Wow. That's the word I am left with this afternoon. After listening to Barack Obama's speech this morning in its entirety and watching it again here online...I have to say wow. Whatever the prompting of this monumental speech I haven't heard such impassioned and emboldened words from a politician in my lifetime. His healing a reaching words were reminiscent of Bobby Kennedy and whatever your thoughts are on the man you had to have a moment where you felt as one as Americans this morning.

The blogosphere and corporate media has been on fire recently regarding Jeremiah Wright's comments. People have questioned Barack Obama's honesty and integrity and I really don't feel this is something that shakes my trust and faith in Obama. In his speech this morning he made it quite clear that he condemns the comments but also put into context that this older generation has a lot of anger and pain to this day...both black and white.

I'll never forget when I was 9 years old and my grandmother dropped the n-word at our kitchen table. My sister and my jaws hit the ground and my father quickly corrected her saying, "We don't use that word in this house, mother." She didn't understand what he was talking about. To her generation in West Texas that word was used as commonly as the word "the" or "sky". Do I condemn my entire family because of it? No. Do I disagree strongly with those comments and make it a point to say something if I hear such words. Yes. Do I disavow my relationship with some of my extended family because they don't understand black people or gays for that matter? No. They are family and have my unconditional frienhship even though I disagree with a lot of what their conservative viewpoints.

I think in today's world of sound bytes and electronic communications it's really easy to sum up 20 years of a relationship in 20 seconds of a Youtube clip. If those were the three negative things Jeremiah Wright said in his lifetime do you throw away an entire lifetime of friendship and family involvement? I would have to say, no.

I feel the same way of any politician whose supporters say inane things on the public stump. You have to evaluate each situation and really decide if this is something that represents the person in question. For me it's no. I truly believe Barack Obama is a man who transcends race and this tumultuous generation gap that we're seeing right now. Like it or not he is the new face of American politics (multi-racial/youthful) and the gate keepers are fighting him tooth and nail every step of the way.

Take the 30 minutes and click the link below to see Barack Obama's speech from this morning and consider phone banking in PA this weekend with me as well as upcoming primaries.

To Hear Obama in his own words

When Hillary anointed Maggie Williams as her new campaign manager I knew it was going to get ugly. And it has. It was the only tactic they had left. Her record wasn't competing with Obama. Her message wasn't competing with Obama. Her ideals for the future were not competing with Obama. All she had left was to raise doubt and questioning for a candidate so many of us truly believe in. While the corporate media is having a field day with these new slash and burn tactics, I've had enough.

Whichever candidate you are for the smears, the inaccuracies and deceit have hit an all time low. If our party isn't careful we will be handing the presidency to another right wing pandering, old, pasty, white guy. It's time for a new generation of politics/politicians. Take a read and consider reposting this.


Subject: The Real Truth About Barack Obama!

A group of volunteers in the Barack Obama campaign for the Presidency have put together a list of facts about Barack so that you will can see fact from fition. Please follow the links they included for documentation of these facts. If you value the truth as I do, please spread this information via email, blog, or any other means, to everyone you know. The footnotes after each of the 17 facts correlate with the links at the bottom of the email for accuracy.

1. Barack Obama is a Christian. He has been a member of the same United Church of Christ congregation for 20 years, and was married there to his wife Michelle in 1992. [1] [2] [3]

2. Barack Obama often leads the US Senate in the Pledge of Allegiance. [4]

3. Barack Obama is a strong friend of Israel and has spoken out strongly against anti-Semitism. [5] [6]

4. His grandparents are from Kansas. His grandfather served with Patton's Army during World War II, and his grandmother, a "Rosy the Riveter", worked in a bomber assembly plant back home. [7]

5. Barack Obama was opposed to the war in Iraq from day one, before we invaded, even while he was running for the Senate, and knowing his opposition might be politically unpopular. [8]

"I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world and strengthen the recruitment arm of al Qaeda. I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars." --Barack Obama, 2002

6. Obama favors transparency over secrecy in our government. Obama worked with Republican Senator Tom Coburn to pass one of the strongest government transparency bills since the freedom of information act. He called it "Google for Government", and you can see the results at www.usaspending.gov . Sen. Obama has also released his own tax returns for public review. [9] [10] [11] [12]

7. After graduating with honors from Harvard Law School, Barack practiced civil rights law and also taught Constitutional Law for 10 years at the University of Chicago, one of the nation's best law schools, where he was consistently rated by his students as one of their best instructors. He was also the first African-American elected president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review. [13] [14]

8. Barack Obama is an outspoken advocate for women's rights and has been a principled defender of the civil rights of women. [15] [16]

9. Senator Obama remains a devoted family man. He hasn't missed a single parent-teacher conference while running for President.

10. Barack Obama has a stellar environmental record, including having the highest rating from the League of Conservation Voters (96%) of any Presidential candidate, Democrat or Republican. [17]

11. Barack Obama has been an elected legislator longer than Senator Clinton. [18]

12. Barack is a member of all of these Senate Committees: Foreign Relations; Veteran's Affairs; Health, Education, Labor & Pensions; Homeland Security and Government Affairs.

13. Senator Obama has sponsored or co-sponsored 15 bills that have become law, and has introduced amendments to 50 bills, of which 16 were adopted since he joined the Senate in 2005.

14. Senator Obama sponsored legislation working together with Indiana Republican Senator Richard Lugar, to keep Americans safe by keeping dangerous weapons out of terrorist hands. The two senators also visited the former Soviet Union to inspect the decommissioning of nuclear weapons. Sen. Lugar said of Sen. Obama, "He does have a sense of idealism and principled leadership, a vision of the future." [19] [20]

15. Barack Obama is the only candidate running for president who voted against using cluster bombs in Iraq and the only candidate who supports banning the use of landmines.

16. As an Illinois state senator, Barack Obama succeeded in passing legislation requiring the videotaping of police interrogations, gaining the respect and support not only of fellow legislators but that of the police, who had initially opposed the legislation.

17. Theodore Roosevelt, Grover Cleveland, Ulysses S. Grant, John F. Kennedy, and Bill Clinton were all younger when they took office than Barack Obama will be.

During election season many emails are circulated about the candidates. Some are true, some aren't. It's often difficult to determine the truth. I encourage you to visit the following non-partisan site that does a good job of fact checking the candidates.

http://www.factcheck.org

References:
[1] http://www. christianitytoday. com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=1
[2] http://www.ucc.org/about-us/
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Obama
[4] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svo9mutE6TM
[5] http://www. jewishledger.com/articles/2008/03/12/opinions/edit03.txt
[6] http://www. observer.com/2008/obama-addresses-homophobia-anti-semitism-and-xenophobia-among-black-americans
[7] http://genealogy.about.com/od/aframertrees/p/obama_three.htm
[8] http://www.barackobama.com/learn/meet.php
[9] http://obama.senate.gov/press/060908-senate_passes_c/
[10] http://www.usaspending.gov/
[11] http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-070416obama-tax,0,445005. story
[12] http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2007/04/baracj_obamas_2.html
[13] http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/701490,CST-NWS-obamaprof18.article
[14] http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/01/28/at_harvard_law_a_unifying_voice/
[15] http://obama. senate. gov/speech/051110-remarks_of_sena_1/
[16] http://www. womenforbarackobama.com/Obama_s_Record.html
[17] http://presidentialprofiles2008. org/voterguide/obama-page.html
[18] http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/09/obama-on-dem-ri.html
[19] http://obama.senate.gov/press/061211-lugar-obama_bil_1/
[20] http://www. berkshireeagle.com/ci_8434360