No Go On The Job I Interviewed for Four Times

I just learned this afternoon that I didn't get the copywriting position at the international relief agency I applied to. They were very kind and said they loved me and my writing, but said they decided to go in another direction. Perhaps it's this economy. All I know is that it wasn't a "rejection" of me or my skills; it was just a corporate decision to go another route.

So I'll just keep on keeping on with Elance and look for other options as well and see which comes through for me as the days and weeks pass.

I trust God to know what's best for me.

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!

Women's Retreat -- Touching the Hem of His Garment

The CFAN women's retreat this weekend was, in a word, fabulous! The theme of the weekend was "Touching the Hem of His Garment" and was largely focused on the Biblical story of the outcast woman with the issue of blood. For those of you who don't know the story, it's about a woman with gynecological issues. For twelve years, she had been bleeding. In the Jewish culture of the time, a woman having a menstrual period was considered "unclean" during her period and for seven days beyond it. During that time, she was unable to be a part of a family or a community. She was about as well off as the lepers of the time. She had to forgo relationships of every kind, and stay apart from all crowds.

The story is told very quickly in the Bible. The poor woman has been to every doctor in the region for years and has spent all of her money trying to find a cure for her continual nightmare. She is weak, anemic, exhausted, lonely, dispossessed, and desperate.

When Jesus comes to her town, she risks everything in one last-ditch attempts to push through the crowd and touch the hem of his garment -- to touch the tassel on his vest that denotes healing. The attempt could get her stoned, but at this point in her dismal life, it appears that death is preferable to the life she has had to bear. She goes all out, reaches out, and touches the garment Jesus is wearing. Immediately, she knows she has been healed.

Jesus stops and asks, "Who touched me?" His disciples, all of whom have been touched, jostled and pushed around as much as Jesus has, tell him in effect, "Everybody within reach has been touching you!" So it's impossible for any of them to tell him who it was.

Of course, Jesus already knows. He always did. He says, "I felt power go out from me." He watches and waits for the woman to confess her actions.

The woman steps forward and kneels before him. Jesus takes her hand and lifts her up, telling her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you."

That's pretty much the end of the story, in the Bible.

Over the weekend, we learned what it was like to be an outcast and what her life had been like for twelve years. Most of us were in tears.

Think about it with your heart: What would it be like to be held not just at arm's length, but at village-length? To have people looking at you, when they looked at you at all, with fear, contempt, loathing? What was it like to pursue doctor after doctor and to submit to some of the most terrible forms of "medical practice" for her particular malady? (Cuneiform tablets have been uncovered that reveal the torturous practices women underwent for gynecological issues two thousand years ago -- and we were told of some of them. I'll spare you the details.)

The story was acted out over the weekend. One of our choir leaders, Amber Zetterberg, portrayed the woman. She was magnificent. She did such a good job with her face and body language that we felt we were witnessing the degradation she had felt all those years as she languished on the perimeter of her village. It was heartbreaking.

Then she pushed through and touched Jesus and was transformed before our eyes. And when Jesus turned to ask who had touched him, she wilted a little, knowing that she could be stoned for so boldly approaching and touching a man while "unclean." She knelt before Him, ashamed, until he lifted her to her feet and proclaimed, "Daughter." Then she looked like a princess. Her face lit up and she burst into a song that filled the room:

"Jesus is my healer....
He's all I need..."

On Sunday morning, Pastor Pat Leksen took up the same story, and she presented a fictionalized (extra-Biblical) account of the party the newly-healed woman threw for her village. She invited Jairus and his resurrected daughter, the demoniac Jesus had delivered, the blind man and the lame man, and all the other neighbors in the area who had been healed by Jesus during his brief sojourn with them. They had a party that was so boisterous and heavenly that it drew the rest of the village over to find out what was going on. Then Pat had Amber reprise the song that had so enthralled us the day before...

"Jesus is my healer...
He's all I need."

We all knew the song well enough by this time to join in and sing along, and if there was a dry eye in the house, I'd be surprised! We were all swept away in the feeling of having been in the presence of Jesus in the way the people in the Biblical account had been. And indeed, we were! ("Wherever two or more are gathered in His name, He is in their midst...")

