Expense forces longshot Vilsack out of presidential race - Los Angeles Times

Expense forces longshot Vilsack out of presidential race - Los Angeles Times

Vilsack is out. I actually heard him speak in a radio interview shortly after he announced that he was running and he did have some really good, sound strategies and plans. He had strong ideas concerning the environment, renewable resources, and plans to get us out of Iraq. When I heard them I thought, wow, I like how that guy thinks! He had solid ideas.

But, ironically, so do almost *all* of the democratic candidates running for the '08 presidential slot. Honestly, on paper (or over radio waves as the case may be) all of the candidates sound GREAT. Many are touting the same basic principles - let's get out of Iraq, let's fix our healthcare system, let's improve education and fix the mess that is "No Child Left Behind", and let's end the corruption in Washington. I think the differences we need to look at aren't so much about - what do the candidates stand for. But more of - who can really get us from point A to point B and actually make the changes?

Vilsack's leaving the race due to financial concerns is good in that it opens up Iowa for another candidate. Is it a bad thing that politics comes down to who has the "star" power to raise the big bucks needed to play the game. In a way, yes. I'd love to see campaign reform take big business and corporations completely out of the process. I'd love to see all campaigns about the people. But we have a long way to go until then.

The way that I feel star-power isn't a bad thing is in the whole idea of energy. I feel that if more people were actually involved in the political process that we'd be a lot better off than we are now. If people felt passionate enough to take part in more than just voting for president every 4 years (or not voting at all) then we'd really see amazing things happen in government. So what does star power have to do with it? I think the time is right for a candidate who can really move the poeple into action. I can totally see people getting behind a Hillary Clinton or a Barack Obama and really wanting to shake things up. In fact, I'm already seeing it. Whether in the Hillary camp or the Obama camp I am hearing and seeing a lot of really motivated, excited people who want to get out and just DO something. Everyone on the Obama or Clinton website is aching to make a difference and they all want to jump in get their hands dirty helping promote their candidate. It's amazing really.

This is the first time I've felt a fire under my behind to plunge in and really get involved in a presidential election. So to me, if someone like Hillary or Barack has the star power, the charisma, the energy (that special difference), to pull in poeple that have otherwise felt disenfranchised or just plain disinterested before, then I say it's a good thing. A very, very GOOD thing.

Senator Obama's campaign has a huge and growing grassroots connection of people like you and me taking fundraising into their own hands in really unique ways. I'd love to see this as the norm in political campaigns and not the "unique" thing. It might not be the difnitive answer, but it's a start.

happy Monday...

Genocide - what can be done?

Today Chad and I attended an amazing guest speaker event at JUC. It was Eugenie Mukeshimana - a Rwanda native and a survivor of the 1994 genocide there.

(See some of her story here) Since leaving Rwanda and coming to the US, Eugenie was one of the panelists at the 59th annual United Nations Conference on Human Security and Sustainable Development, and she often speaks at Holocaust observances.

I knew the topic of genocide was going to be powerful and emotional, but when you sit there and listen it all in full detail, all you can think is -- Oh. My. God. It is utterly amazing that people can live through such events.

It makes you feel bad for complaining (as I had minutes before) that the room we were sitting in was beginning to get stuffy and hot and wishing someone would crack open a window. Then to hear Ms. Mukeshimana detail how she hid under a childs bed for three weeks straight when 8 months pregnant - not moving for fear of being found and only being able to get out for 5 or 10 minutes a day to go to the bathroom or eat. Being afraid to sleep because she didn't want to sneeze and alert the rooms occupants that she was there. And that was just one of a whole amazing amount of horrible things this woman had to endure. Hers is an amazing story. But what is even more amazing is that genocide is still happening in places like Darfur today, yet what is being done to stop it?

Did you know that 2.5 million people have been driven from their homes in Darfur, Sudan? Each day, they face threats that are hard for us to even imagine including rape, disease, and starvation.

There are ways that we can help in taking the first step to stopping the violence. We need to make stories like Darfur and Rwanda, and stories like Eugenie's, part of the past and not part of our future.

