http://my.barackobama.com/yestheycan

 
I've long held the idea that if you want to be rescued from something, look in the mirror. Barack Obama is so fabulous and his suggestion that WE will rescue our nation, WE will make a difference, WE will right the wrongs, WE will bring our enviornment back into balance, WE will heal our nation and WE will improve the economy is exactly what our nation needs. WE need to take responsiblity for our ills. WE need to elect someone who can unite instead of polarize. WE need to promote the values, the ideals, the vision and progress that Barack Obama emulates and WE CAN DO IT!! I was so pleased and impressed with him last night and throughout this race. I'm just so proud. What an inspiration he is and what a fabulous leader he will be. I look forward to the direction our nation will take when WE ELECT BARACK OBAMA. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!! Last nights results proved that every vote counts. I'm proud of all the folks who responded to the duty and right and thrilling choice to make a difference, even if they voted for someone else. This race has proven that democratic principles can make a difference. Damn this is cool.

It's been a week since the funeral of my sweet nephew who took his life with a shotgun after he left a note for my dear brother and his wife. This kid had the love of a whole family, three brothers, a sister, nieces and nephews, aunts, uncles, scout leaders, teachers, friends, and so much more. He was painfully shy and quiet and while goofy looking, dearly loved and dearly cherished. The circumstances surrounding his death haunt me and will continue to sting for years. The pain we feel in losing him is so overwhelming that even two weeks later, I can barely stop crying long enough to read your post. Whatever you do, please, please don't kill yourself. There is no shame in who you are. There is no problem that you have today that cannot be resolved somehow. There is no fear that can't someday become small and managable. Please, don't end your life and don't hurt your family this way. I can't begin to describe the way it effects the people who love you.

I'm no therapist. I have no professional advise. I just know that in our youth, things seem so huge, so life threatening, so overwhelming and so never ending. By the time most are in their mid 20's, the challenges they had in their teens seem silly and trivial. In our 30's, the challenges we had in our 20's seems like a walk in the park. In our 40's, I'd trade the problems I had when I was young in a heartbeat to the realities of middle-aged debt and adulthood. Everything you're working through now will someday be over, better, worked out, or minimized till it just doesn't matter. Please, get some local help. Let the love that is around you be your reason for living. Don't hurt the people you love this way. We personalize it. The guilt, even if we had nothing to do with the suicide overwhelms us. I can't sleep at night for thinking about all the times I should have reached out but I didn't even know he was hurting. The mystery and puzzle can't be solved and your parents will go to their grave trying to make sense of such a thing. Please don't do this. THere is so much joy to be had, so much love to give, so much to learn.

It seems that the old "Game" of politics is being played by the Republicans and Hilary Clinton but Obama long ago recognized that most of the American people have embraced something that goes way beyond a "Game" and is a virtual experience on par with the latest coolest, fastest, most advanced video games where even WE THE PEOPLE get a say in the outcome. Can you imagine, regular Americans getting a say in their future??? Let the 50's sitcom politics of the Repugs and other "Lucy's" goof their way across the stage. It's fun to see their antics and the silly old fashioned and outdated, clueless, out of touch gaffes. The ignorant bias's, the backward intellect, the stuffy rhetoric is all something that would have played well in 1958, but it's 2008 and America and the world at large is ready for someone who has been in touch with reality. We're ready to co-own the future with a leader who doesn't just lead, but inspires cooperation and ingenuity to solve the disparate and desparate problems our nation faces. We're ready for a polyglot mixed race, multi-cultural, intellectual and open minded PERSON to ride beside us as we carefully pick our way out of the horrific past and into a better future. Here's an article by some Harvard guy who seems to have his finger on the button.

Barack Obama – The Leader We Need


By Dr. Michael Maccoby

Candidates in the primaries argue about whether experience or leadership for change is more important for a president. What I learned when I spoke at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California last month is that the young professionals there recognize that profound social change is already taking place. They want leaders at work and in Washington who understand the evolving world and make them collaborators in creating a better future. Experience without foresight and purpose is a drag, not a value.

