Acorn!!!
I just watched this video/read this blog post on Acorn, and it’s awesome. PLEASE help educate people and spread the word!http://beyond-school.org/2008/10/23/educating-about-acorn/
What Republicans are calling voter fraud is a massive voter registration drive among poor, minorities, students, and other eligible voters the GOP would just as soon have NOT vote. VERY good video.
Yes – Acorn is not a “threat to democracy” as McCain stated, but rather the very basis of democracy, that every citizen has the right, the opportunity, and the duty to vote.
Prop 8/Equal Rights to Marry
For those of you in California, Proposition 8 is the one aiming to take away the equal right to marry for gay couples. No matter how you feel about homosexuality, when you look at it as a civil rights issue, the decision is easy. I think those supporting it are on the wrong side of history, just as those opposing equal rights for “coloreds” and women and others seeking to discriminate under whatever guise in the past. I never understood how anyone else’s marriage would threaten yours, anyone else’s religious beliefs would threaten yours, anyone else’s choice of partners would threaten yours... I strongly believe in equality, and as Brown vs. the Board of Education taught us over 50 years ago, separate is NOT equal. (hehe – I can name more Supreme Court cases than Sarah Palin!)I happen to have numerous gay friends who are all wonderful people (of course – they’re MY friends, aren’t they? :), but even if you don’t, don’t fall victim to the homophobic propaganda that the pro-proposition 8 crowd has been putting out there – churches will NOT lose their tax-exempt status if they refuse to perform same-sex marriages. “Gay education” will not be required. Read on...
Here are some moving, convincing, and humorous arguments in support of the equal right to marry – and if you support equal rights, vote NO on proposition 8!
If you haven’t seen this, the Republican Mayor of San Diego made this very moving speech in support of gay marriage over a year ago – it’s very worth watching, and he makes an eloquent civil rights argument. It’s hard to watch without choking up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAOkwjQdm6Q
"The concept of a 'separate but equal' institution is not something I can support."This is a courageous, honorable man, and he’s a Republican! I wish there were a LOT more like him.
"In the end, I could not look any of them in the face and tell them that their relationships -- their very lives -- were any less meaningful than the marriage that I share with my wife, Rana."
Equality California and noonprop8.com for some antidote to the spin that’s out there:
http://www.eqca.org/
California Teachers oppose prop 8, and despite what the supporters of prop 8 say, teachers (and many others) say it will not change what is taught in schools:
http://www.noonprop8.com/
Here are more facts vs. fiction (and fear-mongering) about prop 8:
http://www.noonprop8.com/about/fact-vs-fiction
And a little humor:
Roy Zimmerman, one of my favorite comedian/songwriters (he’s a latter day Tom Lehrer! http://www.youtube.com/user/RoyZimmerman or http://www.royzimmerman.com/) has this wonderful song, Defenders of Marriage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bja2ttzGOFM
(we must protect marriage... From people who want to... GET MARRIED!!)
Anti-Americanism
You all probably know about this, too – it seems foolish for McPalin to attack Obama for serving on two educational boards with former Weather Underground/current college professor/education reformer Bill Ayers, when Palin was “pallin’ around with true anti-Americans, the Alaskan Secessionist party, and McCain was pallin’ around with the likes of G. Gordon Liddy!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eniG9l_7its
The idea that you would restrict your associations to only those who think like you is the antithesis of real thinking, but supporting a group that wants your state to secede from the union by speaking to their convention while you are governor of that state seems.. A bit... Off.
Letterman and McCain – G. Gordon Liddy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpGdL1K46Hc
Socialism
The other Anti-American charge being made against Obama is that he’s “experimenting with socialism.”http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008294130_webcampsocialism21.html
And besides, I wondered to myself, with capitalism taking a nose dive with the stock market, maybe now IS a good time to experiment with socialism! Ha. I think the world is a smaller place, and socialism isn’t seen as the evil it once was, back in the 50’s and 60’s, so I don’t think this campaign tactic will have much effect. That and the fact that, as the article above states, it’s NOT socialism, it’s just typical progressive taxation. Duh.
What the Attack Ads really show – in John McCain’s own words:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsX2Gx9jl_oYep. No vision.