Click here to sign the Save Darfur Coalition's petition urging President Bush and UN Secretary-General Ban to take immediate steps to stop the killing.

Together, we can make a difference in the lives of millions of people in the region who desperately need outside help.

The Save Darfur Coalition is urging the international community to prevent further killings, displacement, and rape by deploying the UN peacekeeping force that has already been authorized, strengthen the understaffed African Union force that is already in Darfur, establish a no-fly zone, increase humanitarian aid, and ensure access for delivery of food, medication and other essential supplies.

You can make a difference. Click here now to get involved.

Then please forward this message to your friends and family and ask them to join you.

If you'd like to make a donation to support the campaign, you can do so by clicking on the Save Darfur link to the right of my blog.

Think peace, and pass this information on!

BarackObama.com | Tammy Smith's Blog

BarackObama.com | Tammy Smith's Blog

Wow. Blogging about my own blog.

A blog within a blog within a blog....

Weird? Or just redundant? I dunno, but I wanted to post here on my "anything goes" blog to say that I'm chronicling my work on the Obama in '08 campaign at the actual My.BarackObama.com blog site (link above). Please feel free to stop by and check out all the cool things that site has to offer. Don't know much about Senator Obama? You will find a whole lot of information there, as well as other people and groups to connect with and get involved in (if that is your inclination).

Why is the Obama campaign so exciting, you want to know? Why all the buzz over one junior senator? Watch this...



There is something unique, something amazing and inspiring to make this 30-something mom to sit up and take an interest in politics. Barack Obama is a big part of my renewed hope and interest in being a part of the process. He makes you beleive which is remarkable because I can't tell you the devastation and disillusionment I felt after the last two elections. I felt that believing in the political process was something that would not be possible again for a long, long time. Then Barack Obama happened. It's wondeful, it's contagious, and it's a spark, and a hope, and a belief in a better future. It's something I hope we never lose.

Have a good weekend!

TS

Stop Him Before He Gets More Experience

Stop Him Before He Gets More Experience

This is an awesome article. I read it again for the second time while sitting in my programming class this morning waiting for the professor to show up (is it the snow or have we really frightened her away?)...

The issue being discussed is the amount of time that Sen. Obama has had in Washington. In my mind this is such a NON-issue. Really! Did seasoning in Washington help the current President become a better leader? Did it help him to better understand the process (of the people, by the people, and for the people). Did it make him and his administration better able to run things?

H**L no, it didn't!

Fact is, that no administration has left behind the American people more blatantly than this one. No leader has been so out of touch with what is really going on in the minds of the people they are supposedly working *for* that it would be almost ridiculous if it weren't so devastatingly lethal.

But I digress... The fact that Obama has not become a robot of the political machine is truly one of the most refreshing aspects about his campaign and what he represents. The people really do matter to him. He listens. He understands. And he wants to change politics. He's had plenty of experience doing that.

Pay no attention to anyone who claims that Barack's lack of experience on the hill will lead him to make bad decisions. We've been living with "The Decider" for nearly 8 years now, and if you ask me we could do with a lot less of that kind of "experience"!

A LOT less.

GOOOOO'Bama meet-n-greet

BarackObama.com | Event | GOOOOO'Bama meet-n-greet

Here is info on a Barack Obama event in our neighborhood. A great way to meet and get to know other Obama supporters in the area! Please note - You MUST RSVP for this event if you want to attend. Please use the contact phone number listed below to call Andrew (the organizer) if you wish to attend. It sounds like people are signing up quickly. And, no, Sen. Obama is not going to be at this event. This is for Obama supporters to get to meet each other.

GOOOOO'Bama meet-n-greet (Meeting)
It's official, he's IN! ... so let's board the 'Bama Bus!

Let's get to know our new supporters, questioners, and I'd-like-to-come-to-figure-that-out-ers. (Invite a friend or two who haven't yet got on the website!)

Come for light discussion on:
- Barack's biography and policy highlights.
- local Denver community perspectives on Barack

*there's not going to be many snacks n' such, so bring what you need to drink or munch on :) This is a child friendly environment.