Starting in the 1970s, people like the Googlers have been growing up in a world that has shaped them differently from their parents who were raised in the 1950s and 1960s. Then, most families were headed by a sole male wage earner. Today, typically both parents work, and more families are headed by a single woman than there are traditional families. Then, large national corporations promised lifetime employment. Now, global companies can’t promise employment and employees are no longer loyal. Then, managers were almost all white men and the leadership model was paternalistic. Now, young professionals reject autocratic leaders and have worked for all types of bosses. Then, only researchers and financial companies used computers. Now, computers and the internet have transformed work, products, personal interactions, access to information, and knowledge creation. Then managers knew subordinates’ jobs better than they did. Now, with the rapid advance of knowledge, subordinates often know more. What they seek in a leader is authenticity and a clear sense of purpose that is meaningful to them…so much for experience.

The result has been the emergence of a new social character which I call interactive in contrast to the bureaucratic social character that dominated the last century. When I described interactives, my listeners at Google recognized themselves. All the presidential candidates had visited Google, and almost all said they most liked Barack Obama. I asked why, and the answer was that he understood the challenges of the global economy. Obama emphasized America’s need to provide opportunity, not by walling off the country, but by supporting education and innovation. They agreed with him that government had a role in funding scientific research, especially to protect the environment and gain energy independence. They saw Obama as inviting them to be collaborators, not followers. Their views reminded me of an American president, also from Illinois, whose limited government experience was a brief time in the state legislature and one term in Congress. As president, he grew in office and had the foresight that the growing industry of America needed government to support railroads and technical colleges. And he inspired people with a vision of realizing the promise of the Declaration of Independence. Of course, I was thinking of Abraham Lincoln.

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The Leaders We Need: And What Makes Us Follow
By Dr. Michael Maccoby
Harvard Business School Press, November 6, 2007

I'm worn out trying to figure out what's racist or not. Yesterday I was helping to clean up after a big Obama party at the HQ in one of the Vegas offices. I joked that you can tell it's 2008 because a plump white woman was cleaning up on behalf of a black man. I thought it was hilarious but I got some funny looks.

I like and support Obama because he's a freaking amazing person with the intellect, the grace, the insight and leadership that I admire. I couldn't care less if he was a gay green Martian with purple spots and liked Hip Hop with a twist of John Denver. I'm impressed with the PERSON. When will it be ok to be white and just like someone of any color or race just because they are a great person? When will it be ok for a person of color to like me even though I'm rarely politically correct or cool and I lack rythm but I make a mean casserole? I like people. Well, most people. I can't stand stupid or mean people.

off the net and airwaves.

I was sent this very interesting article about Leadership by a friend on another blogging site. I thought it reitterated my feelings in a way I could barely do justice to compared to this writer. I hope you don't mind me leeching onto your popular header but no one bothers to read my stuff. Anyway, here goes...

Sara pens....

The job of articulating visions, uniting people behind them, and creating the climate of trust that enables people to greet change belongs to people called leaders. (You may remember them. America used to produce good leaders the way it produced good food, good jobs, and most of the other good things the world needed, but it's been a while.) Since the great task of this coming year is to choose ourselves a leader who's going to take on the heroic effort of seeing us through this mess, it may be useful to contemplate the qualities that this moment in history demands.

The big thing to bear in mind here is that that leadership is not the same thing as management.

Leaders are change agents who know how to create and build new systems. They're able to select the most preferable future from the wide range of options; draw vivid and detailed pictures of what that future looks like, show us all what must be done to get there, and motivate us to willingly put our resources into the effort. They've got a keen sense of what pieces of the past can be left behind, and what must be brought forward to build on. They are, necessarily, as honest as they can possibly be: it's impossible for nations to navigate great changes without implicit trust between the leaders and the led. They embody the culture's core purposes and values, and depend heavily on those values to guide their decisions. They're not afraid of making hard choices, saying "no" to powerful people, putting the common good over anyone's personal interests, and using every lever of power at their disposal to get people on board with the program. When the leader's work is done, chaos navigated, goal achieved -- that's when the managers take over.

