YEARS!

Read it and weep!

Then vote for Obama-Biden, CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN across America!

See Dipdive for Thoughts on Obama

http://www.dipdive.com/dip-politics/wato/

Thanks to Billie Rae Walker (an Independent) for sending this to me, knowing I would love it!

Obama's Plan for the Economy...

http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/economicvideo

Here are some key elements of Barack's plan:

A $1,000 emergency energy rebate to help families with high fuel costs right now while putting $50 billion into job creation to get our economy back on track.

Families making less than $250,000 a year will get a tax cut three times larger than under John McCain's plan and will face absolutely no tax increases.

While John McCain has voted against raising the minimum wage 19 times, Barack would raise the minimum wage and set it to rise automatically with inflation.

Invest $15 billion a year in green energy research to reduce our economy's dependence on foreign oil and create 5 million American jobs a year.

Politics Complicates Financial Bailout

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26808504

Read it and weep...

We need a new spirit of cooperation in Washington D.C. Maybe it's time for a very large house-cleaning there...

I think Obama-Biden will get it done, but it's up to us, too, to discern if our own representatives are a part of the bottleneck or a part of the solution.

Vote carefully, folks. Our future is dependent on thinking carefully before casting our ballots!

Very Sad, If This is Still So...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26803840

My Apologies...

...for becoming shamelessly partisan the past several months, but America is in crisis, as is the world, and voting for McCain-Palin is going to get us more of what we already have. I feel it to the tips of my toes. McCain flips flops every few hours over how he's going to manage the country, depending on which way the wind is blowing at the moment. The only place where he seems resolute is keeping troops in Iraq -- which is one of the things the American people and the Iraqi government want to see him change his mind on!


There's a well-known definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. I don't see much daylight between the Bush-Cheney years and what McCain proposes for his term in office. All I hear out of him is slamming the guys he's running against. And it was working for a while, until Barack decided to take his gloves off and get down into the mud with him. (It had to happen, or Barack would have been thought of by too many as a wimp or as being in agreement with the attacks against him.)

I want to see change that takes into account "the rest of us" folks who make less than $250,000 a year. You know, the folks who build the autos, teach our kids, till and harvest the fields, drive the schoolbuses, build the bridges (the ones that actually go somewhere)...

If the American people don't get it THIS time, when the choice is so very clear and the times so very urgent, I despair of this country ever getting anything right again. We're on a threshold and need to make a choice that will lasso the possibility of the American dream for all its citizens. I don't think McCain gives a rip about the middle class. A guy with seven houses (I hear nine, now) has enough toys and joys to keep him happy. What about the millions who are struggling right now to keep ONE roof over their heads?

Rich is fine. Rich is good! But when rich trumps kindness, fairness, and social justice, something is very, very wrong.

Jesus would be appalled. I'm appalled.

Aren't you appalled?

Look around. Drive outside your comfort zone and see the landscape beyond your gated communities. As long as the American dream is available only to those who are very rich, there will continue to be drug dealing, prostitution, crooked business dealings, and many other ways to "get rich quick" at other people's expense.

Is this the kind of nation you want to call home?

I didn't think so.

Vote for change, for a change, and see what comes of it. And if change doesn't come, hold the heads of government and our representatives responsible, as we should have been doing the last eight years every time an election came along!

Make America America again. This certainly ain't it!

Clever Krissy... Shameless!

"In the next 47 days you can fire the whole trickle-down, on-your-own, look-the-other way crowd in Washington who has led us down this disastrous path. Don't just get rid of one guy. Get rid of this administration. Get rid of this philosophy. Get rid of the do-nothing approach to our economic problem and put somebody in there who's going to fight for you." Barack Obama

FEDS Plan Huge Bailout as McCain Flails Wildly

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26787984?GT1=43001

Stalling tactics alleged in ‘Troopergate’ probe

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26777544

Obama on the Economic Crisis...

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/economyvideo

Please listen to his economic plan...

You are the Boss -- Which Team Would You Hire?

With America facing historic debt, multiple war fronts, stumbling health care, a weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, skyrocketing Federal spending, mortgage crises, bank foreclosures, etc. etc., this is an unusually critical election year. The idea of “leadership” must be broadened from mere “experience” to include knowledge, learnedness and insight.


Let's look at the educational background of our two options:

Obama:

Occidental College - Two years.

