As I have stated a few times in open threads here on Kos, I helped to coordinate the Kent County Democrats' presence in the Fourth of July parade in my hometown of Kentwood, Michigan. I had hoped for a good turnout of Obama supporters and Democrats from the area but as often happens with anything and everything Obama-related, things turned out better than I expected.
In fact, we had about 30 people there! I would tell you how many people were in the McCain contingent at the parade, but McCain's campaign didn't even show up! Keep in mind, Bush won Kentwood 56-43% in 2004.
That's the amount of time we have until the Democratic National Convention - when Sen. Obama gets officially nominated and the election goes into a crazy free-fall until the election.
Let's use the energy of this weekend's celebration to kick-start our own local on-the-ground action. Take a chance on something you might not have otherwise.
In this diary are some ideas and ways you can get started today. Please sign up for something, and let everyone else what you've found worked well and what didn't. Obama has inspired the next generation - let's do our part to pass on a better country to them.
As we move forward into the long holiday weekend, let's remember who it was that created the entire concept of "the weekend" in the first place: the worker-activists we know collectively as the labor movement. This Saturday, we can stand in solidarity with those struggling on the front lines of today's labor movement, and I promise it won't take any of your time and it won't cost you a dime.
The new Rasmussen poll shows what I've been feeling for a long time now -- the race in Texas between Barack Obama and John McCain is tightening. McCain can't assume that the Lone Star State will love him with votes like they did Bush, even though McCain seems to love him some George W. Bush.
It's so exciting to be on the ground here in Texas helping in this historic election. Obama's rising support is also a great boon for Senate candidate Lt. Col. Rick Noriega. Plus, the Obama campaign has committed tremendous resources to Texas -- a reported 15 staffers, a good number of Obama Organizing Fellows, and even assistance building the infrastructure to help recapture the Texas House of Representatives. It's not just a 50-state-strategy any more. In these parts, it's a 254-county strategy.
But wait, there's more! Best of all, it's how YOU can help Obama close that gap in Texas. Dig your spurs into the flanks of the Republican party, and send them running once and for all.
This is my first "call to action" diary. I'm more of a theory guy. But I think this is an important, valuable cause. So here we go.
In today's New York Times, Nicholas Kristof details the story of a young African girl who, as a result of a (tax-deductible) charity, received a chance to gain an education and took it to the ultimate level. She recently graduated from Connecticut College and is going on to earn her Master's degree from the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas.
More below on why I gave and think you should too...
Please recommend this diary. It is a reminder of Chris Bowers's call for action.
He wrote:
Searching for John McCain is a massive, online activism campaign designed to make at least ten million non-partisan, poll-tested, on-message voter contacts that reveal the damning truth about John McCain entirely through mainstream news reports and McCain’s own words.
There is no question that Barack Obama is now the Democratic nominee. I feel that the least state and county parties can do is have a button on their front page that can redirect Democrats to barackobama.com
Today Americans came together across the nation to talk about Barack Obama at a Unite for Change event. I hosted two such events here in Austin, TX, where people showed up to learn how we’re going to elect Barack Obama this November.
There were over a dozen events across the city, and many more around Central Texas. Some folks held pool parties, others barbecues. My group gathered at a local coffee shop, Flightpath, where my precinct organized during the primary. Originally I’d just scheduled one meeting for noon, but when it quickly filled up to forty RSVP’s on my.barackobama.com, I added a second at 3 p.m. That one filled up too. The list of names was largely new to me, which was exciting—it’s always great to see more people involved in taking our country back.
More party pictures, observations, and ways you can help below.
In all of the sniping back and forth over Obama's support for the FISA bill and the issues of not only telecom immunity, but also executuve power run amok, I think the 900 pound gorilla in the room has been the fact that this is simply not an issue that has traction outside of the netroots and highly-engaged political junkies. So instead of trading punches here on Daily Kos or withdrawing support for the Democratic Party nominee or sullenly moping about after our bubbles of messianic optimism have been burst, maybe it's worth thinking about precisely why it is that supporting the FISA bill has looked politically expedient for not only Obama, but also a significant number of other Dems.
My hair brained schemes don't often do well and my diary from yesterday got a grand total of two comments. The last time I came up with something a second post was a learning experience for me so let me do it one more time.
Yesterday's post was an action idea. It is not that I feel I deserve your response but I'm not sure if it was judged unworthy of your time or just went unnoticed. Perhaps it does represent a naive action but even if it is a complete failure, it still sounds to me like something that should be worth a comment or two to set me straight.
I don't pretend to be some genius who has all the answers. With the all of the mendacity I've been fed from elected officials on both sides of the aisle and a cut rate corporate media I'm not even sure what the questions are anymore. But there is one thing that I do know. The American government is very broken and a Democratic majority did very little to fix it.