Managers are skilled at sustaining existing systems and keeping them operating for the long haul. They're not about change; they're about maintaining the status quo. They don't stir shit, they don't take risks, and if they have big thoughts, they keep them to themselves. All that risk and vision stuff just gets in the way of their real job, which is to nurture what they're given, optimize it for better performance, and make the necessary compromises that allow the enterprise to keep functioning day to day. During those long eras when things are stable over time, when changes are small and gradual and trends are predictable, managers who can respect what's been built and keep it working productively are exactly what you need.

One of the ways you know that that era of stability is ending and a transformative shift is at hand is that everything that used to work gradually stops working. Even the best managers simply can't smooth over the grinding gears any more. Systems that once worked flawlessly now behave unpredictably. Odd things happen that nobody could have imagined -- and the managers, as the ones nominally in charge of smooth operations, almost always end up getting the blame.

When things begin to seriously break down, the managers, in over their heads at last, typically go into hard denial. People are holding them responsible for everything that's going wrong, even though the problems are due to large-scale (often externally-imposed) issues that are outside their line of authority and well beyond their control. Since they can't fix it, their only defense is to deny flat out that it's broken at all -- a farce they'll keep up long past the point where they become completely ridiculous, and lose all credibility with reasonable people. The phrase "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic" was coined for this exact moment.

The problem we've had with our politicians in the past few years -- both Republican and Democrat -- is that they're managers in denial about the fact that the system they're ruling over is in total breakdown, and hurtling toward a fundamental reorganization. Take Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton, both of whom are running as seasoned, experienced corporate candidates who are savvy managers of the status quo. The fact that they're offering their management skills as a selling point tells you everything you need to know about just how out of touch they are with this particular historical moment. They haven't even admitted to themselves, let alone us, that the American life we've known for the past 60 years is collapsing underneath our feet: instead, they're still blithely making happy promises to take us back to the glory days of Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, respectively.

Those promises, far from being reassuring, should terrify us. These candidates apparently haven't noticed yet that the world they want to take us back to doesn't even exist any more. They're still in denial, offering the benign security that comes with doing things they way they've always been done. (Pay no attention to those four horses. They're just there to tow our carriages back across that bridge to the past.)

And Mitt and Hillary, of course, aren't the only ones. There's no shortage of people still in denial about the magnitude of the changes we face -- and it's unnerving that most of them seem to be the people now in power. But one of the universal truths about these moments in history is that the center usually fails to hold because the managers in charge of sustaining it simply don't have what it takes to lead us through a transformation.

And so it's time for us to thank our nation's managers for their service, give them a gold watch, and escort them from public stage. What we need to be electing for this moment are leaders -- people with strong imaginations tied to an even stronger moral core, who know how to speak to our values, highlight our strengths, and move us through treacherous times. America has been beyond fortunate in the past that our best leaders have usually emerged and risen to the occasion at just these moments, when we needed them most.

When we think of the greatest presidents, we name the ones who were able to provide resolute strength and soaring vision through our years of deepest change. (Woodrow Wilson and Herbert Hoover are remembered as two of the presidency's most tragic failures, in large part because both were highly skilled managers doomed to preside in a moment that required decisive leaders.) Last time things came apart this badly, FDR saw us through; the time before that, it was Lincoln. These days, a lot of people are wondering out loud where our "next FDR" is. We know intuitively that we're not going to find our way back to the center without someone like that to show the way.

But there's a lot of uncertainty in our choosing process, too. When things come apart, everything comes apart -- and that includes the systems and structures through which we develop and choose our leaders. As the chaos rises, odd things happen that could never happen in more stable times. And that's what we'll be looking at tomorrow.

