NYT columnists on Obama’s success and Clinton’s failure
Two New York Times columnists–Frank Rich and Maureen Dowd–wrote about the race for the Democratic presidential nomination today. And both columns are worth a read, especially if you’re interested learning some of the reasons behind Barack Obama’s phenomenal ability to inspire millions of Americans to take action in an inclusive campaign for change and Hillary Clinton’s passé top-down approach that assumed the nomination could be won by merely showing up and reciting platitudinous speeches about experience.
¿Quién Es Less Macho?
By Maureen Dowd
February 24, 2008If this is truly the Decline and Fall of the Clinton Empire, it is marked by one freaky stroke of bad luck and one striking historical irony.
How likely is it that a woman who finally unfetters herself from one superstar then finds herself eclipsed by another?
And when historians trace how her inevitability dissolved, they will surely note this paradox: The first serious female candidate for president was rejected by voters drawn to the more feminine management style of her male rival.
Click here to read the rest of the column.
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The Audacity of Hopelessness
By Frank Rich
February 24, 2008WHEN people one day look back at the remarkable implosion of the Hillary Clinton campaign, they may notice that it both began and ended in the long dark shadow of Iraq.
It’s not just that her candidacy’s central premise — the priceless value of “experience” — was fatally poisoned from the start by her still ill-explained vote to authorize the fiasco. Senator Clinton then compounded that 2002 misjudgment by pursuing a 2008 campaign strategy that uncannily mimicked the disastrous Bush Iraq war plan. After promising a cakewalk to the nomination — “It will be me,” Mrs. Clinton told Katie Couric in November — she was routed by an insurgency.
Click here to read the rest of the column.
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Coming soon–”Top ten reasons I support Barack Obama for president of the USA” and “The fat lady is fixing to sing.”
Sunday, February 24th, 2008“Choice” by Tom Robbins
CHOICE
The word that allows yes, the word that makes no possible.
The word that puts free in freedom and takes the obligation out of love.
The word that throws open a window after the final door is closed.
The word upon which all adventure, all exhilaration, all meaning, all honor depends.
The word that fires evolution’s motor of mud.
The word that the cocoon whispers to the caterpillar.
The word that molecules recite before bonding.
The word that separates that which is dead from that which is living.
The word no mirror can turn around.
In the beginning was the word and the word was CHOICE.
– Tom Robbins
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From Wikipedia: “Thomas Eugene Robbins (born July 22, 1936 in Blowing Rock, North Carolina) is an American author. His novels are complex, often wild stories with strong social undercurrents, a satirical bent, and obscure details. His novel Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1976) was made into a movie in 1993 directed by Gus Van Sant.”
Tom is a favorite author of Howard Hanger, Minister of Ritual and Celebration at Jubilee! Community, my faith community in Asheville. In fact, Tom spoke at Jubilee! once, and he provided a testimonial for Howard’s new book Drink Deeply with Delight, now available online and at Malaprops Bookstore & Cafe.
Friday, February 22nd, 2008One day of the Iraq War costs $720 million
One day of the Iraq War costs $720 million. Watch this short video from the American Friends Service Committee to discover what else we could be doing with this money.
Note: Mozilla Firefox users, merely click on the play button on the video player below. Internet Explorer users, you likely will not see the video player, so click on the link to view the video at the YouTube website.
If you are encountering challenges trying to watch this video using Internet Explorer, I recommend switching to Mozilla Firefox as your default web browser. It’s free and easy to download.
Let’s elect Barack Obama our next president!
Shonnie and I just sent Barack Obama a campaign contribution. Not a large one, but one that expresses our support and adds energy to the growing momentum that is building on his behalf. Though I really 
resonated with Dennis Kucinich (again), and out of the three Democratic frontrunners, I supported John Edwards, I switched to Obama when my spirit was so deeply stirred by his inspiring victory speech after the Iowa caucuses.
Let me preface my next statement with a disclaimer: I doubt that either Hillary or Barack are likely to willingly make the radical changes required if we are to experience a relatively soft landing from peak oil, global warming and the current economic meltdown. But I do believe that Obama is less tethered to the past than Clinton. I believe that, out of his community organizing, he knows his authority comes bottom up from the consent of the people, rather than from the few Beltway power brokers who purport to know what’s best for this nation.
A vote for Obama is a vote for what might yet be, a vote for a positive vision of ourselves and our country, a vote for love rather than for fear. As Professor Lani Guinier of Harvard Law School stated it: Mrs. Clinton “is the talented lawyer serving her clients. Mr. Obama is the organizer “who sees the source of his power as the ability to inspire people to mobilize.”
Click here to watch an inspiring Obama video–Yes, We Can.
Monday, February 4th, 2008Belief-O-Matic — A quiz about your spiritual beliefs
Ever wondered how your spiritual beliefs align with various religious practices? Well, Belief-O-Matic™ at Beliefnet.com can tell you. Just answer 20 questions about your concept of a higher power, the origin of life, etc., and Belief-O-Matic™ will tell you which religions most closely match your responses.
Example question from quiz:
| 1. | What is the number and nature of the deity (God, gods, higher power)? Choose one. |
| Only one God–a corporeal spirit (has a body), supreme, personal God Almighty, the Creator. | |
| Only one God–an incorporeal (no body) spirit, supreme, personal God Almighty, the Creator. | |
| Multiple personal gods (or goddesses) regarded as facets of one God, and/or as separate gods. | |
| The supreme force is the impersonal Ultimate Reality (or life force, ultimate truth, cosmic order, absolute bliss, universal soul), which resides within and/or beyond all. | |
| The supreme existence is both the eternal, impersonal, formless Ultimate Reality, and personal God (or gods). | |
| No God or supreme force. Or not sure. Or not important. | |
| None of the above. |
FYI, the top six religions that most closely matched my beliefs were:
- Mahayana Buddhism–100% match
- Taoism–96% match
- Unitarian Universalism–90% match
- Liberal Quakers–89% match
- Theravada Buddhism–89% match
- Neo-Pagan–88% match
Click here to start the quiz!
P.S. I don’t belong to an organized religion; I go to Jubilee!
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