At least give the quote box below the fold a read and consider how much more electable a candidate would seem to voters if such a speech was offered.
Action must be taken on the FISA bill immediately. We have very little time here. Now that the House has passed this bill, a version of it has managed to secure passage in both legislative bodies. Unless we stop this bill, our 4th Amendment will forever be distorted. It won't be the first time our rights have been assaulted, but make no mistake, once this passes, what we've lost will be lost permanently.
Call AND write BOTH your Senators. Whether they belong to the Democratic, Republican, Democratic Socialist, or Connecticut for Lieberman party, they need to hear from you, and they need to hear from you right now. And again tomorrow. And again and again until passage or the recess - whatever comes first.
First things first. Why don't you use the comments section of this diary to post the letters you have sent to elected officials last week. That way you will have the satisfaction of knowing that someone has actually read your opinions and pleas.
in a representative government the ordinary people who do attempt to have voice in government should represent the conscience of the nation but that is not the case.
Politicians imagining the wants of the totally uninvolved is nothing new. Do you remember Nixon's "Silent Majority?" It seems that since then, in the transition from old snail mail to the electronic age communications between the people and elected officials has gone even further downhill. They don't even need to imagine a silent majority anymore.
As technology has changed and our elected officials rely more and more on the internet why hasn't the voice of the people found a place on those webpages? What would happen if we could force a little "Light of Day" from our Democratic leadership?
There is room for vast communication improvements and we the Progressive Bloggers may just be able to force those moves to come to fruition. While it would certainly be slow goings and met with great resistance, the fruit of such labor may be very sweet.
As I understand the bill that was passed by the House, it gives immunity to the Telecoms if they could proof that the companies required all documentation presented to them prior to any help to the government. Now, as I read it, in order to expect immunity the Telcoms must show that they requested and obtained all documentation to spy on americans, terrorists, etc. I believe the immunity here is to avoid going to trial, because let's face it, the spying program was meant to use information for political and corporate secrets to be stolen.
I don't know if links to these sites have been posted before. If so, more exposure won't hurt.
Regarding bill H.R. 6304...
It's time to get on the phone and fax machine, to contact senators and tell them to oppose passage of the "compromise" bill - the bill which will guarantee immunity for telecom companies which engaged in illegal domestic spying, and which will vastly broaden the government's ability to spy on US citizens.
I just called the Obama campaign. A lady there told me, "We're getting a lot of calls on this issue and we're logging them all. Your voice is being heard".
The numbers and links are below. All I'm doing is broadcasting stuff others have put together. Hopefully, if many thousands of people complain about this, the bill will die.
The topic of this diary isn't sexy, but it's important. And sex sells. So I decided to sex it up a bit with pics of the sexiest liberals I could find. Starting with, of course, Scott Kleeb and Elizabeth Kucinich!
In between sexy pics, you'll find a few action items. Please, please call Congress today! Here are some free numbers (they all get you to the Capitol switchboard):
1 (800) 828 - 0498
1 (800) 614 - 2803
1 (866) 340 - 9281
1 (866) 338 - 1015
1 (877) 851 - 6437
(Note: per a request, this diary has been reposted from Saturday. Senate offices were not open on Saturday, but they are open today.)
We have been witness to a Daily Kos freakout over the last few days. The sky is falling, the walls are crumbling, Burgess Meredith's glasses are breaking. We've seen whine after whine echo across this site, but what have we not seen? A clarion call for action.
Earlier this month Israel sent more than 100 fighter planes and supporting aircraft 900 miles to the west into the Meditarranean in what the Jewish state called "a military exercise".
It was much more than that. If the direction the Israeli warplanes took was 900 miles to the east, they would have been in striking distance of Iran's Natanz nuclear-enrichment facility. The message to Iran that was also heard by the rest of the world was that Israel would not tolerate any threat that could lead to her destruction.
The same message from Israel about a nuclear threat was delivered on two previous occasions. In 1981 Israel raided an Iraqi nuclear site and put an end to Saddam Hussein's nuclear pretentions.(It is tragic our intelligence agencies couldn't believe that and, instead, started a war with Iraq to search for WMD's.) More recently, in September of 2007, Israel raided a nuclear site in Syria. It is clear that Israel, by its actions, has drawn a clear line that says that under no conditions would it tolerate another Holocaust.
At least SOME of our representatives stood up for us, even if in a losing battle:
Of course, that and all our hard work wasn't enough. We will not forget those who failed us last Friday. Steny Hoyer, Nancy Pelosi...I'm looking at you.
But, as ever, life goes on. Specifically, on to the Senate...and on to the turf of our presumptive nominee.
