MOMocrats™

Barack Obama, of the Moneygall O'bamas

 

I have a special place in my heart for Ireland. My two youngest kids were champion Irish dancers and both visited Ireland to compete in the World Championships. The people of Ireland are generous, happy, and above all, they treasure family. So when they discovered that President Obama has Irish roots, they invited him to visit his ancestral town of Moneygall before giving a great speech to thousands in Dublin.

I've clipped part of the intro leading into his rim shot opener:

"My name is Barack Obama of the Moneygall Obamas. I've come home to find the apostrophe that we lost somewhere along the way."

At the end of his speech, he invoked the ever-familiar "Yes We Can" slogan, while holding Ireland up as an example of a country who has managed to arrive at peace through negotiation. He also reminded me of the candidate Obama in 2008 as he talked about defeating cynicism and naysayers to move ahead.

It was a goodwill speech, and there was much good will, which is a nice reminder of why we elected him. 

Go Watch This--Elizabeth Warren at Netroots Nation 2010: Building a Progressive Economic Vision (via the Consumer Financial Product Bureau)

Unabashed Elizabeth Warren fan here. Though I attended Netroots, I was busy when she spoke. Through the magic of Ustream, I watched and so can you. Her part is from 7:50 in, to 29:00. (The whole video is good, but who has an hour and 15 minutes to watch all of it?)

We desperately need her as the head of the newly-created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The sooner President Obama appoints her the head, the sooner you can understand all the terms of the mortgage, credit card, and bank loans you agreed to.

Cynematic blogs at P i l l o w b o o k.

Go Read It: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton & The Status of Women as a Measure of Progress

Not just for Women's History Month, but for every day of every year going forward: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton makes the argument that peace and security come to nations only when the well-being of women everywhere is assured.

A brief excerpt on how women are leading the way in creating peace and prosperity:

In South Africa, women living in shanty towns came together to build a housing development outside Cape Town all on their own, brick by brick. And today, their community has grown to more than 50,000 homes for low income families, most of them female-headed.

In Liberia, a group of church women began a prayer movement to stop their country’s brutal civil war. It grew to include thousands of women who helped force the two sides to negotiate a peace agreement. And then, those women helped elect Ellen Johnson Sirleaf president, the first woman to lead an African nation.

In the United States, a young woman had an idea for a website where anyone could help a small business on the other side of the world get off the ground. And today, the organization she co-founded, Kiva, has given more than $120 million in microloans to entrepreneurs in developing countries, 80 percent of them women.

The rest is a must-read. There's also video of Clinton's speech.

H/T to Nicholas Kristof, who first formulated this as "Women's Rights Are a Security Issue" in the NYT recently.

Cynematic's personal blog is P i l l o w b o o k. She also blogs at LA Moms Blog and can be found sporadically on Twitter as @cyn3matic.

Why President Obama Should Not Forget Melanie Shouse

Yesterday President Obama, speaking at a Democratic National Committee fundraising event, mentioned a woman named Melanie Shouse. This is what he said:

I got a letter — I got a note today from one of my staff — they forwarded it to me — from a woman in St. Louis who had been part of our campaign, very active, who had passed away from breast cancer. She didn't have insurance. She couldn't afford it, so she had put off having the kind of exams that she needed. And she had fought a tough battle for four years.  All through the campaign she was fighting it, but finally she succumbed to it. And she insisted she's going to be buried in an Obama t-shirt.

But think about this: She was fighting that whole time not just to get me elected, not even to get herself health insurance, but because she understood that there were others coming behind her who were going to find themselves in the same situation and she didn't want somebody else going through that same thing. How can I say to her, "You know what?  We're giving up"?  How can I say to her family, "This is too hard"? How can Democrats on the Hill say, "This is politically too risky"? How can Republicans on the Hill say, "We're better off just blocking anything from happening"?

