Words we needed to hear

I think he did an excellent job- as usual. Eloquent a intelligent.  Only RFK did better after a tragedy- when he heard the news of MLK's assassination.

Purple Blues

Almost there

I'm not quite sure what else I need. I don't want to go too far, but it hasn't told me that it's finished yet.

Presidential Painting

Here are the first two days' progress on a new watercolor painting I'm doing. The assignment I gave my students is to create a monochromatic portrait, and include a value scale along the side.

I tried to find a fairly serious photo of the President. I wanted to avoid cheesy, overly exuberant, or angry. I think the one I found was pretty somber- although I suspect that my own disappointment in yesterday's mid-terms may  be intruding because he looks particularly melancholy. I was looking at the photo upside down, trying to render it as clinically and visually analytically a manor as I could. It will be interesting to see how this one progresses through the week.

Education, Perceptions, and the Election

I received this as an Email; I didn't do the fact check, but i is enough to cause some thought even if some of the facts are not fully accurate.


What if things were switched around? Think about it...

Would the country's collective point of view be different?

Ponder the following:

What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review? What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcee?

What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe disfiguring car accident, when she no longer measured up to his standards?

What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?

What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five? (The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)

What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?

What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?

What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?

You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.

Educational Background:

Barack Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

John McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Sarah Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Education isn't everything, but this is about the two highest offices in the land as well as our standing in the world. You make the call.

When will the truth finally set us free?

Recently someone forwarded an email to me warning that Barack Obama is the Antichrist because the book of Revelation says that his reign will be 42 months, the same as a U.S. Presidential term. Big mistake. I hit the "reply" button and preached that brother a sermon. Here's what I wrote:

It's not possible for the book of Revelation to claim the anti-christ is of Islamic decent, 1) Islam wasn't invented yet when it was written, 2) it's a religion not an ethnicity so you can't be of Islamic decent.

An anti-Christ is anyone who takes attention away from the true Christ.

I suggest you read the 1 John 4:1-3

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world."

Obama publicly acknowledges Jesus as his Lord and savior.

While you're at it, you need to bone up on your both your theology and your eschatology a little bit. Many fundamentalist strains of Christianity believe in a false doctrine called dispensationalism that is not truly found in Scripture, but rather was developed in 19th century America.

You're trying to frighten Christian voters into being afraid of Barak Obama, a devout Christian himself- not a Muslim or the anti-christ. This is NOT a Christ-like behavior.

1 John 4:18 tells us that "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." Besides, Jesus tells us in Matthew 5 and Luke 6 to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

What you're doing is "the ends-justifies-the-means." You're so afraid of Obama yourself, that you're willing to spread lies and propaganda about him to insure that McCain/Palin win. That's not Jesus- that's Machiavelli.

Dispensationalists pretend to be friends of Israel because they think that Jerusalem will be some kind of celestial star-gate for Jesus' second coming, when in reality they are anti-semitic, hating Jews and blaming them for killing Jesus. They can't wait for them to be "Left-Behind" and sent to Hell. Whereas, granted, Jesus may be the only way, truth and life (John 14:6) BUT- God does not WANT ANYONE to perish (2 Peter 3:9).

It's so unfortunate that politics makes such strange bedfellows because Catholics that are so adamantly opposed to abortion find quick and fervent allies among fundamentalist and evangelicals in the religious-right movement, yet many of these allies suspect the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church itself of being the Antichrist and/or the Beast!

How do we know that Jerusalem won't be a cosmic star gate for his arrival to usher in some millennial reign? Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:22-24 that His true worshipers will worship in spirit and in truth, not in physical, geographical or political locations.

As for predictions and prophecies and televangelists who think that the market crash is a sign of the end times or Sarah Palin's prediction that Christians will find refuge from the tribulation in Alaska- Jesus tells us that he will return like a thief in the night in 1 Thessalonians 5:2 and in Matthew 24:36 He assures us that "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." We need to love and trust Him and not worry about signs or trying to help arrange things for Him politically. He doesn't need any help.
I know you mean well and I'm sure you truly love God and America, I'm sure you're a good person. But be careful not to be corrupted by politics and political messages, whether they're from the right OR the left. Don't be motivated by fear or anger. Be motivated by love and a desire to reconcile everyone to Jesus.

