Spread the truth about voting rights

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS! Spread the true word about voting & ID requirements: Get your info from your local Voting Registrar, not from billboards and television spots paid for by special interests and hate groups.

Back To School

I was pretty impressed with the speech President Obama made to all the kids on Earth yesterday. Being a cynical type I expect the "work hard, take responsibility and don't expect things to be handed to you" message won't go over too well with some folks.

Once the speech was done I flipped over Fox News to see what crazy wingnut conspiracy theory they could attach to the speech. It was a pleasant surprise to discover they were initially hard-pressed to find anything negative about the President's message. From the tight smiles and strained voices I could tell it was killing them or at least causing career-panic among the broadcasters that couldn't think of anything bad to say. I speculate fear was rampant as each newsie was terrified of being the first one giving a thumbs up to President Obama for worry they would lose their job. One pundit did manage to sneak in that she was disappointed that the President didn't find the time to address traditional family values. Except, of course, urging children to study, work hard, finish school and try to make something of themselves is about as family values as you can get.

As usual, Fox News got up to their usual tricks when it came to the informational banner at the bottom of the screen...

You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes

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January 20th: The New Independence Day

Out of the gutter

Everyone is talking about change. I want to believe President-elect Obama will be different in many ways from his predecessors and I'll give him and his administration the benefit of the doubt until the gang in Washington gets up to their usual tricks.

The "Change" that is expected means a lot of different things to a lot of people. There is fear of change and of course wildly overblown expectations of a new age of peace and prosperity. While not prepared to speak for my generation the "Change" I think we expect is something less concrete and may be more ephemeral. My generation was raised on the idea that equality is a given and was long overdue, and any lack of progress towards that goal was due to either our laziness or by the hate of the ignorant. For many my age, that an African-American is elected President in America is more of "Okay, no reason there shouldn't be." The "Change" I expect promised by the Obama administration is one of leadership.

But for my Mom the "Change" is more real and much more personal. It is historic.

As a child, my Mom lived for a time in Little Rock, Arkansas. It was expected then, with the very real result of brutal reprisal for not complying, that African-Americans would step off the sidewalk if a Caucasian person was also using the path. The right of way was for white people only. African-Americans would have to tread into mud, water, dirt or worse until the other person passed by.

That a member of the human race could go from being forced to stand in a gutter to being President of the United States of America within her lifetime is the change that my Mom voted for. The slogan on those posters was not only a promise from Obama to America, but from my Mom as well.

The Face of Change

The change of face.

Possible World

Via Bully.