Pastor Laura Gunnarson spoke about what Jesus accomplished (beyond our salvation) by coming to earth. I don't know if I can graph it on this blog but I'll try.

Background: God had to "move out" when Adam and Eve disobeyed Him in the garden of Eden. He cannot live next to unholy people, because he is holy (pure, undefiled, set apart). From that time until he established the Jews as His people, he was a distant God... a God who felt betrayed by the crown of his creation, by the species that was supposed to be His image-bearer.



______________ Heaven, Spirit Realm... God's Kingdom
n
e
w
________ Jesus Came (Holy Spirit Access Between the Two Realms)

a
v
e
n
u
e_________ Earth, Physical Realm, Man's/Satan's Kingdom


If you'll draw a line down the word "avenue" in the graph above and extend the "Jesus Came" line to the left, you'll make a cross.

Before Jesus came, there was no avenue for God's kingdom to reach from heaven to earth, because all on earth was "unholy." Even when the Jews interfaced with God on Mt Sinai or in the Tabernacle or Temple, it was impossible to "look upon the face of God" (something Adam and Eve did regularly until they fell) and live. Only one priest, on one specific day, was allowed into the Holy of Holies (Most Holy Place" within the Tabernacle) every year. God was "for" them, for sure, but He was not "with" them. He was "afar off," coaching, inspiring and guiding them but, like everyone else on earth (then and now), the Jews could not and did not live up to the commandments He gave them well enough that He could come down and truly tabernacle with them in person as he had with Adam and Eve. Many sacrifices were provided to atone for all the sinning going on, but none of the recognized sacrifices could atone for all time for all people. None were permanent sacrifices. All had to be repeated at regular intervals.

Then Jesus came. Everything on the right side of the cross in the graph above is now filled with Holy Spirit power... and for a time (until Christ comes again, which I believe will be very soon!) God's people have direct access to the heavenly realm and to Him. Those who believe in Christ can access the Father without an intermediary, and they possess the same powers as Christ did (and even more, the Bible reveals): to heal the sick, cast out demons, still the waters and storms, etc.

BUT! The earthly realm ("this age") still has access to God's people, too. We are redeemed and "safe," we are children and heirs of God, but the powers and principalities of this age work in many ways on a daily basis to make us "forget" our power, wealth, abilities, and standing in Christ. How many of us truly BELIEVE that we can lay hands on the sick and the demon-possessed and set them free? Those who believe it are doing it. The rest of us are listening to the powers of "this age" and denying ourselves the access (prayer, fasting, action) that we need to do what Jesus did for the sick and the possessed.

So while we have access to the Father and all his power right now, we are being constantly bombarded with "messages" from "this age" that we must be humble (as indeed we must be to access God), that we are "evolutionary accidents" and not God-breathed... that those who do heal and free others are "charlatans" and "tricksters." (Tell that to anyone who has been set free by a man or woman of God!)

And another thing: If we CAN'T set others free even though we truly BELIEVE we are 100% children and heirs of God, what does THAT tell us? Does it tell us (as Pastor Braaten theorizes) that God knows he can't trust us -- yet -- with His powers? What would we say or do if we did, indeed, set people free from blindness, cancer, demons -- even death itself? Would we get a big head, an enormous ego boost? Would be quickly forget Who was the source of the miracle?

Ah.... yes... God gives us only what we can handle, remember?

During the praise and worship session Sunday morning, we were asked to close our eyes and raise our hands if we had not yet been touched by God during the weekend. Because I had my eyes closed, I don't know how many hands went up, but based on how touched I had been, I couldn't imagine more than about three hands (out of 105 people) going up. But some hands did go up so Roberta Paulsen took them on and began to pray against the spirits (powers and principalities) that blocked their reception of the blessings the rest of us had received and were receiving.

I'm reading Violent Prayer this week and going into battle wearing God's armor.

WAHOO! It's Looking GOOD!

I have one final interview late Friday morning. If all goes well at that meeting, I'll be fully employed again for 4-6 months and possibly beyond. Keep me in your prayers. I'll be happy to shout it from the rooftops as soon as I hear -- if I have time to drop you a note before we leave for Cannon Beach Friday afternoon for the women's retreat.