As God tells us in 2 Peter-
" 3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins."
Thank God, He's granted us liberty and privilege to elect our own leaders in the United States. If you want to vote solely on social issues that are important to you so be it. This is your right. But please, don't be frightened into any choice based on shoddy theological assertions of people who seek to use religion as a means to assert their political agendas.

Remember Galatians 3:28- "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
Guess what- there is neither Republican nor Democrat, Independent nor Libertarian, Black nor White, Asian nor Hispanic, Urban nor Suburban, Metropolitan nor Rural, either. Believe it or not, there ARE Liberal Democrats who LOVE Jesus and America and want what's best for everyone. I'll even bet that when we get to Heaven, we might just find a few Socialists, Communists, and even Anarchists there!

When will we ever live up to our motto? "E Pluribus Unum"- From many, one.

Soon, I pray.

Please forgive me if I've come off as angry or condescending in either of these emails. I happen to love Jesus and to love America and I have been wounded and persecuted and attacked and alienated and ostracized and doubted, slandered and shunned because I disagree with other Christians who watch Fox News more than they read their own Bibles and I feel like I have to either take a stand like Luther or gradually be pushed away from my Savior by His own "sheep."

Please forgive me, but please, please, don't fall prey to fear, lies, or political propaganda, let alone to false prophecies, false doctrines, and foolish heresies. Read the Bible, not political email forwards. Share God's love and His good news of forgiveness, not fear and racism.

America, this is our moment

Hillary Clinton made history by coming so close to winning the Democratic nomination on June 3.

Barack Obama graciously called her “a leader who inspires millions of Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight.”

More history was made that night. Only two sitting Senators have ever been elected President, Warren G. Harding, and John F. Kennedy. No matter who wins in November, they will be the third. Arizona Senator John McCain (age 71) is the oldest man to ever run for President.

I believe that history was made Tuesday, June 3, not because a Black man had accumulated enough delegates to win a party nomination, but when Sen. Obama told us that “Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.”

McCain’s speech that night was about Barack Obama, about how McCain doesn’t think Obama is qualified to be President and that his rhetoric about hope and change is just rhetoric. Hillary Clinton’s speech that night was about herself and how many people voted for her and how she deserves power. Obama’s speech wasn’t about a Black man making history, it wasn’t about himself or his rivals (except to praise them). His speech was about providing jobs, making taxes fair for the middle and working classes, making college and health care more affordable and restoring our reputation in the world.

Hillary supporters need to pull together behind the Democrat’s new nominee. Democrats will only hurt their chances in the Fall if they continue to campaign using fear, innuendo, and division. Those were the tactics of the Bush administration. Obama showed what he was made of when he stuck to the high road.

"What you won’t hear from this campaign or this party,” he told the crowd in St. Paul that Tuesday night, “is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon – that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize."

Frankly, I think that’s been a problem afflicting our nation since the days of Joseph Mccarthy.

Religion should be a tie that binds, not a tool for political leverage. So-called conservative Christianity is neither genuinely conservative or at all Christ-like. It’s radical and legalistic, like the Pharisees who were constantly trying to trap Jesus in the Bible.

The Right-wing religion introduced into the public square by the likes of Jerry Falwell back in the 1980’s is about fear, anger, and a need to control culture. It’s about prohibiting and preventing. It’s against a lot of things- but what is it for? It opposes things but what does it propose? Does it propose we feed the hungry? Refresh the thirsty? Invite in the stranger? Clothe the needy? Visit the sick and imprisoned? What would Jesus do?

TRUE patriotism is standing up for the principals embodied in the Declaration, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights- not just the flag or the pledge or a car magnet shaped like a ribbon. It's not a lapel pin.

Choose hope over fear? Yes we can.

