MOMocrats™

Obama reaches out to Muslim world in Al-Arabiya Interview

From the interview:

"My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy. We sometimes make mistakes. We have not been perfect."

Obama said the United States "will go after terrorist groups that kill innocent civilians but will do so while respecting the rule of law." Obama added that that difference "makes America great."

As an American who for the past eight years has had a very different idea of what diplomacy should be, I want to thank President Obama for his sensible, steady approach to this delicate issue. He has set us on the path to restoring America's standing with the world. A more peaceful world where we solve problems with words, not wars, where we listen more and dictate less, is the dream I've had for my young daughters since they were born.

—Stefania Pomponi Butler

[National Day of Service] MOMocrats & Quaker Oats work together to end childhood hunger

On Tuesday, the Silicon Valley-based MOMocrats will be celebrating the inauguration of our 44th president, Barack Hussein Obama. Our inauguration party is just one of many across the nation sponsored by Quaker Oats to promote their campaign to end childhood hunger. Bloggers from coast-to-coast are inviting their friends over for breakfast to mark this historic occasion.

Our party guests will breakfast on hot oatmeal with delicious toppings (including BACON), all for a very worthy cause. Now through February 28, you can visit Start with Substance to enter the UPC (barcode) from any variety of Quaker hot cereal. For every UPC entered, Quaker will donate a bowl of nutritious oatmeal to Share Our Strength, an organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger, up to 1 million bowls of oatmeal. (You must be a member of Facebook in order to enter UPCs.) But get this: even if you can’t be bothered to track down your UPC and enter it, or you are not a fan of oatmeal, you can still help. All you have to do is enter 030000013809 as a valid UPC.

If you can't get out and about in your community today, here are some simple ways you can help without leaving your home or office:

• Text a donation: AT&T will match the first $100,000 in text donations to Share Our Strength. Simply text “SHARE” to 20222 on your mobile phone and help us fight childhood hunger in America.
• Hold a food drive: President-elect Obama is calling for a National Day of Service on MLK Day, Monday, January 19th. Help meet the growing need for food by holding a food drive in your area between Jan. 19 and Jan. 31. Your work will help those in need during the coldest months of the year. Find a food bank near you.
• Help spread the word: Help Share Our Strength get the word out about the campaign. Spread the word about Operation No Kid Hungry through Twitter, Facebook, blogs, email–whatever you choose.

How are you spending your National Day of Service?

Mayor McHottie Gavin Newsom makes it semi-official: He's running for governor

Newsom speaking on San Francisco's UHC plan.

On Wednesday night, Gavin Newsom gave a speech at a town hall-style meeting in San Carlos, California, a sleepy suburb of San Francisco. He even has a slick, new, Obama-esque website up. Can we all just stop pussyfooting around and call it already? He's running for governor. (And we here at MOMocrats are delighted.)

Exploratory committee. Making speeches. Getting the lay of the land. Well played, Mayor Newsom. All I can say is I look forward to 2010 when Prop. 8 has been overturned and you take control of our ailing state.

Let us know if you need our help.

—Stefania Pomponi Butler

Kucinich criticizes Israel. [It's about time someone did.]

He also wants a UN probe. From The Hill:

Kucinich said the perpetrators of attacks against Israel should be brought to justice, but that Israel “cannot create a war against an entire people in order to attempt to bring to justice the few who are responsible.” “All this was, and is, disproportionate, indiscriminate mass violence in violation of international law,” Kucinich said in a statement. “Israel is not exempt from international law and must be held accountable.”

I admire Dennis Kucinich for speaking out and raising the questions that many of us have been silently pondering, namely: has this action been a proportionate response to a series of unfortunate events?

This whole situation makes me question what democracy is. What "justified retaliation" means. What terrorism means. Who is right and who is wrong. Why can't we feel compassion for Palestinians without people shouting, "But what about Israelis!" in our faces. And vice versa. Compassion for one side does not negate support for the other.

It has been said that we are all stuck in the web of injustice, whether we are those who starve or those who feast. Peace can never be achieved when there is a constant threat of violence against innocent civilians from both sides.

My thoughts are with all those who have been affected by this tragic situation, especially the innocent victims who had no choice.

—Stefania Pomponi Butler

GOP activists aim for Conservative Majority in 2010 with help of Twitter

For most of the afternoon, I've been following the hashtag #tcot or #TCOT on Twitter.  TCOT stands for "Top Conservatives on Twitter" and is an "action project" of one Michael Leahy (@michaelpleahy). This appears to be an attempt to give the GOP a hip, new look using "grassroots" social media tools like Twitter--tools that traditionally have been the realm of the Democrats. Looks like the Republicans have been studying.

Rumor has it that the #TCOTs were trying to control access to the hashtag telling people they weren't authorized to use it in their Tweets. (That's not very "authentic," guys and gals.) And not surprisingly, the #TCOT hashtag was instantly hijacked by Twitter's band of merry pranksters and if you search it now, well, you'll just have to see for yourself.

The Auto Industry Bailout: One Confused Citizen Tries to Explain Why She's Against It

The $25 billion bailout (or bridge loan) has been a hot topic lately, both here and on the blogs I read. On a gut level, I am against it, and while impassioned and very sensible arguments for propping up the beleaguered auto industry have been made on all sides--especially by those with family ties to Detroit and the auto industry--I respectfully take it all in and am left with nothing but questions.

