Obama’s historic speech on race in America
As they say, timing in everything. Serendipitously, my most recent Instaletter to the Asheville Citizen-Times was published on this auspicious day in their Opinion section:
Some allege that Barack Obama is too inexperienced to be president. In reality his tenure in public office is remarkably similar to Abraham Lincoln’s—in the Illinois state legislature and the U.S. Congress. President Lincoln served magnificently during a very challenging time, and I have faith that President Obama will do likewise.
Given his bold and compelling speech today, I believe that President Barack Obama will follow in the footsteps of the Great Emancipator and inspire the people of this nation to acknowledge that—despite differences in the color of our skin, our ages, our spiritual practices, our political leanings, the region in which we live, etcetera—there is much more that connects us than divides us.
This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. —Barack Obama
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A MORE PERFECT UNION
BARACK OBAMA
Tuesday, March 18th, 2008, 10:17:53 ET
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(Originally posted at Drudge Report)
“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.”
Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America’s improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.
The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation’s original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.
Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution – a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.
And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part – through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.
This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign – to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together – unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction – towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.
This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.
I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton’s Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I’ve gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world’s poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners – an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.
It’s a story that hasn’t made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts – that out of many, we are truly one. (more…)
Tuesday, March 18th, 2008Just in time for Easter: Fiery words from provocative preachers
Damn you rich! You already have your compensation.
Damn you who are well-fed! You will know hunger.
Damn you who laugh now! You will weep and grieve.
Damn you when everybody speaks well of you!
Sound like some angry black preacher ranting from his pulpit in Chicago? Guess again. These are the words of Jesus of Nazareth as stated in Luke
6:24-26, Scholars Translation (via Devilstower at Daily Kos). So how do Jesus’ uncompromising edicts differ from Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s provocative pronouncements?
God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human.
God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme.
Not much, in my opinion. In fact, the words of Jesus and Rev. Wright, though adamant in tone, rather resonate with me. I know that I can fall asleep and forget who I really am and why I’m on this planet. Therefore I rely on my minister, Howard Hanger, to regularly awaken me from my slumber, to disturb my complacency and self-satisfaction, to dissipate my judgment of others, to inspire me to walk my talk, to rekindle my desire to be more loving, to motivate me to use my gifts to help create a more just and compassionate planet.
More from Devilstower at Daily Kos:
From Gandhi to King, it’s in the nature of spiritual leaders to grab their audiences by the throat and their nations by the short hairs. This was true at the time of the Civil War and during the Civil Rights movement. Martyrs did not become martyrs by appealing to the status quo.
[ . . . ]
The purpose of a good sermon isn’t to placate, ease, and make people comfortable. A dangerous religion isn’t one that challenges people and makes them squirm. Makes them angry. A dangerous religion is one that is too amicable to what you already think, one that pats you on the head and sends you forth in assurance of your own righteousness. If you want to search for “traitors” in the pulpit, turn your eye toward those who never find anything wrong in the actions of this nation.
And, in honor of the Easter season, a few words from the inimitable Arthur Silber over at Once Upon a Time:
I don’t care in the least whether you think Jesus was the Son of God, or the weird guy from that little village over there, or an actual historical figure. I’m talking about the actual essence of the story of Jesus as that story has come
down to us. In fact, the Jesus of that story challenged every aspect of the behavior and thought of the ruling class of his time. He condemned that ruling class in stark and notably unforgiving terms. He was threatening to the powerful of his time to a degree that the powerful found intolerable.
You might recall that the threat Jesus represented to the powerful elites of his time was so extreme that they killed him because of it. But in a pattern that is repeated over and over again throughout history, the ruling class found a very clever way to disembowel the threat Jesus represented, once they had disemboweled the individual in question. The ruling class appropriated the religion he had preached, purged it of each and every element that criticized them, and repackaged it as a bland, easily digestible pablum. They then pretended this tasteless, empty, sentimentalized religion was what Jesus had offered all along. And many people fell for it.
However Jeremiah Wright did not buy the watered-down version of Christ and Christianity but believed instead in the radical Jesus, the one who challenged (and challenges) us to actually live by the principles he espoused. And some evidently are frightened by his audacity–Jesus’ as well as Jeremiah’s. So now Wright is being crucified in the mainstream media, and another spiritual leader who was willing to speak his truth is being silenced just as surely as if he were nailed to a cross and left there to perish.