I hope that Hillary supporters will unite with Obama supporters to truly change the direction of the Democratic party. So that it will be bottom-up and not top-down. So that it won’t be politics as usual. Millions of small donors on the internet instead of millions from corporate donors and special interest groups and lobbyists.

I also hope that Republicans who are sincere in their concern for traditional values, for families and for honest people who work hard for a living will find something about Senator Obama that they can agree with and be leery of the faux-maverick promises of John McCain.

We all need to be able to argue and debate and hash out solutions together to our problems without calling each other names or writing each other off as irrelevant or morally inferior. It really is time for some serious change.

Let’s come together “to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves and our highest ideals."

Words that will be written in history books

"What you won’t hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon – that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize."

~Sen. Barack Obama

This has been a dramatic difference between Republicans and Democrats since the days of Joseph Mccarthy in the 1950s. Religion should be a tie that binds, not a tool for political leverage. And TRUE patriotism is standing up for the principals embodied in the Declaration, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights- not just the flag or the pledge or some comfortable, capitalist, WASP way of life. It's not a lapel pin.

Choose hope over fear? Yes we can.

How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler

Prescott and son George Herbert Walker Bush in the 50's; A legacy of looking out for themselves, and lining their own pockets.

How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power
World news | The Guardian

So, George W. Bush, grandson of Prescott Bush (NAZI sympathizer) standing in the Knesset itself, comparing Obama to Neville Chamberlain! That's PRICELESS!

Well, okay, he just inferred that Obama was antisemitic, he let McCain actually stick Obama's name onto the Republican fear smear theme of those who would "appease" terrorists.

Point being, who's been eliminating Constitutional rights and violating international convention for the last 8 years? Who's promoted the interests of corporations over those of individuals (the basis of what Mussolini called fascism)? And who's got plans for a home and moving most of his assets to Dubai when he leaves office?

Please read this article about how Prescott Bush helped Hitler come to power. Americans need to know, traditional conservative Republicans need to know, that Bush and the "Neoconservatives" are hurting America.

In order to form a more perfect union

I think he is an amazing writer and speaker. If he is elected, this speech will be in History textbooks. If he isn't, it still points out difficult realities that we as Americans need to have honest, vulnerable, and serious conversations about.

If you'd rather read the speech yourself, the Chicago Tribune has posted the full text here.

Mired in mud, war wages on

“Tsuanmi Tuesday” is coming up next week so, here’s my take on what I’m calling “the Malevolent Seven,” the men and woman who would be President. In the interest of making it arbitrary, thereby giving the false impression of impartiality, let’s do it in reverse alphabetical order.

Former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt “perfect hair” Romney (R) has still got the money and the machinery. How will he do on Tuesday? Hard to say, he’ll probably do great in the big states where he’s run ad after ad on TV. He’s taken a lot of flack for being a flip-flopper.

But as appealing as his Reaganesque hair is, I think his biggest drawback will be his biggest strengths. He’s smooth, he’s good looking, and he has a captivating style. Just what any candidate needs right? But he’s too smooth, too good looking, and too stylish. Voters are gonna think he’s a phoney-McFake-pants and avoid him the way you avoid plastic people who are too perfect to be real, which is sad because they might be nice people, but they try too hard.

I am frankly, frightened for Illinois Senator Barrack Obama (D). He genuinely wants to heal our country and be a bridge-repairing consensus builder who reaches across party lines, racial lines, and probably even socio-economic levels. Nobody wants that. Get real. People hate a goody-goody. We like being angry at each other, calling each other names, and blaming each other for our problems.

How could he actually think he could get anywhere with a message of hope and reconciliation? If Bill and Hillary don’t take care of him, the Republicans will find a way to “swift-boat” him. And if he makes it though both of those onslaughts, I’m afraid that the majority of Americans are only pretending to be ready to elect a woman or a Black man. We’re still way more tribal than we want to admit to ourselves.

When you really get down to it, Arizona Senator John McCain (R) is about as old-school Republican as you get, but Republicans don’t think so. See, he proposed the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill years ago. Yeah, at one time he actually wanted to clean up politics. He’s also come out and publicly said that he’s opposed to torture- which makes sense, seeing as he was once a victim of it.

