The Progressive Patriots Fund is asking for a word or phrase to describe a quality you’d like you see in our next president.
You can download the ‘My President Will Be…’ sign or make your own. Write down your word or phrase and upload a photo of yourself with your sign.
Here’s Russ Feingold’s video:
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=ivaTo6b2F7M[/youtube]
Thanks to Bob Dylan for the inspiration…
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=5KKmQp8-bog[/youtube]
I’ve been awarded the “Thoughtful Blogger Award” by Jolly Roger at Reconstitution 2.0. JR said the most lovely thing:
Virus Head is one of the most gracious people I’ve encountered in my years of blogging. She has a gentle patience that almost makes me feel bad for the chainsaw approach I take to some of my more notable commenters. I DON’T feel bad, of course, but seeing her way stops me dead in my tracks from time to time.
For those who answer blog comments, emails, and make their visitors feel at home on their blogs. For the people who take others feelings into consideration before speaking out and who are kind and courteous. Also for all of those bloggers who spend so much of their time helping others bloggers design, improve, and fix their sites. This award is for those generous bloggers who think of others.
This means a lot to me, all the more so because at times I really have to struggle to maintain civility. It is very comforting for me to know that some readers notice (and care) that I try to be as gracious and understanding as I can (even when provoked). I don’t always succeed. It is very tempting for me to give in to my flair for a kind of wicked wit; it’s fun! I enjoy argument more than dialogue, and I really, really enjoy winning an argument. It’s true. What can I say?
When the urge comes, I try to remember that I can’t see the person, so I miss all sorts of nonverbal cues in the communication. I can’t adjust my rhetoric or style when I am missing vital information. I can’t add a smile or convey a sense of irony. Words on the page come across differently. You can’t broadcast the tone of voice, the facial expression.
People are also at all sorts of levels in different areas. They are from all sorts of backgrounds, and a wide range of personal, community, and cultural experience. You have to take people where they are to get anywhere… if it’s worth bothering at all. Online, it is sometimes difficult to get much of a sense of where someone might really be “coming from.”
It’s the teacher in me that usually wins the battle over my inner debater and warrior. Sometimes it’s a strain. I can get a little derisive from time to time. But I think less of myself when I do.
So – thanks, Jolly Roger. The admiration of a pirate is a wondrous thing.
Yes, this is another of those “Create-a-network” meme awards. You can link this back to me if you wish, you may choose to name others, or not. It’s up to you.
Can I toss it back in your general direction, JR? I am so glad to have met you online.
Todd at Postcards from Hell’s Kitchen is my earliest blogger contact on the net. He gets out there and explores everything there is. He is kind and caring and witty and very gracious.
Maria has a MySpace blog. She is a doll (I mean that in the good way). I first encountered her through the site Women Evolving. I can’t find it on the net anymore, but I used to visit the site years ago to be refreshed. She’s so very sweet and kind it almost kills me sometimes. We are contemporaries from Massachusetts, but we’ve never met.
Actually, I’ve never met anyone on this list. If I were to list people I knew, the list would be unmanageable.
Vance’s Meditations on an Eyeball illustrate the value of quality over quantity. He wrestles with difficult religious and philosophical questions. His posts are somehow both opinionated and open. In correspondence, he is a thoughtful and gracious writer. I’m putting him on the list because I hope that he will get more comments on his blog and have more of a chance to let his inner hospitality shine.
Don at Life Cycle Analysis posts on environmental change, archaeology, and human interactions with the environment. He always gets a fair number of comments. Here’s a “moonbat” who rises above it all (note the url of the blog – I know that “moonbat” is meant to be an insulting word to signify a crazy liberal, but I love the sound of the word). His blog has some interesting things you won’t see elsewhere.
Some of the most thoughtful kind people I’ve encountered online don’t blog at all, or not much.
For example, Elainna is a long-time online friend and Care2 buddy (her site is The Wild Side). She is a tireless worker for spirituality, the environment, progressive politics, and a host of other causes. I get a whole bunch of leads from her on petitions to sign, letters to write, news to read, things to do. She is always gracious and caring, and I am rather fond of her.
Dennis doesn’t post very often at his blog, but he does post at his Care2 group Love, Tolerance, and Ridiculous Stuff. Do you really want to see the thoughtful and hospitable response? He’s got it down to a science. I think he even means it.
Impeachment Workshop, June 28th
This workshop will focus on Bush’s impeachable offenses and bring out the full array of crimes committed by the Bush administration. Speakers will also address the need to build a movement across the country on the grounds of impeachment as the vehicle to force the Bush administration from office.
Thursday, June 28, 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Inman Park United Methodist Church
DOT-ADA Community Room
Marta Stop- Inman Park
1 block from the station on Edgewood Dr.Speakers:
Dennis Loo, co-editor of the book “Impeach the President: A Case Against Bush and Cheneyâ€, an Associate Professor of Sociology at Cal Poly Pomona, and member of the World Can’t Wait Steering Committee.