WAHOO!!! God is Good All the Time!

I was wondering which way He was going to have me lean the sled until the call came in this afternoon telling me about the job prospect. I was beginning to think He wanted me working forty hours a week on self-employment through Elance, but now it looks like He wants that to be my evening/weekend job. S0 much the better! I like it this way best...

The new job, if I get it, has the potential to go longer than six months (in other departments with the same company) if I do a good job. (And of course I will!) In fact, I could end up a permanent employee in the Creative Services Department. It's all very exciting!

Back in the saddle, working to fulfill the Great Commission again across the globe!

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

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

Hear, Hear! Obama, McCain and Palin Side-by-Side Comparisons

Thanks to Cathy Strote for this one:

* If you grow up in Hawaii , and are raised by your grandparents, you're 'exotic, different.'
* But grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're a quintessential American story.

* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
* Name your kids Willow , Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest-ranking executive.

* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.

* If you teach responsible, age-appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
* If , while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system and your unwed teenage daughter ends up pregnant , you're very responsible.

* If your wife is a Harvard graduate laywer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America 's.
* If you're husband is nicknamed 'First Dude', with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now.

Women's Retreat Coming Up This Weekend -- Cannon Beach, Here We Come!

Yvonne Olson (leader of Writer's Edge) and I will be attending the CFAN (www.churchforallnations.org) women's retreat this weekend from Friday-Sunday. I went last year and had a blast. It will be Yvonne's first time at a CFAN women's retreat. She's in for a real treat! We have so much fun at these events... Over ninety ladies registered to attend. It gets larger turnouts every year. (The reports from each year's event are so uproarious and so amazing, fellowship-wise, that more ladies decide to go every year.)

This means I'll miss the first debate between Obama and McCain this Friday, but I can probably catch it on-line Sunday or Monday evening. CNN, MSNBC, C-Span and others are good about keeping important events on-line for a time after they happen. I was really looking forward to seeing it live, but perhaps I can catch it on a radio station on the way down to Oregon, or maybe we'll get there in time to catch it. Either way, I'm sure I'll see or hear it before too long...

I'm packed and ready to go!

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!

What Hope Looks Like!

Isn't it time we had a President

who made us smile

and want to

hug him again?

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

Except for the misplaced, and wildly-inappropriate

affectionate mention of Fidel Castro

in the first two paragraphs of the following article,

Alice Walker spoke for me, too, when she wrote the following...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/20/uselections2008.barackobama

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!

Writer's Edge Kickoff Meeting

Yvonne Olson and I kicked off her Writer's Edge ministry this morning. Those who attended are fired up and ready to go. Several couldn't make this first, introductory meeting, but those who did came with great ideas, experiences, and boundless enthusiasm. Two showed up who weren't registered yet, so that was a terrific surprise. I'm sure we'll get even more participation on weekends when the Puyallup Fair isn't in session. (This is the last weekend for the fair his year.) Fourteen people are registered for the next session on October 11th, when things really get underway. Author Judy Gann, who wrote The God of All Comfort, Devotions Of Hope For Those Who Chronically Suffer, http://www.amazon.com/God-All-Comfort-Devotions-Chronically/dp/0899571557/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221945404&sr=1-1 will be our guest speaker for an hour during the get-together.

Pastor Pat Leksen is going to bring news of this new ministry to the senior pastor and see if we can get it touted a little louder to the congregation. That would be great.

In a few months we're hoping to have a kind of "cafe"-style open-mic evening where the folks in the writing ministry will read their creations to people who stop by to see what we have going at Writer's Edge. The event should inspire more participation and will also be a fundraiser for the ministry.

We're very excited. It's a God thing, for sure!

Very Sad, If This is Still So...

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

Five Lessons about the Way We Treat People

Thanks to my sister Jackie for forwarding this on to me. I want to share it with all of you:

First Important Lesson - Cleaning Lady.

During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50's, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank.

Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. "Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say 'hello.'"

I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rain storm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.

A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960's. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab. She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him.

Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached. It read: "Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away... God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others. Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole."


Third Important Lesson - Always remember those who serve

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.