Be that as it may, he’s said that he’s willing to keep our troops in Iraq for a hundred years if that’s what it takes to win. I guess he forgot that we already won, several years ago. We deposed Saddam Hussein, defeated the Iraqi army and removed the Bathist Party from power. Since then, we’ve pretty much been hanging out, building the world’s largest air base and the world’s largest embassy, and ticking people off.

Then there’s Arkansas Governor Rev. Mike Huckabee (R). Ya want so much to like him because he’s nice and likeable and best friends with Chuck Norris, but there’s just something about him that makes you wonder if he’s not playing that guitar with a few strings missing, no pick, and his amp unplugged.

I’m not talking about the violent criminal activity of his sons, or the fact that he thinks that Pakistan is in Latin America. Even those of us who are on the same page with him on his Evangelical Christian faith and values need to step back and think twice before rushing to amend the Constitution. Of course, he also want so get rid of the IRS- who isn’t for that? Except, funny thing about government services is that they need revenues to pay for them. Even the most radical libertarian likes having an army protect us and appreciates things like roads, bridges, the Center for Disease Control…

How did former New York City Mayor Rudy Guliani (R) do in the Florida primary? When I wrote this a week ago, I could not imagine that his candidacy was going to last too much longer. But who knows? I have a friend who actually thinks that both of the nominations won’t get decided until the conventions this summer.

I feel bad for former South Carolina Senator John Edwards (D), because no one’s really listened to him since the Iowa Caucus. Ah, but not only does he have even better hair than Mitt Romney, but he also has a lot of delegates. He may just end up being the Democratic “King-maker” (or Queen maker, as the case may be). Eventually at least two people are going to start paying attention to him.

Finally there’s New York Senator and former First Lady, Hillary Clinton (D). If a Republican gets elected in November, I won’t blame any third-party candidates, I’ll blame the dirty campaigning and lying that she and her husband Bill were doing back in January.

Teddy endorsed Obama

Great quote

In response to the viral email accusing him of being a terrorist, Sen. Barack Obama asked supporters not to delete it in anger, but to reply kindly and lovingly tell their friends that it's a smear and not to be swayed by fear tactics.

Yes, we CAN

Sen. Barack Obama's "Yes We Can" Speech:

A few weeks ago, no one imagined that we’d have accomplished what we did here tonight. For most of this campaign, we were far behind, and we always knew our climb would be steep.

But in record numbers, you came out and spoke up for change. And with your voices and your votes, you made it clear that at this moment – in this election – there is something happening in America.

There is something happening when men and women in Des Moines and Davenport; in Lebanon and Concord come out in the snows of January to wait in lines that stretch block after block because they believe in what this country can be.

There is something happening when Americans who are young in age and in spirit – who have never before participated in politics – turn out in numbers we’ve never seen because they know in their hearts that this time must be different.

There is something happening when people vote not just for the party they belong to but the hopes they hold in common – that whether we are rich or poor; black or white; Latino or Asian; whether we hail from Iowa or New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina, we are ready to take this country in a fundamentally new direction. That is what’s happening in America right now. Change is what’s happening in America.

You can be the new majority who can lead this nation out of a long political darkness – Democrats, Independents and Republicans who are tired of the division and distraction that has clouded Washington; who know that we can disagree without being disagreeable; who understand that if we mobilize our voices to challenge the money and influence that’s stood in our way and challenge ourselves to reach for something better, there’s no problem we can’t solve – no destiny we cannot fulfill.

Our new American majority can end the outrage of unaffordable, unavailable health care in our time. We can bring doctors and patients; workers and businesses, Democrats and Republicans together; and we can tell the drug and insurance industry that while they’ll get a seat at the table, they don’t get to buy every chair. Not this time. Not now.

Our new majority can end the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas and put a middle-class tax cut into the pockets of the working Americans who deserve it.

We can stop sending our children to schools with corridors of shame and start putting them on a pathway to success. We can stop talking about how great teachers are and start rewarding them for their greatness. We can do this with our new majority.