Prachi Noor, member of the World Can’t Wait Steering Committee and involved since its launch in July 2005. She has been at the forefront of the movement to stop the repression of immigrant communities.
David Swanson, co-founder of the AfterDowningStreet.org coalition, a writer and activist, and the Washington Director of Democrats.com.
Mathew Cardinale, editor of Atlanta Progressive News
Crimes Against Humanity–The Bush Record, June 29th
You thought you knew. But you can’t really know until you see the full scale and scope of all the crimes brought together. It is far worse than you could even imagine. This is the documentation that activists in all fields need.
Join the session “Crimes Against Humanity–The Bush Record†at the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta, Friday, June 29, at 10:30 am.
Location: Second Floor meeting room of the Central Library. The Library is at the corner of William St. NW and Forsyth St. NW.
Participants in the Atlanta panel include: Dennis Brutus, South African poet and former prisoner with Nelson Mandela on Robben Island, Ann Wright, former US diplomat and retired US Army Colonel, Larry Everest, author of Oil, Power & Empire: Iraq and the U.S. Global Agenda, Clark Kissinger, convener of the Commission, together with short video excerpts on the evidence.
The hearings of the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity, held in the winter of 2005-2006, is where the U.S. public first heard, brought together in one place, the stunning evidence of crimes against committed by the Bush Administration.
These hearings are where we first heard together: * Gen. Janis Karpinski describe how the orders for torture at Abu Ghraib came right from the top. * Journalist Jeremy Scahill expose the deployment of armed mercenaries in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and the ethnic cleansing that followed. * Dr. Alan Berkman detail the genocidal implications of the Bush administration’s “abstinence only†policy as the cure for AIDS in Africa. * Daphne Wysham document the censorship of government scientists trying to warn of global warming. * United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter explain exactly how the Bush administration in fact that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
The printed verdict of the Commission and two different DVD programs based on the hearings will be available at the session.
Our mandate from the beginning has been to change the very terms of debate in society by forcefully raising the proof of crimes against humanity. You can help make this important material available to the thousands coming to the U.S. Social Forum by contributing to the Commission.
Help put the DVDs of the Bush Crimes Commission into the hands of activists from all over the country. Make a tax-deductible contribution to support the work of Bush Crimes Commission. Other contributions can be made out to NION SOC Inc., and mailed to NION, 305 West Broadway, #199, New York, NY 10013.
What question would you like to ask the top three Democratic candidates?
On June 4, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama will join Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners live on CNN for a conversation about faith, values, and poverty — and they’re asking supporters to vote for their favorite question to ask in front of a national television audience.
The presidential candidates forum will be a unique opportunity to shape the national debate over faith and values — and to put poverty on the national agenda. Be sure to tune into the forum on Monday, June 4, at 7 p.m. Eastern Time to see which question is asked — and how the candidates respond.
The questions were submitted by Sojourners supporters.
I’ve just cast my vote for my favorite question (of the very few questions given):
Executive salaries have increased by almost 300% in recent years, while wages for ordinary workers have remained stagnant. What specific policies would you endorse to address the growing gap of “Haves” and “Have-nots” in our nation? – Submitted by Randy from Deer Park, TX
I’ve been missing in action, I know. I’ll write all about the following when I get more than a couple of minutes.
Um. I think that’s it, other than some household repair things (too tedious to get into) and the sorts of things (sleeping, brushing teeth, etc.) that you have to do – and which take up time – but that don’t “count” on a list like this.
I didn’t even have a chance to make my usual Halloween page. Boo.
When I get a little breathing room, I’ll post a couple of pics, and fill in some details. I suspect the blogging will be a bit light until that book gets turned in, though – so just in case I get completely overwhelmed, I’d better say this one thing to all you American progressives, populists, greens, democrats – oh heck, anyone to the LEFT of Attila the Hun:
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
Weekly Unconscious Mutterings Meme – Week 183
I say … and you think … ?
And here’s an example of the ugga-mugga, almost at the end.
Did you know that Mister Rogers once saved PBS from Nixon? This is terrific!
I would love to see a warrior of caring such as this change hearts and minds in Washingon today. I loved Mister Rogers (and I liked the comedy sketches based on him too – it was easy to make fun of him, and many did). But what a wonderful voice and what a great form of communication, especially for children. Now, as a mom, as an American, as someone who can still be affected even today by what he is saying here and how he is saying it, I can’t help but think that this is the kind of thing we’ve been missing in our public discourse.
We don’t have a love and peace movement, and I can’t see how one could succeed at the moment. Our religious leaders seem to present more of a problem than a solution. The progressive faithful still lack strong voices in the public sphere.
Are there still people who can speak in contemporary terms, who can speak like this? Wouldn’t that be something to see? Imagine how differently Senate hearings would go, for instance, if the testimonies rang with authenticity, not mendacity.