FOR SHAME!

To the Republican legislature in North Carolina:  How can you sleep at night???  Have you no sense of decency?  For SHAME!  What a disgrace.

FAREWELL-AMERICA

This is a long but extremely important read.  Please take the time to give it your attention.

http://billmoyers.com/story/farewell-america/#.WE74-BBZKN0.facebook

HERE'S WHY WE GRIEVE TODAY

Please take time to read this thoughtful, wise article by John Pavlovitz.

http://johnpavlovitz.com/2016/11/09/heres-why-we-grieve-today/

GROUND ZERO FOR VOTER SUPPRESSION!

My anger is giving me heart palpitations!  North Carolina has become GROUND ZERO for voter suppression.  Breaking the law (violating the now unconstitutional Voter ID law which targeted people of color "with almost surgical precision" ) according the the judge who overturned it last July, seems to now be the modus operandi for our Republican controlled state.

Below is an article from today's  Chicago Tribune about the latest voter suppression scheme attempted here.  Thankfully, the NC NAACP, under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. William  F. Barber, filed suit and won!  As a believer in justice, fairness and equal rights, actions like this send chills up my spine.  From the day he took office, Gov. Pat McCrory (R) and his gang of out of control congressional members, have run roughshod over the Constitution, overturning rights of citizens at every turn, instituting a list of atrocities a mile long.  

If you believe, as I do, that this kind of action MUST BE STOPPED, vote McCrory and his Republican cronies out of office!  My choices who I believe will restore justice to North Carolina, are ROY COOPER for Governor and DEBORAH ROSS for Senate

Here's the Trib's outline of what has occurred, and thankfully, been overturned.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-north-carolina-voter-purge-ruling-20161104-story.html

NOTE:  Polls in Mecklenburg County NC are open tomorrow, Nov. 5, from 9-1, for the last day of early voting.

VOTE!!!

Are you registered to vote?   In North Carolina, the deadline to register is this Friday, October 14, 2016.   If in doubt about your status, call your local Board of Elections to make sure you're on the rolls.  The upcoming Nov. 8 election is vitally important!  Your vote counts now more than ever.

The information below may be helpful to you.  Please remember that the controversial "Voter ID" law was declared UNCONSTITUTIONAL by the federal courts in July, 2016.

http://www.ncvoter.org/voting-in-nc/#ElectionDates

VOTER SUPPRESSION IS ALIVE AND WELL

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/04/3081614/florida-democratic-party-files.html

This is the kind of thing I'm worried about.  Click on the link to read about what's happening in Dade County, Florida.  Voter suppression is an outrage!

October 12 is the last day to register to vote in North Carolina for the Nov. 6 election.  If you're not registered, get it done today!

My Oh My Oh My

I've lived in the south for over 40 years.  I love it dearly and call it "home."  But I am saddened, shocked and dismayed that the voters of North Carolina today chose to violate the tenets of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States by passing Amendment One.  Not since 1875, when the state voted to disallow interracial marriage, has NC chosen to take away the rights of a minority.  Welcome to the 19th century.

I wish everyone in NC could have heard this eloquent argument by The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II prior to voting today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywImcNViPtc

Salute to Black History Month

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWtxCW9stNk&feature=fvsr

 

 First Cousins 

Standing in front of their grandparents'  sod house.
Overton, Nebraska, Christmas, 1913

My father is the toddler being held by his older brother, 3rd from the left.

 February is Black History Month.  As one who learned my true racial heritage late in life, I take great pride in singing along to the words of the Black National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing!

These are MY people.  This is MY family.  Celebrate diversity.

Wise Words

Below  is a small excerpt from an op/ed piece written for CNN.  Julian Zelizer recalls the midterm elections for presidents Reagan and Clinton, and how each was able to bounce back from miserable polls.  As a Democrat frustrated by the lack of screaming and yelling coming from others in my party, I found  the words hopeful and rational.  I also think Mr. Zelizer is absolutely correct.


"But Obama must also do a better job at telling voters what he is about. While the president has a large legislative record to boast of, it remains unclear to many voters, including Democrats who support much of the record, what it all adds up to.

It's time for Obama to state his agenda and lay out a set of governing principles that will guide him in his next two years as president. It's likely that the pressure of the 2010 midterm elections will compel Obama to present an argument to the public to build a case for his presidency."

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Julian E. Zelizer.

Julian Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. To read the complete article, click here:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/08/30/zelizer.obama.agenda/index.html?iref=allsearch

FAIL!

Sorry, Mr. President - but your speech tonight was lame.  Don't make me wish I'd voted for Hillary!

And Now They're Mad?

Christian Struzan, in a message to the tea party, penned these very insightful words.   He graciously granted permission for them to be posted here.  My thanks to him.

Christian is an artist living in LA. 

