Salt of the Earth & the Fellowship of All

Through my weeks- long, multistate meanderings East from Denver to my daily travels in New York, one thing that continues to impress me is not how different we all are, but how much alike. Regardless of culture, creed or color, 99% of us want and indeed, need the same things. Although we may differ from time to time on exactly how to effect our ideals, most of agree that, as Maslow's hierarchy of needs pyramid http://www.businessballs.com/maslow.htm dictates, our priorities lie in meeting our basic needs for physical survival, and move upward toward love, family, community, and self actualization, all of which we need to become fully rounded, content individuals.

Among the questions most often asked about my Convention Odyssey, one of the most frequent has been, "Whom did you meet?" So moved have I been about the brilliant cross section of Americans whose acquaintance I have been blessed to make that I always forget that the actual meaning of that question is, "What FAMOUS people did you meet?" So, I start talking about the many different people whose paths I was lucky enough to cross, who have inspired me with their bravery and heartfulness in meeting the challenges of life, including the many who sacrificed much just to get to Denver and stand for their beliefs, to fight for the Democracy we once knew in America. And then I realize that the question meant the recognizable names...the ones that just skim the surface of my consciousness because they are the same as the rest of us except that their names are perhaps better known. It is difficult for me to separate the famous from the "un"- famous, because to me, those I most admire [and whose secrets of success I want to know!] are those who get up every day and fight the battle of survival...whether famous or not...the "working poor" families and single parent homes without health care...those kids who have "aged out" of foster care and now must make their way in the world with few if any skills...minimum wage workers...people trying to finish [or start!] their education...our warriors heading to the Middle East for the 2nd, 3rd and even 4th time...for THEY are my heroes! I am in awe of all of them, rich or poor, famous or infamous, most of them all just want to get along, and they are my fellow Americans.

Extremism, on the other hand,both left and right, is but a different side of the same coin. Neither respects the rights of others except insofar as they can be employed to buffer their own cause. In that, extremists, both left and right share more in common with one another than with the majority in the middle, with no room for true caring for others outside their small sphere.

The majority of people do not fall into either of these extremists' categories, and as such are only useful to them as potential converts, which they will never be, because of their centrism. We can be grateful for that and live in the hope that a balanced and caring centrism can once again inform government that includes us all.

Res Ipsa Loquitur - The Thing Speaks For Itself, or, Read It And Weep

Today brings a such plethora of poignant, salient pieces from so many contributers that I have decided to dedicate this post to them, for their words and reportage convey far better than I the situation we now face as a result of the DNC's and Obama camp's primary perfidy. While extreme sadness at this state of affairs is inevitable, we can also take hope from the truths contained herein, and the courage of those who voice them, and I am reminded that, although lying and cheating may sometimes appear to have prevailed, a fudged result is never for real, nor for long. A timeline of sorts, formed from soldiers in the PUMA Movement, follows.

Let the record show that Senator Clinton led in the popular vote, and that there was only a separation of 47 pledged delegates, even with all the caucus fraud and manipulation. http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P08/D.phtml

Votes:

Clinton: 17,857,446

Obama: 17,584,649

Pledged delegates
Obama: 1,747
Clinton: 1,730

"Too many have worked too hard for too long to have this historic vote shoved under the rug."
--Karen Murphy, Alegre's Corner

"...there are widespread reports and investigations of fraudulent voting irregularities in several states. In the Texas caucuses there was massive voter fraud and voter intimidation. In Oregon there were dead people voting. In Los Angeles, gang members were hired to walk neighborhoods and threaten people to vote for Obama. In some southern states there is an investigation of votes being sold for $20.00, or in some cases, for drugs. These problems affect the results of voting in all states, Florida included, i.e. see website http://www.lynettelong.com/caucusfraud/

"The foregoing fraud was seen by countries all over the world. I am alarmed that a rigged roll call and nomination was allowed to happen in the USA. Our soldiers are dying all over the world for democracy and to give others the privilege to cast an honest vote. Former Pres. Jimmy Carter goes to many countries to monitor elections for fraud, yet he did nothing to stop what was going on in our own country. Jimmy Carter endorsed Obama. No Party should be above the law and as a citizen I expect you to do your job. If it is not your job, then whose job is it?
The spending of our state tax dollars to allow a private club such as the DNC to pick their own candidate in violation of even their own rules, and run that candidate on our state ballots is outrageous. . I assure you, I intend to work to amend our state laws so that from now on the DNC will not be allowed access to our state ballots without the requisite fees and petitions that the other political parties... must pay and supply, unless they return to holding fair elections based upon votes of citizens."--Lady Hawke, Fax to FL Attorney General Bill McCollum

