Palin Quits for Alaska's Sake?

Wow. If she can help more by not governing, will everyone please remember that if she makes a grab for POTUS in 2012?
Her long, rambling and inconsistent resignation speech
showcases her folksy mumbo-jumbo politco-speak. Rah rah, just keep repeating it long enough and your audience absorbs your talking points.
I watched a video of her speech, and could not detect any reason why she chose to quit before completing her first term as governor, nor any explanation why this is best for Alaska. Yet she said:

"...besides faith and family, nothing's more important to me than our beloved Alaska. Serving her people is the greatest honor I could imagine...
And there is such a need to build up and fight for our state and our country.
I choose to fight for it!
But I won’t do it from the Governor’s desk.

I've never believed that I, nor anyone else, needs a title to do this - to make a difference... to help people. So I choose, for my State and my family, more "freedom" to progress, all the way around... so that Alaska may progress... I will not seek re-election as Governor.

I have given my reasons candidly and truthfully"

"candidly and truthfully?" yeah right!
After reading the entire speech, I think the reason is her concern that her legal battles are costing the Alaskan taxpayers ( and her family) too much money. This part of her incredibly long and rambling speech had been left out of the video:

Every one – all 15 of the ethics complaints have been dismissed. We’ve won! But it hasn't been cheap - the State has wasted thousands of hours of your time and shelled out some two million of your dollars to respond...
Todd and I are looking at more than half a million dollars in legal bills in order to set the record straight...
It’s pretty insane – my staff and I spend most of our day dealing with this instead of progressing our state now...
I choose to work very hard on a path for fruitfulness and productivity. I choose not to tear down and waste precious time; but to build up this state and our country, and her industrious, generous, patriotic, free people!
I'll work for and campaign for those proud to be American, and those who are inspired by our ideals and won't deride them...

as Governor, I love my job and I love Alaska. It hurts to make this choice but I am doing what’s best for Alaska.

I think she is sincere.. a delusional pathological manipulator, but she believes her own hype. That was the problem with W. These people are dangerous, when backed by ignorant masses.
There are so many bible conservatives who adore her... I hope enough people will recognize her lack of judgement to keep her out of any future political office!
P.S.
More ethical scandals brewing. This Kos blogger says David Shuster of MSNBC may break news of criminal charges soon. See video in his post:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/7/4/45050/74116

Health Care Reform

President Obama encouraged us to make a YouTube video with questions for him, so here goes!

I had given up blogging last year, since I was so busy... in part volunteering with the Democrats during Obama's campaign. Now that he is in office, I feel the need to rally all of Congress to support him. As he said, the goal wasn't just to get elected. It is for the real change we can make in this country together. I really want to see affordable health care for all people in this land. we need to fight against the power of greed and self interest. If a huge number of citizens speak up, I think we can do it!
The environmental legislation is even more important. If the biosphere of the planet collapses, no health care can save us!

Have you heard anything from the 200 men released from Guantanamo?

Well here is an interview on "This American Life" (a radio show aired on NPR) that was produced last year, and won awards. They have re-released it with updates about a few of the many men who were mistakenly detained and tortured.
Not in the mood for something depressing?
Don't worry, it is actually funny. Ira Glass is like that.
These guys were totally innocent(big surprise), but sold by Pakistanis to collect the American bounty.
One of the guys they detained was a joke writer (for the Pashtu version of The Onion), and the other a rich Bahrainian 19 yr old who spent Spring Break in Daytona Beach with his college buddies (he attended college in Virginia- remind me not to vacation in Pakistan!)
The good news is that they were released after four years.
and there is an amusing part of the show by a bbc reporter about the origin of Habeous Corpus in the 1600's.
Go to this link http://thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Archive.aspx?year=2007#4
and choose the show called "Habeous Schmabeous"
If the link doesn't get you there just go to http://thisamericanlife.org and look in archive for 2007 shows in April.