"How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked.

"Fifty cents," replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled is hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.

"Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired

By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. "Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies...

You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.



Fourth Important Lesson. - The Obstacle in Our Path

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock.

Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road.

After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway.

The peasant learned what many of us never understand! Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.


Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts...

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness.

The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save her ."

As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?"

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor -- he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.

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

Work like you don't need the money,

love like you've never been hurt,

and sing like you do when nobody's watching.'

NOW more than ever - Peace... Pass It On...

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

From Obama Action Alert...

Now that John McCain has realized this campaign will be about change, he's claiming he'll take on the 'old boys' network in Washington.

There's only one problem.With seven of the most powerful Washington lobbyists running his campaign from the top, taking on the old boys network isn't a fight -- it's a staff meeting!

All told, at least 177 Washington lobbyists have come through the revolving door of John McCain's campaign -- raising money and setting his strategy.

While the middle class suffers under disastrous Bush-McCain economic policies, you can bet the McLobbyists aren't working to put themselves out of business.

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

Cute, Cute, Cute!

Sign over a Gynecologist's Office:

'Dr. Jones, at your cervix.'

**************************
In a Podiatrist's office:
'Time wounds all heels.'

**************************
On a Septic Tank Truck:

Yesterday's Meals on Wheels

**************************
At a Proctologist's door:
'To expedite your visit, please back in.'

**************************
On a Plumber's truck:

'We repair what your husband fixed.'

**************************
On another Plumber's truck:

'Don't sleep with a drip. Call your plumber.'

**************************
On a Church's Bill board:

'7 days without God makes one weak.'

**************************
At a Tire Shop

'Invite us to your next blowout.'

**************************
At a Towing company:

'We don't charge an arm and a leg. We want tows.'

**************************
On an Electrician's truck:

'Let us remove your shorts.'

**************************
In a Non-smoking Area:

'If we see smoke, we will assume you are on fire and take appropriate action.'

**************************
On a Maternity Room door:

'Push. Push. Push.'

**************************
At an Optometrist's Office:

'If you don't see what you're looking for, you've come to the right place.'

**************************
On a Taxidermist's window:

'We really know our stuff.'

**************************
On a Fence:

'Salesmen welcome! Dog food is expensive!'

**************************
At a Car Dealership:

'The best way to get back on your feet - miss a car payment.'

**************************
Outside a Muffler Shop:

'No appointment necessary. We hear you coming.'
**************************
In a Veterinarian's waiting room:

'Be back in 5 minutes. Sit! Stay!'

**************************
At the Electric Company

'We would be delighted if you send in your payment.

However, if you don't, you will be.'

**************************
In a Restaurant window:

'Don't stand there and be hungry; come on in and get fed up.'

**************************
In the front yard of a Funeral Home:
'Drive carefully. We'll wait.'
**************************
At a Propane Filling Station:

'Thank heaven for little grills.'

**************************
And don't forget the sign at a
RADIATOR SHOP:
'Best place in town to take a leak.'

**********************
Sign on the back of another Septic Tank Truck:

'Caution - This Truck is full of Political Promises'

Hollywood Friend Seeks Facebook Helpers

Tim Gaskill, a friend of mine in Hollywood, would like those of us with Facebook accounts to include the following link on their page. It's about a new TV series that debuts November 1st.

http://www.facebook.com/inbox/readmessage.php?t=1006273725849

Thanks for your help, Facebookers!

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.

Excellent! America from a Foreigner's POV. The America I Love, Too!

Forward the link to others:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ioana-uricaru/america-has-taught-foreig_b_126358.html

I came to this country two weeks before September 11, 2001. I watched the attacks live on television, I wept and prayed for America, while my family was weeping and praying on the other end of an overseas call. Back home, my mother has a framed facsimile of the original US constitution document hanging on the living room wall. She thinks that a country that mentions the right to happiness in its fundamental law is worth dying for.

