In reality, you and I and millions of our fellow citizens knew that we had to make tonight happen.
And, we did.
And, the greatness of Barack Obama is that he knows that that is what he is enabling ... each of us to be the very best person and citizen and friend that we possibly can be.
Peace, my friend ... we will continue to prevail, Bob
... as I have never, ever been so completely knocked to the ground .... in a very good way.
I say this, Pat actually killed cynicism. Maybe only briefly. But credit earned is credit deserved and the guy took all his inherent and long-displayed bigotry and transcended it.
He went light years past Barack Obama's genetics and color because Barack Obama enabled him to go to a place he never imagined he could reach.
That is the genius and the depth and the goodness of Barack Obama.
You have witnessed great history in the saga of humanity, my friends, never forget it.
``He is definitely planning to be here,'' said the Kennedy family confidant. ``The whole Kennedy family will be in a special section. It should be quite moment.''
...in the Military Commissions Act, McCain acquiesced to the use of these techniques against terror suspects by the CIA. And so the tortured became the enabler of torture. Someone somewhere cried out in pain for the same reasons McCain once did. And McCain let it continue.
Where Are Khalid Sheikh Mohammad's Children ? by Chacounne Sun Aug 10, 2008 at 02:10:22 AM PDT
Once again, I find myself unable to sleep, because once again I am haunted by the image in my mind's eye.
Every day, several times a day, I am haunted by an image of two little boys, the sons of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, who were kidnapped when they were 7 and 9 years old and turned over to the CIA. They have been gone for almost six years, think about that SIX YEARS. We don't even know if they are alive or dead. They are held in YOUR NAME. There are reports that they have been tortured, using insects and food deprivation. Please, demand of your Congressional Representative and your Senators that they ask publically for an accounting of these two little boys who are now teenagers, having spent almost half their lives in US custody.
Two young sons of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks, are being used by the CIA to force their father to talk.
Yousef al-Khalid, 9, and his brother, Abed al-Khalid, 7, were donetaken into custody in Pakistan in September when intelligence officers raided a flat in Karachi where their father had been hiding.
Mohammed fled just hours before the raid but his sons and another senior al-Qaeda member were found cowering behind a wardrobe in the apartment.
The boys have been held by the Pakistani authorities but this weekend they were flown to America where they will be questioned about their father. CIA interrogators confirmed that the boys were staying at a secret address where they were being encouraged to talk about their father's activities. "We are handling them with kid gloves," said one official. "After all, they are only little children, but we need to know as much about their father's recent activities as possible. We have child psychologists on hand at all times and they are given the best of care."
Read the full diary and please take whatever action you can to bring this to the attention of the Obama campaign and to your respective Congressional representatives.
For I’ve come to believe that this isn’t just one among a number of important issues. It is the issue. It is the single issue we need to solve if every other important issue is going to have a chance of being solved sensibly. The dependency of modern campaign finance is the single most important cause of the bankruptcy of Congress. Fixing this bankruptcy is the single most important reform effort that Americans face just now.
That’s not to say there aren’t other, extraordinarily important issues that America faces. Of course there are. Global warming is at the top of my list. The peace in Iraq may be at the top of yours. But fixing the bankruptcy that is Congress is the first step to solving these other issues. Without this first step, the other reform simply won’t happen.
Think of it like this: We’ve all known, or been harmed by, or harmed others as an alcoholic. We all therefore understand something about this particular dependency. One thing we understand is this. An alcoholic might face many critical problems. He might be losing his job, his marriage, and his liver. All three of those are among the worst possible problems a person could face. But we know he won’t begin to solve those problems until he deals with his alcoholism. Alcoholism isn’t the most important problem in the mix. It’s just the first problem. It’s the problem that must be solved before anything else can get solved.
Yes.
Lessig presents a cogent and accurate diagnosis of the disease that has enabled Bush and his neoconsters to commit crimes against us, our Constitution and humanity.
The addiction of Congress folk to special interest money as to maintain their access to that special interest money by being elected and re-elected, has rendered them nothing but enablers of Bush's drive toward a despotic, corporatist juggernaut.
We always knew the greatest threats would come from within and be driven by greed and quest for unconstrained power.
That is the America in which we now live.
4 November 2008 may be the last opportunity "We the People ..." have to save the America -- us -- from overt tyranny and unchecked corporatist imperialism.
... a person, a group, a society .... with evil; Any meme, any image, any symbol, any ... that incites fear as to instigate an irrational, and typically violent, response is the essence of the intentional elicitation of hate.
That cover is one of the most powerful elicitations of hate as to have ever been created.
Only arrogant delusional dilettantes would ever consider that cover satire.
It is an explicit elicitation of hate from those most susceptible to such an elicitation.
Online resource to help the Burners recover from the fire
07.01.08Help the Burner family recover from the loss of their homePosted in Help Out at 6:32 pm by Northwest Progressive Institute
Early in the morning of July 1st, faulty wiring in a lamp caused an intense fire that destroyed the Ames Lake home of Darcy, Mike, and Henry Burner. While the family escaped unharmed, the house is a total loss, and the Burners have lost many (if not most) of their belongings.