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I believe Barack Obama has reflected every one of these traits. It's because of his past record that I believe in his future as the President of OUR United States. He represents the best in all of us and I believe he will represent our nation in the worlds arena with the grace, dignity, strength, and intellect that such a position requires. If anyone can take the bag of broken glass that will be the legacy handed to them in the coming presidency, he can. I believe he has the skills to appoint and direct the right people to help make a beautiful stained glass window of the whole mess. His integrity inspires me and I believe he represents the kind of leader America needs.

 
A true leader is not one who bullies or manipulates people and organizations to do his bidding, or whose leadership can be purchased by special interests, or who caters to whatever the polls dictate. A true leader is one who educates himself and staff on the important issues at hand, who weighs the options and outcomes of each decision, who is willing to listen to people that he may not agree with or like and still respect their position. A good leader is able to pull together opposing sides and come to a healthy balanced compromise that benefits the most on both sides.

A good leader is one who shows grace under the constant glare of public light. A good leader is one who can motivate, inspire, and show by example the value of action and work toward a common goal. A good leader represents the best in himself/herself, and all of us in the choices to do good, say good things, act upon good instincts, and enact good laws. A good leader creates a setting where many people of diverse cultures, religions, races, and motives can come together to reach balanced treaties. A good leader will show strength of character, conviction, and universal values by his decisions, both in his personal life as well as his public life.

I believe Barack Obama has reflected every one of these traits. It's because of his past record that I believe in his future as the President of OUR United States. He represents the best in all of us and I believe he will represent our nation in the worlds arena with the grace, dignity, strength, and intellect that such a position requires. If anyone can take the bag of broken glass that will be the legacy handed to them in the coming presidency, he can. I believe he has the skills to appoint and direct the right people to help make a beautiful stained glass window of the whole mess. His integrity inspires me and I believe he represents the kind of leader America needs.

Every time I see Barack Obama or hear him speak I'm taken aback with how dignified, graceful, intelligent, thoughtful, strong, and capable he seems. He brought it out well on John Stewart's show when he mentioned that most intelligent people will look at the history of choices and leadership skills a person has and weigh that over the "experience" that some candidates claim.

Sometimes the experience makes some politicians even more suspicious. It infers that they've been willing to play the good ol boys game, that they'll accept graft, that they'll compromise their values to stay in the game. It's often the most experienced ones that I mistrust the most. Barack mentioned that Rumsfield and Dick Cheney had very long political careers and lists of experience, but "how'd that work out for them?" was a very telling statement.

From what I gather on the news, internet, and other media sources, very few Americans trust or believe in either of those men and even those that support Bush tend to believe that Dick Cheney and Rumsfield are very corrupt and sinister. Experience seems to equate with corruption in many cases. I'll take my chances with Barack Obama not just because of how he'll play the game in the future, but on how he's allready played the game in the past. His choices, focus, service and intellect are the very things I look for in a leader and I look forward to seeing how all those gifts will benefit all of us Americans.

 
because a state that is mostly all pudgy white, middle class, farmer, God Fearin, corn growin, and cow raising, Americans just showed up in record numbers to show their support for a "Black Man". Maybe it has something to do with his intellect, his grace, his amazing ability to unify people and create belief in our future as a nation. Maybe it has more to do with his background of service and devotion to making our nation a better place for all of US than his race. Maybe it has more to do with the incredible history of working tirelessly for the very things our nation needs to change or fix or instigate that made all those TIRED WHITE PEOPLE vote for him.

in the 6th quarter!!! I am just giddy. Not just because I backed a winner, but for all of us in the US and in the world at large. I am just bustin proud. GAWLLLLEEEE, I'm just pleased as punch. If I didn't dance like a washing machine gone awry I'd do a jig.

http://www.mtoomey.com/index.html

February 3, 2005

Why Do the Majority of Americans Prefer Lies and Half Truths?

