Arkansas Republicans start 'em young....

Arkansas College Republicans probably think they were being cute and clever by taking a picture of Governor Beebe out of context and using it to score cheap social media points.

TalkBusiness.net called it "Vile Attacks and Lies by Some Arkansas Republicans" and I couldn't agree more.

@ArkCr @GovBeebeMedia thinks Obamacare is best for Arkansas. Is that him or the booze talking? twitpic.com/7o23s4 #crnc #arleg

@ArkCR @GovBeebeMedia expects Arkansans to follow his lead, yet he is so drunk he cant even stand! #arleg twitpic.com/7o23s4 #crnc

@ArkCR: While thousands of Arkansans can’t find work, @GovBeebeMedia gets hammered drunk. PICTURE: http://t.co/JnAm58kf #arleg

These College Republicans could have still used this picture to go after Gov. Beebe. "Gov. Beebe pours the wine and entertains the upper class while thousands of Arkansans can't even afford Bud Light." Or "Gov. Beebe has champagne taste on Arkansas' beer budget."

Perhaps Young Democrats of Arkansas should seize on the poor taste of their Arkansas counterparts. "Governor Beebe: Servant of the People." "Governor Beebe: Serving up good times."

As for his effort in serving a white wine, it leaves something to be desired:

Monday's Song from Hell - November 14th

Not because it is an annoying song that you can't stop humming. Because music can sometimes cement itself in the minds of people and become a common expression of their values or opinions. That's why this song might become hell for those who stand in the way of the 99% of Americans who are not being served by our political, economic, and financial systems.

Now Makana's new song "We Are The Many" can be criticized as being from hell because of the very simple rhyming pattern of the verses (AAAA), but at least the end of the chorus makes clear the whole point of the Occupy Wall Street and 99% movement.

Lyrics below the video thanks to Honolulu Civil Beat.

We Are The Many Lyrics & Music by Makana Makana Music LLC © 2011

Ye come here, gather ’round the stage
The time has come for us to voice our rage
Against the ones who’ve trapped us in a cage
To steal from us the value of our wage

From underneath the vestiture of law
The lobbyists at Washington do gnaw
At liberty, the bureaucrats guffaw
And until they are purged, we won’t withdraw

We’ll occupy the streets
We’ll occupy the courts
We’ll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

Our nation was built upon the right
Of every person to improve their plight
But laws of this Republic they rewrite
And now a few own everything in sight

They own it free of liability
They own, but they are not like you and me
Their influence dictates legality
And until they are stopped we are not free

We’ll occupy the streets
We’ll occupy the courts
We’ll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

You enforce your monopolies with guns
While sacrificing our daughters and sons
But certain things belong to everyone
Your thievery has left the people none

So take heed of our notice to redress
We have little to lose, we must confess
Your empty words do leave us unimpressed
A growing number join us in protest

We occupy the streets
We occupy the courts
We occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

You can’t divide us into sides
And from our gaze, you cannot hide
Denial serves to amplify
And our allegiance you can’t buy

Our government is not for sale
The banks do not deserve a bail
We will not reward those who fail
We will not move till we prevail

We’ll occupy the streets
We’ll occupy the courts
We’ll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

We are the many
You are the few

Monday's Song from Hell - April 25th

The back story on how this was pulled off in the Oregon legislature. I wish more legislative bodies treated each other with the respect required to build the kind of trust it must take to do something like this. That legislature is probably able to come to compromises

Map of the Day - April 5th

This is my proposed redistricting map for Arkansas. I did this to illustrate that you can basically do anything you want with redistricting as long as the districts have equal population and don't dilute minority voting rights (not much of a concern in Arkansas). I started this map with two ideas: give each district an equal length of state border and have them all meet in the middle of the state. This map would be a big change for many cities, but gives each district a share of urban and rural areas.