"...throughout the nomination process, the Obama campaign did everything possible to curtail the free speech of those who opposed him. Whether it was as simple as harassing supporters at the local metro, or as brazen as intimidating delegates at state conventions and threatening members of the Black Caucus---opposition to Barack Obama put people at risk—to be taunted, insulted and harassed in a way I've never before experienced in a political campaign."
--Paulie Abeles

" Would you be suprized if Obama loses GE? NO, he never won the primary!" --M.Sabori

On the Denver Convention: "...it appeared to me that many other states were subject to this arm twisting stuff also, and I wanted to share what happened to MS...I'm leaving out the part about how I was threatened with assault by a MS Obama delegate/atty. who told me after an interview with a reporter from the the Congressional Quarterly that I was not entitled to my opinions and she wanted us to go outside so she could whip my @ss (Monday night)."

--Kelly Jacobs, MS delegate

"That we all had to work so hard and basically beg for fairness and transparency is a sad commentary on the Presidential selection process. That we were even moderately influential is some consolation, but cold comfort. As an E[lection] W[atch]er wrote: "without the EW, the DNC would not have had to work so hard to rig the results..." --Ricki Lieberman

"We EWs knew that Clinton was far more Electable than BHO, and we know it still to be true..." --Aaron Baxter

"The Democratic Party has made a fatal mistake in nominating Barack Obama to be President of the United States. Now they will do everything fair and foul to foist that mistake on the American People. They will hack voting machines in key states, they will lie cheat and steal, and they will launch the same misogynistic attacks against Palin that they did against you while Obama maintains plausible deniability. No doubt, [Hillary] will do what [she] can to prevent this but it is not in [her] hands. Rather it is in the hands of people like Axelrod who are devoid of moral scruples and in the primary we saw the lengths to which they would go to disenfranchise voters... and if they fail then they will try to make [her] a scapegoat...we are thinking Democrats—not yellow dogs. The party of Barack Obama is no place for centrist democrats. When Howard Dean calls the Republican Party the white peoples party, when the Chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party tells black voters to not support white candidates, when Obama himself claims that people who live in small town America are bitter, cling to guns and religion, and when former Democratic Chairman Don Fowler hopes a hurricane will hit New Orleans during the Republican Convention, something is clearly amiss.. But the Obama cancer is metastasizing throughout the party." --Bill Boe

"Strategy involved G.O.P. crossover voting to take out Clinton, marketing newcomer Obama, stripping battleground delegates, threatening violence at the convention, and (if necessary) declaring martial law to prevent November's general election. Meanwhile, revelations about the Illinois senator's ties to Chicago political fixer Antoin Rezko and Iraqi war profiteers are downplayed by the press. For their part, Democratic Party leaders have circumvented the official nominating process, declaring Obama the nominee by breaking their own rules and allowing superdelegates to "vote" before the convention." http://www.thecityedition.com/Pages/Archive/Winter08/2008Election.html --Rosemary Regello

[Note: If you read only ONE link today, make it THIS one].

"On television, Obama's spectacle might have looked like The Ten Commandments, but inside the stadium it felt like Night of the Living Dead... The crowd, of course, cheered mechanically at tag lines...But its mood was sour. The air carried the acrid smell of defeat...the crowd took shallow breaths. [author's note: The three who donned Nobama tee shirts and walked determinedly around the podium when he began to speak were copiously ignored by the press despite the furor they caused in the stadium]. It is conceivable that Barack Obama, if elected, will destroy himself before he destroys the country. Hatred is a toxic diet even for someone with as strong a stomach as Obama ... Both Obama and the American public should be very careful of what they wish for. As the horrible example of Obama's father shows, there is nothing worse for an embittered outsider manipulating the system from within than to achieve his goals.By all rights, the Democrats should win this election. They will lose, I predict, because of the flawed character of their candidate." http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/JI03Aa02.html
--Spengler

"Orange is the symbolic color of the Ukrainian Revolutionaries who protested the "selection" of the President in a rigged election. There was massive corruption, voter intimidation and direct electoral fraud. In the end the Orange Revolution was successful. There was a re-vote that was watched by world observers (that's what we needed here!) and Yushchenko became the President. I guess only "rigged" elections in foreign countries get world outcry."
--Puget Sound Island Girl

And So: The conventions are over. The DNC and the Obama camp have, for the moment, gotten what they want, despite hard campaigning for the actual winner of the primaries and strenuous objection to voter and caucus fraud. However, this appears to be quite the pyrrhic victory indeed. Once again, the Democratic party has demonstrated its keen ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by insisting on the selection of an inexperienced, unqualified and, apparently, rather lawless individual who, it has recently come to light, has rather clearly violated the Logan Act on several occasions, most notably in negotiating in July with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebarito demand that they stop negotiations with the Bush Administration to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq in the hope that he can continue attacking the Bush Administration for not imposing a timetable for withdrawal.

