A little over four years ago...

I attended the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Protesters, supporters, an abundance of police, armed forces and secret service milled around Boston's Fleet Center. Once inside, I was lucky enough to slide into some borrowed VIP seats in time to see Barack Obama deliver the keynote address. I wondered to my colleagues aloud at the end, "When can we have this guy as our President?". He delivered an amazing speech, a unifying speech and not just for the Democrats. He was commanding, eloquent and spoke honestly about how to heal a divided nation. When people have asked me why I have supported Obama I keep pointing back to that night that I had a glimmer of the hope that an Obama presidency would bring.

Barack Obama delivering the keynote at the 2004 DNC on Flickr

Last night, when the Obama landslide victory was announced, I welled up uncontrollably. I didn't cry for a politician, I think like many Americans I felt like a veil had been lifted. Seven years of fear mongering, misleading the nation and mishandling of both man-made and natural disasters are finally book-ended by a historic win for a deserving, intelligent leader. I finally feel truly hopeful about America for the first time in a long time.

This wasn't an easy win and I have friends and family who flew to battleground states, made phone calls, donated money and goods, held fundraisers and more. When it was all over there was dancing in the streets. DANCING. IN. THE. STREETS! When is the last time a political candidate inspired more than a cocktail party? Truly amazing.

I know it sounds corny and empty without action behind it but, I believe in Barack Obama, I believe in the hope he has already inspired and I know that will translate to action in the coming years. I can't thank all of you enough for voting for Barack Obama. Yes we did!

Labels: politics

at 12:42 AM | 4 Comments

Laptops for change?

My friend Chris Wetherell decided he couldn't sit on his hands during this election and flew out to a county that is in need of Democratic assistance. He's been there since early this month and will be staying through the election. Chris tells me that their greatest need right now is laptops that can run Firefox. Just a straw poll of our own office yielded a few good laptops that we are going to send their way. Can you help Obama with your old laptop? A few requests and things to note:

1. Please wipe off any data you might need before sending. Ideally, you would nuke it and reinstall the OS and Firefox.
2. Do not send junk. Please fire it up and check to make sure it's in good shape. Send along power supplies, etc.
3. Don't wait! DO IT NOW!
4. After they are done using them, they will be donated to schools serving the underprivileged.
5. [updated] With the laptop, please send a note with your name address, and phone number so we can thank you or call with any questions.
6. Please send them directly the office where Chris is working:

ATTN: CJ Ash, Florida Democratic Party
2321 Central Ave
St Petersburg, FL 33713

Thank you!

Labels: politics

at 11:50 AM | 0 Comments

Vote!

Design and reminder courtesy of Matt Haughey.

Labels: politics

at 8:44 PM | 0 Comments

Two barely related things

1. John Edwards seems like he would make a great president. Unfortunately, so do all of the other Democratic candidates. This is going to be a nail biter.
2. The Picasa Web Albums team shipped this awesome little slideshow-embed thing that I'm going to try out with some mediocre pictures I took last week. I bet you can do better. (Also I'm guessing this won't show up in a feed reader since it uses the embed tag so I need to go write an email about that for the Reader team right now.)

Labels: google, photos, politics

at 6:02 PM | 0 Comments

Peace, brought to you by Mom

My Mom, Toni, retired from teaching grade school after over 20 years of service over the years. Of course that has only slowed her down a little. She's now a delegate for the Democratic party in California and spends quite a bit of time protesting the Iraq war, sorting out who would make the best candidate for president (she's seen Obama and Edwards on their Bay Area trips) and working for peace at the local level with a church group. Frankly, I thought retirement looked a lot more like relaxing before I saw her retire (also I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to bail her out of jail one of these days). Say what you will about her politics, but I'm proud of her passion for peace and it's certainly carried over to her sons. She and Dad called me this week from the California Democratic Convention and they were both sure that whomever the Democratic party picked to run would make a great step in the direction of peace. On the fourth anniversary of the war she wrote a letter to the editor of our hometown paper. I'm printing it here to show her more people will read it on a blog than in a paper these days (I've got to sell her own her own blog one of these days).

From The Argus - Sunday, March 25, 2007

ON MARCH 19, to mark the fourth anniversary of the war with Iraq, more than 100 members of our community gathered together at a candlelight vigil for peace to remember the 3,218 American soldiers and the 65,000 innocent Iraqi civilians who have lost their lives in this war.

I would like to thank all of those who participated in this event. There was a sense of unity among us as we mourned the loss of all those precious lives. We stood unified, too, in calling for an end to this tragic war.

More than 1,150 vigils were held across the country that evening.

One of my favorite slogans is "Democracy is not a spectator sport." I believe that concept is at the very heart of our nation. All of the people who cared enough to stand on a street corner on a chilly night holding a candle for peace understand that concept, too.

We will continue to write, call, and e-mail our legislators and President Bush. We will march, rally, hope and pray until this immoral war is ended. We must continue to speak out, for silence is the biggest enemy of democracy.

Toni M. Shellen

Thanks for working for a more peaceful world Mom.

Labels: family, peace, personal, politics

at 11:59 PM | 2 Comments