I knew Melanie. I live in St. Louis. I met her when I attended my first volunteer meeting for the Obama campaign. Melanie was a slight woman, with cropped hair that was too gray for her young face. At the time that I met her, from the moment you saw her, you could tell she was sick. She was obviously frail. Yet this tiny, frail woman who had been aged beyond her years by sickness and pain was nonetheless one of those rare people who positively vibrate with energy at all times. Melanie radiated enough determination to ignite the instant attention of anyone in a room with her. You didn't forget Melanie, once you'd met her. Melanie Shouse made an impression.

"The Great Unfinished Business of Our Time": Health Care Reform

In the closing passages of his speech to the joint session of Congress, President Obama urged members of the House and Senate to rise to the finest in our national character and finally provide a humane way to address the health needs of all of America's citizens. We know the status quo is broken. What'll we do about it?

Woven into the soaring rhetoric of President Obama's speech were specific calls to three prominent Republican senators: Senator John McCain, Senator Orrin Hatch, and Senator Chuck Grassley.

Senator McCain, President Obama noted, had worked in bipartisan fashion with Senator Ted Kennedy to advance a federal patient's bill of rights (which never passed in the House). Senator Orrin Hatch worked with Senator Ted Kennedy to pass children's health insurance. Senator Chuck Grassley and Senator Ted Kennedy collaborated on a bill that helped families take better care of their children with disabilities.

If you're on Twitter, use these buttons to quickly and conveniently sign a petition urging these senators to vote for a health insurance reform bill that has a strong public option.

Senator John McCain

Senator Chuck Grassley

Senator Orrin Hatch

Ted Kennedy's Letter to President Obama: The Full Text

Last night, in his address to Congress, President Obama quote a letter he received from Senator Ted Kennedy, written a few months ago to be delivered upon his death.

May 12, 2009

 

Dear Mr. President,

 

I wanted to write a few final words to you to express my gratitude for your repeated personal kindnesses to me – and one last time, to salute your leadership in giving our country back its future and its truth.

 

On a personal level, you and Michelle reached out to Vicki, to our family and me in so many different ways. You helped to make these difficult months a happy time in my life.

 

You also made it a time of hope for me and for our country.

 

When I thought of all the years, all the battles, and all the memories of my long public life, I felt confident in these closing days that while I will not be there when it happens, you will be the President who at long last signs into law the health care reform that is the great unfinished business of our society. For me, this cause stretched across decades; it has been disappointed, but never finally defeated. It was the cause of my life. And in the past year, the prospect of victory sustained me-and the work of achieving it summoned my energy and determination.

 

There will be struggles – there always have been – and they are already underway again. But as we moved forward in these months, I learned that you will not yield to calls to retreat - that you will stay with the cause until it is won. I saw your conviction that the time is now and witnessed your unwavering commitment and understanding that health care is a decisive issue for our future prosperity. But you have also reminded all of us that it concerns more than material things; that what we face is above all a moral issue; that at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country.

 

And so because of your vision and resolve, I came to believe that soon, very soon, affordable health coverage will be available to all, in an America where the state of a family’s health will never again depend on the amount of a family’s wealth. And while I will not see the victory, I was able to look forward and know that we will – yes, we will – fulfill the promise of health care in America as a right and not a privilege.

 

In closing, let me say again how proud I was to be part of your campaign- and proud as well to play a part in the early months of a new era of high purpose and achievement. I entered public life with a young President who inspired a generation and the world. It gives me great hope that as I leave, another young President inspires another generation and once more on America’s behalf inspires the entire world.

 

So, I wrote this to thank you one last time as a friend- and to stand with you one last time for change and the America we can become.

 

At the Denver Convention where you were nominated, I said the dream lives on.

 

And I finished this letter with unshakable faith that the dream will be fulfilled for this generation, and preserved and enlarged for generations to come.

 

 

With deep respect and abiding affection,

[Ted]

 

 

MOMocrats Live Chat: President Obama's Health Reform Speech

Want to tell the G.O.P. to stop stonewalling on health care reform? Please join MOMocrat @cyn3matic's act.ly petitions on Twitter:

Orrin Hatch

John McCain

Chuck Grassley

Facts & Figures Show "Hall Pass" Resistance to President Obama's Speech is Partisan Grandstanding

...aided and abetted by mainstream media that loves a spectacle.

