George Washington

Friday Open Thread

September 11, 2008 by Jack and Jill P...

One of the few memories that I have as a little kid is watching the Watergate Hearings. And, I remember being mesmerized by Barbara Jordan as she spoke:

Earlier today, we heard the beginning of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States, “We, the people.” It is a very eloquent beginning. But when the document was completed on the seventeenth of September 1787 I was not included in that “We, the people.” I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation and court decision I have finally been included in “We, the people.”

America: Yours, Mine and Ours - Pt. 1

September 8, 2008 by PamsHouseBlend

Part One: Yours, Mine...

One of the things I hoped for when Michelle Obama spoke at the Democratic convention, was that she would introduce people to the America that she came from, and that was the setting of her story. One of the biggest shames in the campaign - aside from the fact that political realities required this intelligent, accomplished woman to effectively bite her tongue for the last couple of months - is the lack of any honest discussion about the reality that we don't all live in the same America. It's one reality that both progressives and conservatives must grapple with between now and November, and beyond

Delivered on a night that carried the theme "One America," her speech should serve as a reminder that if we are to be America, we have to first acknowledge that what we have are three America's: yours, mine, and ours.

America: Yours, Mine and Ours - Pt. 1

September 8, 2008 by PamsHouseBlend

Part One: Yours, Mine...

One of the things I hoped for when Michelle Obama spoke at the Democratic convention, was that she would introduce people to the America that she came from, and that was the setting of her story. One of the biggest shames in the campaign - aside from the fact that political realities required this intelligent, accomplished woman to effectively bite her tongue for the last couple of months - is the lack of any honest discussion about the reality that we don't all live in the same America. It's one reality that both progressives and conservatives must grapple with between now and November, and beyond

Delivered on a night that carried the theme "One America," her speech should serve as a reminder that if we are to be America, we have to first acknowledge that what we have are three America's: yours, mine, and ours.

Republican convention speeches inspire … even this Democrat

September 3, 2008 by Kenneth

Thanks to a quick-ending meeting of the Miami Beach Democratic Club, I was able to listen on the car radio and get home to watch on TV most of the Republican speeches Tuesday night: Laura Bush, George W. Bush, Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman.

What a wash of crap!

May I quote the best one-word line from Barack Obama’s acceptance speech in Denver: “Enough!”

But they will not stop. We face nine weeks of this until election day. It will be hard slogging, and few in the news media will step up to contradict the mean-spirited distortions that will be directed at Barack Obama and the inflated praise that will bathe the McCain-Palin ticket.

An example of this wishy-washy media performance on MSNBC a few minutes ago: After the speeches, U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) was interviewed by a floor reporter whose name I didn’t note and she lied blatantly about Obama’s vote on an abortion measure, declaring that he was willing to let “babies die.“ Thanks goodness that Anchor Keith Olbermann came on screen to declare that the issue had been quite different and that Obama had based his vote on the fact that laws already prohibited such an event. And, he declared, he was quite sure that Heather Wilson knew full well that was the case.

In other words, Ms. Wilson may speak with a gentle tone but she lies. Thank you, Keith Olbermann.

Gore: We Got It Wrong Eight Years Ago. Let's Get It Right This Time.

August 28, 2008 by admin

The challenge for Al Gore is that criticizing the Bush years inevitably becomes a discussion of the 2000 election and a condemnation of the decision not to elect Gore (or not to grant him a big enough electoral victory so it couldn't be stolen from him).

But Gore directly embraces this aspect of the discussion, saying directly that we made the wrong choice in 2000. He evokes people's regret about choosing Bush over him as a way to infuse the current choice with even more emotional urgency:

Eight years ago, some said there was not much difference between the nominees of the two major parties and it didn't really matter who became president. Our nation was enjoying peace and prosperity. Some assumed we would continue both, no matter the outcome. But here we all are in 2008, and I doubt anyone would argue now that election didn't matter.

Take it from me, if it had ended differently, we would not be bogged down in Iraq, we would have pursued bin Laden until we captured him. We would not be facing a self-inflicted economic crisis; we would be fighting for middle-income families. We would not be showing contempt for the Constitution; we'd be protecting the rights of every American regardless of race, religion, disability, gender or sexual orientation. And we would not be denying the climate crisis; we'd be solving it.