Columbia University - B.A. political science with a specialization in international relations.

Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Biden:

University of Delaware - B.A. in history and B.A. in political science.

Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

McCain:

United States Naval Academy - Class rank 894 out of 899

Palin:

Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester

North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study

University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism

Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester

University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in journalism

Now, which team are you going to hire ?

Republican Chuck Hagel on Sarah Palin:

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/09/18/1415527.aspx

Puyallup Fair DEM Booth...

I volunteered for four hours at the Puyallup (Western WA State Fair) today... all by myself. My booth-mate didn't show up. I had a wonderful time, though...

There are a lot of really wonderful people out there, very excited about the Presidential race. The DEMS seem happiest; the GOPers seem sullen and angry (but then, I was standing inside the DEM booth, so I reckon they wouldn't look any too happy gazing upon the contents of my booth and the many, many people who were crowded into it picking up bumper stickers and buttons by the dozens, cash in hand to help pay for a DEM victory in November. When I walked by their booth later, there was hardly anybody there.).

Laurel (older sis) and I will be voting for Obama, but Jackie is adamant about voting for McCain.
Even though she believes as Laurel and I do on the vast majority of the issues, she thinks Obama stands for "more government" and she "HATES" government. I tried to explain to her that the only government she has lived under most of her life has been a corrupt, greedy, it's-all-about-rich-people "trickle-down" government, so if she hates it, she ought to vote to change it, but she doesn't "get" that.

There was a time when people loved, respected and honored the federal government. I remember the people who died to give us a representative government that would take care of all its people in time of need, and Jackie has never lived under a government like that. So she would rather stay with what she has than consider what government would be like if we voted in ways that make it responsive to the needs of everyone. That doesn't necessarily mean more, bigger programs. It means addressing the needs of those who, despite working three jobs, can't make ends meet... it means being ready to care for hurricane victims... it means "being there" for the common defense... instead of diverting to a war that didn't have to be fought when we should have been going to Afghanistan with all guns blazing. It means living more to the tune of the Golden Rule than to the law of the jungle: survival of the fittest (richest).

She has bought into the fear-inducing Bush sound bite, "Better to fight them over there than over here." Well, Iraq didn't attack us; Afghanistan did. And I pray to God that the terrorists DON'T adopt the same philosophy: "Better to fight them in America than over here." That’s the height of arrogance, to me. If it's suddenly okay to invade another country without provocation, the way we did in Iraq, then we're no better than those who attacked us on September 11th! Of course it's kosher to defend against another assailing country, but we didn't do that. Iraq was a diversion, pure and simple, not a sane response to the terror attacks of September, 2001.

Anyway, I'm just disgusted by her GOP-at-all-costs mentality. I feel almost like Jackie would if she worked all day at a bank and found me outside holding up a picket sign against it. She has the right to vote for whomever she wants, but she doesn't study the issues at either of the candidates' websites. Instead, she listens to sound bites and talking heads and drinks in the fear that Obama's opposition works so hard to inspire. It scares me that the rest of the country may be doing exactly what she's doing to "become informed." HORRORS!!!

If the GOP gets in again, the Supreme Court might reverse Roe vs. Wade and other laws that allow us to live our lives in freedom. I agree wholeheartedly that abortions should be rare, but I don't think they should be outlawed in all cases except to save the life of the mother, because if they are, many desperate women who have been raped by strangers, relatives or others will be committing suicide and having back-alley abortions with hangers again. Jackie agrees, but she thinks it's still fine to back McCain-Palin, who will probably be appointing federal court justices during their tenure(s). Now, I can see a 100% right-to-lifer going for McCain-Palin -- I would have NO issue against someone with that rock-solid a belief in the sanctity-of-life-from-the-moment-of-conception-- but to have Jackie willing to have our federal government take away that choice from others without exception just infuriates me.

I can't understand how a person can vote against her own interests. She must be utterly brainwashed by long years of well-earned loathing of " big government." Thank God for big government during the Civil War years, during the Great Depression, and the New Deal. Ya know?

Big government isn't the issue. CORRUPT, ELITIST, UNSYMPATHETIC, UNRESPONSIVE GOVERNMENT is the issue. We have one now. It needs to be fixed. I don't see anyone truly in a position to bring it to repentance other than Obama. McCain doesn't even seem to recognize that we have serious economic or ethical problems in the federal government. And if I had seven homes and a multi-millionaire wife, I might not, either. (As a born-again Christian, I find it hard to believe I could be that myopic, but who knows?)