I am not an American citizen and I might never become one. But I believe with all my heart that what happens to America will affect the whole world, and as your country chooses its leaders the course of world history might be at stake. I know I should be worrying about my own country first - and I did. Some time ago, when I felt that its future was hanging in the balance and it needed me, I spent much time and energy rallying, protesting, canvassing, doing sit-ins, manifesting civil disobedience, being part of the leadership of a national student organization and directing a nationally-broadcast electoral video. At the time, prominent American politicians and public figures came out in support of our progressive fight - including President Clinton, who visited our capital and congratulated us on our eventual success.

My country is ten thousand miles away, tucked away in Eastern Europe. The image and idea of America trickles down to my co-nationals through news media, more recently the Internet and most importantly through beloved American movies. Every time I go back home, I am being asked: what are Americans really like?

Are they really like we've heard - obsessed with personal wealth, which they think is the most important thing in the world? Selfish, not caring about what happens to their less-fortunate compatriots? Arrogant, not giving a damn about the rest of the world? Impatient, not likely to sit down and have a thoughtful conversation about the things that really matter? Indifferent, since life is tough and it's everyone-for-himself?

Or....are they like James Stewart in "It's A Wonderful Life", changing the world one small good deed at a time? Like Gary Cooper in "High Noon", standing up to bullies even when everybody deserted him? Like Henry Fonda in "12 Angry Men", holding his ground with the power of intellectual doubt and sophisticated reason against anger, pettiness, insecurity, against the ignorance of hasty judgment? Like Denzel Washington in "Crimson Tide", confronting the abuse of power and the lack of honor disguised as seniority ? Like Erin Brockovich, who could smell moosecrap a mile away and wouldn't buy it even if it came wrapped in golden tissue paper?

What is the truth about Americans, my friends ask me, and I know my answer matters to them.
My people are rather cynical and like to take many things in stride. But I know they want to be in love with America. Not with America the wealthy. Not with America the powerful. With America the inspiration, America the just, America the compassionate, America where you can dare to dream. People all over the world, living in countries that bear the cruel scars of history, sometimes find solace in the thought that there's at least one place where happy-endings are still possible. I lived in a dictatorship and I know the comfort that comes from knowing there's something else beyond the prison walls. I wondered sometimes whether that was a false hope. Now I understand that "there can never be anything false about hope".

So this is what I usually say to my co-nationals: living in the United States of America makes me reveal resources of strength and bravery that I didn't know I had. Every time I had an idea, I wanted to take a chance, I wanted to do something risky and rewarding, every time I chose the bold and unbeaten path, every time I decided to hold my ground for what I thought was right and gave up my personal comfort for the sake of a beautiful, improbable goal - every time, the people around me showed their admiration and embraced me. And they said to me, over and over, too many times to count: YES YOU CAN. I am grateful for the support of my American friends and I am humbled and uplifted by their generosity. It makes me believe in happy endings again.

Coming from a small country, I care about the power balance and the dynamics of leadership in the world because I know - oh so well - they will affect me directly. So even if I am not allowed to donate, campaign or volunteer for any of the candidates in this election, I can still voice an opinion as a citizen of the world who is convinced that more than just America's future is hanging in the balance.

I agree one hundred percent with Barack Obama's assessment, delivered on the campaign trail: "The country that figures out this energy thing first, they are going to be country that leads in the 21st century. That's the bottom line." I would very much like the United States of America to be the leader in the 21st century, but if you will check this out you will see why I am worried.

The world is holding its breath watching this November vote. Choose responsibly. Please, reclaim your country and give back the American Dream to all non-Americans like myself. We would feel rather lost without it.

Karl Rove, Master Slash-and-Burn Scoundrel, Slams McCain's Ads Against Obama as Being "Over the Line"

Even Karl Rove had to admit yesterday that the McCain campaign's lies and negative attacks have gone "too far."

John McCain is running the most negative and dishonest campaign in modern presidential history. He has demonstrated that he'd rather lose his integrity than lose this election.

It's right out of the Bush-Rove playbook. Unfortunately, as Karl Rove knows better than anyone, these shameful tactics have worked in the past. This year, we can't let that happen.

The culture of corruption and dishonesty that has hurt America so badly the last eight years is playing an even larger role in McCain's campaign. Just this past week, John McCain hired a Washington super-lobbyist to fill positions in a potential McCain-Palin White House. At least 177 lobbyists have been on McCain's campaign staff, and apparently he hopes to run the White House the same way.