Time: Sunday, March 4 at 1:00 PM
Duration: 3 hours
Host: Andrew Nicholas
Contact Phone: 303.862.2009
Location:
First Unitarian Church (Denver, CO)
1401 Lafayette Street
Denver, CO 80218
View Map:

* Google Maps
* MapQuest
* Yahoo! Maps

Associated Groups: Coloradans for Obama, Colorado for Obama, Denver4Obama
Directions: [see google map or call me]


Associated Groups: Coloradans for Obama, Colorado for Obama

YouTube - "The Simpsons" promo using the "24" theme

YouTube - "The Simpsons" promo using the "24" theme



Ok, I have to admit I love the tv show 24. It seems a bit improbable because I'm not much of an action film fan. But I love the way the show is put together. I think Kiefer Sutherland is wonderful in his portrayal of Jack Bauer. And yes, I agree that the show is at fault for stereotyping muslims as terrorists. They could do a bit more to balance the scales of "good guys" vs. "bad guys". But in the shows defense, they do promote good muslim characters too (it just seems that the bad ones always stand out more).

Anyway (moving off topic here). I found this commercial clip for The Simpsons (which I also love!) and hadn't seen before using the 24 show format. Very funny - especially if you have a fondness for both of these shows!

Obama '08

Obama Presidential Announcement

I say HOORAY!!! Finally! I've been waiting for this. Most people who know me know that I am an avid Obama supporter and have hoped that he would run for President. To see video of his official announcement from this morning click on the link above. He has a wonderful website created around you - the supporter/voter. It is amazing and impressive from a user standpoint. Please go check it out. See why Obama offers hope and promise for our country's future.

OBAMA IN '08!

Yeah! :)

By the way, here's a clip of Obama speaking at the DNC Winter Meeting - listen to what he says about political races and the outlook for the next 18-24 months.

Wholenote Music Academy - Home

Wholenote Music Academy - Home

Yet another AWESOME neighbor of mine. Sarah Billerbeck teaches music through her Whole Note Music Academy. It is truly a wonderful program for the little darlings in your life. Please go check out her site and if you are in the Denver/Lakewood area do yourself a favor and sign up for one (or more) of her classes.

She is very talented, a wonderful person, you and your children will LOVE her! I will put a permanent link to her site up on my site during it's next overhaul. For now, use this link here (at the top of the page) and read all about The Whole Note Music Academy!

Flexible Fuel Vehicles

Flexible Fuel Vehicles

Is your car a Flexible Fuel Vehicle? You may own one and not even know it. Use this site to see if your car is on the list and start fillig up with E85 today!!!

:-( Sadly neither our Subaru or our Toyota is on the list. Someday I'll have my "dream Prius" or a groovy electric car! But for now, I'll just try to drive less and keep saving up my money.

cheers!

My New Favorite Song of the Week!!!

I just downloaded the New Norah Jones album, Not Too Late, from iTunes last night and I LOOOOVE this song! It's beautiful (because how can a song sung by NJ not sound beautiful???) and it's full of little oddities that make you remember how you felt on and after election day for the past two presidential runs...

I love it! :)


My Dear Country
by Norah Jones

'Twas Halloween and the ghosts were out,
And everywhere they'd go, they shout,
And though I covered my eyes I knew,
They'd go away.

But fear's the only thing I saw,
And three days later 'twas clear to all,
That nothing is as scary as election day.

But the day after is darker,
And darker and darker it goes,
Who knows, maybe the plans will change,
Who knows, maybe he's not deranged.

The news men know what they know, but they,
Know even less than what they say,
And I don't know who I can trust,
For they come what may.

'cause we believed in our candidate,
But even more it's the one we hate,
I needed someone I could shake,
On election day.

But the day after is darker,
And deeper and deeper we go,
Who knows, maybe it's all a dream,
Who knows if I'll wake up and scream.

I love the things that you've given me,
I cherish you my dear country,
But sometimes I don't understand,
The way we play.

I love the things that you've given me,
And most of all that I am free,
To have a song that I can sing,
On election day