I've been thinking about this issue a lot lately, and I think my opposition may be generational and cultural.  I want to make clear that my heart goes out to every person, all 2-3 million, who are and might be affected if the auto industry collapses and I know the effects will be far-reaching beyond that. I am not being callous or cynical in the least, and I hope this post is not taken that way. This is an issue that has been weighing on my mind. I am certain I am not alone and would appreciate this post being read in the spirit of self-examination and reflection with which it is intended. It's because I care that I'm trying to figure out why it's so hard for me to support a $25 billion loan.

Like many Americans, my husband and I have discussed this issue daily for weeks, and we are in complete agreement on the matter because of the possibility that perhaps we are a generation away from feeling a connection to the "Made in the USA/American cars are the best" phenomenon. Having been raised on the west coast, we have no immediate connection to the Detroit automotive industry. Even though for years we had a Toyota factory in our back yard, we don't have union workers in our families (though I belonged to a teacher's union for three years).

It may also be cultural. Growing up my parents drove a mix of automobiles, but they were mostly European made because "they're made better." Parents say these things. Also, in my case, because my father is Italian and my mother is Korean-American and was raised in Hawaii, I've grown up with a global view. I've said before, I always felt like a citizen of the world first, American second. We make great things in this country, and great things are made in lots of other countries, too. I was never taught to believe that everything we manufactured here was the best in the world, I was taught to appreciate what the entire world had to offer. And if you know anything about Korean or Italian culture then you know that each of those countries makes the best cars in the world, at least according to my parents.

I don't say any of this to excuse my opposition to the bailout, I say it because I think that  this might be why a generation of Americans (many of whom are like me--removed from the realities Detroit and Americans raised with a global perspective) finds it hard to swallow.

Activist groups target people and businesses who supported Prop. 8

Check out the Dishonor Roll of people and businesses who supported Prop. 8. The list names names of major contributors and their donations. 

Lesbiatopia is also encouraging people to shine the line of Prop 8 supporting businesses (Yelpers are doing this as well.) This includes businesses like Denny's, Corner Bakery, and El Pollo Loco.

I personally would not want to patronize any business that supported this unfair measure. What are your thoughts?

--Stefania Pomponi Butler

Sarah who?

I know we are still celebrating Barack Obama's historic election, but I have to pause for a moment and acknowledge just how close we came to putting Sarah Palin—that "hillbilly" from Wasilla, according to an angry McCain aide—into the White House. /shudder

Folks, I've been waiting two months plus change to repost this gem. With one caveat: I originally said she was chosen to pander to women and that turned out to be only partly true. She was also chosen to energize the Republican base, but now it seems that she—along with Rove and Bush—has done serious damage to the GOP. In the end, many Republicans could not and did not endorse their own party's candidate because of her shocking lack of preparedness and experience for the job. In the end, she was just too stupid.

Yes, the Palin pick was a slap in the face to progressive women everywhere (oh, and to smart people), but it was an even bigger slap in the face to the old school GOP leadership. Let's hope that the crackpot evangelical right-wingers split off and form their own party.

There was a brief moment when I thought I would be proven wrong and I'd have to eat my post, but on September 15, when John McCain said, "The fundamentals of our economy are strong," I knew he was done.

So once again, I'd like to thank the Democrats—especially David Plouffe and David Axelrod who ran the most brilliant campaign in modern presidential history—for forcing McCain to pick a "hail Mary,"  unvetted (much to our delight) Vice-Presidential candidate who would ultimately ensure his loss. A candidate who once greeted McCain staffers wearing nothing but a towel. A candidate who didn't know Africa was a continent, not a country.

I shudder to think...

Okay! Back to celebrating!

—Stefania Pomponi Butler

Are you there Colorado? It's me, Stefania.

I spent yesterday afternoon along with about 100 other volunteers phone banking at my local Barack Obama headquarters, calling Colorado voters and encouraging them to get out and vote early.

The weather in Palo Alto was terrible yesterday. It poured for most of the day, flooding streets, and not letting up until later in the evening. Still, that did not deter the overflowing volunteers from standing outside the headquarters and making phone calls in the pouring rain (Click to embiggen):

Volunteers spilled out of the office and lined the front of the strip mall where the office is located. We even took over two neighboring businesses, a Mexican restaurant that opened its doors and gave up precious table space to volunteers, and a doughnut shop that was a warm and toasty respite from the wet. (Thank you business owners!) These volunteers, on their mobile phones in the pouring down rain showed tremendous dedication. After seeing those inspiring folks, it was clear why our tiny office is number one in phone banking for the entire nation. Go Silicon Valley for Obama!

Dear daughters, this is why your parents are voting for Obama

Yesterday I wrote a letter to my girls explaining why their Mamma and Papa are voting for Barack Obama.  For me, it goes beyond his economic, green energy, and healthcare plans. For me, as a multicultural person, it's deeply personal. Here's an excerpt:

If all goes well, in just a few short days, we will have our first bi-racial, bi-cultural president. Finally, a president that I can relate to because I am bi-racial and bi-cultural and the experiences that shaped his young life are similar to the experiences that shaped mine. Bunny and Wallie, in Barack Obama, you can also see yourselves: a multicultural citizen of the world with a mind that is open to all ideas and with a heart that is capable of loving all people. That is my hope for you and that is why your parents voted for Barack Obama.

Click link above to read the rest, and don't forget to vote!

--Stefania Pomponi Butler