Also this week, the McCain campaign continued to repeat a number of outrageous lies, even after watchdogs in the media called them "shamelessly misleading," "thoroughly dishonest," and "a toxic mix of lies and double-speak." They also lied about the crowd size at one of their rallies -- reporting 23,000 attendees when there were only 8,000.

McCain's campaign -- run on lobbyists and lies -- is no match for Obama's unprecedented grassroots movement. More than 2,500,000 people have stepped up to own a piece of this campaign.

VOTE FOR OBAMA-BIDEN and send McCain and Palin back to Arizona and Alaska for good. They've betrayed the trust of the American people.

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/

Letter to the Editor... to three Newspapers

After reviewing the platform of both major party candidates, I am 100% for Obama-Biden and 110% against the McCain-Palin ticket. McCain-Palin share very similar ideologies with Bush-Cheney as to how America should "work": lots of goodies for the rich, "you're on your own" for the middle class and poor. (And they SERIOUSLY consider themselves Christians!)

Seven of McCain's advisors are Washington lobbyists. A recent book, "Obama's Challenge" by an economist with no real horse in the race, showcases the many abuses that Republican administrations have placed upon middle class wage earners and those subsisting at lower income levels even as they have rewarded the richest people and corporations with tax cuts and other "incentives."

McCain continues to support this "trickle down theory" and has stated so numerous times. The trickle down theory never did work. To be blunt, it has placed us where we are right now, as close as we've ever been to the same factors that brought on the Great Depression and its subsequent savior, the Roosevelt Administration with its New Deal, which worked well into the 70's when deregulation became the watchword and there was no one but foxes guarding the chicken coop.

I say let's skip the depression while we still can and put a progressive, visionary person like Obama into the driver's seat, to inspire us to treat others as we want to be treated. If we just start doing that legislatively, we'll start digging out of the muck and mire of the last several decades and find a light at the end of the tunnel that isn't an oncoming freight train!

Check out the facts. Obama will cut taxes for over 95% of wage earners, despite McCain's assertion that he will raise taxes. He'll raise taxes on McCain, yes, and on himself, because they're both very wealthy (Obama more recently, as a result of book sales). The rest of us (middle- and low-income earners) will see a larger tax break if we vote for Obama than if we vote for McCain. McCain's ads in this regard are misleading to the max. And we'll see even more with an Obama presidency: a return to an America that cares as much for Barney Smith as it does for Smith Barney.

GO BARACK GO!

September 11th, 2008... A Remembrance

Sept. 10, 2001... all was well...

The next day, both towers fell...

bin Laden in Afghanistan smiled,

Bush in America got riled,

and gave ANOTHER COUNTRY hell!

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

Photo by Donald Szymanski


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!

Questions Someone Needs to Ask Palin... and Probably Will, Very Soon!

"Without mentioning your supervision of the Alaskan National Guard (a task all governors have), your state’s proximity to Russia, and your son’s military service, what qualifies you to be commander-in-chief in such turbulent times?" Or, even more pointedly: "If, God forbid, Mr. McCain were to win the election but die before or shortly after taking office, would you feel at all nervous about taking on foreign wars, global relationships, and other international matters without him at your side to counsel you on these pressing matters?" (I can safely say that I don't think Obama would feel nervous about this without Biden.)

"How do you reconcile being a “reform” candidate while being under ethical investigation in your home state?"

"Why did you originally back the infamous Bridge to Nowhere?"

"Do you support Alaska not receiving a single additional earmark under a McCain Administration? (And if so, what would that mean economically for your home state?)"

"Do you now agree with McCain’s opposition to drilling in ANWR?"

"Do you still believe, as you stated earlier, that the war in Iraq is 'a task from God'?"

"Finally, has your own personal family situation changed your views on family planning and/or on sex education which advocates other methods of birth control in addition to abstinence?"

Good questions, all.

If she gets to be one heartbeat away from the Presidency, we need to know the answers to these and other important questions.

Here's a good read about holding people accountable for their lies:

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/09/08/politics-of-the-bridge-to-nowhere.aspx