We can harness the ingenuity of farmers and scientists; citizens and entrepreneurs to free this nation from the tyranny of oil and save our planet from a point of no return.

And when I am President, we will end this war in Iraq and bring our troops home; we will finish the job against al Qaeda in Afghanistan; we will care for our veterans; we will restore our moral standing in the world; and we will never use 9/11 as a way to scare up votes, because it is not a tactic to win an election, it is a challenge that should unite America and the world against the common threats of the twenty-first century: terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease.

All of the candidates in this race share these goals. All have good ideas. And all are patriots who serve this country honorably.

But the reason our campaign has always been different is because it’s not just about what I will do as President, it’s also about what you, the people who love this country, can do to change it.

That’s why tonight belongs to you. It belongs to the organizers and the volunteers and the staff who believed in our improbable journey and rallied so many others to join.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check. We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we’ve been told that we’re not ready, or that we shouldn’t try, or that we can’t, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.

Yes we can.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom through the darkest of nights.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world. Yes we can.

And so tomorrow, as we take this campaign South and West; as we learn that the struggles of the textile worker in Spartanburg are not so different than the plight of the dishwasher in Las Vegas; that the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America’s story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea – Yes. We. Can.

Hmmmm. what's up with THIS? A 'Dream Team?'

Richardson supporters moving to Obama camp

Posted: 10:08 PM ET

Obama and Richardson chat at Sen. Tom Harkin's Steak Fry in Iowa.(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

(CNN) — CNN’s Candy Crowley reports that supporters of Bill Richardson in Iowa are now moving over to Barack Obama as their second-choice candidate — a vital designation in the Democratic caucuses. A Clinton source tells her that “The 'Richardson thing’ is real," and that Clinton supporters in the caucuses report “people are moving en masse from Richardson to Barack Obama.”

Obama supporters dispute the reports.

Earlier Thursday, word spread that Richardson caucus goers in precincts where the former New Mexico governor was not “viable” – could not meet the required 15 percent threshold — were being urged to go with Obama as their second-choice candidate.

A Richardson spokesman told CNN that “no deal was cut between the two campaigns.”

The spokesman also said that there is a “natural overlap between Richardson and Obama supporters” on such issues as the war in Iraq and bringing change to Washington.

Hot on the 2008 Campaign Trail

This cartoon took WAY too long to create. Want to see the process I went through? Visit http://malloryart.blogspot.com/2007/04/mystic-art-revealed.html

Put me in Coach, I think I'm ready
Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper — Schleswig Leader, Thursday, April 12, 2007 – Page 3

I can’t help it. Other guys fantasize about playing major league baseball. Me? My daydream would be to follow along the campaign trail for the Post or the Tribune. One of the perks to living in Iowa for a political news junkie like me is that every four years the candidates come a courting.

This season, instead of just calling upon voters in their homes and cafes, there are at least a couple of candidates have been given the moniker, “rock-star,” because they draw crowds in the hundreds. I’d seen Sen. John Edwards last time around on someone’s front porch in Dunlap and had mixed feelings. I was impressed with his enthusiasm and passion and his creativity- his willingness to think outside of convention, but like any half-ways level headed, Iowan, I was skeptical of how he planned to accomplish some of his lofty goals. Call me “Blue-Dog Democrat” or a fiscal conservative, but I figure you have to either pay-as-you-go or start smaller and build up the idealistic stuff once you can. I didn’t go out of my way to rearrange my schedule to see him when he held a much bigger gathering at Cronk’s restaurant in Denison.

But, at the risk of fulfilling some people’s stereotype of the left-wing journalist, I have to admit to you that I was excited to attend the first Barack Obama town meeting at Denison High School a couple of weeks ago. Of course, it didn’t hurt that one of my former students was a volunteer and called to nag me. I was just curious at first. Plenty of people were more impressed with his speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention than with John Kerry, John Edwards, or any of the other people there. So with all of the media coverage that has been building, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at his book. I read a few pages at the library and then got my own copy.