It is shocking to hear that national polls continue to show that the majority of Americans still believe that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that Saddam Hussein was actively involved with Al Queada in the plotting of 911. Never mind that there is no evidence to support these claims, or even that there is actually evidence to the contrary. Never mind that the military have stopped searching for weapons of mass destruction after not finding any. Most Americans want to believe that the war was justified and that we were not misled by the Bush administration, so that means the majority of Americans have to lie to themselves and be grateful to be lied to by the administration. The lies allow the war to be justified, and our need to respond to 911 with force and a macho show of strength has been satisfied. Our false sense of security as a bully nation is intact.

Never mind that the rest of the world, especially the Muslim world, grows ever stronger in its fear, anger and hatred of the United States of America. We need them to fear us, because we think that will protect us.Their fear is our security blanket. Never mind that this fear is accompanied by anger and hate. We lie about fear's relationship to anger and hatred. In truth, fear is not our protection. Rather, fear is the fuel of the hate. We are feeding the hatred by our war mongering manner. Never mind. We prefer the lie that fear is our protection even if it is false.

Now the Iraqis have voted, we can rationalize the fact that we engaged in a preemptive war to win them that right, and claim that the end justifies the means. Another half truth to add to the list. Of course it is a wonderful thing that the Iraqis can vote, but they needed to get that right another way, not by our invading their country. Americans have died to win that right, but was it our blood that should have been shed? Oh, yes, they had weapons of mass destruction and were in partnership with the terrorists on 911. No matter there is no proof, now we can forget that and be glad they have voted.

This reasoning is dangerous and only feeds on itself and generates more half truths. Eventually the lies will catch up with us, and then where will we be? Far down the road of lies and destruction of integrity until our world collapses, much as the stock market, or Enron or any other house of cards.

I can hardly watch the news any more and I never listen to the President, but the climate of the righteous right is everywhere and its moral arrogance saturates the air we breathe. If we are to liberate ourselves from this morass, we must look to our leaders that "say" they stand for integrity and fairness and truth and demand that they lead. "Stand up America" and exercise your right to protest the lying and to advocate change now. Confront the half truths and expose them for what they are, lies.

There really is no such thing as a half truth. Things are either true or false. Currently, the majority of Americans endorse half truths, so they are endorsing lies. The conclusions that come from these lies are tainted and therefore misleading. As we congratulate ourselves on our accomplishments, we are embracing lies. We are allowing ourselves to be misled. Why? I guess because our fear is so loud and we feel safer with macho bravado than with reflective diplomacy.

Let us look to leaders to lead, not mislead, let us seek to be led and not misled, let us choose to reject half truths as lies and reject the conclusions that are drawn from them. They too are lies. If we are to liberate ourselves, we must demand truth. It is not right to shackle ourselves in lies and betray ourselves to gain "democracy and freedom" for others. In addition to losing lives, there is the price of losing our integrity as well. Both losses exact a supreme sacrifice.Death in body is irreversible, but when accompanied by loss of integrity among the living, death of the soul occurs. A living death is too high a price to pay for a false sense of security and justification of our aggressive actions.

Ask yourself, where is the hope? I contend it is not in half truths or lies, but rather the hope is in ourselves and in our integrity. To have real hope we must not accept, comply with or conform to the misleading assumptions and conclusions that are currently offered by our leaders as truthful interpretations of the facts. We must challenge the essential assumptions that they make and refuse to accept anything but essential truth. It is not enough to grouse about their lies. We must reject both the lies and the liars. In many ways we need a mutiny. Anything short is collaborating with the liars.

Democrats should not be reaching across the aisle to join the false assumptions and subsequent false conclusions. Democrats should rally those on the other side of the aisle to cross over to our side and join in the leadership of values that are based on truth and integrity, fairness and respect.

com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=91960&title=barack-obama-pt.-1

Soo, how'd that work out for them? Experience is not the same as Leadership. What I look for in a good leader....

The argument that Obama's time as a community organizer,Professor, & State Senator, (written or sponsored over 800 bills while Senator)as being insufficient to show leadership for the office of President of the US is silly.

