Great Falls, Montana today. Hat
tip to Ambbogie for noting this photo.
1 week ago
Friday, May 30, 2008
Donna Braizle's Message on the Democratic Nomination
Donna Braizle, former campaign manager for Al Gore, is a super-delegate, Chair of the Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute, and a CNN commentator. She is also a member of the Democratic Rules Committee that meets Saturday to determine the Michigan and Florida delegations (the states she refers to towards the end of this excerpt.) This is part of a statment that appears on her web site. (Hat tip to Jena's diary at Kos. ) I've added emphasis and paragraphing.
"It's time to rally around the nominee as soon as the fourth day of June breaks upon the horizon. Why not? What would Democrats gain by taking this debate any further, especially when the party is now engaged in the kind of polarizing politics that we once denounced the GOP for using for partisan gain. What can be won by tainting the process, arguing the rules are now unfair, or worse, the Republican rule of winner-takes-all should have guided the Democrats as well?
All this fuss is simply about saving face and waiting to see whether some awful thing tarnishes the presumptive nominee. It's shameful, short-sighted, mean-spirited and morally unacceptable. Now, I said it. To my longstanding friends in the feminist community who have called out the media as being culturally sexist and misogynistic, it is time to help educate the American public about the corrosive impact of sexism in politics and elsewhere. But we can have this dialogue without using divisive language and political tactics that further threaten to divide our country and party. If another woman comes up to me in an airport and suggests Obama should wait his turn, I might scream, "Stop it!" This is not about who should be first, it's about who has the most delegates and who might make the best president of the United States.
The most tragic thing I have heard is this need to link the Obama camp to pundits inside the media who have used the "math" historically used to call an election with attempts to push Hillary out of the race. After all, when the senator held a lead in every national poll in 2007, the media described her groundbreaking campaign as being inevitable. No one called that sexist.
Obama will have earned the right to become the declared Democratic nominee once he has reached the 2,026 delegates he needs. If the party decides to amend the just and known penalty it swore to impose on states and those officials that put its voters in jeopardy of not having a voice at the convention by violating the rules, the adjusted number should not alter the race. Instead, the amendment should allow the presumptive nominee to help bring the party together."
"It's time to rally around the nominee as soon as the fourth day of June breaks upon the horizon. Why not? What would Democrats gain by taking this debate any further, especially when the party is now engaged in the kind of polarizing politics that we once denounced the GOP for using for partisan gain. What can be won by tainting the process, arguing the rules are now unfair, or worse, the Republican rule of winner-takes-all should have guided the Democrats as well?
All this fuss is simply about saving face and waiting to see whether some awful thing tarnishes the presumptive nominee. It's shameful, short-sighted, mean-spirited and morally unacceptable. Now, I said it. To my longstanding friends in the feminist community who have called out the media as being culturally sexist and misogynistic, it is time to help educate the American public about the corrosive impact of sexism in politics and elsewhere. But we can have this dialogue without using divisive language and political tactics that further threaten to divide our country and party. If another woman comes up to me in an airport and suggests Obama should wait his turn, I might scream, "Stop it!" This is not about who should be first, it's about who has the most delegates and who might make the best president of the United States.
The most tragic thing I have heard is this need to link the Obama camp to pundits inside the media who have used the "math" historically used to call an election with attempts to push Hillary out of the race. After all, when the senator held a lead in every national poll in 2007, the media described her groundbreaking campaign as being inevitable. No one called that sexist.
Obama will have earned the right to become the declared Democratic nominee once he has reached the 2,026 delegates he needs. If the party decides to amend the just and known penalty it swore to impose on states and those officials that put its voters in jeopardy of not having a voice at the convention by violating the rules, the adjusted number should not alter the race. Instead, the amendment should allow the presumptive nominee to help bring the party together."
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Is There Life on Mars?
The Phoenix Mars Lander began its exploration of the Martian polar cap area, searching for "evidence of the building blocks of life."Of today's launch, project manager Barry Goldstein said: "In my dreams it couldn't have gone as perfectly as it went."Said the AP story: "It performed a choreographed dance that included unfurling its parachute, shedding its heat shield and backshell, and firing thrusters to slow to a 5 mph touchdown. The radio signal confirming the landing came at 4:53 p.m. PDT."
This is the first probe on the Mars surface to look for signs of life since Viking. But its 90 day mission drilling into the permafrost has limits, according to the AP story:
"The lander also will study whether the ice ever melted at some point in Mars' history when the planet had a warmer environment than the current harsh, cold one it currently has.Scientists do not expect to find water in its liquid form at the Phoenix landing site because it's too frigid. But they say that if raw ingredients of life exist anywhere on the planet, they likely would be preserved in the ice.Phoenix, however, cannot detect signs of alien life that may exist now or once existed."
Obama at Wesleyan
Barack Obama gave the commencement address at Wesleyan University today.
He spoke about how Ted Kennedy (who was scheduled to give the address and asked Obama to fill in) and all the Kennedys have changed American lives for the better, and he renewed their call to service. Among the 25,000 people there were graduate Caroline Raclin Kennedy, Ted's step-daughter (photo.) Thanks for 3 of these photos to Al Rodgers--with more here. Here is the
YouTube of this inspiring address, which
uniquely tells of Obama's own youthful
experiences and call to service, as well as
explaining how important service will be in the Obama administration. Here's a transcript.
He spoke about how Ted Kennedy (who was scheduled to give the address and asked Obama to fill in) and all the Kennedys have changed American lives for the better, and he renewed their call to service. Among the 25,000 people there were graduate Caroline Raclin Kennedy, Ted's step-daughter (photo.) Thanks for 3 of these photos to Al Rodgers--with more here. Here is the
YouTube of this inspiring address, whichuniquely tells of Obama's own youthful
experiences and call to service, as well as
explaining how important service will be in the Obama administration. Here's a transcript.
The Climate Crisis and A Call to Service
"Because our individual salvation depends on collective salvation. Because thinking only about yourself, fulfilling your immediate wants and needs, betrays a poverty of ambition. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential and discover the role you’ll play in writing the next great chapter in America’s story.
There are so many ways to serve and so much need at this defining moment in our history... Because our individual salvation depends on collective salvation. Because thinking only about yourself, fulfilling your immediate wants and needs, betrays a poverty of ambition. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential and discover the role you’ll play in writing the next great chapter in America’s story
There are so many ways to serve and so much need at this defining moment in our history.
I ask you to seek these opportunities when you leave here, because the future of this country – your future – depends on it... At a time when our ice caps are melting and our oceans are rising, we need you to help lead a green revolution. We still have time to avoid the catastrophic consequences of climate change if we get serious about investing in renewable sources of energy, and if we get a generation of volunteers to work on renewable energy projects, and teach folks about conservation, and help clean up polluted areas; if we send talented engineers and scientists abroad to help developing countries promote clean energy."
There are so many ways to serve and so much need at this defining moment in our history... Because our individual salvation depends on collective salvation. Because thinking only about yourself, fulfilling your immediate wants and needs, betrays a poverty of ambition. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential and discover the role you’ll play in writing the next great chapter in America’s story
There are so many ways to serve and so much need at this defining moment in our history.
I ask you to seek these opportunities when you leave here, because the future of this country – your future – depends on it... At a time when our ice caps are melting and our oceans are rising, we need you to help lead a green revolution. We still have time to avoid the catastrophic consequences of climate change if we get serious about investing in renewable sources of energy, and if we get a generation of volunteers to work on renewable energy projects, and teach folks about conservation, and help clean up polluted areas; if we send talented engineers and scientists abroad to help developing countries promote clean energy."
Barack Obama at Wesleyan University today
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