We'll start this morning as we always do, with the latest casualties from the warron terra, courtesy of antiwar.com:
American Deaths Since war began (3/19/03): 4193 Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4054 Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03): 3732 Since Handover (6/29/04): 3335 Since Election (1/31/05): 2756
Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 314 US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 626 Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 379 Contractor Deaths - Iraq: 445
We find this morning's cost of war passing through: $ 570, 208, 000, 000 .00
Our friends at IAVA are celebrating veteran's day this year by launching a new ad campaign. Apparently, despite getting a new GI Bill in this last session of congress, the Pentagon is doing a terrible job publicizing it, so once again it falls to the veteran's groups to make sure the soldiers get everything they're entitled to. We all hope this will stop under President Obama.
Monday. A week ago we were all nervous and happy and concerned. About every emotion one could feel was probably pulsing through our veins. Tuesday night, it happened. A great weight was removed from the collective shoulders of most of America. It felt jubilant wonderful and thrilling.
.. at least in most of the United States of America. States like Arizona, Arkansas, California and Florida joined in the backwards advance of states like Mississippi to strip away rights from our GLBT brothers and sisters. We must work to regain the rights that are slowly being taken away from our citizens. We still have work to do.
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190 comments(Latest Comment: 11/11/2008 05:54:37 by shelaghc)
Why is Velveeta quoting the bible (James: 2 something or other), you ask? This quote is attributed to Jesus – and it’s a powerful statement. The premise is that just believing alone, will not ensure your salvation in the kingdom of God. (I think that’s what it means; I was kicked out of Baptist Bible School).
In the past year, we have all been about “hope”. Hoping that Barack Obama will beat Hillary in the primary, hoping that he can win the debates, hoping that his message will resonate with “middle America” or “red state America” or even change the mind of a few PUMA’s. We hoped that one day we would have an America where the Government would work with the People - not against the People. We hoped that Americans would once again be seen has good people, caring people, as opposed to a country that invades and occupies other countries based on lies. There were so MANY things to hope for. Not the least of which: will he, can he, possibly win the election!
And so we worked hard to get Barack Obama elected. We knocked on doors and made phone calls, despite our adherence and sheer horror at the thought of being so presumptuous. We spoke to our family and friends and neighbors to plead our case for a President Obama and why he would be a better choice. We spoke to our peers and tried to encourage them to work for change – or in some cases, to give up on that wasted vote for a third party candidate, just this year.
Our work has paid off. We now have a President-elect Obama, and, he’s already accomplished more in one week than our lame duck president has accomplished in a year!
We can take this time to be proud and to relax after all the hard work, but only for a moment. Now the real work begins! And now we must move from HOPE to FAITH.
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23 comments(Latest Comment: 11/10/2008 03:36:49 by trojanrabbit)
Well....I feel a little strange writing this column today. For a number of years now, I've been presenting this little corner of the internets with some alternate political views, and maybe just a wee alternative to the power structure in Washington.
I don't think I need to do that anymore.
Nevertheless, I think we should take a swing through and see what's happening. Bob Barr, without a hint of irony, has stated that post-election "This is just the beginning" of a new Libertarian party. Of course, Libertarians have been saying that since the party was founded in 1971. Curious that they've never been able to poll out of single digits in any election, especially given the golden opportunities over the last 8 years.
"This is just the beginning of the new Libertarian Party," says Bob Barr, the 2008 Libertarian Party nominee for president. "In these next four years, there will be an even greater need for a political party fully dedicated to lower taxes, smaller government and more individual freedom—a voice for liberty."
"This year, we set a solid foundation for freedom, on which we will build a strong and united political organization that advances freedom and liberty in the United States," says Barr. "I, and all Americans who support true liberty, owe a great debt of gratitude to our staff, donors, volunteers and voters who helped support this campaign."
Bob Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003. Congressman Barr was the 2008 Libertarian Party Nominee for President.