Someone who's in touch needs to be at the helm. McCain admitted last week at that forum that he was "divorced from reality."

I am just beside myself with worry over the course we'll be taking in January, 2009. I pray to God it's Obama, even though I know that's saddling him with a burden that no one should be asked to bear. He'll be digging through decades of acculumated manure looking for the pony for years -- and we need to be ready to understand that and help!

People running for President this year ought to have their heads examined!

Pray for my sanity during the next 49 days. I'm almost apoplectic over the closeness of this election. It should be a freaking cakewalk for Obama this year, except for racism, sexism, fear, lies, and other entrenched diversions...

ARGHHH!!!! Are we willing to let America go down the tubes without a fight?

Shame on us, if so. Shame on us.

McCain's Lies About Obama Revealed

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26682305

Read it and Weep...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-alperinsheriff/sarah-palin-instituted-ra_b_125833.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stuart-steinberg/mccain-consistently-works_b_125936.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/12/obama-camp-lets-rip-on-mc_n_125955.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/12/brutal-ad-targets-palins_n_125975.html

Want more of this type of leader? Then vote McCain-Palin!

I'm voting for Obama-Biden... for REAL change!

Two New Obama Ads...

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/realchange_ad/

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/still_ad/

The gentleman is still a gentleman; his ads are hard-hitting anyway!

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe also issued an “enough is enough” memo to reporters and squeamish Democrats. “In recent weeks, John McCain has shown that he is willing to go into the gutter to win this election. His campaign has become a series of smears, lies, and cynical attempts to distract from the issues that matter to the American people. But as Barack Obama said earlier this week ‘enough is enough,’” Plouffe says. “We will respond with speed and ferocity to John McCain’s attacks and we will take the fight to him, but we will do it on the big issues that matter to the American people.”


Fewer than sixty days and counting...

Who do YOU want in the White House in January, 2009?

http://www.barackobama.com/tv/

September 11th, 2008... A Remembrance

Just like December 7th, 1941 and November 22, 1963, when this date comes 'round we pause to remember where we were when we first heard the news, and how the news shaped our world for a very long time to come.

Today I was thinking, angrily, that if our govenment had only stayed with going after bin Laden and al Qaeda in Afghanistan instead of diverting to Iraq

there would be no al Qaeda in Iraq (Saddam would have kept them out in his own inimitable way),

we'd still be in the good graces of all those countries across the globe who held candlelight vigils for days following the September 11th attacks...

we'd still have a gung-ho, sold-out military re-enlisting time after time, one that could trust its leaders to send them to conflicts that were actually legitimate engagements...

... and we'd have a citizenry who wasn't as upset as it is by the choices this administration has made, which is costing us billions of dollars to stay in Iraq and which has brought our economy into a recession. We're borrowing money from China to wage the war in Iraq and to pay for the gas we put into our vehicles so that OUR money can go into the pockets of Middle Eastern countries that don't like us!

My sister's grandchildren -- and yours -- are going to be paying the costs of these ill-fated decisions all their lives.

Alas, this date is made even sadder because of the way the attacks were used to divert America from its prime objective: finding the perpetrators in Afghanistan and bringing them to justice.

It's an absolute disgrace to use the deaths of thousands of people in the way Bush did. May God have mercy on his soul.

Is he able to sleep at night?

In Search of... Rational Voters

This NEWSWEEK article is both telling and damning.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/158224/page/3

I hope it will create an astute voter (inside each and every one of us) who thinks of our own best interests when each one answers the question, "Am I better off in 2008 (economically, security-wise, etc.) than I was in 2000?"

If it does, I know who will win -- by a landslide!

As Michael Moore says, "When the wrench you're working with doesn't fit the thing you're trying to fix, GET ANOTHER WRENCH. And if that one doesn't do any better, keep looking until you find one that serves your purposes."

The rich people and lobbyists on McCain's team have figured this out already and are voting for McCain; he'll serve their interests, so he's the right wrench for them. The rest of us had better try another wrench -- Obama-Biden -- and soon, while we still enough power to change politics and make it serve 98% of the people instead of 2%!