Think about what Gee Duhbya's experience has bought us. In comparison Bush has NEVER served the public in any office other than a purchased Governorship of a politically corrupt state that caters to "Big Bidness". His first term as President was also purchased and the evidence is overwhelming that his "People" manipulated and bought his election. The second term was won because the Democrats couldn't find anyone truly worth while to run against him. His experience is in being the puppet and clown for the special interests he represents.

Hillary's experience and record are fairly good but that does not always equate with the ability to lead and unify people. In fact, she seems to have the opposite effect in polarizing people, whether on issues or the trivial matters of her grating personality.She seems so subject to opinion polls that it paralyzes her from being truly pro-active in her decisions or positions.

A true leader is not one who bullies or manipulates people and organizations to do his bidding, or whose leadership can be purchased by special interests, or who caters to whatever the polls dictate. A true leader is one who educates himself and staff on the important issues at hand, who weighs the options and outcomes of each decision, who is willing to listen to people that he may not agree with or like and still respect their position.

A good leader is able to pull together opposing sides and come to a healthy balanced compromise that benefits the most on both sides. A good leader is one who shows grace under the constant glare of public light. A good leader is one who can motivate, inspire, and show by example the value of action and work toward a common goal.

A good leader represents the best in himself/herself, and all of us in the choices to do good, say good things, act upon good instincts, and enact good laws. A good leader creates a setting where many people of diverse cultures, religions, races, and motives can come together to reach balanced treaties. A good leader will show strength of character, conviction, and universal values by his decisions, both in his personal life as well as his public life.

I believe Barack Obama has reflected every one of these traits. It's because of his past record that I believe in his future as the President of OUR United States. He represents the best in all of us and I believe he will represent our nation in the worlds arena with the grace, dignity, strength, and intellect that such a position requires. If anyone can take the bag of broken glass that will be the legacy handed to them in the coming presidency, he can. I believe he has the skills to appoint and direct the right people to help make a beautiful stained glass window of the whole mess. His integrity inspires me and I believe he represents the kind of leader America needs.

I'm not sure what most banks give as Christmas bonus's but that's a big wad of cash, regardless of the tax credits or otherwise. It will have an amazing impact on the employees, the community, and the potential future customers if it's used for good. Can you imagine the good publicity this would generate and how it would go a long way to restore any faith in a banking institution. Sort of like Oprah giving away cars that were donated by Ford, but she gets the glory and credit. I don't think anyone should look this gift horse in the mouth and cry foul. It's a wonderful thing and comes at a time of year when many people could use the charitable help from their fellow man. Who says the local charities won't benefit the locals? Tax break or not, it's a fabulous thing to do.

There's a lot of theory as to how to win, who will win, and why they win, but the bottom line is that many many Americans, Republican and some Democrats just don't like Hillary Clinton and are still ashamed of the shennanigans of her husband as well as her lack of forthrightness throughout his presidency and her own career. She just does not and probably cannot overcome the legacy of mistrust that haunts her reputation.

Even if she does manage to rally support enough to win the nomination she'll have an even worse battle when the Rebublicans go after every nuance of her past, present, and future as well as her womanhood, her looks, her voice, etc.. It's unfair, but she will be villified continually by the Republicans, the press, and possibly the world.

It will be unfortunate if the Democratic party nominates her. Not because she can't do a good job, but because her personality and history will prevent her from having a worthwhile and progressive impact on anything. She'll have to spend so much time defending the indefensible things about herself that she won't be able or allowed to focus on the real issues.

The gridlock that we presently see will escalate and even more negativity and polarization will be the straw that breaks the allready overburdened camelback that is the U.S. Political world. Right now, the U.S. does not need that liability and it's imperative to our future and the health of the nation to elect someone that can unify rather than polarize the various factions that drive us apart. OF course I'm speaking of Barack Obama. I'll rant more on this in another post.