I will tell you that reading his book, The Audacity of Hope, revealed to me that there are at least four important things that make him the virtual antithesis to President George W.Bush; He’s intelligent, he’s eloquent, he respects and understands the U.S. Constitution, and he places a greater value on the well being of people than of any political party. That would be more than enough to vote for him if he were running against W, but first he has to face off with Hillary and Edwards, and if he wins the nomination, he’ll probably have to go up against Guliani or McCain.

So I wanted to hear more. I’ve had something of a benign fascination with the city of Chicago since high school anyway. (I’m not sure why, The original bob Newhart Show, the band Chicago, the ’84 Bears, the Blues Brothers, columnists Mike Royko & Bob Greene? Who knows?)

So I went. Maybe a little too early for someone who wasn’t volunteering. I figured, this is a major national figure, I should cover it for the newspaper, so I brought a camera and a notepad. When I went to sign in, some guy in a sport coat saw my camera and lead me over to the press table. Rock on, wear a camera around your neck and people assume you’re official. The sport coat guy gave me a quick orientation to where the candidate was going to stand, how long he planned on talking, where the microphones would be for taking questions, yadda yadda yadda. As if I’d never been in gymnasium before and I couldn’t see how the chairs were arranged, where the flag was hung or where the mics were. But it still made me feel kind of important in a pretending to be a heap big reporter when I’m really just some schmo with a blog.

I have to have been to a billion basketball games and concerts and graduations where I stand around and take yearbook pictures, but I never got such a buzz of adrenaline waiting for an event to start before. What was the big deal? I hadn’t even seen Barack yet and I had told myself that as impressed as I was so far, I didn’t want to make up my mind already with a whole year to go. Then some kid was leaning back on his chair on the stage and fell off. That broke the tension. Just so you know, he wasn’t hurt, just embarrassed, but I brought it up because it snapped me out of my building anxiety and because when you see the clips of these candidates on TV you tend to forget that they’re real, not edited.

If I weren’t so shy, I should’ve struck up conversations with the photographer and videographer from the Associated Press. He looked like he knew what he was doing more than the sport coat guy and his digital TV camera looked cutting edge. She looked like she was just out of college. She couldn’t have been more than 5’ 4” and 120 pounds, but she was lugging easily 120 pounds of equipment, including four cameras.

Fortunately, the woman who runs the Spanish newspaper talked to me quite a bit, and so did Denison photo-legend Bruce Binning. I noticed that he used the exact same model of camera that I do, so that made me feel pretty good. If you'd like to see all of the pictures I took, visit http://tmal.multiply.com/photos/album/49

Finally Obama arrived, spoke, answered questions, shook hands and gave autographs. Then the volunteers had to lug hundreds of chairs back to the band room and it was over.
There’s something I can’t explain to you about covering an event rather than just attending it. In some ways you feel like you’re not included because you’re working too hard to get a picture or to jot down notes to be able to just take things in. On the other hand, you’re forced to pay closer attention, so you never have those moments when no matter how much you like the speaker, your attention drifts or you need to stifle a yawn.

What I can tell you it that the impression that I got was much like what I got from his book. He came off as very smart without being too technical or boring. He chooses his words carefully, but in a way that seems deliberate without being too “slick or calculated.” He seems warm and genuine, but not gushy or touchy-feely. I know from his book that he is working very hard, but he doesn’t but he doesn’t sound like he is, like Edwards, Hillary Clinton, and McCain can, but he also doesn’t sound like one of those people who makes it look so easy, like Bill Clinton used to.

Like Bill Clinton, his positions seem to be pretty centrist and intended to help, not just be popular. He didn’t have Al Gore’s sense of humor or John Edward’s exuberance, but at the risk of sounding like I’m endorsing him, I think we could do a lot worse. Come to think of it, he have done a lot worse.