(Bentonville, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Hot Springs together in a district. Rogers, Springdale, Russellville and Conway in another. Jonesboro, West Memphis, North Little Rock, and Pine Bluff in another. Little Rock, Saline County, Texarkana in the last one)

There has been much hullabaloo about the congressional redistricting that is happening in Arkansas this spring. The main controversy is about moving Fayetteville out of the 3rd CD and into the 4th CD. "Fayetteville to the Fourth" one of the plans has been called. I oppose moving Fayetteville to the 4th CD if there is another way of creating equal population districts that are more compact. This opinion is not very popular with many Democratic party leaders, officials, elites, and activists. Some have said that moving Fayetteville is best because it gives Democrats more opportunities to win Congressional seats....I support compact districts over partisan success. Some have accused a few Fayetteville Democrats of this plan because those elected officials want to run for Congress in a district that is much more likely to elect a Democrat....again, I support compact districts over the success of any individual politician.

There have been many maps from many people. I hope someone creates a website to archive all the possible maps created by legislators and by citizens during this session. I think far too many people during this session simply said "the 3rd has to lose voters" then accepted whatever was put in front of them. There are plenty more than one way to skin that cat. High schoolers with access to the internet can create all kinds of maps that are equal population that satisfy legal challenges. UPDATE: The most recent map to pass the AR Senate!

Make your own redistricting map with this online tool. It maps and counts the voters in districts that you create yourself!

http://gardow.com/davebradlee/redistricting/launchapp.html

Graph of the Day - February 24th

Source: Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight

I appreciate this because it attempts to plot these potential candidates on more than one characteristic. If I had to make a bet right now, I would bet on Huntsman. I see the battle of the Republican primary as basically being between the upper left corner and the lower right corner. I think the person in the upper left who best contorts themselves to attract the support of the lower right will be the nominee.

First, the area of each candidate’s circle is proportional to their perceived likelihood of winning the nomination, according to the Intrade betting market.
...

Finally, the color of each circle reflects the region the candidate is from: blue for the Northeast, red for the South, green for the Midwest, and yellow for the West.

**NOTE: "Graph of the Day" is a series that may include graphs, charts, and other visuals that communicate data.

Graph of the Day - February 17th

Long time away from writing, but I certainly have been thinking a lot. More garden related blogs to come in the next few days, but today's is political.

Arkansas Republicans (and a few turncoat Democrats) want to give a massive tax break to wealthy Arkansans while looking into a budget that cuts education and services to children and the poor.

Here is their plan to cut state capital gains taxes. I say if they are looking to cut 55-65 million dollars in taxes this year they should go ahead and completely eliminate the food tax.

For more on this read the press release from Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families. It has a link to their entire report on this issue and how it hands money to the wealthiest Arkansans.

What Arkansas voters think about us

No, there wasn’t another chance for our opponents to put our civil rights up for a vote this year in Arkansas. In 2004 government-by-mob resulted in cementing marriage discrimination into the Arkansas Constitution by a vote of 75% to 25%. 2008 saw Arkansas voters vote 57% to 43% to deny parent-less children loving homes and families with Act 1, the foster and adoption ban on unmarried couples. 2010 was free and clear of efforts to put LGBTQ people and their families on the sacrificial altar that is all too often benignly called “politics.”

Where do we stand with voters right now? In an election year dominated by topics like jobs, the economy, and spending we didn’t hear too much about “the gays,” but the yearly Arkansas Poll from the University of Arkansas keeps asking voters and the results are in. The NWA Times reported yesterday in their editorial about the Arkansas Poll and the data was important enough for them to include a mention of marriage equality.

We also note the drop in the percentage of respondents who believe there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple.
The percentage of those polled who think gays should be allowed to marry is still below 20 percent. The number who would allow gay domestic partnerships is also steady at 27 percent, a number consistent with recent years’ findings. However, the number of people who think there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple is below a clear majority at 48 percent. This compares to 54 percent in most recent years.

Let’s work with the relationship recognition numbers first, but please be sure to read all the way down for the numbers on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. They will surprise you! The numbers for relationship recognition support in Arkansas for the past few years:

So for the first time there is NOT a MAJORITY of Arkansans who want to make same sex couples legal strangers. Though full marriage equality is only supported by 19% of Arkansans, the additional 27% of Arkansans that support civil unions or domestic partnerships bring the total percentage of Arkansas voters who support recognizing same sex relationships to 46%. It’s not the magic fifty percent and I wouldn’t take it to the bank (or the ballot box) but it’s worth noting that support for relationship recognition rose 6 points from 2009. Sound odd for Arkansas? Should we just blame it on the economy?

