I am freaking out!!!

     I cannot wait for the next 5 days to be over. I have so much invested in the upcoming elections. I have worked my ass off for Obama. Campaigning as much as I can, which involves being shouted at, doors being slammed on my face and angry stares from old women. The first day of canvassing, I was shivering. I come off as a very confident person but really I am a coward. I cry a lot and constantly question my intelligence, I hate confronting people. If someone hoodwinks me, I can barely stand up to them. Canvassing was going to be difficult.
     I have now spent 3 weeks canvassing for Obama and my conclusion is this. F**k those who scream at me. I don't give a rat's ass if they choose to be uncivil. I don't ever have to face them again ever in my life. All I care about is those few people we have managed to convince to vote early for Barack.
     Palin f*****g doesn't even believe in science. She is a stupid bimbo that is a disgrace to all intelligent women. Only last week, she laughed at fruit fly research (watch it here). She thinks it is a big joke. She thinks it is wasteful spending. And she said all this at a children with special needs meeting. Sarah, have you heard of the disease Autism? Do you know that fruit fly research is being done to understand and cure this disease? If you do not, you should enroll in a Genetics 101 course to enlighten your stupid self. Just because your tiny little brain cannot understand complicated subjects like evolution and genetics, you cannot call it CRAP!!! This woman is worse than Bush. Bush looks and acts stupid. This woman pretends to be intelligent when she really is as smart as a hotdog.
     I will be watching the Nov 4th elections with my friends, my fellow Obama supporters. If Barack wins, history will be made. He will be the first African American to be elected President. America will set an example for all nations to follow. Blacks can finally say to their kids, "America is a land of dreams. Anything is possible if you persevere." If however he loses, dreams will be shattered, hopes will be lost and countless tears will be shed. I can hear African Americans saying to the rest of the country, "We have stood by you in war and peace. We have lost some of our children in Vietnam and Iraq and yet there are those that question our patriotism. We have now given you the brightest mind. He is intelligent, inspiring, smart and caring. He wants to unite us, treat us equal. America, can you now stand by us and get yourself to vote for him?"

"There is not a liberal America and a conservative America - there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and latino America and asian America - there's the United States of America." -- Barack Obama

VIVA OBAMA!

After all these days of ranting and wailing, Palin made me do it. She finally made me get off my ass and go campaign for Barack Obama. Why do I care you ask, here is why.

1. I am a woman. I have enough confidence and certainly am not so insecure that I need a bimbo running for VP to make me feel intelligent. I am not going to just sit here and watch this stupid woman (Palin) go on and on about God's will in Iraq.
2. I live in America. I care. Whether or not I like it, the same laws and regulations apply to me. While I cannot vote to change them, I can campaign to influence them.
3. I love the people here. I recently traveled to Europe and everything was beautiful no doubt. I visited France, Germany, Netherlands and Italy. There were friendly people there but there were also quite a few racists. And these racists were in big cities like Frankfurt and Milan. One thing we learnt from our trip is that the Americans are the friendliest people we have met. I should exclude Amsterdam from this or Paris for that matter. People in Amsterdam and Paris
were very helpful.

The bottom line being, I now campaign for Barack Obama. I am so inspired that I and a couple of friends decided to go watch him speak in Espanola, NM. We got there at 7:30am. The gates were supposed to open only at 10:30. So we stood there under the sun, eating burritos and sharing our worries with other people. When it was finally 10:30, they let us in. I thought Obama was scheduled to speak at 11:30 but to our horror, we found ourselves standing there in the scorching heat for 3.5 hrs more to see him. People were fainting all around me, others were hungry and thirsty. I thought, "what a way to campaign in NM. People are going to be so angry by the time he shows up that he is not going to get any votes." I couldn't have been more wrong. As soon as Obama stepped onto the stage, there was so much enthusiasm in the air. People cheering, chanting "Viva Obama", "Si se puede" and there were even some war chants from native Americans. Obama was terrific. I was in the third row and I could almost see the pores in his skin. He was beautiful, intelligent, articulate and best of all, seemed like one of us. We actually felt like he was conversing with us as opposed to delivering a speech using a prompter. To put in a nutshell, I think he is going to win NM. NM will be playing a big role in this election. If Obama wins all the Kerry states + Iowa, NM and Colorado, he will clinch the presidency. He will not need Ohio and Florida anymore. I truly hope that this happens and will do everything I can to help him.

VIVA OBAMA!!!

BTW someone from dailykos the left-wing website interviewed and put up pictures of some of us. Here it is!!!