http://partisanreport.com/blog/2008/09/16/mccain-responds-to-obama-over-possible-interference-with-iraqi-government-and-us-troop-withdrawl/

And, if voter fraud and violation of the Logan Act weren't, on their own, sufficient reason to prevent his takeover of the Oval Office, this should seal the deal, so to speak:

"Every story that surfaces concerning Senator Obama reeks with the stench of the long-corrupt Chicago political machine. Obama is part of this machine; his rise to power was due to this machine, and like the Chicago power brokers he is nothing more than a say anything, do anything candidate who once elected will break all campaign promises, act only to increase his own political power and then expect the long-term memory loss that the public has to kick-in by election day...From aggregating information contained within FEC disclosures you can begin to form a picture of where the large contributions are coming from. According to The Center For Responsive Politics, of the 20 largest sources of campaign contributions to the Obama Campaign, 11 were Investment Banks or International Law firms directly tied to the financial industry." For a comprehensive list of specific donors, click link http://politicallydrunk.blogspot.com/2008/09/obamas-sub-prime-buddies-lehman.html
One can only hope that somehow, some way, there is a power in the Universe that will prevent him from taking control of the White House, because thus far, our tattered electoral system has been unable to prevent it.

Turning Left To Go Right--The World Turned Upside Down

Upon hearing the news that Sarah Palin had been chosen as John McCain's running mate and learning of the spate of vicious sexist attacks upon her, Thelma, Louise and Princess Laia veered suddenly left and north to head to the Republican Convention in Minneapolis. In our last episode, we had arrived safely thereon and were making plans to be interviewed and attend Governor Palin's speech scheduled for Wednesday, September 3.

Today finds us mulling over the events of last night, and all the permutations therein. It was a first for this writer: attending a Republican convention was the last thing I ever thought I would be doing. Amidst frantic phone calls from family asking whether I had lost my mind, I marched forth with my stalwart sisters to make our stand for feminism, women's rights, and human rights.

Irrespective of candidates' ideologies, it is our position that sexist smears, comments and accusations cannot be tolerated, at any time or any place. To continue to allow this kind of thing to perpetuate is to keep all people enslaved. As Hillary says, "Women's Rights Are Human Rights."

We were met at the skybox most graciously by two lovely RNC officials and were immediately struck by the contrast between the two conventions. Just having come from Denver, we had experienced and witnessed a great deal of unpleasantness--delegate intimidation, aggressive Obamabots, hostile and arrogant DNC officials were the rule rather than the exception, and at times the only friends we felt present were the Denver police, the foreign press and the residents, all of whom were terrific.

On the other hand, the officials and attendees here in St. Paul have been nothing but open, welcoming and enthusiastic about our presence. Regardless of whether one agrees with Sarah Palin's policies, one has to respect her right to voice them without fear of her family or herself being maligned.

The utter disrespect and sexism that has emerged, once again, toward a woman running for office in the United States is unacceptable. When Joe Biden lost a wife and child in a car crash years ago, no one suggested to him that he quit his job to stay home and take care of his children; no one has suggested that he is a poor parent because his daughter was arrested for obstructing justice--in fact, no one even REPORTED the incident, which occurred years ago, until NOW!

And so it goes. It will not stop until we MAKE it stop. Call us what you will--we will not stop until equality is a reality, not just something Democrats feel they can apply only to themselves or those of whom they approve. Equality is for EVERYone...all races, religions, creeds, genders, and yes...even political parties. Even Republicans have the right to be free from sexist, personal assaults upon themselves and their families. If one is maligned, we are all vulnerable.

The Torch Is Passed

Tonight will bring the culmination of the long, hard struggle between the Democratic Party's DNC and its members, as the candidate with the lesser popular vote is officially crowned as the 2008 Democratic nominee. Not for nothing have 18 million people worked tirelessly to restore our democratic system to the levels of fairness and integrity it once stood for, however. This campaign has brought to light the fact that our system needs to be fixed in order to once again represent either the Democratic Party we once all knew and loved, or, out of its ashes, birth a new one.

It has shown us that taking the high road no longer works in American politics, but rather, rigging caucuses, gaming rules, and voter fraud, along with projective attacks does. I will NEVER forget the magnitude of furor, shock, and heartbreak witnessed during this campaign, nor will anyone else who was similarly involved. But, out of the remnants of this tattered ideal, our resolve has strengthened even more firmly. PUMAS everywhere have worked together, met, bonded, cheered, supported and loved one another throughout this effort, and resolved to continue our work of election and media reform in order to restore our
Democracy.