BRAVO, BARACK!!!!!!! BRAVO!!!!! BRAVO!!!!!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26640762#26640762

More on "Talking Heads"

You all know where I stand as far as who I think should be our next President, right? (If not, where have you been the last four or five months? Not reading my blog -- that's for sure!)

But I do want to say a little something on behalf of the "distaff" side...

As much as I dislike "Pitbull/Barracuda" Sarah Palin (because she's so disagreeable when disagreeing) and as much as I fear the GOP's arch-conservative platform (as specified in earlier blogs), I do want to say that I think "talking heads" like James Carville blunder mightily when denigrating Palin's belief in creationism and the fact that her church is Pentecostal (which translates to "some people speak in tongues there"), and the like.

I know many perfectly-sane Pentecostals who speak in tongues and many delightful devout people who believe that creationism should be taught along with evolution in junior high classrooms. (Both are theories, both are backed by educated scholars.) So to denigrate Palin for these "anomalies" publicly is to denigrate some of Obama's own supporters. I don't think Carville should be denigrating anyone who might be leaning toward Obama or supporting him outright. That's just an extra wedge that we don't need to drive between people of good will.

It's okay to attack a legitimate issue that may impact our nation economically, security-wise or in some other major way, but the views and beliefs of a religious community should not be dragged through the mud in an attempt to discredit a candidate. (I know, it happens all the time. That doesn't make it right, or neighborly. Remember "Do unto others...?" Get a clue, Carville!) There's plenty of fodder for discrediting Palin without going down this particular road.

I guess some of her public prayers are subject to legitimate inquiry... but then, so would some of mine, and some of yours, be subject to inquiry. Which is why I am loathe to pray in public. God "gets" me ('cause he knows my heart and intent), but I'm not sure anyone else would!

It Astonishes Me...

I find it astonishing and disheartening to find the McCain-Palin ticket now running neck-and-neck with Obama-Biden as a result of the lies, fear-mongering and distortions that the Republican gamesters have perpetrated on the public for the past two weeks and more. Will we ever again have a visionary representative government as long as the Roves and Schmidts hold the reins in the election process? Will vision, decency and above-board conversation and action be trumped by vicious innuendo and fact-bashing?

I despair of a process that's dedicated to turning visionary, inspirational patriots of the first stripe like Obama into a whipping post for demigods whose hidden agendas continue to bring our economy and financial industries to its knees.

Just a cursory reading of a new book, Obama's Challenge: America's Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformational Presidency by Robert Kuttner should open the eyes of even the most hard-core Republican, Democratic, Independent, or Green Party supporter. It's a history book at its base, but the author truly believes that Obama possesses the precise combination of talents, skills and temperament to become one of our greatest Presidents ever, along with Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Johnson, all of whom served during the most-challenging times our nation has ever faced up until now (Civil War/slavery; The Great Depression; Civil Rights). America is equally-challenged right now, mostly due to the prevailing policies and politics of the past thirty years as revealed in this book (and in several others I've read). Our current crises are traceable to mostly-Republican regimes. The "trickle-down" theory of Ronald Reagan has most of us getting pissed on rather than lifted up. And McCain-Palin have no real answers, other than to parrot the same lame theories -- and to vote with Bush and the "prevailing wis-dumb" of failing Reaganomics and a mis-directed war (Iraq rather than Afghanistan, where the 9/11 terrorists were trained, and where terrorists are being trained to this day).

The McCain team touts Sept 11th as a reminder of an ever-present threat, but it does so at its own peril (I would like to think), because we all know that Bush dishonored all those who perished on that horrendous day by going after Saddam Hussein rather than the people who actually attacked us on 9/11 -- even though he KNEW that Hussein was innocent of the attacks and of being tied to al Qaeda, and that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. (This has been proven. Watch BUYING THE WAR on PBS if you don't believe me.) In this, Bush failed utterly to locate bin Laden and bring him and his compatriots to justice. And McCain supported it, and wants to continue this war to show the world that America never loses a military contest. Oh, really? We're losing the war for our allies' hearts, and the trust of the American people, and the trust of many of our own soldiers, and that's far more dangerous, security-wise, than many other things I can think of right now... We can't win an occupation in the Middle East. We can only lose while occupying a nation that wants to create its own destiny and see its land returned to its sole control. We have been invited to leave by Iraq. What part of this doesn't McCain understand? (Even George Bush is beginning to get the hint.)

The only candidate in the race for the Presidency with the potential to transform our nation is Obama. McCain and Palin are touting themselves as change agents because they can't get anywhere as the clones of Bush policies and ideologies that they are. Palin may even out-Bush Bush in her rabid support for fundamentalist theology and ideology, and she's even more vicious with her mouth than he is, as well as being a card-carrying fraud as a"reform" agent.

I don't know. If the American people elect McCain-Palin I will be appalled... and in almost-total despair realizing that fear sells, lies sell, rabid-dog attacks sell... and that decent, honorable visionaries can't get elected unless they get just as down-and-dirty as the opposition does.

I don't think Obama wants to win that way -- but I do hope and pray that he wants to win ENOUGH that, if he HAS TO get in the mud with hogs to win, he will take off his gloves and do it. I know it will be against everything he believes in, but... millions of people are counting on him to save America from more of the same, and if he stays above the fray and loses, we'll all lose.

So do what you gotta do, Barack. We'll forgive you.

A gentleman's gotta do what a gentleman's gotta do. McCain has done it! Go for the gold the way Phelps did -- all out, whatever it takes.

Countless people are counting on you for a new day!

Lies, Lies.. and More Lies... Who Do You Trust to tell you the Truth?

Hey --

The McCain campaign is desperately trying to dress-up their candidates as agents of change.

Now, they’ve resorted to lying about their records to make them look like something they’re not: mavericks.

The Obama campaign just put out a new ad that spreads the truth about John McCain and Sarah Palin.
Watch this video now:

http://my.barackobama.com/truthaboutmavericks

Thanks

Retrospective on the Democratic Convention...

Truly inspirational... WATCH!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26448270#26448270

Yeah!

Joe Biden on MEET THE PRESS Re Palin

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp=26591116&#26591116

Socially Responsible Investing...

Here is good article on socially responsible investing, based on religious tenets from all three major world religions:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/StockInvestingTrading/WouldGodBuyThatStock.aspx#pageTopAchor

Here are a few I picked from the article that I'll do more research on:

http://www.portfolio21.com/

http://www.presbyterianfoundationgroup.org/

Here's one for folks who lean left of center (where I am)

http://www.iccr.org/issues/healthcare/

Joe Biden Takes on the Republicans

http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/joesresponse

This man is a joy to behold when he gets going...

I can't wait to see him take on "Barracuda Sarah" when he gets the chance...

HURRAY!

I was very glad to read that both political conventions had a larger viewing audience than the Oscars and American Idol. That's definitely a step in the right direction -- and is a NEW trend.

People are paying attention this year. I hope they're also visiting the candidates' websites to find out the truth about where each stands, because I've heard a lot of lies in campaign ads that misrepresent the facts.

Oh, Fudge! Now What?

The news media has been "vetting" Sarah Palin and has turned up some stuff that the Republicans don't want us to know about. They're apoplectic because reporters are asking questions about these matters. Bay Buchanan, a Republican strategist, thinks the news folks should just leave the poor gal alone. Hello! She'll be a heartbeat away from the Presidency if McCain wins. I want to know whether I can trust her to be straight with us at the very least, since she has no foreign relations experience at all.

I can see why Bay Buchanan and other Republican talking heads are concerned. She has been on the ticket for just a week and already four different lies (or potential scandals of national concern) have been uncovered:

1.) During her acceptance speech, Governor Palin talked about selling the "inherited" governor's jet on e-bay; McCain followed up the next two days on the stump by saying the jet was sold at a profit. Not true, any of it. It's true that Palin listed it on e-bay. It didn't sell there. It was listed at 1.7 million. A private businessman bought it, after it was de-listed at e-bay, for $1.2 million. It was sold at a loss.

2.) Palin reported during her speech that she said "No, thanks" to the infamous "bridge to nowhere" that McCain has railed against for ages. (He never bothered to tell us it was a non-issue, and had been resolved years ago.) She neglected to tell us that she was for it before she was against it. I now wonder: Was it the public outcry against it (by people like McCain) that caused her about-face? A concern that her reputation as a steely reformer might be tarnished? I would like to see that timeline tracked down by a reporter. I'd like to read the whole story on that.