The past couple days have truly been amazing. As I've gone about my daily business (such as it is), the sun has seemed a little brighter, the air a little cleaner, the smiles on people's faces a little easier. There seems to be an overwhelming feeling of goodwill, not unlike that warm and fuzzy feeling you find around Christmastime.
This is what Democracy feels like, when the people speak and end up with the government they want (of the people, by the people, and for the people). Barack Obama is bring change to Washington, DC, and it already shows. He is opening the blinds and letting the sun shine in; he is opening the doors and letting us all see what he's doing.
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142 comments(Latest Comment: 11/08/2008 00:47:25 by IzzyBitz)
11.5.08, the King Reflection Pool, Atlanta, Georgia
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
You can read the entire speach here. On Tuesday, November 4, 2008, because of the work, the message and the dream of Reverend King and his message of nonviolent resistance, we elected a president based upon the content of his character, not his skin color.
This isn't as much about racism as it is about civil rights in our country, and we - as a nation - took a wonderful giant step forward this week.
We are still a far from perfect nation. We still must fight for the equal rights of our GLBT brothers and sisters. We still must fight for the our constitution that has been so ravaged over the past 8 years. We still must keep pushing forward. That is our task, that is what we must keep working for, because until everyone achieves the same rights in America, none of us truly are equal. For over 230 years, this has been the struggle of America, and we will still work for a more perfect union. That is the thing about perfection, we must strive for it, knowing that we will never achieve it, but - in striving, in doing so - we become better humans.
This week, this election day, we took a giant step in coming together and for once, truly, for once... we said that skin color and race no longer matter when we choose a president. The message that this sends to children is probably something we can barely fathom. The children of this generation will grow up in a world where they won't have to be amazed and stunned and overjoyed that America elected it's first black president. Because of the Reverend King and all those who walked with him, the ones who dared to dream, the ones who were beaten, the ones who went to jail, the ones who died... OUR children and grandchildren can enjoy a luxury that many only thought was a dream.
We judged our American president based on his character and not the color of his skin.
I would like to say that is not a significant thing, but yesterday, as Bob and I walked around the Martin Luther King Jr Center, and we took a moment at the final resting place of Mr. and Mrs. King, it really dawned on me that this IS significant. It's real and it is ok to celebrate this. We should celebrate this.
Martin Luther King Junior gave his life in the hopes that this dream would be realized, and 45 years later, it happened. There is still much to be done, But if you can, take a moment and give thanks for those that went before all of us...
:peace: and :heart: Raine
157 comments(Latest Comment: 11/07/2008 03:49:12 by BobR)
Election Night, Tuesday, November 4th, 2008, Chicago, Illinois
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
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28 comments(Latest Comment: 11/06/2008 20:26:07 by Raine)
In your darkest hour, you chose hope over fear, light over darkness, the future over the past. You turned out in numbers too large to ignore or suppress or steal. You saw the importance of this moment and did what so many have failed to do in the past - show up and vote.
America has turned a page to a new chapter in this infancy of our third millennium. It's the morning after in America. The hurricane of the last 8 years is moving on and the sun is shining. There's a lot of damage to clean up, but like the good people in the small towns across America, we offer each other our hands and our sweat and whatever else we may have to give to help our neighbors in need. The sparks we've created together will shine a light down the hallways of the next century.
Thank-you Obama for seeing the responsibility we're asking you to accept, and - knowing the enormity of the weight - willingly hoist it upon your shoulders and ask for our help to share the burden.
Thank-you to all of you on this blog. You've helped keep me sane, let me spew my turgid prose upon this electronic page... You are all important nodes in this vast electronic web, spreading the message in all directions. Although it may feel this way at times, we are not an echo chamber... we are a way station on the information superhighway, and our voices are carried on by all those we contact on a daily basis. We are a voice in the crowd, but it is all those voices in the crowd together that have brought us to this momentous occasion:
President-elect Barack Obama.
Yes, we could. Yes, we did.
Thank-you
186 comments(Latest Comment: 11/06/2008 02:36:20 by livingonli)