Real America
Daily Show in Real America: Wasilla – I can’t send one of these out without something from the Daily Show!! This is awesome:http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=188638&title=understanding-real-america-in
Two Americas vs Real America (ie, “pro-America parts of America”) - good article:
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/21/real-america-two-americas/
The good news is that these divisive tactics are NOT working – in fact they are backfiring! You’ve all probably heard Michelle Bachman on Hardball saying not only that she thought Obama was anti-American, but that there should be an inquiry into the anti-Americanism in the liberal democrats in the Senate – omg. Can you say, “McCarthyism”? Her opponent, who no one had heard of much before, suddenly got huge amounts of donations in the next few days after that, and her re-election is now in danger.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/17/gop-rep-channels-mccarthy_n_135735.html
These things give me faith in my fellow Americans – finally! And here’s one more:
Religious Discrimination and standing up for freedom (Republicans!)
It was very heartening to see McCain supporters in Virginia (or West Virginia?) chase off the anti-Muslim propagandists outside a McCain campaign event. There were Muslims and Christians alike challenging the guy. It was great. And the guy from McCain’s campaign was very clear in his statements about it – sadly, more clear than what is coming from the top of their ticket, but at least it shows that there is hope for Republicans!Video of anti-Muslim propagandist being confronted by McCain supporters at a rally:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1463341016?bctid=1866657225
(sadly, when I searched for this video, which I saw on TV, I found more links from extreme right wing groups than links to this video – but it’s still heartening to see the video)
I was also pleased to hear what Colin Powell said about how people aren’t asking the next question after “Is Obama a Muslim” (which, of course, he isn’t, but it shouldn’t matter!). Devin and I have Muslim friends – we went to their wedding earlier this year. They are good people, no more extremists than most Baptists are abortion clinic bombers. Extremism, fundamentalism, and hate can occur in any religion, even – gasp – Buddhism. Equating one religion with its extremes does freedom no good.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27265369/
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2008/10/powell_rejects_islamophobia.html
And of course you must know Powell isn’t the only prominent conservative jumping ship for Obama:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/politics/2008/10/christopher_buckley_leaves_nat.html
http://www.barack-obama-now.com/blog/?p=274
Women’s Issues and Palin
The best candidate FOR women isn’t necessarily the one that has the ovaries. Just sayin’. I already sent the Gloria Steinem Op-Ed from the LA Times a while back – this is nothing new. Here’s Palin trying to make the case she is better for women:http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/21/1577943.aspx
Some of you already got this from Shaun earlier – NOW (National Organization for Women) supports Obama:
http://www.nowpacs.org/2008/obama/
And when I got that email, I happened to be watching this video, appropriately:
“Please Sarah”
http://perezhilton.com/tv/index.php?ptvid=2b951320ddf71
And a little Palin humor – I’m pretty sure you’ve all seen this one, as several of you have sent it to me as well, but it’s fun to play with:
http://www.palinaspresident.us/
More Humor
I hope you ALL saw McCain and Obama at the 63rd Annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, but in case you missed it, it was wonderful, refreshing, funny, and still respectful – I laughed so hard – McCain was actually hysterical! I thought, oh no, Obama can’t compete with the stand up routine! But he did good, too. Laughter is healing – enjoy:UPDATE:
I heard that some of these were taken down (network stuff often gets taken down from YouTube, depending on the network) so I found some others that are still up. Here they are:
John McCain Part I
John McCain Part II
Barack Obama Part I
Barack Obama Part II
(there may be better versions available as well - if any of these don't work for you or have been taken down, just do a YouTube search for "Alfred E. Smith McCain Obama" and I'm sure you'll find several)
Enjoy!
Great PSA on “Talking to your Parents about McCain”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxvHkFLmqRk
And here are a few pithy quotes from Rednecks for Obama!!
http://www.rednecks4obama.com/page3.phpAnd last, but not least, I leave you with the wonderful David Sedaris – who ARE these undecided voters?
"I don't care about his beer, I care about his intelligence."
"We've had many democratic presidents, and we will still have our guns."
"He is brilliant. And he's not an elitist, though he has the education to be."
-Tony Viessman, Co-Founder - Rednecks for Obama
"We need to build the economy from the bottom up, none of this trickle down business. Just because you're white and southern don't mean you have to vote Republican."
- Les Spencer, Co-Founder - Rednecks for Obama
"People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power."
- President William Jefferson Clinton (08/27/08)
"How many times do you have to get hit over the head before you figure out who's hitting you?"
- Harry S. Truman (talking to farmers about why they shouldn't vote Republican anymore) sent to us by Jonny in California
"A poor man voting for a Republican is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders."
- Sent to us by Adam, in North Carolina
"There's a line from a Stephen King book: 'Country don't mean dumb.' You'd have to be dumb not to see that Obama is the right choice. I'm proud to be a Redneck for Obama."
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2008/10/27/081027sh_shouts_sedaris?currentPage=all