To put this in perspective, both Equality California and Equality Maine have stated that they will not be returning to the ballot box until they see consistent polling for full marriage equality above 50%. Both states briefly had marriage equality and both states lost it at the ballot box, with just under 48% voting NO to repeal. Our number for marriage equality is 19%. We aren’t there. We won’t be there for a long time. But nearly half of Arkansas voters think there should be some kind of legal protections. Keep your chin up.

Now what about the actual pressing legislative issue dealing with the LGBTQ community, DADT? It was polled for, but why did the NWA Times not report the numbers? Perhaps because it’s not newsworthy? 56% of Arkansas voters approve of “homosexual men and women” serving openly in the military. Read it for yourself:

Something to keep in mind: how you ask the question matters. A CBS Poll this spring showed that the number approving increases if those “homosexuals” are referred to as “gay men and lesbians.” The repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was held up before the election but the word is that it will be voted on again in a lame-duck session of Congress after the Pentagon reports December 1st on how it will affect the military.

Graph of the Day - October 13th

See how corporations can pour millions of dollars into putting ballot measures up for vote that benefit themselves. Californians have the ability to say NO to the power of Big Oil. The original image is interactive and allows you to scroll over each contributor to find their total donation. More on stopping Prop. 23.

Source

Graph of the Day - October 8th

http://www.flickr.com/photos/speakerpelosi/5062499482/sizes/o/in/photostream/

Private employers have added 863,000 jobs this year. The recovery is happening but it is very slow and is much slower for the average American when compared to the stock market. Productivity and profitability is at all time highs for corporations but they there is not rapid job growth. I think corporations are holding the American economy hostage until they get the people to agree to even more favorable measures towards large business and wealthy Americans. Perhaps then the wealthy and their corporations will CONSIDER lending, investing, and expanding. Until then they save......and American hurts because of it.

Graph of the Day - September 7th

Source

It's funny how many people look back to the 5o's, 60's, and 70's with nostalgia yet they vote hard core corporatist Republican. You would think that people would figure it out that tax and economic policy matters in creating a more equitable society, one that more people enjoy living in. Income equality matters. Everyone doesn't have to make exactly the same, but everything works better when Americans are all playing in the same economy. As is, the wealthy play in completely different economies, often insulated by geography and other barriers.

Graph of the Day - August 28th

Ken Mehlman, former chair of the ENTIRE Republican Party, who was President Bush's 2004 campaign manager, who went along with the most homophobic campaign in history, who built a political culture that probably led scores of young gay teens to suicide, finally came out.

Fox News doesn't even mention it. This is beyond the excuse of "well the other stations don't report important stuff either." Fox News, by pretending to be news, is doing the country a disservice.

I got this from Pam's House Blend.

Graph of the Day - August 24th

Tax cut proposals by income level

Source

Republicans want to give Millionaires an extra $700 billion over the next ten years. They think it will be good for the economy. How are we to expand the American economy when the vast majority of Americans are losing ground?

How a Red State flipped Blue

I wish this was a master discussion of the work I got to help with in Florida during the Obama campaign in 2008, but the state I am talking about is Colorado. I read a good book describing what some might call the "inside baseball." Incidentally this was my first book purchase from an independent bookstore. I tend to get used books from the bookstore, online, or from friends. The trusty library usually helps me as well. This time, Nightbird Books in Fayetteville on Dickson Street special ordered the book for me. I even got a 10% discount for reciting a poem at the counter because it was Poetry Month I guess. Actually I recited two: one in English and one in Spanish. Anyways, onto my book review.

The Blueprint: How the Democrats Won Colorado (and Why Republicans Everywhere Should Care) Adam Schrager and Rob Witwer (@ Amazon.com)

I learned about this book on DailyKos, a very popular progressive political blog. A much better review of the book can be found there, but I wanted to share a bit of what I read and what I thought about it.

Long story short: Colorado was a solid conservative state where Republicans ruled and few thought anything otherwise. In less than a decade a concerted effort flipped both houses of the state legislature, the governorship, and two U.S. Senate seats. Though some demographics where trending towards the Democrats, the real reason for the change was political organizing. How did the Democrats pull it off? Well it wasn't really the Democratic Party of Colorado, but I will get to that in a moment. How did they do it? Money, Discipline, and Unity.