"YOU WANT TO GET MAD? We had eight years of Bush and Cheney, but now you get mad! You didn’t get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President. You didn’t get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate energy policy. You didn’t get mad when a covert CIA operative got ousted. You didn’t get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.. You didn’t get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us. You didn’t get mad when we spent over 600 billion(and counting) on said illegal war. You didn’t get mad when over 10 billion dollars just disappeared in Iraq. You didn’t get mad when you found out we were torturing people. You didn’t get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans. You didn’t get mad when we didn’t catch Bin Laden. You didn’t get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed. You didn’t get mad when we let a major US city drown. You didn’t get mad when we gave a 900 billion tax break to the rich. You didn’t get mad when, using reconciliation; a trillion dollars of our tax dollars were redirected to insurance companies for Medicare Advantage which cost over 20 percent more for basically the same services that Medicare provides. You didn’t get mad when the deficit hit the trillion dollar mark, and our debt hit the thirteen trillion dollar mark. You finally got mad when the government decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick. Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, are all okay with you, but helping other Americans… oh hell no. AND NOW YOU’RE MAD !"

By: Christian Struzan

Those with similar views need to speak out  - LOUDLY and CLEARLY!  And NOW!

Words of Wisdom

I read with great interest John Avlon's special to CNN today.  His commentary (read on cnn.com) discusses 42nd President Bill Clinton's  policies, legacy and words of advice. 
The former president said this about the current incendiary language being used by right-wing extremists:  "There is a big difference between criticizing a policy or a politician and demonizing the government that guarantees our freedoms and the public servants who enforce our laws."

Mr. Avlon ends with these wise words:  "To see politics, we must view it with the broadest sense of perspective -- remembering that patriotism is ultimately more important than partisanship."

Great Quote

"The world is too small, our wisdom too limited, our time here too short,  to waste any more of it in winning fleeting victories at other people's expense. We have to now find a way to triumph together."

Bill Clinton

This great quote, found on an art site today, was in someone's signature block.  We need a lot more of this type of thinking.

One Year Ago

OK - I voted for Barack Obama because I believed he could get something done, could get us out of this terrible, horrible mess brought to these United States by noneother than Shrub, Cheney and the Bushies.  I STILL believe it.

What a difference a year makes.  Yes - there has been progress.  One year ago we were on the verge of the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression.  Check out the stock market for Pete's sake.  There's been great progress on a lot of things.  But who would know? 

Come on Dems - be proud of what you've done.  Be proud of CHIP, be proud of the Lily Ledbetter Act, be proud of Cash for Clunkers, be proud of the 1st time homeowner tax credit and a whole lot more!

A complete list of first year accomplishments is available on The White House website:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Here are just a few of them:

Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009

Signed: Friday, October 30, 2009

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010

Signed: Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act

Signed: Thursday, October 22, 2009

Cash For Clunkers Extension

Signed: Thursday, August 6, 2009

Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act

Signed: Monday, June 22, 2009

Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009

Signed: Friday, May 22, 2009

Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act

Signed: Friday, May 22, 2009

Helping Families Save Their Homes Act

Signed: Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act

Signed: Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act

Signed: Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Omnibus Public Lands Management Act

Signed: Monday, March 30, 2009

Small Business Act Temporary Extension

Signed: Friday, March 2009

At Last!

I'm over the moon that Minnesota at last has two senators and that one of them is Al Franken!!! Harvard educated and very smart, he will be a valuable asset to the United States Senate.

Congratulations, Senator.

If We Ignore Him, Will He Go Away?

For those of you who can't believe anyone actually listens to an egocentric gas-bag like the loud mouth from Florida - this is for you. Bob Cesca of The Huffington Post penned it so much more articulately than I ever could.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/the-dittohead-party-how-t_b_171979.html

Message to the World

My DH received this today from a former college roommate. I think it is perfect. Sorry I do not know the original source.

Dear World:

We, the United States of America, your top quality supplier of the ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for our 2001-2008 interruption in service.

The technical fault that led to this eight-year service outage has been located, and the software responsible was replaced November 4. Early tests of the newly installed program indicate that we are now operating correctly, and we expect it to be fully functional on January 20. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage.

We look forward to resuming full service and hope to improve in years to come.

We thank you for your patience and understanding,

Sincerely,

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

An Awesome Day!

From the primary..............

To the nomination.........

To the crowds in Denver..........

To Inauguration Day.............

What an awesome campaign this has been. I'm overcome with emotions - optimism, elation, pride. More thoughts on this day and the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States - Barack Obama - to come.

Almost Over

Ladies and gentlemen - our long national nightmare of the last eight years will be over in less than 12 hours. I cannot wait!!!

Comics are in some ways sad that they will no longer have this kind of material:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxkpm7bH7j4