Context Matters or For Those Who Base Opinions on More than Just Soundbites

Please take a moment to watch expanded version of Wright's sermon.

If you have more than a few minutes, other sermons are expanded here.

'Cause Someone Reminded Me to Remember Laughter

Peeps Show II

Petitions and Such

This blog was originally started as a clearing house for petitions and other information as found in my inbox. Thought I might get down to original business and post some of that.

• Support the Foreclosure Prevention Act

• Reject Anti-Choice Judge Honaker

• Attend the free movie and support separation of Church and State

• Sign the Petition to Protect Separation of Church and State

• Resources for lower income people regarding the economic stimulus refunds.

• NOW Petitions

• Vote on who Progressive Patriots Fund should throw their support to.

• Going to Memphis in April, check out the Green Dream Reborn Conference.

• Tell China not to walk away from Darfur.

• Still trying to save the Internet.

• 5 Years Too Many

• Iraq Moratorium dot org

• Amnesty USA is in need of funds.

• The Nation needs donations

I'm A Typical White Person

You know it's bad when Chris Wallace defends Obama.

The great irony of this new raging debate is that everyone is focusing on the distraction, just as Obama spoke of in his speech.

We can focus on the distractions in the race debates or we can focus on the real issues.

Guess what?! As a typical white person, I too am afraid when a black man passes me by on the street. I am ashamed of this. I do not like this about myself. But when I am alone and I am walking down the street I am more afraid of a black man approaching than a white man. I will instinctively hold on tighter to my bag when it is a black man than a white man.

This is what the discussion needs to be about, not whether or not the word "typical" was used.

We have in our country an almost inbred, instinctive, fear of the "other". It is rare that we have real opportunities to come together as one people and not be divided by our races, genders, religions or politics...even among the so-called Progressives, we are deeply divided between Obama and Hillary.

So, let's get over it already. Can we please stop perusing every transcript for false evidence of supposed racism or sexism and get down to the business of getting together and taking to task the real problems that face us?

This is just one more typical white person attempting to remind us all to quit being so fucking hyper-sensitive about the distractions and get on with the realities.

What She Said

This is exactly how I feel.

I remember, like it was yesterday, that cold Wednesday morning in November of 2004. I remember watching Kerry concede and crying uncontrollably. There were no longer specific atrocities that I feared, in losing that election (or having it again stolen from us,) it was just this overwhelming feeling of sadness that our Country might not survive another four years of Republican rule.

I had never been involved in electoral politics and other than some cause specific organizations or fights for specific policies that I believed in, I had never really paid much attention to what elections, or Party, meant to me. I knew that I was a Democrat and had always been one, but my eyes had yet to be opened to what was really at stake.

When Katrina hit New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, all of that changed and it changed in big ways. It was then that the specific atrocities that I could not name that November morning came into full view and played out before me in vivid color on my TV screen.

I began to pay attention and began to read as much as I could. CSPAN played 24/7 in the background of my existence. I found the liberal blogs, the “reality based community,” and felt right at home.

I believe(d) that this new medium was my chance to experience the momentum of the sixties and really fight for the kind of change that I believed in. I thought that this medium and all of the organizations that were at my fingertips could gather together and fight to take back our country from the people and the policies that I found so dangerous.

2006 brought this vision into a reality and I could not wait for 2008. The expectations that I had of some liberal utopia where we actually worked together to take back this country, both houses of congress and the presidency were grand.

I was originally an Edwards supporter. I believe in his populace message and I felt that he would be our best bet to win in November. When he left the race I made my decision to support Obama. Funny that one of the things that I like most about him is that he envisions a country that rises above our old divisions and that the power of the presidency comes from the bottom up, it is a people oriented campaign and a people oriented way to govern.

Now, the division in our Party, the division between the Clinton and Obama supporters, threatens to bring our Party and our country down.

I don’t believe that it is too late – but I am deeply disappointed in the way that this has played out. I never thought that I would see the left in this country so petty, and so whiny, and so devoted to their particular candidate that they are willing to lose the General Election just to get their candidate to win the primary.

We need each other. We need to come together and focus on what is truly important. I hope that we can stop this division and come together. There is too much to fight for, too much that requires our energy and our unity.

A Unified Democratic Party is necessary. I hope that we can all wake up to this truth, before it is too late.

The Prism that Matters

I have treaded back into the blog world as of late and have posted a few arguments here and there.

Unfortunately, the blogs of the left are very unpleasant right now and the one thing that this has done for me is to introduce me to a feeling of incredible sadness about my Party and the short-sightedness that ensues.

I have started several posts for the Action Spot about how shameful the Dems are acting and that the vitriol between the Obama and Hillary camps will do nothing but hurt our Party come November. Looking at it in this way, however, has done nothing for me but lead to more depression and despair about the state of our Union and the possibility that we are going to fuck it all up and lose come the general election.

I don’t want to do that anymore.

The bottom line is this, I believe that every person in the “Progressive” blogosphere needs to look through this prism before they post anything on the Internets:

Will this drivel that I am about to post help or hurt the Democratic Party come November?

If we each would take one moment to consider this before clicking “post” I believe that we will have a landslide come November. After all, is this not really our goal?

There are a lot of truths out there and we are going to see the truth based on what we want to believe and what we already believe. We are going to see the candidate that we favor as more infallible than the other. Because emotions are so high right now, it is really difficult to be objective and see the true truths through the ones that we feel benefit our guy/gal. Get over it already.

This primary is not going to be settled by primary voters. Period. Neither candidate can make it to 2025 before the convention. The super-delegates are going to decide this. There is no more convincing that need be done to the general populace. From here on out, any “convincing” is just opposition research for the Republican Party. I, for one, do not think that intelligent Democratic bloggers should be wasting our time doing this.

In addition, I seriously doubt that there are many people anguishing over the decision of who to vote for in the primary who are reading the [partisan] blogs in order to help guide their decisions. There are too few primaries left and most of the people who read the blogs are already politically active and have probably signed up to volunteer for one or another Dem candidate.

I am asking everyone on the blogs – front pagers and thread posters alike – to quit fighting each other, singing to the choir, attempting to convince the unmoving and lets get on with winning in November. How about all of you intelligent and committed people on the left spend your research and writing time bringing more people into the Party and taking down the Republicans on the ballot in the fall.

There will be plenty of time to defend our candidates against attacks once the real battle starts. Let's not offer up more charges to defend against. If anyone can argue that McBush would be a better President than either of our Nominees then I doubt that this person is really a Democrat. Some of the posts that I have read are so inflammatory, and so completely outrageous in their charges, that they are, by default, arguing this - one of these candidates will be running against McBush.

...it is time to start acting like Democrats and take down the Republicans, regardless of who we support in the primary.