hope

Reverend Jeremiah Wright said some horrible things about America. He is evil. Forget about the good he has done in his life. He is evil. I saw it on CNN.

Running for Federal or Statewide office is a consuming experience for the candidate. I have been running full time, full speed and dragging anyone willing to help, for over a year in my quest for North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District seat in Congress. I have learned so much about lots of things, but mostly about people. I could go on and on about the different types of people; caring, concerned, aggressive, timid, politically consumed, apolitical and indifferent. So many backgrounds and life experiences, but all, to some degree, products of our environment.

I have loved meeting all of the people along the campaign trail and I look forward to the many I have yet to meet. I love to hear the life stories of struggle, overcoming, heartbreaks and blessings. Without trying, they have taught me lot. There is something though that I have noted; a sort of string woven into the being, culture and fabric of North Carolinians and all Americans for that matter. People want their leaders to say what they mean and mean what they say. People in America need and want Hope.

Is Obama's message of Hope adverstisement "Branding", or is it Real?

The clamor for the White House is on with a vengence. Clinton, Romney, Obama, Thomson, Huckabee, McCain, Biden and a fountain of other well known Washington insiders, many steeped in years of cozy relationships, cloak and dagger histories of deal making and inside political trading, not focused on Americas well being, but aimed and purposed for the retention of power or extending one’s influence. Political dynasties somehow permitted by the electorate to remain, in many cases, at the expense of America’s democratic health and vitality. We have permitted old money, old influence and all the political experience and seasoning it could buy to get us where we are today, drowning in two wars and a nine trillion dollar debt, trillion with a “T”.

American public opinion regarding the state of the nation today, depending on who you are talking to, can range from “Could be better”, to “In dire straits”, or “On the brink of tyranny”. In any case, it is not usually good. What ever the case, there are plenty of reasons for the doom and gloom. Take your pick; from 9/11 to our having a President who has abandoned the Rule of Law and burdened future generations with incalculable debt. To most we, as a country, have lost our way. To others, finally the opportunity for America to strike her enemies came, real or perceived, and we took it.

On April 12th, 2007, Liisa Ogburn asked 63 First Graders at JY Joyner Elementary in Raleigh, NC,

“If you had one wish for the world, your family or yourself, what would it be?”

President Bush Has lost All Sense of What He Has Wrought in The World

The Associated press reported today that President Bush warned Congress Friday that he will continue vetoing war spending bills as long as they contain a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. The President made clear that if Democrats insist on including timetables again, he will not hesitate to bring out his veto pen. Bush said "If they want to try again that which I've said is unacceptable, of course I won't accept it."

So then, if I understand the President correctly, he is saying that no matter how many more Americans and Iraqis are killed, tortured, maimed or otherwise effected, he will stay the course and continue using his Veto pen?

No matter how many Americans want the war ended, or how greatly those who elected him to office want the U.S. out of Iraq, he will stay the course?

I just got back from a fantastic event at Yancy's, the new downtown eatery and bar on Raleigh's reborn Fayetteville Street. Boyd Tinsley, the violin player from the Dave Matthews Band, introduced John and Elizabeth, and the packed bar erupted.

Elizabeth was wonderful, and she looks great, by the way. She spoke of hope and change and what she sees in John. Then she introduced John, who spoke for about 10 minutes.

This is not the same John Edwards. I greatly admired and worked my butt off for the John Edwards of 2004. This John Edwards I will lay in front of traffic for. We FINALLY have a Presidential candidate who is speaking to the issues that matter, the ones that carry real moral weight. We have a chance to elect a President of the United States who wants to do something with the office other than hold onto it for eight years.

(Cross-posted at The Stinging Nettle.)

Having lost two family members to cancer, I know exactly what Elizabeth Edwards' diagnosis means, in the long term. I also know that people with cancer do not want to become "people with cancer." They are people. They also have cancer. End of discussion.

Still, I could not breathe as John and Elizabeth Edwards approached the press in Chapel Hill. I knew that if the campaign was cancelled, the news was as bad as could be imagined. I knew neither of them would quit if there was any hope at all.

So, I teared up when John announced that the cancer had metastasized. And when they stated that they would go on fighting in this campaign, I cheered, not only because I want him to be President, but because of what it told me about HER attitude. She is going to fight. And the news must not have been ALL bad.

It is not my place, or anyone else's, to weigh in with criticism of what she's doing, what I would do, or how a person should react. I just won't do it. I will wish her the best, thank her for her example, and then go out and work like hell to get them both to the White House. To judge them for their actions is, well, unseemly.