3.) She's under investigation for abuse of power in Alaska -- has just hired a defense attorney -- over claims that she fired a man because he wouldn't fire her ex brother-in-law from his job, not because he was failing in any way to perform his duties in an exemplary manner, but because he was unwilling to fire an ex-relative of hers for no reason at all. Now, no one knows yet if this is true, and she's innocent until proven otherwise... but it's still in the air, and bears close scrutiny. So, no, Bay Buchanan: "Hands off on Sarah Palin" is not in the best interests of our country at this time.


"Little" stuff like this just erodes any confidence the Republicans may be trying to build regarding their candidates. These people need to tell the truth. If they can't tell the truth on "small" matters, how can we trust them any more than we could trust Bush to tell us the truth regarding larger, international matters?

Reporters are looking for the truth in all the fluff. That's their job. (One they shamefully abdicated for far too long following September 11th in a fit of fear and patriotic fervor, but one they're now re-dedicating themselves to after blindly following the lead of a President who said he had proof of weapons of mass destruction and al-Qaeda links in Iraq, and other fabrications revealed and proven since then.)

It just seems like more of the same in Republican Land.

The Democrats haven't had many chances in the past thirty years to lead this nation, but each time they have, they've not perpetrated many bona fide scandals (except for Clinton's dumb and dumber dalliance with Monica and other pre-Presidency ladies), and they've never betrayed us in a way that would compromise our essential trust in them as public servants.

McCain looks like he might be a breath of fresh air at times, but then this kind of stuff comes to light and we begin to think again, "What else are the Republicans spinning to keep us blissfully hopeful and less cognizant of the Republican rule over the past eight years, during which McCain supported President Bush 91% of the time?"

We need to clean house. We need to hold people accountable for the lies they tell on their own behalf, and the lies they tell about their worthy, equally-patriotic opponents.

In November, I'm voting for the truth tellers who know something is broken, not for the folks who think the economy is fine and improving, the skies are all blue, and only Islamic terrorists are worth spending quality time thinking about.

More is going on here that needs to be explored and brought into the light. Not to denigrate or exploit -- but so we know what we're getting if, indeed, McCain-Palin become our next President and Vice President.

Barack shares a non-profit board position with a former member of the Weather Underground or buys a house from a guy who later is found guilty of illegal activity, and the Republicans spin and spin and spin, trying to blow him out of the water. Obama was eight years old when the Weathermen were active; the fellow in question is now a professor at a college. Bottom line: Barack is not a Weatherman or a closet terrorist, nor does he endorse or support terrorism or revolution. And nothing in the new home deal with Rezko was illegal (even though it was unwise to agree to dealings with a less-than-stellar personality). Reporters have covered these Obama matters carefully and found him blameless. Cases closed.

But when Palin comes under scrutiny, Republicans bullyrag the reporters and do everything they can to squelch further inquiry, denigrating investigative reporters who might consider the stories of some importance to the nation.

I say, go, reporters, go! Do your jobs. Watch EVERYBODY. Report on EVERYBODY. That's the only way we citizens are ever going to be able to decide who to vote for.

The issues matter. Stands on positions matter. So does integrity.

I don't see a lot of integrity in what has been uncovered about Palin this week. She may look the part, but underneath the lipstick, it seems that the pretty "pitbull" has done more than a little dodging -- and possibly even some serious damage. I need to learn more to know for sure. And so do you.

I'd like to be convinced that we have four honorable, fully-capable candidates, but right now I only am certain about only two (or three*) of them. (*I'm giving McCain a "passing" grade because of his military service, not because of his stand on the issues. I think he's an honorable man: I just don't agree with his stated agenda as shown by the Republican platform.)

Jon Stewart's Take on the Republican Nat'l Convention

http://entertainment.msn.com/video/playern/?pid=8KeQW_JmmTAr4FaVPbTklyEFBNdCdcFT&GT1=42003

Very funny!

Eloquent Acceptancle Speech by McCain Tonight

I wish to God I could agree with McCain's policies, because this elegant, honorable man seems to be in the race for the Presidency for the right reasons. The Republican platform is just too restrictive and conservative for me to support.

As soon as I can find a link to the acceptance speech, I'll place it here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26552443#26552443

All voters should listen to both candidates' acceptance speeches and follow closely what they say and do over the course of the next two months as though your country and the world depended on it -- because they do! Visit visit both candidates websites to read their stands on the issues, and then vote based on your best interests and highest instincts.