Monday, March 17th, 2008So now George Bush wants to fight in a war
So when he had a chance to fight in the Vietnam War, George W. Bush pulled every string he could to avoid it, choosing to join other sons of the wealthy
in the Texas Air National Guard defending Galveston from invasion by the Viet Cong navy. But yesterday in a videoconference with U.S. military and civilian personnel serving in Afghanistan, our lowly-esteemed president now declares:
I must say, I’m a little envious. If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed.
It must be exciting for you … in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger.
Exciting? Romantic? Jesus! Thank god the countdown is on. Only 312 more days left in the nightmare known as the second Bush administration.
Watch a short video about the AWOL president. 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.
Friday, March 14th, 2008How I became an Obama supporter and why I’ll never vote for Clinton
Preparing to vote in my first presidential election in 1968, I was confronted with a dreadful choice: Richard Nixon, the Republican candidate, and Vice
President Hubert Humphrey, the Democrat. I’d never trusted Tricky Dick any further than I could throw him (an intuitive insight borne out by his later high crimes and misdemeanors in the White House). And President Lyndon Johnson had the Hump’s pecker in his pocket (as Johnson himself so eloquently expressed it), which inextricably linked his VP to continuation of the Vietnam War with its attendant death and destruction.
I would have gladly voted for either of the two anti-war candidates in the Democratic race had they been on the ballot in November. But Gene McCarthy, senator from Minnesota who had come close to beating Johnson in the New Hampshire primary, was cast aside by the party bosses at the Democratic Convention. And Bobby Kennedy, the senator from New York and brother of President John Kennedy, was gunned down just as he’d won the California primary. Absent these choices, I cast my vote for Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther leader and author of Soul on Ice, who was running at the head of the Peace and Freedom Party ticket that garnered just over 100,000 votes nationwide.
Every four years in the four decades hence, I have generally held my nose and voted for the lesser of two evils. Let me hereby declare that this is the year that dispirited practice stops. In 2008, given the choices of John McCain, the candidate of the 1950s, Hillary Clinton, the candidate of the 1990s and Barack Obama, the candidate of the here and now, I intend to do everything in my power to ensure that I have the opportunity to vote for Obama for president on November 4.
Why Obama? Though my wife Shonnie and I were initially supporters of John Edwards for the Democratic presidential nomination, we watched Obama’s victory speech after the Iowa caucuses. And as we did so, something inside of me was touched so deeply that I sat fully engaged, tears streaming down my face, joy in my heart. Buoyed by his inclusive, inspiring message, Shonnie and I both joined his grassroots campaign here in Asheville, and we became two of the more than one million supporters who have contributed money to his campaign.
I believe that a transformational leader is essential if we are to successfully move into a new era and actually confront the challenges of a sinking economy, the atrocious war in Iraq, the dangers of global warming, shrinking oil supplies, affordable healthcare for all and numerous other pressing issues. I believe we need a president who is willing to forsake the “same old same old” and embrace progressive, innovative ways to genuinely change the way things are done in Washington so that our elected representatives serve all of us, not merely the ruling elite. I believe that our next president must be someone who can touch the deep yearning for a more just, compassionate and sustainable society that is in each of us. I believe that our national leader must have the authenticity, integrity, moral authority and willingness to call each of us into accountability and inspire us to take action on our own behalf and on behalf of our brothers and sisters. I believe Barack Obama is the right person at the right time to be our next president. And there are millions of other Americans like me who support his candidacy with spirited commitment and deep passion.
Now I know that there are some out there who don’t “get” Obama: those who ignorantly accept the malicious misinformation about his competence, attributes, experience and background being propagated by Clinton, McCain and others; those whose antiquated belief systems would never let them vote for a candidate of color; those misguided ideologues who equate members of the Democratic party with Satan and socialism; those of the mainstream media who insist on portraying this campaign as just another traditional horse race; those professional politicians who cling to the obsolete top-down leadership paradigm; those members of the left who dispute Obama’s ideological purity; those more-spiritually-evolved-than-thou beings who won’t defile themselves by engaging in the worldliness of politics; those who have sunk so far down into hopelessness and cynicism that supporting him would mean giving up victimhood dramas and actually taking action.