John Edwards Homecoming Rally

Dec 30, 2006, John Edwards campaigns for President in his hometown, Chapel Hill, NC. I was fortunate to get a VIP ticket in the front row, so I got to shake his hand and tell him our precinct will support him.





He seemed genuine and earnest in his quest to improve America's behavior in the world. His catch-phases, "Tomorrow Begins Today" and "Take Action Now" resonate well with his overall message of immediate engagement of caring people.







He has started an action organization called "One Corps" which he wants everyone to sign up for. The idea is to get involved locally to help one's community, and also help America, and the world. His website, johnedwards.com, has connections to lots of bloggers, and he, his wife and his oldest daughter all keep blogs there too, so it is very up-to-date.

While we waited for the event to begin, we watched the multi-ethnic group of people on stage practice cheering (I think they were labor rights folks) and listened to a nice selection of piped in rock music including the Rolling Stones, Springsteen (Born in the USA), and Steve Miller Band with what is probably John Edwards campaign theme song: "Fly Like an Eagle", (lyrics repeat "time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' into the future").
The rally began with a talented little girl (Catherine ?) in pink cowgirl boots boldy belting out the Star Spangled Banner.

Then a downhome mountain man introduced the Grammy winningDel McCoury Band, as bunch of concerned rural Americans who believe in John Edwards' message. They were excellent bluegrass musicians and sang a gospel tune about David taking down Goliath.

Even though John Edwards spoke for only 25 minutes, he stated clear positions and didn't waste time with bloated rhetoric. He disagrees with what he called "the McCain Doctrine" of sending more troops to Iraq. He said we need to show the world we do not plan to stay in Iraq, and the way to do that is by starting to bring the troops home. He spoke in favor of universal health care. He talked about working on renewable energy sources and conservation right away to combat global warming. He said we should not have walked away from the Kyoto accord. He told about his trips to Africa and India, and his fight to end poverty in America and worldwide. He spoke of restoring America's image as a moral leader in the world. In contrast he mentioned Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.
I found his talk inspiring, and hopeful, yet realistic. He ended with the realistic assessment, "I can't change this country alone. Everyone needs to take responsibility for this change, and begin NOW. Don't wait til the next inauguration... TAKE ACTION NOW."
Good Luck, John Edwards! I think you would be a great President.

Warmongers

"A Collapsing Presidency", optimistically titled, by Paul Craig Roberts, reveals how dangerous our Warmongering administration has become. The whole article is worth a read, here's a taste:

"Neocons don’t believe in diplomacy. They believe in coercion. Neocons denigrate diplomacy as the epitome of weakness. Neocons slap down diplomacy before it can rise. The Iranians offered talks, and neocon National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley immediately slapped down the offer as "simply a device by the Iranians to try to divert pressure that they are feeling." The Bush neocons are bent on war with Iran."

If Iran is Bush's next target, will he restart a draft? We must get them out of office!
I spoke with a friend tonight who knows a contractor who is helping build tons of new barracks in Fayetteville, NC. He thinks the draft is coming. Surely that would decimate a lot of the Republican's support.
In January 2006, the North Carolina State Executive Committee of the Democratic Party (about 300 Democrats who come from all over the state) unanimously passed a resolution calling for impeachment of Bush and Cheney, and also to remove Alberto Gonzalez from office. The press was there, but they didn't report it. hmmm...
It blows my mind that Bush still has so many loyal supporters. After what he has done, I wouldn't think there would be any left at all. Ah, but the corporate media does put such an appealing spin on our cowardly cowboy.
Even Martin Luther King Jr's children succombed to the crushing pressure of the Bush administration. I heard a poignant interview of Harry Belafonte by Amy Goodman last night on Democracy Now, explaining how they first invited him to give one of the eulogies for his friend, Corretta Scott King. Then a couple days later, President Bush announced that he planned to attend the funeral. The next day the family called Harry to uninvite him, because had spoken his mind about Bush. Last January, when Belafonte was in Venezuela visiting democratically elected Hugo Chavez, he called Bush 'the greatest terrorist in the world'. Belafonte didn't want to embarrass the King family by talking about it at the time, but I'm glad he finally did come forward. It is courageous and probably dangerous to criticize our Tyrant. To hear Harry Belafonte tell it, go to http://www.democracynow.org/ and search for Belafonte, it's worth a listen. He is a loving soul.

