Congratulations, Barack Obama! Congratulations, America! We chose hope, and change, and we didn't give into the politics of fear and hate and divisiveness. This is a proud and happy day for our country. We've taken a huge step to get back on the right path.
We are the change we've been waiting for, and it's our time now!
What is a Barack Obama presidency going to look like? We're about to get to witness it and be involved in it first-hand, but if you want a preview, enjoy...
...and we are about to. We are mere hours away from change we can believe in. Not Barack Obama, but ourselves. I woke up with goosebumps this morning and still have them. I suspect they're going to be here for a while, at least through this evening's returns. You probably already smiling, too, and if not, here you go.
You're not the type that believes those emails when you get them, and you certainly don't send them on to everyone in your address book—you don't, do you? I mean, c'mon, even John McCain knows as much.
Anyway, at the very least, you probably are curious like me, where these malicious lies about Barack Obama come from, lies that are created with the sole purpose of creating fear and outrage in ordinary Americans. And I don't mean who perpetuates the lies—thanks, Fox News and Rush "Where-are-my-pills?" Limbaugh—but who actually originates the mistruths?
Look no further, truth-seeker, as Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times (the one Sarah Palin reads) serves up the truth behind (some of) the lies.
Spoiler Alert: This particular fear-mongering smear campaign actually isn't headed up by Karl Rove this time: it's a 62 year-old man named Andy, who:
For more information on the lies that lying liars tell about Barack Obama, and to connect the dots even further, visit FightTheSmears.com.
(Post-debate addendum: This just in, McCain isn't innocent in this matter either, as he himself in the final debate took one last cheap shot and perpetuated the myth and outright lie that Obama is chums with Bill Ayers, and specifically that Obama began his political career in Ayers' home, a known falsehood. Shame on you, McCain.)
If you're like me, you're ready for change NOW, and are getting tired of the political season and the egregious lies that the McCain Palin people are spewing--particularly the ones their famed pitbull is currently churning out--then take a moment to watch this light-hearted PSA, reminding you that not only do you need to vote, but that you in fact have to be registered to do so.
(Yeah, I know, you've seen www.barackobamaisyournewbicycle.com before, but it's still cool, and the intertubes was feeling a bit slow this Monday, so go have some fun...)
Some of the better quotes:
"A Bush won't be on the ballot in November....He'll be back here in Texas...y'all are going to have to figure out what to do with him."
"Not a single great thing was ever accomplished in this country that didn't start with someone having hope."
"Hope is not facing serious challenges and mountainous obstacles and naively pretending they don't exist. Hope is seeing those insurmountable odds and still, somehow finding something within that says, 'We're going to do this, we can make it,' and overcoming those challenges."
"This is a movement, and now, it's time to move."
"Si, se puede."
"We are the change we've been waiting for."
Special props to Matthew and Mary Beth, who are not particularly (or at all?) Obama supporters or registered Democrats, but who came anyway, not just to listen, but to be a part of something historic, something special. And a shout out to all our friends and neighbors who also got out to the event, enduring bad traffic and long lines of people to lend their ears and give change a chance.
With Super Tuesday fast approaching, those Phenomenologists over at Obey are getting into the campaigning spirit, with a call to the ballot box, urging Americans the country over to exercise their right to be the 'We' in 'We, the people.'
Of course, like me, they have a particular candidate they'd like to ask you to vote for:
...more a statesman than a politician. He was against the war when it was an unpopular position (and Hillary was for the war at that time)...he is for energy and environmental conservation. He is for healthcare reform.
And who could they be talking about? Who else:
In realizing the importance of this election, and the rare opportunity to have a real change in Washington, we are trying to get involved in any way we can. One of the new steps was to set up a fundraising page to help raise campaign support for Obama. Whatever you may have heard from pundits, the truth is this: Barack Obama's campaign is not being funded by lobbyists and special interests groups or PACs; it is being funded by regular Americans like us, and like the lady Barack likes to mention when he talks, who sent him a moneygram for $3.01, along with a verse from the Bible. (Any guess on the verse?)
Maybe Obama's not your guy. Maybe you're not so sure about giving money to a Democrat (or even a Republican for that matter). But maybe, just maybe, you are ready for some change, and maybe, just maybe, you're ready to do something about it.
Make a donation today, won't you? We can make a change together, no matter what the pundits or political curmudgeons say.
YES, WE CAN!
Four years ago, I was watching CSPAN one night when a young African-American man, a political unknown, who was running for Senate came on the TV. Within seconds of his talk, painting a hopeful picture of a united United States and a return to being a great nation, I ran and got Jenni and told her she had to come see the "man who will become the first African-American President in the U.S."
After being outspent by the Big Political Machine, after being tossed under the bus and told it couldn't be done, particularly while declining special interest donations, Barack Obama was able to take a first (and huge) step in doing it: running a grassroots campaign fueled by hope and the 'whatever they could afford' donations of almost 500,000 Americans who are longing for change, who don't want Red states and Blue states, but a truly United States of America.
We have been supporting him for over a year now, and his bumper sticker has been on our car for months. This is one of this times where you know you want to be on the right side of history. And four years after that first epiphany, it's so incredibly exciting to see it beginning.