But there are enough of us who have faith that things can be different. And there are enough of us who are willing to put our butts on the line to make it so. A huge coalition of Democrats, Republicans and Independents of various ages, ethnic groups and socio-economic backgrounds have joined together as citizen-activists to take back our government from the special interests, to insist on servant leadership from our elected officials, to lend a hand to those among us who are challenged to support themselves, to reclaim our proper place in the community of nations.
As Shonnie recently wrote on her blog, Obama “is a leader akin to Gandhi, King, Mandela, Kennedy.” His time has come. Our time has come. Together we can transform this nation into that which our Founding Fathers envisioned, so that “of the people, by the people, for the people” is not just a slogan, but a reality for every last one of us.
Finally, a word to Democratic super delegates and elders of the Democratic Party: Given Hillary Clinton’s recent despicable scorched earth campaign tactics and her derision of Obama’s inspirational message and those of us who are evoked by it, under no circumstances will I vote for her. My decision on this is irrevocable. If I am faced with a choice between McCain and Clinton (McCain-Lite) on November 4, I will be scouring the ballot once again for a third party candidate for whom I can vote in good conscience.
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Find more information on Barack Obama
For information on Barack Obama’s 20 years of public service and his accomplishments during that time, visit the following websites:
Sign the petition
Obama Supporters Who Will Not Vote For Clinton in November
Express your views directly to the Democratic National Committee
Democratic National Committee Contact Form
Note: McCain-Clinton graphic via BuzzFlash
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008Living with five cats helps my ticker keeps on ticking
I’ve always been a cat guy. Ever since Little Kitty Foo Foo, my feline companion who inhaled with the rest of us 
during respites from teaching high school in Tennessee in the late ’60s. And while there have been others, none has been with me as long as Chocolate, the grand dame of the Lavender-Mulkey household who is now nearing 20 years of age and from whom I’m learning about mortality.
Chocolate, Kaali, Attabi, Bandit and Desmond are all full-fledged family members, each with his/her role in family dynamics, each with a special place in my heart, each reminding me about my connection with all the creatures of our planet. I know that I frequently become more present, more connected with who I really am when I take time to just be with them. But I had no idea that their presence actually make my ticker tick more effectively. Just check out this excerpt from ABC’s “Can Having a Cat Lower Your Heart Attack Risk?”
Researchers at the University of Minnesota’s Stroke Research Center looked at 4,435 people, aged 30 to 75 years, who were participating in ongoing national government health research from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study.
They found that over a 20-year period, those who had never owned a cat had a 40 percent greater risk of death due to heart attack and a 30 percent higher risk of death due to any sort of cardiovascular disease than previous or current cat owners. Researchers found no such protective effects for dog owners.
You can read the whole article at ABC News: Stroke on Your Mind? Stroke Your Feline.
Don’t forget to pet your kitty!
Sunday, March 9th, 2008Attend Buncombe County Democratic Precinct Meetings on March 11
Please plan to attend your Democratic Precinct Meeting this Tuesday to have a voice in party decisions. Details below:
DEMOCRATIC PRECINCT MEETINGS
TUESDAY, MARCH 11 at 7:30 PM
The Buncombe County Democratic Party’s Annual Precinct Meetings will be held on Tuesday, March 11, starting at 7:30 PM. There must be 5 registered Democrats from the precinct present at that time to form a quorum. Most will be held at the regular polling location. Click here for a full list of meeting locations. Precincts not meeting at the polling location are listed below:
REGULAR VOTING LOCATION AT PRECINCTS 1-71 , UNLESS INDICATED BELOW:
ASHEVILLE 4
Mountain Java, Merrimon Ave.
ASHEVILLE 12
Western NC Health Service, 312 Haywood Rd.,
Formerly Fruit of Labor Worship Center
ASHEVILLE 21
St. Johns Episcopal Church, Parish Hall
290 Old Haw Creek Road, Asheville, NC 28805
AVERYS CREEK 30.2 & 30.3
Averys Creek Community Center
BLACK MOUNTAIN 5 - Pct 36
120 John Knox Rd. in Montreat, NC
FAIRVIEW 2 - Pct 38.3
FairviewComm.Center 1155 Charlotte Hwy, Fairview
FAIRVIEW 3 – Pct. 39.2 & 3
Fairview Volunteer Fire Dept.