Christmas is for children, and the grandmas that dote on them!! I'm not letting the fact that I'm broke beyond anything I've experienced in the last 15 years stop me from finding a way to celebrate the holidays with my kids and grandkids. People throughout our American History have had wonderful celebrations with far less than what we have today and shared the holiday spirit, the wonderful sense of giving and the joy of recieving with each other with simple and wonderfully creative efforts.

Fortunately my kids are not too proud to have a refurbished gift or carefully selected, cleaned, ironed, and beautifully packaged thrift store item. I found amazing deals at Savers and they look as new as off the rack. It's silly to think that once somethings been worn it's not worthy of being purchased (as pennies compared to retail prices). I got two complete outfits for my Daughter In Law for under $20.00 and I doubt they were even worn once. One of the tops had the original price tag still on it but at Saver's it was $6.00. I don't understand people who are too proud to buy second hand things. I'm proud that I didn't pay retail.

This year I'm making many of the toys for my grandchildren. I'm making a growth chart, some wooden blocks, a doll and doll clothes, and my husband is making a wooden wagon for hauling toys in. I've decided the best way to go green is to make things from existing products or second hand revitalized things. If they need paint I'm painting them with non toxic latex paint and sealing them with a safe sealer to keep any chance of toxic stuff away from my grandbabies.

Some of the best gifts for kids of all ages are books. There's plenty of book manufacturers and producers here in the US, England, and Europe where they comply with the kind of standards we require in the US. Your local thrift stores often have some really cute books for very good prices and it's a way to recycle something that would other wise be thrown out.

Toddlers like simple things like a set of stacking bowls made from butter and whipped cream bowls (there's spray paint that will stick to plastic and brighten them up)or wooden blocks made from well sanded and painted 2x4 chunks. Little boys often like anything that resembles a gun. Theres some cool patterns for marshmallow guns made from pvc pipe and they're cheap to make. Older kids often like sporting equipment. I made a great jumprope from some heavy duty cotton rope from the hardware store and some wooden dowells.

Gift subscriptions to good kids magazines is the gift that lasts all year long and many of them are published right here in the US. They often have games, crafts, and lots of great stories that educate and entertain. Many of the illustrators are US citizens so it's a way to support our own as well. Go online and you'll find hundreds of these that are published right here in the US.

 
There are so many layers to the story of Senator Obama and his work, his history, and especially his motives to serve the people of Illinois and hopefully the rest of America when he is elected President. I was initially impressed by his grace, his physicality and the easy way he spoke of noble ideals, patient efforts, and the legal process that envelops his political career. These are the easy superficial things that most of America sees on Oprah, or soundbytes that are intermittently flashed on the news. Even the frequent and sometimes ridiculous debates hosted by the main stream media barely scratch the surface of what is behind the contemplative and very compelling gaze of Senator Obama. I've even heard some suggest that he's holding back some important life saving ephinay of wisdom and plan that he will someday reveal to those of us who know he is far more intelligent than what the blurbs can reveal on a 30 second newsclip. I can say without any hesitancy that he is full of worthwhile ideas, worthwhile dreams, and even more, worthwhile plans that have plausibility in their enactment. This faith in a man, any man or human being, especially a politically directed human being is something completely foreign to me since I've long believed anyone worth having as a leader would not bother to involve himself in something as filthy as the political machine here in America.

Purveyors of misinformation, negativity, and manipulated information have suggested that Barack Obama may not be "Black Enough", or that he's an elitist pampered mama's boy raised in private schools and fed with a silver spoon in a typically white America. A "Fresh Prince" innuendo that tends to alienate and scare off many that share his culture and blood. After reading his website and personal service history, as well as his own very tender family history I can say ( loudly if necessary), that BARACK OBAMA represents every nuance of the cultural diversity that is America. He proudly affiliates himself with those of his own culture and race. He proudly reflects the hard working, self sacrificing efforts of his middle class, middle America, "white" mother and grandparents. He seems to seamlessly blend the observations of his youth with the realities of our national diversities. There may not be any easy answers to our multiple cultural and racial needs, but if anyone can relate, can deeply understand, and empathize on any side of the fence, Senator Obama can. If anyone dares to doubt his sincerity and depth of understanding, I suggest to them to read, research, and open their hearts and minds to the very things he's done, written, and experienced. I cannot imagine anyone feeling more inspired and convinced of his noble promise after learning about him from his own words than I did.