Both are patriots. Make no mistake.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Here's Joe Biden's take on tonight's speech by Senator McCain:

"How can John McCain pull us out of the deep hole we're in when he voted with George Bush more than 90% of the time? The American people deserve more than a 10% chance at change. "

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Alas, the choice still seems mighty clear to me...

Republican Convention Slime -- Can DEMS Sue For Slander?

John McCain's henchmen attacked last night. A squad of negative, cynical politicians lied about Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and attacked me (and you, if you support the DEMS) for being a part of this campaign.

Worst of all -- and this deserves to be noted -- they insulted the very idea that ordinary people have a role to play in our political process. Despite what John McCain and his "pitbulls in lipstick" say, everyday people have the power to build something extraordinary when we come together.

Both Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin specifically mocked Barack's experience as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago more than two decades ago, where he worked with people who had lost jobs and been left behind when the local steel plants closed. But community organizing has a long, illustrious history!

Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies. So it's no surprise that, after eight years of George Bush, millions of people have found that by coming together in their local communities, they change the course of history.

That's what Barack's campaign has been about from the beginning.Throughout American history, ordinary people have made good on America's promise by organizing for change from the bottom up. Community organizing is the foundation of the civil rights movement, the women's suffrage movement, labor rights, and the 40-hour work week. And it's happening today in church basements and community centers and living rooms across America. Community organizing all across America saved lives and resurrected hope following Katrina while the federal government was blowing out candles on John McCain's birthday cake and then flailed ineffectively at the "problem" of Katrina.

Meanwhile, during the entire Republican convention we still haven't heard much about the economy or how to lift the middle class and poorer folks who have been harmed by the Bush-McCain policies, nor anything about reforming the health care system. John McCain's campaign has decided that lies and personal attacks -- on Barack Obama and on his supporters -- are the only way they can win... Remember, folks: McCain has supported Bush's policies more than 90 percent of the time. He has a deplorable conservation record. He supports outlawing abortion under any circumstance. He doesn't want to tax rich people any more -- in fact, he wants to give the richest of them billions more in tax relief.

Joe Biden will need to take off his gloves when he debates "Barracuda"Sarah Palin, and Barack will have to take his off when he debates McCain. The Republicans are going for the jugular with lies and claims they cannot prove -- because lies cannot be proved. THEY ARE FALSE.

I really wanted this campaign season to be about issues. When it's about issues, the Republicans LOSE every time because it's they -- not Obama -- who are elitists. They want to keep every dime they earn and let the rest of us muddle through somehow.

We support this country every day in every way, too. Calling us out-of-touch celebrity chasers is ludicrous. We're "dream-of-America" chasers. We want our country back. We want to believe again in a government that gives "the least among us" a fighting chance... and ALL of us a living wage and a job to go to.

I'm sick of this mud-slinging. The REPs have no other weapon. They can't fight fair, so they fight dirty.

I got hope and energy out of the DEM convention. I've gotten nothing from the REP one so far (and there's only one day left to it). Just attacks. If that kind of strategy will win over undecideds and disgruntled Hillary supporters, they just haven't been paying attention the rest of the time. The REP platform -- go see it -- is the most conservative, restrictive, and repressive of all time.

Bush gave us the Patriot Act and its unparallelled restrictions. Now, watch out! McCain will do us one better: he'll put reproduction issues in the hands of governors who will a "allow" pregnant woman to commit suicide or use a hanger to abort, nothing else. (Abortions have been going on for centuries, resulting in untold agony and death.) He'll drill, drill, drill offshore and probably now in ANWR since he'll have Palin's blessing... and, perhaps worst of all, he'll continue to insult our enemies in Bush fashion and rattle our sabers everywhere even though our troops are already stretched to the limit and facing an intense battle fatigue (in a country that didn't attack us and wasn't developing weapons of mass destruction) that only an extended period of peace and tranquility can give them...

McCain doesn't know when to quit. His tenacity and intense patriotism served him well in Vietnam during his captivity, but we're trying to build a CIVILIZATION here day to day, not a living, breathing war memorial to brave American soldiers!

McCain is a certifiable, tested-and-true patriot. But he's just as certainly standing on the wrong side of most of the pressing issues of our day, in the opinion of millions of attentive people, both professional and lay).