LOWER HOMINY 1 - Pct 44
Mountain Java, Westridge Shopping Ctr., 901 Smoky Park Hwy, Candler
LOWER HOMINY 3 – Pct 46
Ryan’s Steak House, Brevard Road
LIMESTONE 3 - Pct 56
Mountain Brew Café 3480 Sweeten Creek Rd, Arden
SWANNANOA 1 - Pct 64
Buckeye Cove Community Club, 527 Buckeye Cove Rd. Swannanoa
SWANNANOA 3 – Pct. 66
“New” Bee Tree Fire Station, Bee Tree Road
W BUNCOMBE 1- Pct 68-1
West Buncombe School
Primary Date: May 6, 2008
Last Day To Register To Vote on Primary Date: April 11
Absentee Voting: March 17 - April 29
One Stop Absentee Voting: April 17 - May 3
(Same Day Registration and Voting Is Available During One Stop Voting)
Saturday, March 8th, 2008My instaletter in today’s AC-T re downtown parking garage in Asheville
The price of oil continues to rise, now above $102 a barrel, and the cost of gasoline along with it. The portents are clear, but the City of Asheville will still spend $39 million on a downtown parking garage — a shrine to our unwillingness to comprehend the writing on the wall.
–Bruce Mulkey, Asheville
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008Is “change” really a soft word for “revolution?”
When Change Is Not Enough: The Seven Steps to Revolution
“Those who make peaceful evolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable.”
- John F. Kennedy
There’s one thing for sure: 2008 isn’t anything like politics as usual.
The corporate media (with their unerring eye for the obvious point) is fixated on the narrative that, for the first time ever, Americans will likely end this year with either a woman or a black man headed for the White House. Bloggers are telling stories from the front lines of primaries and caucuses that look like something from the early 60s - people lining up before dawn to vote in Manoa, Hawaii yesterday; a thousand black college students in Prairie View, Texas marching 10 miles to cast their early votes in the face of a county that tried to disenfranchise them. In recent months, we’ve also been gobstopped by the sheer passion of the insurgent campaigns of both Barack Obama and Ron Paul, both of whom brought millions of new voters into the conversation - and with them, a sharp critique of the status quo and a new energy that’s agitating toward deep structural change.
There’s something implacable, earnest, and righteously angry in the air. And it raises all kinds of questions for burned-out Boomers and jaded Gen Xers who’ve been ground down to the stump by the mostly losing battles of the past 30 years. Can it be - at long last - that Americans have, simply, had enough? Are we, finally, stepping out to take back our government - and with it, control of our own future? Is this simply a shifting political season - the kind we get every 20 to 30 years - or is there something deeper going on here? Do we dare to raise our hopes that this time, we’re going to finally win a few? Just how ready is this country for big, serious, forward-looking change?
Recently, I came across a pocket of sociological research that suggested a tantalizing answer to these questions - and also that America may be far more ready for far more change than anyone really believes is possible at this moment. In fact, according to some sociologists, we’ve already lined up all the preconditions that have historically set the stage for full-fledged violent revolution.
It turns out that the energy of this moment is not about Hillary or Ron or Barack. It’s about who we are, and where we are, and what happens to people’s minds when they’re left hanging just a little too far past the moment when they’re ready for transformative change.
Way back in 1962, Caltech sociologist James C. Davies published an article in the American Sociological Review that summarized the conditions that determine how and when modern political revolutions occur. Intriguingly, Davies cited another scholar, Crane Brinton, who laid out seven “tentative uniformities” that he argued were the common precursors that set the stage for the Puritan, American, French, and Russian revolutions. As I read Davies’ argument, it struck me that the same seven stars Brinton named are now precisely lined up at midheaven over America in 2008. Taken together, it’s a convergence that creates the perfect social, economic, and political conditions for the biggest revolution since the shot heard ’round the world.
And even more interestingly: in every case, we got here as a direct result of either intended or unintended consequences of the conservatives’ war against liberal government, and their attempt to take over our democracy and replace it with a one-party plutocracy. It turns out that, historically, liberal nations make very poor grounds for revolution - but deeply conservative ones very reliably create the conditions that eventually make violent overthrow necessary. And our own Republicans, it turns out, have done a hell of a job.
Here are the seven criteria, along with the reasons why we’re fulfilling each of them now, and how conservative policies conspired to put us on the road to possible revolution. (more…)
Monday, March 3rd, 2008
