Isn’t it amazing
The Obama Campaign & Movement 

TURN THAT MICROPHONE BACK ON…I PAID FOR IT!

Freedom of expression under attack from those who want to “control the microphone”.
Strange bed-fellows try to stifle public discussions in public places.

Local governments are united in opposition to permiting public debate and discussions in public places including public buildings. (such as, libraries, community centers, city hall, city counsel chambers; etc) No, I am not joking…loss of freedom of expression undermines the whole idea of participatory democracy. Participatory democracy requires informed citizens who can dialogue with others in their community; but why should they be denied access to public meeting places. (Note to all of you public officials, we are not interested in your excuse, it’s the law. Tell what accomodations you will commit to.)

And, what about all these city counsel candidates; whose side are they on?Just maybe if they had public places to discuss issues with concerned citizens, (and I don’t mean forums with 30 sec available to talk about our future) maybe they would feel that litering the roadways with name recognition signs would be less important and even foregone.

Controlling the microphone is not  limited to city officials; it is also appearing in the blogshere. A self describe progressive web site is leaning on me to post less or…?

We have already loss freedom of expression with the MSM and Fox who only want their version to be seen.

A number of local bloggers and political reporters have been willing to hear me out…of course, to them, Freedom of expression is a big deal.  I invite them to go with me when I visit any of our city halls. Freedom of expression is not alive and well here in the 45th CD.

  Isn’t it amazing
The Obama Campaign & Movement 
Full Text Of Barack Obama’s Speech in 2002 (answer to question #1) :

October 2, 2002

“Good afternoon. Let me begin by saying that although this has been billed as an anti-war rally, I stand before you as someone who is not opposed to war in all circumstances. The Civil War was one of the bloodiest in history, and yet it was only through the crucible of the sword, the sacrifice of multitudes, that we could begin to perfect this union, and drive the scourge of slavery from our soil. I don’t oppose all wars.

My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton’s army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka. He fought in the name of a larger freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil, and he did not fight in vain. I don’t oppose all wars.

After September 11th, after witnessing the carnage and destruction, the dust and the tears, I supported this administration’s pledge to hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the name of intolerance, and I would willingly take up arms myself to prevent such tragedy from happening again. I don’t oppose all wars. And I know that in this crowd today, there is no shortage of patriots, or of patriotism.

What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.

What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income – to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression. That’s what I’m opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics. Now let me be clear – I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity. He’s a bad guy. The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him.

But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history. I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US 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.

So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the President today. You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s finish the fight with Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings. You want a fight, President Bush?

Let’s fight to make sure that the UN inspectors can do their work, and that we vigorously enforce a non-proliferation treaty, and that former enemies and current allies like Russia safeguard and ultimately eliminate their stores of nuclear material, and that nations like Pakistan and India never use the terrible weapons already in their possession, and that the arms merchants in our own country stop feeding the countless wars that rage across the globe. You want a fight, President Bush?

Let’s fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own people, and suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without education, without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of terrorist cells. You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to wean ourselves off Middle East oil, through an energy policy that doesn’t simply serve the interests of Exxon and Mobil. Those are the battles that we need to fight. Those are the battles that we willingly join. The battles against ignorance and intolerance. Corruption and greed. Poverty and despair.

The consequences of war are dire, the sacrifices immeasurable. We may have occasion in our lifetime to once again rise up in defense of our freedom, and pay the wages of war. But we ought not — we will not — travel down that hellish path blindly. Nor should we allow those who would march off and pay the ultimate sacrifice, who would prove the full measure of devotion with their blood, to make such an awful sacrifice in vain.”

What are we supposed to do ignore it

The Hil/Bil Blackwater Connection
The Hil/Bil Norman Hsiu Connection
The Hil/Bil Multiple Posturing on Iraq
The Hil/Bil Parsing Policy Positions
The Hil/Bil Union Busting Connection 
The Hil/Bil GQ connection
The Hil/Bil Family Charade
The Hil/Bil Dynasty Thing

I guess all the loyal Democrats must think these issues pall in comparson when compared to electing the Clintons again; after all they will partake of the spoils of victory. It is, in my view, unpatriotic, during very difficult times for Americans and America to place Party Goals above the needs of their country. 

To the charge I am doing a disservice to the Democratic Party: only because the DP is falling lock step behind the Clintons who cannot lead even if they win. When the DP puts Country ahead of self-interest then I will see what they have to say. Until then, I will listen to Barack.

Obama reminded the crowd of United Auto Workers members in Illinois and the crowd in Aiken that he opposed invading Iraq at a time when most other politicians – including chief rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards – supported it. Obama expressed his opposition in the fall of 2002 when he was a state senator and considering a run for the U.S. Senate.
“We need to ask those who voted for that war, ‘How could we give the president a check and then be surprised when he decides to cash it?'” Obama told the South Carolina crowd.
when “this war is over, we can finally get back to facing the challenges we face here at home, the challenges you’re grappling with every day.”
The first-term Illinois senator said the war now costs between $10 billion and $12 billion a month. He noted that President Bush had vetoed a $35 billion measure expanding a children’s health program and wants almost $190 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Clinton had criticized him for being willing to meet with leaders in Iran and Venezuela. Clinton claimed “you’ll lose a propaganda war” by talking with them, Obama said.
“I am not worried about losing a propaganda battle with some petty tyrant,” he said.
He also said there are “folks in al-Qaida who we can’t negotiate with. We’ve got to take them out. I will not hesitate to do what is necessary to protect the United States of America.”

  Isn’t it amazing
The Obama Campaign & Movement 

What candidate for President has the best chance to enlist the largest majority of all Americans to unite behind and to support his/her vision for America?

This is a question for every voter to ask themselves. There is no single right answer. Your opinion and mine are entitled to exist side by side in the public arena. Then, debate/discussion/education/comparisons take place and are essential to participatory democracy.

When someone suggests you are being un-fair, the larger community will by their own voice evaluate and the community will collectively determine is it fair or not. If the larger community decides that you are wrong, you are entitled to try and change their opinion or to accept their collective judgment. If you choose to do the latter, and apology would probably be accepted.

“Those polling categories that presume to define the vast chasm between

Us do not, Obama reminds us, add up to the sum of our concerns or hint at

Where our hearts otherwise intersect.” quote from John Balzar, Los Angeles Times.