Related stories:
Obama reacts to a religious right-winger
http://malloryprayer.blogspot.com/2007/04/wall-of-separation-blog-archive-matter.html

Obama answers questions on issues
http://tedscolumn.blogspot.com/2007/04/obama-answers-quiestions-on-issues.html

"Straight-news" take on Obama's visit to Denison
http://tedscolumn.blogspot.com/2007/04/obama-brings-hope-to-5th-district.html

Ted's photos of the Obama event in Denison
http://tmal.multiply.com/photos/album/49

Ted Mallory lives in Charter Oak and teaches at Boyer Valley Schools in Dunlap. ‘Ted’s Column’ has appeared weekly in the Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper since 2002. If you’d like to see any of Ted’s editorial cartoons bigger and brighter, you can visit http://tmal.multiply.com/photos/album/2

Obama answers questions on issues

Photos by Ted Mallory

Barack responds to questions, challenges
at town meeting Saturday

By Ted Mallory

DENISON, IA- Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama responded to several questions from an audience in the Denison High School Gym, Saturday March 31.

Obama stopped short of saying he’d revoke the No Child Left Behind law, but he did say that he’d make sure the law fully funded the mandates it requires.

“No Child left the money behind,” he complained. He believes that “schools are dealing with children who are uninspired and unmotivated and teachers who are underpaid.”

He also said that he thought that rather than purely standardized testing, students progress should be measured based on what level the student begins at. He’d also like to see an emphasis put on early childhood education since children learn more between birth and age three than at any other time.

Obama addressed concerns about NAFTA and CAFTA. He pointed out that he voted against CAFTA and believes that the burdens and benefits of trade need to be balanced so that workers and farmers don’t get the short end. He opposes allowing corporations to receive tax incentives when they move off shore. He believes that the U.S. needs to enforce the rules of treaties so that other nations don’t dump their products on U.S. markets without opening their markets to American goods. He also said that it is important to hold trading partners to basic labor and environmental standards.

The Illinois Senator explained that the United States spends 50% more per capita on health care than any other nation in the world. He feels that it is important to emphasize preventative care. It is far more cost effective to treat diabetes than it is to amputate limbs lost to the disease. He suggested that one way to lower costs is to pool resources. He proposed opening the same Federal health insurance program which Senators and Congressmen receive to all Americans.

One woman complained about the removal of a monument to the Ten Commandments from a federal judge’s court in Alabama and expressed fear because churches in other countries were accused of hate-speech crimes because of their teachings agains homosexuality.

Obama explained that he was a Christian and invited listeners to visit his church on the South side of Chicago. He explained that he does not believe that Christians are unduly persecuted in the United States, but rather, judging by the attendance at Washington prayer breakfasts among other factors, he felt that the faith was flourishing. He noted that the founders, while believers themselves, believed that the government should not impose any one interpretation of religion on its citizens. He also thought that it was in the best interest of churches not to get “entangled” with the government and thereby risk watering down their message or having to wrestle with red tape.

Obama expressed his support for voluntary prayer groups and Bible study clubs in public schools. However, when it came to a judge, he said that it was important that non-Christians not be made to feel that they were not entitled to the same level of justice that Christians are in the American system. Click here to read further comment on my Pirate Prayer Blog.

When asked about America’s nuclear stock pile, Obama pointed out that even the likes of former Nixon National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has proposed eliminating our entire nuclear arsenal. Senator Obama agrees with many Generals that we could the number of nuclear weapons from the tens of thousands we have now to just one thousand, and save at least $13 billion dollars without sacrificing national security.

“We spend more money on defense than the next thirty countries combined,” he explained. He wants to more vigorously peruse the principles of the Non-Proliferation Treaties that the Bush administration has allowed to all but die, which includes seeking to prevent other countries from gaining nuclear weapons while helping them find peaceful energy sources. He pointed out that in the future, the enemies which the U.S. will face are more likely to be terrorist groups than nation-states, so it is vital to contain the spread of nuclear weapons before they fall into the wrong hands.

Finally, Obama boasted that he opposed the invasion of Iraq from the beginning and proposed that the U.S. begin bringing its troops home on May 1, 2007 with the goal of being completely out of Iraq by March 31, 2008. He promised to use the $100 billion dollars a year currently being spent on the war to rebuild our military which has been strained past the breaking point and to improve the care and treatment of U.S. veterans and their families.