It has been one of the most incredible weeks of my life--meeting so many fantastic, diverse people, all of whom were hoping that Hillary would be our nominee despite heavily strong armed pressure and intimidation from DNC, Democratic Party and the Obama Camp. Our presence on the streets and in the convention center, at rallying places and receptions around town brought terrific enthusiasm from many, and derision and threats from the few Obama supporters whose goals seemed so sadly incompatible with Democratic principles.

And so, the torch is passing...from trusted, long time servant to the new, unknown quantity in Barack Obama. Our Movement will continue--we are looking toward an annual PUMA Convention on May 31, 2009, and in the coming year will devote ourselves to the restructuring, basebuilding and goal planning that will comprise the next phase of this glorious movement. The people who came from all over America to show a presence in support of Hillary and worked tirelessly campaigning, rallying, blogging, phoning, and pitching in wherever needed will long hold a place in my heart and I look forward to our continued efforts in restoring our country.

Tribute to Two Patriots

Robert Gwatney Murdered in office by lone gunman Aug. 13, 2008

Stephanie Tubbs Jones August 20, 2008

It would be difficult improve upon the poignance with which our own PUMAS pay tribute to Stephanie. Please click the links below.
http://freemenow.wordpress.com/2008/08/21/tell-me-why/
http://comealongway.wordpress.com/2008/08/21/stephanie-tubbs-jones-1949-2008-we-will-miss-her-fighting-spirit/

This is so terribly sad and so horribly terrible that words cannot express the depth of it. No matter how many people try to express their shock horror and anguish, NO words work. NO words help.

It now seems fairly apparent that our electoral system is dealing with an opposition that literally will stop at nothing to thwart free elections to get what they want: be it the choir director from the Wright church; Bob Gwatney in Arkansas, the Democratic State Chair or Stephanie Tubbs Jones, stalwart and steadfast champion of Ohio voting rights, steward of the investigation into the 2004 Ohio voting fraud, 5 term congressperson and champion and supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton--and how many others???

I received this today from an editor at cityedition.com:

After publishing a story on the Bill Gwatney murder in Arkansas last week, new information surfaced in an email to TheCityEdition.com. On
the day before the killing, Gwatney may have told the group petitioning DNC delegates for Sen. Clinton's name to appear in a roll-call vote that he would sign on to the drive. Evidently he is the only state chair to do so. Most other members of the Arkansas delegation indicated to organizers they would support her.
Sen. Clinton won the state on Feb. 5th by 44 points, her biggest margin nationwide. Significantly, in a roll call vote at the convention, Arkansas is one of the first states called, and thus a potential for starting a bandwagon effect.

So the timeline goes like this: 8/12 Gwatney agrees to back Clinton
nomination - 8/13 Gwatney shot - 8/14 DNC announces Clinton will be
nominated.

In addition, on Tuesday, Little Rock police announced that the keys
found in the killer's home attached to Gwatney auto dealership
might have been diversionary, if not planted, evidence. The article
has been updated to reflect the latest facts. If anyone has info
on this case, please get in touch. Here's a link to the story:

http://www.thecityedition.com/Pages/Archive/Summer08/BillGwatney.html

I have been highly reluctant to sound alarmist or extremist--on the contrary, I am always the optimist, dismissing notions of threat, but even I, in my reluctance to believe conspiracy theorists and extremists, have been forced to reassess my views. Is it extreme to wonder whether a group that has repeatedly asserted that THEY WILL STOP AT NOTHING to win really won't stop at nothing? Election fraud in Texas caucuses, Iowa polls and Florida and Michigan, strong arm, intimidation tactics aimed at delegates, elected officials and the ultimate strong arm tactic against Bob Gwatney tell me that this truly IS a group that will stop at nothing.

This is a sad, sad day for America and a very frightening one too. Forty years ago we witnessed the killings of MLK and RFK...we now witness the killings of two of Hillary's most intrepid, loyal supporters, both of whom lived their lives espousing the words of Dr. King and Senator Kennedy, within days of one another, within two weeks of the Democratic Convention. This cannot possibly be an accident of random coincidence. The universe simply does not work that way.

Our hands tremble, our hearts are heavy and our thoughts race as we search for a way in which to protect ourselves and our country from the mob tactics of fascism and the loss of our democracy.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones and Bob Gwatney shall remain in our hearts and minds forever as courageous Americans, patriots who stood by their word, voted their conscience and espoused integrity. They will go down in history as individuals who died for their beliefs that America deserved Democracy and free speech.

As we move ahead to the Denver convention, I implore everyone to remember these brave, patriotic, public servants, and vote your conscience. Vote for the candidate most qualified to lead our country and most likely to win the election. Do not let the tactics of thugs dictate the choice of our next president.

truthisgold

PUMA Central