The Grand Old Party

Last week, after I got back home tired and exhausted, I decided to watch MSNBC. I must confess, MSNBC tends to suffer from a strong liberal bias at times and I would rather listen to news that is bipartisan. But considering that my only other options are CNN and FOX, I think I'd rather stick to MSNBC. Anyway, I was home watching the Democratic National Convention when I heard a knock on my door. I opened to find my rather nice but extremely conservative landlord standing there. As soon as he saw what I was watching, he commented "Oh did you know that Obama said he would take away the 'nukelar' weapons from countries like India and China if he became President". I had never heard of such a statement, and I watch a lot of TV. I retorted, "What? Do you actually believe he could do that? India did not even sign the NPT, and you think Obama can take away their weapons. Maybe you do not know about India's history, they rarely succumb to USA's threats." Then he said, "I actually have video footage in which Obama declares he is going to shut down weapons research in the US." I merely laughed. "I am a pacifist who believes in Gandhi. That being said, no President of the US will ever have the courage to do something that risky". Now he had to attack Obama's health care plan. "With Obama's plan, we have to pay 500$ more a month on health care and we already have trouble making ends meet. But McCain's plan will help us save money. He will give the people a tax break". Having just returned from Europe, I was telling him about the effective and functional health care people in Germany have and all he had to say was "But that's because America is paying for their defense. They can afford to pay for health care". But who the **** asked America to still pay for Germany's defense? Aren't they a developed country now? Doesn't America have ulterior motives in doing this? It is high time they get out and pay for their citizens. This was the last straw really. These people do not realize what they are talking about. If he thinks he is having trouble making ends meet, what about all those people who live in trailers and cannot afford health care? What about my friend who just returned from Iraq, traumatized and has virtually lost precious years of his life and is learning high-school math at the age of 30? My landlord truly symbolises the John McBush voters who think people who make less than 5 million dollars a year are middle class [sic]. And now McCain has chosen Palin as his VP candidate. You must be kidding me! This is an insult to Hillary voters and all women in general. Does he think women are so stupid not to see the ploy? These two women are diametrically opposite. While Palin is a beauty contest winner, Hillary actually strived to get bills passed and worked for women, not against them. While I respect Palin for choosing to keep her last baby even though she knew he would suffer from Down syndrome, I do not respect her views to force others to do the same. Her choice is hers, but she has no business telling others what they should or should not do with their bodies. What was McBush thinking? If something happened to him during his term, considering the fact that he is old, is this the kind of woman who will take over the most powerful country in the world? Give me a break. She doesn't even believe global warming is because of mankind [sic]. What does she think? That a bunch of beavers chewed acres of forests down? And McCain lost my respect when he said this about Hillary, Bill and Chelsea Clinton. And this is a party of 'FAMILY VALUES'. I am getting more and more nervous as each day passes by.

Obama or Clinton?

This question seems obsolete now since Obama did win the primaries. But are they really that different? I am not so sure. The only real difference I see between them is that Obama voted against the Iraq war. Now, this also seems to be a point of contention as Bill Clinton said "You said in 2004 there was no difference between you and George Bush on the war, and you took that speech you're now running on off your Web site in 2004. There's no difference in your voting record and Hillary's ever since. Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen,". Obama is slowly losing my admiration as he turns into the person he once criticized. I admired him for bringing in most of his campaign money from small donors and not from Washington lobbyists or hedge funds. But now, apparently Clinton is "introducing" him to her top donors. He fell a notch right there. Being African American, I though he would be able to bring people of different races together. But after reading this NY Times article, I not only feel angry but sad. Sad for those muslims who had reached out to him and seen hope, only to be rebuffed. Some people say they like him because he is different from Clinton on issues that matter most. What issues? If it is war mongering, then sorry to say, I am not so sure Obama will not take us to war again. He did say that he would leave all options on the table when it comes to Iran. Finally, his speech at AIPAC drove me mad. I understand that he needs Jewish votes, but this strong partisan support for Israel made my blood boil. Any time I see a government offering unstinted support to a country, something is awfully wrong. Support should be offered based on the issue at hand, not because you have been allies forever or because you will lose some religious votes. The last thing America needs is to go to war with a country like Palestine in order to support Israel. Are we really going to see change? The democrats control the congress, if indeed they were interested in changing something, it should have happened a year ago. But has anything changed since they took over congress last year? No. Is anything going to change if they win the election this year? Maybe, maybe not. But one thing is for sure, my hope is dwindling and dwindling fast. I miss Kucinich.

GRAVEL AT DARTMOUTH DEBATE: "WE'RE STARTING A WAR RIGHT NOW"

Senator Mike Gravel, appearing in the Democratic presidential debate on Sept. 27 in Hanover, N.H., wasted no time laying out his plan to force an end to the Iraq War.

When asked by moderator Tim Russert how Senator Gravel would overcome the deadlock on passing legislation to end the war, he responded: "You stop the debate [over ending the war] by voting every single day on cloture. Twenty days, and you'll overcome cloture. The president vetoes the law. It comes back to the Congress. And in the House at noon every single day you vote to override the president's veto. You tell me that the votes aren't there-you go get them by the scruff of the neck, that's what you do. You make them vote."

Questioned by Russert if he was suggesting that the candidates suspend their campaigns to end the war, Senator Gravel responded: "If it stops the killing-my God, yes-do it."

The Senator then turned his attention to a vote that New York Senator Hillary Clinton had cast earlier in the day on a nonbinding resolution, known as the Kyl-Lieberman amendment, which sanctions a U.S. attack on Iran.