Money
Colorado reformed their campaign finance laws in a way that limited how much individuals could give to candidates. It was intended to decrease the "buying" of candidates and officials by wealthy interests. This law made a national appearance in the form of the McCain-Feingold Act. What these laws did was close the door for donations from the wealthy to candidates, but opened up a new class of political organizations that could act politically, though NOT in direct concert with candidate campaigns. Arkansans got a great taste of these organizations in the recent primary between Senator Blanche Lincoln and Lt. Governor Bill Halter. Anyways, some hugely wealthy folks in Colorado were hugely pissed about the antics of the Republicans in the state government. They decided enough was enough and the way to stop it was to strategically pick off candidates that were most vulnerable and replace them with Democrats.

Discipline
These donors funded multiple organizations with different spheres of influence: a House campaign org, a Senate campaign org, a media watchdog, and others. Each organization was staffed by experienced political organizers (operatives). Though each organization was a separate entity, the donors and even board members had great overlap. With a clear mission, no group had to try to do everything. The ability to have discipline towards mission was granted from the donors: these donors made huge and continued investments and did not meddle in the details. They did NOT micromanage. They hired competent people and let them get to work.

Unity

Though these donors were in general progressive, they had their differences. They also picked the most electable candidates in many of the districts and this lead to differences between the political positions between the Democratic candidates and the progressive donors. They stuck to what they could agree on 90% of the time, and agreed that the mission (turning the state legislature) was worth supporting candidates that did not all have the same beliefs.

So...the campaign finance reforms really killed the "party" as the active machine of getting candidates and agendas into office. What replaced this machine was a loose group of organizations that were more nimble and less likely to be afraid to get dirty. For sure, many of their tactics would be considered "dirty" politics. They did what conservatives (through churches and religious organizations) had done for years. And they did it better than they had ever done. Karl Rove perfected micro-targeting and the Georgia Republicans perfected the 72 turnout machine, but Colorado Republicans never saw it coming. A group of Colorado millionaires decided to put those to work electing a party that would work for the people. And that is what Colorado got.

The Donors: Tim Gill, Jared Polis, and Pat Stryker were the LGBT and Allied ones. Others joined in.

Done foolin' myself or: how I learned to stop rationalizing and leave the Church

UPDATE: A needed note. Someone called out a mistake in my writing. Well into this I talk about being a "deeper" Catholic than some. I was out of line on that one. I should have said that I attend church more often and participate more than some. Thank you H.

**************************************************************

This is the letter I am sending one of the campus ministers who helps run the campus Catholic parish that I attend in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I started attending this church when I was in grade school and returned to it when I became a college student. I am a core member of their wonderful little choir. The campus minister is NOT a priest...just a "helper" I guess. This campus minister has been there for much of my college experience and I greatly respect and appreciate her. I have talked many times with her about my doubts regarding the moral authority of the Church. Here, I tell her my journey with the Catholic Church is over.

__________________________________________________

******,

I am thinking that this will be my last semester at St. Thomas Aquinas. I have spent 10 years since having come out trying to rationalize how my participation in the Church does not harm millions of LGBT people, women, and the poor around the world.

I told myself that because I have not donated money in years, that I am not supporting the Church. I have told myself that I sing not out of service to the Church, but for personal enjoyment and the ego boost I get when someone gives us a compliment. I have stopped receiving communion because I don't want to pretend to even myself that I believe all that the Church stands for.

I was already drifting, but recent events have made the cognitive dissonance impossible to maintain. First, I personally know the gentleman who was sexually assaulted by the priest at St. Joseph in Fayetteville, and I completely believe his story. Yet I hear the priest is soon receiving a new assignment.

More important though, is the recent revelations surrounding Cardinal Ratzinger. I knew I didn't like him to begin with. I much prefer the spiritual leadership of two previous popes who died before I was even born. I have long rationalized that American Catholics follow their own beliefs and that the American Bishops sometime reflect this. Telling myself that I can be an American Catholic, and believe along with my peers that things like birth control are humane and not in conflict with G-d, used to comfort me and silence the questions from my friends, both non-believers and recovering Catholics in the LGBT and progressive communities.

Any kind of effort to hide the evil actions of priests is beyond rationalization. Keeping information from legal authorities is not just a sin against the state and its citizens, but it is a sin against G-d and his children. Cardinal Ratzinger equates freedom and equality for gay people with a violent act against human dignity. Out of the other side of his mouth he directs the Church to shelter those who act to destroy individual humans and families. I don't think the Church should hand down judgment as if they were G-d, but at minimum they should protect their members AND obey the law.

A sad fact of this is that I am probably a deeper Catholic in many ways than other people my age, or even my three brothers. My moral code is drawn from the teachings of Jesus and from the traditions of the Semitic people. My sense of humility (which sometimes keeps be from trying to succeed for myself) and duty to those less fortunate drive my political beliefs. I think politics should bring the gifts of G-d to the biggest number of people possible. The proverb of fish versus fishing means to me not that we “teach” people to somehow raise themselves to the middle class, or even to the working class for those in the developing world. I believe that the message for our day is that we should not temporarily relieve poverty or suffering and attach a deadline for such assistance. I believe we are to create an economy where there are so many opportunities and incentives for people to provide for themselves. If there are not enough jobs because of how we structure the perverse incentives of our greed as an economy, then we should provide for those that fall through the cracks. We should always be humble….and being humble to those around you is being humble to G-d.

The Bible talks far more about poverty and how we treat money than it talks about any of the issues that seemingly divide Americans today. The insistence of the Church on elevating issues of personal freedom like sexuality and contraception detracts from the great and pressing evil of governments that assist humanity in fulfilling en masse the basest of urges: greed. While the Church uses scare tactics and moralizing to discourage condom use in Africa, millions are infected with HIV and their illness wreaks havoc on the micro and macro economies in their nations. In this country the Church equates marriage equality to a threat against human dignity and an attack on families. Meanwhile our collective greed was allowed to entice families into situations so precarious that the slightest change in their financial situation sent them into bankruptcy and foreclosure. The statistics say nothing ruins a marriage and threatens the family like bankruptcy. The anecdotal evidence tends to agree.

I am at the point that I think calling myself a Catholic and associating with the Church is not my best option if I am to continue to try to contribute to a world that is worthy of a creator G-d. I feel like I will no longer attend a Catholic church regularly. Being invited to sing for weddings or funerals is still something that will draw me back from time to time. Attending in order to celebrate special personal rituals of my family members will also call me back. Whether I will call myself ex-Catholic or a recovering Catholic is a good question. Non-practicing? A cultural Catholic? Where do I go? The Unitarian Universalists?

So here I am on Holy Thursday about to leave the Church. I will fulfill my obligation to sing at Easter Mass and our upcoming Multicultural Mass. I owe that to my choir director and the people with whom I have enjoyed singing. I don’t owe the Church anything else and if I owe G-d and his people something, it certainly won’t be repaid through the Catholic Church.

******, your guidance has helped me to continue my faith journey at St. Thomas Aquinas. I feel that you reminded me that despite my frustrations that I should remain humble, be introspective, and seek to understand some universal wisdoms. You made me feel welcome as a human being. That respect was one of very few reasons why I tried to continue growing my resolve that the core Catholic teachings about what we are to do on this Earth are good and true things. Thank you for your patience and service to humanity.

Sincerely,

Casey Willits

PS. Feel free to share this with either Father or those with whom you work. Understanding the inner conflict of a rational and educated student surely helps St. Thomas Aquinas minister to the University of Arkansas community.

What is your Pearl Harbor?

During any discussion of current politics, one of my brothers always points out that he doesn’t want the rules to change midgame. He feels like significant changes in healthcare, tax structure, and global climate change are unfair to those who are in the middle of their lives. Now, says he doesn’t purposely want to destroy the environment or deny people medical care, but he doesn’t want to be told what he can and can’t do and he doesn’t want to have to pay for other people.

So let me get this right: changing our expectations and our commitments in a changing world is un-American? Liberals and Democrats are lambasted as un-American because they see current challenges abroad and within as calls to collective action and higher duty?

Where is this coming from you ask? What set you off this time Casey?

Well, let’s start at McDonalds at about 8:15 this morning. For a grad student like me with mainly night classes and flexible research hours, this is actually early for me to be up and around. Normally for breakfast I try to eat two eggs at home with some kind of fruit and a little whole grain, but this morning was just another piece of a horrible week and a half, so I threw my hands up and surrendered to mass produced food-like products.

Considering that my grandparents live at least 4 hours away and I am perpetually stuck in either collegiate or organizing mode, I don’t have a lot of contact with folks who are significantly older than me. But like many McDonalds during breakfast hours, the McDonalds closest to campus had a fairly good sized crowd of older folks “dining” this morning. There were two noticeable groups actually. I will get to the second one in a minute, but the older crowd is what made me start thinking first. The older crowd tended towards men and coffee. Some perhaps were only there for coffee and a few were reading newspapers. Most were probably retired but I heard one talking about a job he had to do next week. A few wives had tagged along with their husbands. These folks were probably the age of my grandparents. WWII cohort. The Greatest Generation. I didn’t listen long enough to hear any general political talk, but I heard a random “Russia didn’t even win a gold medal”, a reference to what I thought was an amazing Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Nothing special here really, just a bunch of old men enjoying coffee with their friends.

Now, about these old men coffee drinkers and the Greatest Generation. The world owes the relative “peace” of the last 6 decades to this generation. They were presented with a situation that called for sacrifice and changed expectations. A changing world called on them to create a new reality. As the world continues to change and we are presented with new situations, wouldn’t it make sense that we must change with the changing times?

I say accepting new conditions and proactively attacking the coming problems is as honorable as what Americans did during WWII. They certainly accepted a way of life far different than they would have preferred. We complain about regulations that might possibly raise the price of dirty energy or gas guzzling cars, but they couldn’t buy cars at all during the war. Why not tax sugary drinks that are fueling our obesity crisis when our forefathers experienced rationing of sugar, butter, and all kinds of things in order to achieve a group goal.

I guess sacrifice is more honorable when it comes voluntarily from every single individual, but plenty of those soldiers in WWII and Korea and Vietnam were conscripted. We certainly don’t down play what they did and their forced sacrifice is still probably what was needed.

The United States probably should have entered WWII before they did. It was too controversial to step into the war before we were totally surprised at Pearl Harbor. Sure, many people then volunteered with the threat of imminent destruction at hand. Are we going to have to wait until disastrous conditions occur? What if it is too late with too many PPM CO2 in the atmosphere? Do we have to wait for universal health insurance until it is evident that the American economy cannot afford to spend nearly double what other countries spend? How long must we give tax breaks to the rich holding onto the idea that it will make anyone but the wealthy wealthier?

So tell me climate change skeptics, what is your Pearl Harbor? At what point will you believe and allow substantial policy change to occur?

Middle income and working class Americans who face service cuts and tax hikes, what is your Pearl Harbor? At what point will you ally yourselves with each other, rather than with the wealthy whom you hope to someday join?

All you Americans who fear insurance and medical bills getting in the way of your dreams, what is your Pearl Harbor? At what point will you demand care for people over profits?

What is your Pearl Harbor?

State of the Union: late, but here are my responses

I watched the State of the Union and everyone seemed to immediately ask for my opinion. It was a little weird. I had no idea as many of my friends would be watching it as did. And for some reason they all wanted to know what I thought. Here are some of the things that came out of my mouth immediately. Then there are some things I thought longer about.

***********************************************************************

That is the man who made me postpone grad school to go to long shot Georgia and most important swing state Florida. It's been awhile since I saw him, but I saw him tonight.

I don't quit. That has been my feeling for a long time about certain things. It does not mean that I don't fail. It just means that I don't quit. It took me 7 years, off and on, to finish my undergraduate degree. Some thought I was a failure, but I didn't quit. I first went to Florida thinking I could have an impact on an election, but that campaign did not work out for me. I didn't quit though....the day after I drove back to Arkansas is when I got the call to come work for Senator Obama and that led me back to Florida and I had an impact.

After the SOTU, an ex started texting me. He is 31, total corporate guy, making big money, never cared at all for politics, but thought that it was neat that I always was involved and aware and passionate. We dated like three years ago. Anyways, he starts texting. About how he watched...evidently really for the first time....and he cried...he bawled. I only choked up a bit, but had not cried. Then he sent me this: "Thx for doing what you have for him and all of us." That's when I cried. Obama moved a self-centered, corporate consumer to tears. I couldn't get through to this guy why I cared so much about everything. I had to go to Florida and put Obama in the White House so it would finally sink in.