Two surveys were done yesterday on the "appropriateness" of President Obama's speech to schoolchildren, one asking the opinions of parents of schoolkids in Fresno, CA, the other of parents of schoolkids in different parts of Missouri.

Liberals of course highly approved of President Obama's speech. In MO, the lowest approval by moderates was 74% for ANY president to address schoolchildren, and 78% approval for our current president to do so.

In the mid-section of California, far from the liberal cities of the north or south, moderates approved of Obama's speech to kids by 73%, same as they'd approve for any president.

Now I'm willing to bet at any given time, 25-30% of people polled will disapprove of anything, including breathing, sunshine, and kittens. These currently seem to be known as conservatives. *wink*

Is this a reason for the world to screech--and I mean SCREECH--to a halt?

No. I'd like to see school boards stop flailing about and get some equilibrium. I'd like to see broadcast media stop getting wee-wee'd up at every tiny little thing.

So parents of public school kids contemplating a walkout: wouldn't it just be easier and less economically punitive on your school and all the kids who attend to simply have a talk with your kid(s) about it over dinner, when you find out how their day went like you usually do?

Extra bonus--no need to scramble to find childcare for a kid who's staying out of school all day just to miss 20-30 minutes of something you may disagree with.

Cynematic blogs at P i l l o w b o o k

Netroots Nation: Day One Highlights

Last weekend, MOMocrats Cynematic, LawyerMama, PunditMom, Julie and I traveled to Pittsburgh to take part in the annual Netroots Nation Conference. We spent four days attending panels, plenary sessions, and  parties, and participated as speakers on two panels.  It was an exhausting and exhilarating time, and we could go on for days about the great people we met and the stories we heard.

I wanted to share some of the highlights of my first day at Netroots.

The Myth of Post-Racial America Panel

This discussion, led by Keith Kamisugi, focused on the myth that since America has elected an African-American President, we are now in a "post-racial" period.  The first part of the panel was a screening of a part of the film "9500 Liberty," made by panelist filmmaker Annabel Park, whose documentary delves into a community initiative in Prince William County, Virginia to allow racial profiling, specifically of anyone suspected of being in the United States illegally.  She said that when they started making the film, she and her co-producer, Eric Byler, thought that they were making a film about illegal immigrants, but it turned into a film about race and the incitement of fear into a community.  The film illustrates how misinformation and agitation can take control of an issue and lead to disastrous ends. 

Those Who Seek to Destroy Our Way of Life

One of our nation's founding fathers — one of the chief architects of the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin — once said, "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

One of our country's most respected military commanders, and our first President, George Washington, wrote in a letter on the proper conduct of troops, "While we are contending for our own liberty, we should be very cautious not to violate the rights of conscience in others." In regard to a group of British-allied Hessian soldiers captured during the Revolutionary War, Washington ordered, "Treat them with humanity, and let them have no reason to Complain of our Copying the brutal example of the British Army in their treatment of our unfortunate brethren."

In 1777, in the midst of war, future American President John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail, "I know of no policy, God is my witness, but this — Piety, Humanity and Honesty are the best Policy. Blasphemy, Cruelty and Villainy have prevailed and may again. But they won't prevail against America, in this Contest, because I find the more of them are employed, the less they succeed."

In his speech yesterday at the American Enterprise Institute, former Vice President Dick Cheney said:

[. . .] by the tough questioning of killers, we have supposedly fallen short of our own values. This recruitment-tool theory has become something of a mantra lately, including from the President himself. And after a familiar fashion, it excuses the violent and blames America for the evil that others do. It’s another version of that same old refrain from the Left, “We brought it on ourselves.”

It is much closer to the truth that terrorists hate this country precisely because of the values we profess and seek to live by, not by some alleged failure to do so. Nor are terrorists or those who see them as victims exactly the best judges of America’s moral standards, one way or the other.

Critics of our policies are given to lecturing on the theme of being consistent with American values. But no moral value held dear by the American people obliges public servants ever to sacrifice innocent lives to spare a captured terrorist from unpleasant things. And when an entire population is targeted by a terror network, nothing is more consistent with American values than to stop them.