Darcy is courageously running for Congress to change the direction of our country. She is an inspiration to many of us, but now she and her family need our support and prayers as they recover from this tragedy.
Here are some things you can do to help:
Leave a message of support here at HelpDarcy.com. We’ll build a message board featuring your comments and deliver it to the Burner family to let them know we’re thinking about them.
Ask the campaign what you can do to help out around the office. Darcy plans to continue running for Congress, but she’s taking time off to get her life back in order. Your help can keep her going strong.
Upload any pictures you have of the Burners to help them replace the recorded memories they lost. Original JPGs are preferred. (Images will not be displayed publicly, however, they will be given to the family).
Here is Darcy’s statement about what happened this morning:
“As many of you may be aware, early this morning my home was destroyed by a fire. It appears to have been caused by a faulty lamp in my son’s room. Unfortunately, our home and all of the possessions in it are a total loss, but I am so grateful that my family and I escaped safely. We may have lost our home and our possessions, but for the most part they can be replaced, and I feel like a true tragedy was narrowly avoided today. Please rest assured that while we have been a bit shaken by what happened, Mike, Henry and I are all okay.
“Particularly, I am grateful to the wonderful men and women of the Redmond and Kirkland Fire Departments, and the investigators from the King County Fire Investigation Unit. Their rapid response and incredible professionalism brought the fire under control and kept it from spreading to our neighbors’ homes. And these brave first responders even miraculously rescued my son’s puppy, who we initially thought had perished in the flames. Sadly, our cat, Charlotte , did not survive the fire.
“I am also deeply grateful for the expressions of support from friends, supporters and others who have called to express their condolences and offer their generous and heartfelt assistance. I am so moved by all of the offers of a place to stay, or clothes to wear, or all of the other offers of help that have poured in throughout the day. While we are fine for now, your kind expressions of support and concern have helped to sustain me through what has been a long and difficult day.
“For those who would like to do something to express their support, let me suggest making a contribution to your local humane society or animal shelter in memory of Charlotte , or to the Washington State Council of Firefighters Benevolent Fund.
“Thank you all for being there for us in my family’s time of need. It means so much to us.”
Guys, as you might've seen, Orange to Blue candidate Darcy Burner lost her house yesterday to a fire. The tragedy has obviously upended her life, and she's struggling right now to put all the pieces back together. As such, she now faces a dilemma -- the more time she dedicates to dealing with her personal affairs, the less time she has to campaign and raise money.
We can't help with the "campaign" side of things, but we can help with the money side of things. Darcy would have to raise about $150,000 in the month of July to keep up with her Republican opponent. Us bloggers are going to try and raise that for her.
One last point: Darcy is a huge netroots sensation because she is truly one of us -- a former Microsoft exec who is a geek at heart, and someone who has been with us on the war and FISA since she first started running in 2005. Some politicians can put up a facade or say the right things for the right audience, but there's no faking it when you've just run out of your burning house, seeing all your worldly possessions go up in flames as you frantically try to ensure your family is safe.
Look at the shirt she was wearing:
Let's all give Darcy a hug and more!
Just donated another $ 200.00. We wish we could do more.
Senator Clinton's speech last night was a justifiably proud recitation of her accomplishments over the course of this campaign, but it did not end right. She didn't do what she should have done. As hard and as painful as it might have been, she should have conceded, congratulated, endorsed and committed to Barack Obama. Therefore the next 48 hours are now as important to the future reputation of Hillary Clinton as the last year and a half have been.
I am disappointed. As a long time Hillary Clinton supporter and more importantly, an admirer, I am sad that this historic effort has ended with such a narrow loss for her. There will be the appropriate "if onlys" for a long time to come. If only the staff shakeup happened earlier; if only the planning in caucus states had more focus; if only Hillary had let loose with the authentic human and connecting voice she found in the last three months of the campaign. If only. If only. I have written many times on this site about the talents of Hillary Clinton and why I thought she'd make a great President.
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So, I am also so very disappointed at how she has handled this last week. I know she is exhausted and she had pledged to finish the primaries and let every state vote before any final action. But by the time she got on that podium last night, she knew it was over and that she had lost. I am sure I was not alone in privately urging the campaign over the last two weeks to use the moment to take her due, pass the torch and cement her grace. She had an opportunity to soar and unite. She had a chance to surprise her party and the nation after the day-long denials about expecting any concession and send Obama off on the campaign trail of the general election with the best possible platform. I wrote before how she had a chance for her "Al Gore moment." And if she had done so, the whole country ALL would be talking today about how great she is and give her her due.
Instead she left her supporters empty, Obama's angry, and party leaders trashing her. She said she was stepping back to think about her options. She is waiting to figure out how she would "use" her 18 million voters. But not my vote. I will enthusiastically support Barack Obama's campaign. Because I am not a bargaining chip. I am a Democrat.
Now that's Party leadership ...
What's it gonna be Senator Clinton ... what's it gonna be?
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