Howard Dean Speaks at Durham Precinct Event

Precinct Leaders Troy and Milo had planned a fun local event at a bar called "Satisfactions". They invited all of Durham County's Democrats to come suffer together through the State of the Union speech by you know who, and then listen to the Democratic response in a conference call with Howard Dean, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi. Next thing you know, Howard Dean decides to attend!
Apparently the DNC had put out an e-mail asking if there were any interesting Precinct events happening, for Dr. Dean to drop in on. Troy (now known locally as "The Man"), replied and the rest is history. Here's Troy getting interviewed by one of the TV networks.

The day before the great event, I wrote a note to Dr. Dean, with a gift of two of my "Definition of a Democrat" t-shirts. Some of the ringleaders who were going to meet with him first, gave him the tees. They say he opened it up, read the t-shirt, and really liked it. That was exciting moment numero uno.
At Satisfactions, I volunteered at the Voter Education table which gave me a chair to stand on, so I could see him speak. What an inspirational speaker. He had solid ideas for universal healthcare, saying "36 other industrailized countries do it while balancing their budgets, and we can too." He said that in Vermont they used gov't money to insulate homes of the elderly, rather than subsidizing fuel. He said, "think of how many jobs it would create if we insulated every home and building in America!". wow, exciting moment number two, that's what I'm always saying. And he mentioned biofuels and other clean energy sources. In contrast, Bush said we need to break our addiction to oil by using "clean coal" and nukular powr. Puh-leaze!

But the third exciting moment happened two days later, and really knocked my socks off. I thought someone returned a t-shirt with no return address, and I opened it up to find this:


He was so thoughtful to mail this one back to me, signed.
More comments and photos are at durhamdemocrats.org. If you are a Durham Democrat, please browse through the site, they have just added a lot of useful info about local organizing.

The national website, Democrats.org has also posted pictures and comments at"State of the Union Watch Party Recap"

I heard they were talking about us at Daily Kos too. This guy came to North Carolina to attend, and said
"I witnessed, in North Carolina, the template for rebuilding the Democratic Party and reclaiming the country ..."
The grassroots keep getting stronger!

FEMA thwarted Local, National, and International Relief

Not only did FEMA prevent the Red Cross from delivering food and water to people trapped in the Superdome and Convention centers, (see post below for details), but they have denied aid all over the place.
Andrew Sullivan has links to lots of info about FEMA and Michael Brown's incompetence, including the following:
http://femafailures.blogspot.com/
Articles exposing FEMA's failures in Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and more.
Constructive Interference
This site lists many of the relief workers and aid supplies that were refused entry to New Orleans and/or the Gulf area. FEMA also blocked civilian response, both neighbors from the region and Americans from all over the USA were turned away, even if they had boats, supplies, medical training, whatever.
But a few Duke students managed to sneak in and help:
In the Durham Herald Sun, Sept 4, 2005
Three Duke students, disgusted by the inadequate relief effort, drove to the Gulf on Friday, posed as jounalists, got past the National Guard and evacuated 7 people from downtown New Orleans in their little Hyundai.
Fire Brown Now
Spin First, Save Lives Later
FEMA Director Michael Brown's memo to Chertoff shows the focus was not on getting rescuers in there right away.
Check the local news for best coverage and photos:
The Times-Picayune http://www.nola.com
New Orleans WWL TV http://www.wwltv.com
What does this sad pic of New Orleans remind you of?