Obama brings hope to 5th District

Photos by Ted Mallory

Presidential candidate Barack Obama
brings message to Western Iowa
By Ted Mallory

DENISON, IA- Saturday night, March 31, presidential candidate Barack Obama spoke to an audience of over two hundred at the Denison High School gymnasium. The Illinois Senator started his day in Council Bluffs. Obama came to Denison after speaking to a group of around seventy-five in Onawa. The Onawa town meeting was telecast to simultaneously to house meetings across the country.

The number two Democrat spoke a few minutes about his background and his hopes for the country and then took questions from attendants in the crowd, rather than reporters. He promised that it would be only the first of at least three visits to Denison. Iowa boasts the first in the nation caucuses in January 2008.

Obama quipped that two things he is always asked no matter where he goes.
One is, “where’d you get your funny name?” He explained that his father was from Kenya and his mother was from Kansas. Thus his name came from his father’s East African homeland, and his accent came from his mother’s Midwestern one.

The other question he’s most frequently asked is, “You seem like a nice enough guy. Why do you want to go into something dirty and nasty like politics?” He told the audience that he understands why people have become cynical about politicians but that he firmly believes that the “other” kind of politics is the fact that “we all have a stake in one another.” Whether it is students in an underperforming school, or neglected Seniors in nursing homes, Obama believes that Americans are affected by each other’s condition. He told the crowd that if enough people believe that too and act on it, they can make positive change.

The former community activist and Constitutional Law professor fielded questions from a crowd made up not only of supporters, but also uncommitted yet curious voters, and skeptics. Obama answered inquiries about education, trade, healthcare, religion, fuel prices, nuclear weapons, and the war in Iraq.

He received a standing ovation when he emphasized the importance of taking better care of Iraq and Afghan veterans and their families than we have been in the wake of the Walter Reed military hospital scandals.

“We’ve got to treat our young men and women properly when they come home,” he declared.

Following the question and answer period, Obama was surrounded by attendees who waited to shake his hand, ask for autographs, and visit privately with the candidate.

Crawford County Democratic Party Chairman Les Lewis said that Denison area Democrats didn’t invite the Obama campaign, they just helped coordinate the event. He explained that the campaign organizations of candidates select communities they want to visit and contact activists there about making arrangements.

Lewis noted that the Obama campaign did plan on return visits and the campaign of New York Senator Hillary Clinton also asked about one or two appearances but hadn’t finalized dates yet. Lewis said that this was an unusually early election season. He believed that former North Carolina Senator John Edwards had only recently established campaign personnel in the Sioux City area.

Obama stories- Web Exclusive

Ouch, I was so disapointed. I stayed up past midnight working on two different Obama stories and I tried to make them both as objective as I possibly could, but my publisher isn't able to use them. This is what he said,

"...with the numerous requests from Presidential candidates and to try to be
fair to each because we have already received some interview requests. We
decided that when a candidate comes to our coverage area, such as Denison, if
someone is available we will cover the event and run a photo or two along with a
cutline about the event, but we won't get into protracted stories or interviews.
We want to be fair in our coverage with all candidates, no matter how much of a
long-shot they may be. This sets some guidelines for us with our limited
personnel resources and page space while allowing us to focus on more of what we do, which is to cover the people and events in our communities. If a candidate
wants to communicate further with our readers, they always have the opportunity to purchase advertising space. With this policy in mind, we will run
approximately the first two paragraphs of the Obama story you wrote along with
one or two of the photos..."

As bummed out as I was, I understand, and even appreciate where they're coming from with the policy. I mean, in small towns like ours you just can't make everybody happy. If you run something in-depth at all on one candidate from one party, you'r bound to have people complain that you're not giving enough time and ink to some other candidate. Be that as it may, I believe that information is valuable because a journalist's job is to provide the readers with information to help them make informed decisions. With that in mind, as an "independent journalist" on the "new frontier," I feel that it is my priviledge and perogotive to self-publish both stories in their entirety here on my own personal blog.

The next two posts will be said stories.