"We're just starting a war right today," said Senator Gravel. "There was a vote in the Senate today. Joe Lieberman, who authored the Iraq resolution, has offered another resolution, and it is essentially a fig leaf to let George Bush go to war with Iran. I want to congratulate Biden for voting against it, Dodd for voting against it. And I am ashamed of you, Hillary, for voting for it."

The topic turned to immigration and whether the candidates would allow safe havens or "sanctuary cities" for undocumented aliens.

"We're scapegoating the Latinos of our society because we as a society are failing in education, we're failing in healthcare, we're failing in our crumbling infrastructure, and we're failing by invading countries and spending our treasure," said Senator Gravel. "That's what's wrong. And so I'm ashamed as an American to be building a fence on our southern border. That's not the America that I fought for."

Gravel was the only candidate to respond affirmatively to Russert's question concerning lowering the drinking age to 18.

"I think we should lower it so anybody that could go fight and die for this country should be able to drink," answered Senator Gravel.

Later, Senator Gravel pushed his plan for a carbon tax to wean America off its addiction to oil.

"We can get off the gasoline in five years, and we can get off of carbon in 10 years. All we have to do is want to do it," said Senator Gravel. "[If] we put a tax on gasoline, [this] permits politicians and bureaucrats to play favorites. You do it right at the lump of coal, and you do it at the gas, and you do it at the oil, and then that filters through the system properly."

When asked if he supported nuclear power, Senator Gravel responded emphatically: "Not at all. The solution, obviously, is wind power. If we manufactured 5 million of these 2.5 meg windmills across the country, we could electrify the entire nation-the entire nation."

Russert closed the debate by questioning the candidates on their favorite Bible verse. The Senator responded: "The most important thing in life is love. That's what empowers courage, and courage implements the rest of our virtues."

Source: www.gravel2008.us

KUCINICH FOR PRESIDENT!!!!

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I don't recall...... :)

Attorney General, firing of US attorneys, God! This is the only discussion that takes place on C-SPAN these days. People asking the AG over and over again what the specific reason for firing the attorneys were and him confessing "I do not recall the exact reason sir, but I accept full responsibility for my actions". Please give the guy a break. For heaven's sake, he has no clue as to what happened, why it happened or even whose decision it was. Even if he does, it doesn't look like he is going to disclose the reasons. Just leave the poor guy alone. He is a republican appointee, you can't blame him for being ignorant! It is really amusing to hear the Republicans and the Democrats speak on this issue. While the democrats take the accusative route, accusing him and drilling him with questions on the firings, the Republicans keep thanking him profusely for the GREAT job he's done. Wow, what a comedy show. For all those as ignorant as I am on what exactly an Attorney General does, here is what Wikipedia says, "In most common law jurisdictions, the Attorney General or Attorney-General is the main legal adviser to the government, and in some jurisdictions may in addition have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions". More on the AG here. The good thing about this situation is that, there are still channels like C-SPAN that deem such issues important, as compared to some TV channels that ceaselessly debate the paternity of Anna Nicole Smith's baby while never even attempting to discuss the genocide at Darfur.

An obsession

OK, I vow not to bore some of my friends with my political beliefs. I was totally unaware of how much politics I have been discussing off-late until yesterday when one of my very good friends walked into my office to take a break from work. She walked in all enthusiastic to talk to me and there I had to go again about my favorite candidates. Within 5 minutes she said, "OK, I better get back to work". I had certainly bored her with my monologue. Before leaving she said, "But you don't even VOTE!!" I replied, "Yeah, sure can't for now but I at least have the power to influence people!!" I must say, my addiction to politics happens right before election time and some of my friends think I get too emotionally attached to the democratic party. For example, after the last elections, I was crying bitterly much to the astonishment of my roommates. OK, there goes my vow again, Les, Ray and everyone else, I'm sorry!!!

True liberals

I watched the democratic debate last week. I mostly watched to hear what the front-runners had to say, but to my utter disbelief was let down by my favorite candidate when he claimed that lethal force needs to be used on countries that violate the NPT. I was also pleasantly surprised by two men who made so much more sense and proved that they are true liberals. Congressman Dennis Kucinich and Senator Mike Gravel. Kucinich is my man, anti-war, pro-choice, he won the Mahatma Gandhi peace prize, is VEGAN and it just gets better, he thinks of drugs as a medical issue and not a criminal issue and seems like he is for making pot LEGAL!! My God, finally someone who thinks that if smoking can be justified (by doing which you are actually forcing tobacco smoke down other peoples throats), then what's the logic in preventing drugs!!! He represents the true liberals, is a man of conscience. I have begun to respect him and pray to God that he wins the primaries. Senator Mike Gravel is a lot like Kucinich in his views and thoughts but seemed to be annoyed with everyone and everything happening around him. I don't blame him, I feel that way too. Sometimes, by being too vocal, I think I get offensive. My intolerance for conservatives seems to be turning me into the person I so don't want to be; a preacher. Mike Gravel is anti-war, is pro-choice and I love the things he said during the debate. I only wish the media would give him more air-time. Like he himself mentioned, he did look like a potted plant standing in the corner and was probably asked like 5 questions on the whole. I really want to get to know him and wish him all the best for the primaries. If you wish to hear the debate, visit http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ .