Election Central Saturday Roundup
Obama: Let Us Celebrate The Peaceful Transfer Of Power
In his new Presidential YouTube Address, his last one before the inauguration, Barack Obama recognizes the importance of the transition of power, and how we often take the peaceful transfer of power for granted:
"Through the ages, many have struggled for the right to live in a land where power does not belong to one person or party, and many brave Americans have fought and died to help advance that right," Obama says. "Through the long twilight struggle of the Cold War, our transitions from one President to the next provided a stark contrast to the suffocating grip of Soviet Communism. And today, the resilience of our democracy stands in opposition to the extremists who would tear it down."
Obama And Biden On Whistle-Stop Tour
Barack Obama and Joe Biden are traveling today by train from Philadelphia to Baltimore, in a whistle-stop tour for people who want to see the new president-elect but wouldn't have been able to go to the inauguration itself. The Philadelphia event began earlier this morning, with Obama scheduled to met Joe Biden in Delaware at 1 p.m. ET, with another event scheduled for 4:15 p.m. ET.
Obama In Philly: The Election Should Only Be The Beginning
Speaking to the crowd this morning in Philadelphia, Barack Obama declared that his election victory should only be the beginning of changing America for the better. "Starting now, let's take up in our own lives the work of perfecting our union," Obama said, according to the prepared remarks. "Let's build a government that is responsible to the people, and accept our own responsibilities as citizens to hold our government accountable. Let's all of us do our part to rebuild this country. Let's make sure this election is not the end of what we do to change America, but the beginning."
Obama Creates Political Organizing Committee
The Obama campaign is now being transformed into a new committee, "Organizing for America," which will leverage his database of 13 million e-mail addresses and other supporter information to set up community organizations across the country. Here's his YouTube announcing it:
Essentially, as the Associated Press points out, this will be his re-election campaign-in-waiting for 2012, as a parallel organization to the Democratic National Committee, in addition to the stated purpose of promoting his policy goals.
Obama: I Think I Can Keep The BlackBerry -- But I'll Be Careful
Barack Obama told CNN that he thinks he'll be able to keep his BlackBerry, rather than have to give it up over privacy and security concerns. "Now, my working assumption, and this is not new, is that everything I write on e-mail could end up being on CNN," Obama did say cautiously. "So I make sure that -- to think before I press 'send.'"
Obama Calls US Airways Pilot Sullenberger
The Obama transition team announced that Barack Obama yesterday called Captain Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot of US Airways flight 1549 who safely landed his damaged passenger plane in the Hudson River, and spoke to him for five minutes. Obama thanked Sullenberger for his heroism.
I appreciate Obama's words on peaceful transitions. While no blood will be shed, peace is in the eye of the beholder. There are various negative forces that will attempt to seize power, propagate lies, and undermine participatory democracy. These forces have not and will not go gently. Their medium is our disgraceful media.
I hope that many of us will take heed to his message. Volunteer, serve, protest, and be a civic servant. Our activism will change America and free us from the grunch of giants.
January 17, 2009 2:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Indeed there is so much good work to be done. All we need is the opportunity- I hope we say that opportunity realized in the upcoming stimulus bill and further legislation.
January 17, 2009 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why wait? That opportunity is in a food bank, soup kitchen, nursing home, community center, or Red Cross Donor Center near you. If all of us who are able gave blood as often as we could, gave our time to the children, the elderly, and the sick in our midst, or helped feed someone hungry in our community, we might not need so much legislation. The needs are many and the opportunities abound...
January 17, 2009 5:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, I'm waiting because I'm unemployed and was low income before that. I'm fighting to keep my head above water or I'll be in that soup kitchen line. That's why I'm hoping the stimulus bill will provided jobs, but also good jobs where we help people and help make America great. You are correct though. If you've got the money and time please do help right now.
January 18, 2009 12:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Peaceful Transfer Of Power! What a wonderful thing…. Most of my American friends take this for granted (and I understand that). I’m a graduate student from Guinea, West Africa.
As most TPM readers, I followed the elections, knocked on doors and handed flyers, made phone calls for Obama. During this time, like most Obama supporters, I had ups ( the Iowa caucus….and finally North Carolina) ; I also had downs( the New Hampshire loss, the 3 am ad, the celebrity ad, … and most of all , Palin and her name callings….)
Like most of my American friends, I was jubilant when on Election Day, MSNBC called Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire for Obama…. I knew at that time he had won…and when at 11PM, he became the president elect, I went ecstatic, and for the first time, for a long time, I sat down and cried like a baby. I had just witnessed the beauty of true democracy…
However my joy was just for a few days. My native Country Guinea has been governed by a dictator since 1984...yes… no typo here…since 1984….that’s 25 years! So it was no surprise that when the dictator did finally die, at the age of 74 on December 22nd, my country rapidly descended into political chaos.
The constitutional rules were observed for just a few hours. The head of the Supreme Court met with politicians to discuss what to do. It was in fact the house speaker (we call it National Assembly) who should have taken charge temporarily, paving the way for an election within 60 days. For many Guinea though, the speaker of the house (a puppet of the dead dictator) was even worse… (Think of Bush ... well… “Going away” and then having Dick Chenney take over as president… And having the sole authority to name a new supreme court, form a new government, and change every rule of the land without any opposition…scary right?
But the debate was brutally curtailed by an announcement on television and radio that a group of army officers had taken over the government instead -at their head an unknown young army captain. It was a swift, bloodless coup d’état. As it is often the case in Africa, the junta says it will organize elections “soon” and give power back to a civilian government (but that has hardly happened in the past)
I was devastated upon hearing this news. It just reminded me how long we Guinean still have to go. Yet, many Guineans were…well … for a lack of a better word “happy”. Some, especially the young, were enthusiastic; anything must be better than the old man…or the alternative. Moreover, since political parties and civic institutions were weakened and legitimate protest squelched, often brutally, by the dead president, it was easy for the army to ignore the constitution on his death.
When I learned of the army coup, I frenetically called my family and was happy that they were alive (that the most we expect from our government…. Yes… just to spare our lives, and maybe water and electricity for a few hours a day …for the few who can afford to pay for it”). My 18 year old sister told me that she was not happy about the coup, but preferred having the military take power and organize elections than leaving it to the corrupt speaker of the house. My mother disagreed… and the reason? She had seen it happen before. 25 years ago, my mom was young, the president died… and the army took over… they promised to organize free elections and it never happened.
So my friends…. enjoy what you have here…and Let Us Celebrate The Peaceful Transfer Of Power ...but please remember that there are still too many people that are still denied the very basic of human decency…. having to choose their leaders.
Thank for reading my post…. I live in the DC suburb.. If you are in DC for the inauguration and need a place to sleep….email me at misbaou.diallo@gmail.com
January 17, 2009 10:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mike, thanks for your perspective. It is very humbling. Please post more often.
January 18, 2009 9:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Indeed....and now back to TPM.
To join in the celebration activities Israelis have tied the hands of Palestinians in Gazq, taping grenades to their heads, setting them on fire and watching them explode like human fireworks. Presently they are trying to fit some of the smaller ones into canons to achieve the same results while flying through the air.
Bragging how they are now able to trump any of the Nazi experiments they express great gratitude for our congress, especially Harry Reid without whose help and funding they would not be able to bomb people in a cage and have such fun satisfying their rage. Enjoy the festivities in America as we have to get busy turning back boats of humanitarian aid and making sure no foreign press gets in here....we'll provide all the aid they need and tell you all you need to know. Enjoy
January 17, 2009 11:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama: Let Us Celebrate The Peaceful Transfer Of Power
I doubt if the wingnuts who have been nurtured by the likes of Viguerie, Mellon-Scaife, Limbaugh, and Murdoch share this view.
There is a poison being spread in our politics, and it's being spread by rich and powerful people who are never called to account.
Let's not take our eyes off the ball.
~
January 17, 2009 11:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why does this make me think of the citizens right after the end of the Revolutionary War?
Back then:
- The people had just thrown off the shackles of a despot named George.
- They had the opportunity to just go back to their lives and let things fall into chaos.
- They could have acted as if they were still ruled by George.
- They could have forgotten what it was they fought for.
- They could have been sheep.
- They could have forgotten the sacrifices of their neighbors, and the community that was formed BY those sacrifices, all around.
Now we have that same chance to blow it, and give what has been won away again.
Naomi Klein tells a good story about when she was in Argentina making a documentary. One day, in the middle of an economic, the President came on the TV and began telling the country how he was selling out to the crisis economists (Friedmanites) who were going to make a second round of giving their country away to foreign concerns, all in the interest of "saving the country". Of course he didn't say "selling out".
She described how, while he was giving the speech, a low noise was heard in the background that grew louder and louder, until it became a din. It turned out the noise was from people who left their homes AFTER THE SPEECH STARTED and brought spoons and pans and using them to make a lot of noise. They surrounded the Presidential Palace.
Why did they do such a thing?
Because they REMEMBERED. They remembered the first time such a selling out was done, back in the 1970s. And they were not about to let it happen again.
Georges Santayana: "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
The Argentineans DID remember - DID learn from their history.
And OUR grandparents and parents learned from the Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression, and how an unfettered free market can RUIN a country. Capitalism had such a bad name for FIFTY years, because of those times - and people REMEMBERING.
We now have our chance, to make sure WE don't forget, to make sure our children do not forget.
Reaganism could not have succeeded if the people from 1930 had not pretty much all died by the 1980s. Reagan was able to sell out America by pretending that capitalism had not failed, causing the Crash and Great Depression - by pretending that that history never happened.
Now, we have seen unfettered capitalism fail again. How many lessons do we have to have before we learn?
The Argentineans learned and remembered, 30 years later.
Will WE?
What will WE carry forward from this?
.
January 18, 2009 12:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
Campaign Diaries just launched a database for House retirement watch - there are already 63 names on the list, and only 4 of them have already officially retired.
(You can also check an extensive database of more than 120 potential Senate recruits of both parties.)
January 18, 2009 7:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Opening Line We'd Like to See in Obama's Inaugural Speech
http://satiricalpolitical.com/?p=5642
January 18, 2009 10:26 AM | Reply | Permalink