My oldest brother dared to edge into discussion of the speech during dinner last night. I don't think his wife wanted us to start down that road but we did. All in all it was a calm and respectful discussion. My brother thought it is was ridiculous that the President so thoroughly called out the Republicans on their obstructionism. I thought it was completely appropriate. He didn't get one House Republican vote on the stimulus bill, but plenty of them have been all over those check presenting ceremonies when they "deliver" funds and jobs in their districts. Congressional Republicans have adopted a level of obstructionism that is unprecedented. It is not hyperbole. In the Senate the Republicans have threatened to filibuster EVERYTHING the President has attempted.

My brother said everything they (the Democrats) have presented has been unworthy. Well that is certainly how the Republicans have treated it. I don't buy the "they are jamming health care reform through too fast" argument. We are generations behind our peer nations in providing a minimum level of health care to ALL Americans. FDR tried, Truman tried, Johnson tried, Clinton tried, and Obama is trying now. Oddly enough, what little Johnson achieved in the field has become one of the most cherished social programs in American history. This should not be a bipartisan issue.

My brother was impressed by one particular part of the speech. He really liked that Obama explained his small business credit effort by describing that this would be from funds that the Big Banks have returned to the government. (Note: not only have funds been returned, but the FEES paid to the government in 2009 were XXX BILLION) This kind of reasoning and communication about it really connected with my brother and he expressed that more things like this should be done. I politely added that when President Obama gets to actually talk to the American people rather than Fox News "reporting" on it, it all makes better sense. (okay, now I sound like Sarah Palin with her "take it straight to the American people" line!)

Fox News provides a decent segue to the events surrounding the SOTU. The following day the House Republicans allowed President Obama to speak to them and answer questions. Don't ask me why the party that accuses Obama of being an expert orator allowed him to get up on national television and lecture their party. Anyways, if you didn't watch the entire thing, you really should.

Now back to the SOTU. I was particularly moved by President Obama's emphasis on repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell. I especially like that he makes it an appeal to the humanity and patriotism of all Americans. I think the tide is turning in a very big way on DADT. I think it will be gone by 2012 for sure. No promises, but huge majorities of Americans support the repeal, so you would think things would start to move. An interesting thing about this polling is that when LGBT Americans are described as "gay men and lesbians" as opposed to "homosexuals" the strongly favor repeal category sees a 17% increase (thank you CBS). I guess this little change in wording might be the reason why more people support allowing women to fight in our armed forces than allowing "individuals prone to bleeding out of one of their orifices every 28 days" to do so. I think LGBT people should demand to be described in ways that are less de-humanizing than the very clinical approach of "homosexual."

History does not remember it as a revolution.....

until it has won...otherwise it is known as an insurgency, or a rebellion.

This is in response to someone saying how Obama's movement is basically a revolution in America. While I agree with the sentiment and see how vast numbers of people are stepping up in ways they haven't previously, I am cautious and picky about the terms.

So until we win, we are just a potential side note in history.

For instance, the youth voted in 2004 at rates basically not seen since 1972, and they voted for Kerry at rates that NO age demographic had done for Democrats lately. Yet we get told that Kerry didn't inspire and we don't consider it a revolution.

To those who say Kerry didn't achieve anything, I kindly say "up yours". The youth (me at age 22 then) made a huge movement towards the Democrats. We followed that up with 2006, where we again showed up for a mid-term at rates not seen in quite a while. That was not yet Obama time, remember?

Some of those new young party activists and caucus-goers this time around found their inspiration in their loathing of Bush in 2004 and their first political acts were getting behind Kerry. If Kerry had won then, it would have been called a revolution. Considering that the election practices in Ohio were as fishy as they come in America, I think the revolution has already started, but history will just have to catch on to it when we score a more visible win.

Tales from the Campaign 1

Encounter 1:
Fifty-something, white woman, supervisor of elections for a small, rural county in Georgia. I am in her office and she finally directly asks me which campaign I am on. I show her my shirt, to which she replies that she is probably going to vote for Obama. She says she doesn't like McCain and DEFINITELY won't vote for him. "But if Huckabee had won I would be voting for him. I really like Huckabee." Then when we talk VP candidates she says that if Sam Nunn would have been the candidate she definitely would have voted for him! This woman was all over in her preferences.