I recently read Barack Obama's first book, "Dreams From My Father". One of the things that was so compelling about his words was the depth and introspection he gave to seeking his own history and lineage through his father. His father was absent most of his life and in some ways, just the sire donating half of Baracks genetic makeup. Little was actually learned from his father in his childhood so one could suggest he was a non-entity. That would be easy to dismiss if he'd been white but a Black father makes Barack a black man, even though his mother was white. It's intersting how we can assume that looking more black than white infers a cultural connection. Barack seemed to be torn between both worlds and still struggles to combine the differences and similarities he's faced with.

Almost half the book was an accounting of his journey to Kenya to learn about his father, his half siblings, the relatives and ancestors and country that his father was from. I was impressed with the grace in which he dealt with some really crappy stuff but one thing that seemed to dominate the experience was the entire families expectation for him to rescue them. Sacrifices were made to make sure his father could go to college, and when he died penniless, the expectations were then transferred to Barack. He'd never grown up with these people, knew little of them as a child, never even experienced a cultural experience close to what they knew in Kenya, but in spending time with them he felt a sense of place and connection that he couldn't experience with his own mothers family.

One thing that Barack Obama seems to show great skill and talent in is his ability to bring together the right people and groups to accomplish a goal. He doesn't cater to the special interests or succumb to being bought but he does know that he has to play some of the games with these people in order to accomplish a greater goal. Abraham Lincoln used similar skills in unifying diverse people and groups to help maintain some progress in the government. I believe we need a president who can look beyond cronism and the separations of government factions to accomplish worthwhile goals.

One thing I do know is that "We The People" are fed up with the Bush Administration. I read and hear so much and wish I could do something more worthwhile than write, complain, and vote. I'm not inclined to assassinate, but wouldn't mind seeing the Doofus behind bars and held accountable for all he and his henchmen have done. It's too bad we can't draft his daughters into the Marines or National Guard and send them to Iraq, just so he could have a taste of what he's inflicted on so many other American families. Until then, I'll just have to wait for the vote and do my part to help someone, Barack, Al Gore, or on last resort even Hilary Clinton to be elected.

Perhaps I'm like Barack's extended family, hoping he will rescue the nation from the neglect and corruption of the previous administration. Whomever is elected will be handed a bag of broken glass and will have to be a true artist to make a stained glass window of the whole mess. Perhaps Barack can unify and blend the right people and groups to make some sense of the mess. I sure hope so.


Whatever the future holds for him and us as a nation, we are all better off for having him in our lives. I only saw him from 100 ft. away, only read a borrowed book, only volunteered at his Vegas headquarters, and only gleaned from his website from the privacy of my own home, but I feel like I know him. I care about what he cares about. I believe in the things he is willing to work and fight for. I hope with passion and devotion to the causes he works toward. There is so much more behind the somewhat pensive and serious man that is seen at a distance. There is gentle but direct strength. There is conviction, thoughtful direction, purposeful action, and most of all HOPE. We all HOPE for his vision and ideals to find a strong supportive nation to help implement them. We all HOPE a person like him can help unify the various fractures that plague our national body. We all HOPE with the right leadership, our collective needs and values will be respected and given light. There are no simple answers, especially since anyone who will adopt this incredibly shattered national mantle will have to be an artist in piecing a virtual stained glass window of the various shards. I believe that Senator Obama has the skills and ability to unite the necessary leaders to help create a new, brighter, more colorful and inclusive window into the American Presidency and the policies it must reflect. I feel excited, nearly giddy with HOPE for what our future can be if we do our part to help this man become the next President of OUR United States.