I'm appalled by the attempt to denigrate our next Commander in Chief -- all polls presently indicate that it will be Barack Obama. Our side has, for the most part (except in rare instances by mostly "unofficial" DEM talking heads, all of whom I deplore as vociferously as I deplore official and unofficial REP talking heads) kept to the issues and the vision. The other side is slinging mud and hoping some of it sticks.

Not this time, America. NOT THIS TIME!

I implore you: Visit both candidates' websites and click on ISSUES. Read their plans and policies. HOW do they plan to "change" this country? Into what?

Who has the better vision? Who has ADVANCED that vision every day since he was a community organizer 25 years ago? Who had commanded a staff of thousands and led a group of millions over the past two years, and whose campaign organization has brought in well over a hundred million dollars (mostly in $25 and $50 donations) to engage in a political system that's usually won only by the richest of the rich, with the most PAC and dirty money lining their wallets? Barack's campaign hasn't cost the American taxpayer a dime, except for his secret security detail (something that's provided to every candidate). It has all been paid for by us -- by you and me.

I hate to be disparaging of America in this way, but the truth is the truth. America needs an Extreme Makeover. McCain-Palin are not it. We can expect more of the same with them in far too many ways.

Don't let fear steal your vote this year. Let faith in new leaders, hope for tomorrow, and a vision of a better future for your children and grandchildren sway you to believe again.

Please go to http://www.barackobama.com/ right now and donate whatever you can to be sure Barack and Joe have all the funding they need to produce and air ads which can be dedicated, at a moment's notice, to disproving the lies and slanders cast abroad by McCain-Palin.

Thanks!

Raccoons as "Pets"? Yeah, Right!

I trust this will serve as fair warning for people thinking that a pet raccoon would be a real treat:

http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&vid=6dbf52eb-5896-452b-8bce-c74b9d353641&playlist=videoByTag:tag:wacky%20animals:ns:Gallery:mk:us:vs:1&from=MSNHP&tab=m1210975590336&GT1=42003

Leave wild ones where they belong... and don't feed them "out there" where they live. Many an unhappy hunter or rural family has returned to their abode to find the shingles and roof of their cabin or home ripped to shreds and a "tamed-but-wild" raccoon inside, looking for all the goodies that he knows reside in there because of the people who had been feeding him stuff...

Convention Blues....

Nada going on at the Republican convention because of Hurricane Gustav. I keep checking in on it, but they just reported there won't be any significant speeches until at least tomorrow, so turning to other news...

Both political campaigns are asking supporters for relief donations via the Red Cross for Hurricane Gustav, so please go to http://www.redcross.org/ and give at least $10 to help cover the costs that are accruing by the second as hurricane season gets underway with a vengeance...

I'm inundated, suddenly, with Elance projects from just one buyer. I bid on five, 500-word articles and got twenty of them, with a very tight deadline, so I'll be working day and night, with cat naps between, to get them all finished, because there will be more after that if I knock their socks off... (so I'm aiming at their socks, you may be sure!)

I'll also be finishing one e-book for a client, am almost mid-way on a second, and will be undertaking a third over the next couple of weeks. And I may be hearing back from a recruiter on that copywriting job for a Christian relief organization in the next week or so. They'll be calling back finalists to meet the rest of the team soon...

And of course I'll be at the Puyallup Fair on the 10th and 16th from ten to 2 and probably a couple other times from six to ten. Then there's the Christian writing ministry that Yvonne Olson and I will be launching on September 20th, Writer's Edge. I'm getting really excited about that! So my September schedule is pretty well set! I'm gonna be as busy as a bee!

Oh! And my pew mate at church, Marian, is going to see if she can employ me as her early morning caregiver so I can take her to the Puyallup pool five days a week from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. She says if she can arrange that through Lutheran Services, I can swim free and even get a little stipend for gas and time spent. So there's my incentive to get active again: I love her and I love to swim! She has a caregiver from 9 to 3 M-F, but no one to take her swimming before the kids hit the pool. She wants to go EARLY and get out before they jump in. I'm happy as a clam to go to the pool early in the morning. Because, you see, God goofed: I shoulda been an otter. I love the water.

(Just joking, God! I know you didn't goof!)

That's about it for now! Hope you're having a wonderful Labor Day (if, indeed, you're here in the U.S. and having a Labor Day).