Obama

I just watched Sen. Obama’s Announcement speech. It is the finest piece of political oratory I have heard outside of a historical documentary. I am convinced that this man has what it takes to be America’s last black president. He has the power of vision and oratory to take us past race so that future presidents, and the rest of us to, will not be black or white but simply American.

Only half of us vote. 45% of that half of us that votes are democrats. A like percentage are republicans. That leaves 10% of the voters for the candidates to scrap over. Mr Obama is not just going for that 10% who are swing voters. He is going for that 50% who do not vote. He is going to inspire people who have never voted before to turn out in droves and change the face of American politics.

Watch his speech or read the transcript if your connection is not fast enough at http://www.barackobama.com/

May Have!?

This morning I saw an AP article that bore the headline, "U.S. may have botched training of Iraqis". The article itself described in detail exactly how we had botched the training of the Iraqi police and judiciary. Why is it so hard to write a headline that actually reflects the content of your article. May I suggest, "Testimony shows U.S. botched training of Iraqis".

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070131/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq

Great Leaders

I once again today heard the presidents apologists saying that great leaders like FDR and Churchill did things that were not popular because they were the right thing to do. They make the claim that our presidents stubbornness in the face of public opinion makes him great.

I would like to remind these people that it is not necessary and sufficient to stand steadfast in the face of opposition to be great. One must also be right.

We Are The Government

We are the government. It is acceptable for us to provide whatever level of services for ourselves collectively that we see fit. If we decide collectively that the time for anything to be done it will be. Currently the increase in the minimum wage favored by the vast majority of Americans is stalled in the Senate because they think we are not paying attention. Prove them wrong. Write you Senator and let him know that you urge him to support this legislation, clean with no amendments. Do not just send an e-mail they get ignored. Do not send your letter to his DC office it will never get there thanks to the regulations in response to the Anthrax scare. Send it to his office in your state. A staffer will read it, and if it is hand written it will be taken into account.

The Punditocracy

I have spent the past couple of evenings listening to the pundits say that there is no alternative available in Iraq other than the presidents surge or immediate pull out. What about talking to Iran and Syria? The Iraq study group suggested that the only path to an outcome other than humiliating defeat was through talking to the other players in the region. Is the memory of everyone really so bad that they cannot remember that?

It seems that president Bush is ready to do whatever it takes to win as long as he never has to talk to anyone he does not like.

The National Conference on Media Reform

I attended The National Conference on Media Reform here in Memphis this weekend. It was chance that I attended but I am so glad that I did. I got to hear speaches on this issue and others by many that I admire and came to admire by hearing them this weekend. Bill Moyers, Helen Thomas, and Sen. Bernie Sanders had earned my respect before and I realy attended just to hear them speak. Some of the other guest were uknown to me but earned my respect among these were FCC comissioners Copps and Adlestein, as was Rep. Markey.

I care about many issues. The war, healthcare, income distribution, political coruption, and global warming are among them. But I am now convinced that the issue that keeps all these problems from being solved or even discussed is the problems with our deregulated media.

You can hear Mr. Moyers remarks here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLK-rK3rfW8 It is a fine speach and summs up the relevance of this issue much better than I can.

I will be thinking about things I heard at this conference and posting on them, but I wish to think about them and work on the posts to make sure I say exactly what I mean rather than just wipping something out.

FCC blues!