Encounter 2:
I am basically ran out of clean clothes, so I decide that my dad's old cowboy shirt (brown and blue) will have to do for today. I put my little button on my chest as always though. I head to lunch at a burrito place and when I am paying the mid-twenties white guy messes up my change. I mention it and he says "I was just making sure you were paying attention." The other early twenties white guy who actually made my burrito leans over to his coworker and says "Look at the button on his shirt: he IS paying attention."

Encounters 3,4,5:
I pull into a gas station to clean up the evidence of a week of eating out. It's raining, but I am covered, and its 11:00 pm. The black womanl in the booth: thought she registered a few months ago, but never got her card. Registration 1. Another black woman comes up for gas: she has moved since she registered. Registration 2. Another black woman comes up to pay for her gas: she doesn't vote, never has registered, doesn't care to do it. I tell her it's important to me because I don't want my brother to be in danger in Iraq again. Registration 3.

Obama wants to raise taxes??

I don't know if I can be more clear about the difference in the tax plans of McCain and Sen. Obama.  Every family that makes less than 112K a year would benefit more from OBAMA's plan.  Who wants to help you be able to afford health care? OBAMA.

The Democrat's just closed a huge ENRON loophole in the oil law that previously allowed companies to do WAY TOO MUCH speculation in the oil markets.  Since they closed the loophole, gas has dropped nearly 30 cents where I live.  World supply has not increased and world demand has not decreased.  Go figure.

Democrats lowered your gas prices this summer...

Sen Obama wants to lower your taxes (if you make less than 600K a year). 

See for yourself:


..

99 days, rural Georgia

I have been here for three weeks now and I feel like I have done so little to get towards the very large goals they have put before us. I had an interesting experience this week though, that made me realize that this organizing is a little different from what some people imagine it is supposed to be. When we trained how to do a good one-on-one they always said we should meet our people somewhere they are comfortable. We tended to say something like "Can you meet me for about thirty minutes for a cup of coffee so we can talk?" But in rural Georgia in the summer, a coffee shop is not a very likely thing to exist let alone to go to for this kind of activity.

Instead, I had my last one-on-one sitting in a plastic chair out on the lawn of a small house in very rural Liberty County. We sat under some shade trees in the evening and tried to not let the bugs eat us alive. We had a great talk. It was frequently interrupted by a honking car passing on the small country road that ran in front of the house. Every car that passed must have belonged to someone she knew because my volunteer waved at each one and usually recalled the name of the person driving as well. Her house was situated at what I would call a country crossroads. It had a flashing red light and a small, old church on one corner. Two houses on the other corners completed it. A few miles to a filling station in the middle of nowhere and 15 miles to town.

It's not unheard of for people to live fifteen miles from town, especially a larger city with good, high paying jobs, but this small town has very little besides a military base. At points in history where wealth was more evenly spread and transportation was accessible and affordable, this living in the country might be a very pleasant thing. If you actually farming your land that provides you work and occupation there close to home. But that isn't the case for all, dare I say most of the people living out in some of these rural places. They are there because maybe it's old family land that someone built a cheap house on in the 1950's. They may have moved there when they had a good job and when gas was cheap. All of this changes when folks get older, or lose their good job, or get sick, or have kids, or have to start watching their grandchildren. Now that gas is more expensive, those fifteen miles starts to really feel more like a million. Rising transportation costs hurt rural families a lot. Indeed, recent articles have discussed how rural people, especially in the poor South, spend a disproportionate amount of their income on just gas and transportation.

These are the folks that need a comprehensive energy plan to be implemented in this country. Sure, people should maybe live in denser settlements where they are close to what they need and where they might have access to public transportation. But that alone is not a comprehensive policy. All good solutions should be put in place, especially solutions that solve multiple problems. In particular in Georgia, advances in cellulosic ethanol would open up the possibility of utilizing the abundant timber resources to drive local energy economies.

I have met some great Americans and Georgians so far, and I am sure I will meet many more as I really get out into my area. These people are citizens, whose opinions should matter. They have the right to vote, and they deserve to be asked for their vote. I believe the politics of cynicism intentionally discourages these people from participating in the political process. I think they are disenfranchised by a lack of being involved in the political culture. And I think it hurts America.