Search Results for: integrity

Fort Hood's Nidal Hasan – or – Why Today's Soldiers Go Crazy

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Excerpt: “Schizophrenic behavior” is defined as behavior which is motivated by contradictory or conflicting principles, or which results from the co-existence of disparate or antagonistic activities. In other words, when your ideals frequently conflict with each other, and when your actions feel equally conflicted, it can drive you nuts. Fallible human attempts to live up to one’s ethics, values, standards and goals can make even the best soldiers feel schizophrenic.
Excerpt: When soldiers from any nation come home from their wars, of course they have trouble rectifying all they've participated in, with their peacetime ethical, spiritual and religious beliefs about what it means to be humane, caring, good—all the many understandings parents and teachers carefully taught them about what makes relationships work, and what make life worth living. Many returning war veterans basically go insane for years. Others are unstable or crazy for the rest of their lives. Continue reading →

Hillary’s Concession Speech Was So Characteristically Hillary

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I’m afraid I didn’t see in Hillary’s speech what others saw. I thought it mean-spirited–for a concession speech. Mockingly dressed in funereal black, Hillary seemed full of sound and fury, conceding nothing.
Most glaring was what Hillary didn’t say, what any generous endorser of Barack who really wanted to help him would have articulated clearly: I like this man, I respect this man, I trust and admire him, I’ve worked with him and know him and think he’ll make a great president.
Far from giving Barack her wholehearted endorsement, Hillary continued to aggrandize her own status, and left her followers confused. She mentioned Barack's strength, determination, grace and grit, but overlooked the special qualities that gave him his win–his brilliance, his organizational and leadership talents, his judgment, integrity, fine record of service, vision, and patriotism. Continue reading →

Mark Warner A Good Vice Presidential Running Mate for Obama

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(Click “more” below for easier reading….) Re: the Veepstakes short list: If Barack picks Warner for his VP, Kaine (who has to step down in 2010 anyway) can run now for Senate, and they all (Jim Webb too) can support Rick Boucher for governor….
Here's some more rambling on the subject….
My only hesitation about Warner was not knowing what Barack thought about him. If the ticket appeals to both of them, Warner will offer Barack a winning teammate–someone he likes working with, a thoughtful, persuasive and energetic campaigner, a very good debater and speaker, a good balance in lots of ways to the Obama ticket (so they’ll win,) a good possibilitity for future President when Barack moves over to the Supreme Court (or whatever) in eight years, and most important, Warner is someone who really knows how to get things done and how to run a government.
It ought to be evident by now to informed voters that Barack has an in-depth interest and expertise in foreign policy, if not extensive experience, and I’m sure that Warner has been boning up in this area as well, for his Senate (or Veep) race, during the last year anyway…. I think Barack will make mincemeat of McCain in foreign policy debates, and I'll bet Warner can impress folks on that subject in a debate too. Probably he's made some foreign trips and met some key people in the last year or so, too? I mean, what has he been doing for the last year besides studying up…? I don’t think many people really think Barack is unprepared to handle the presidency, the 3 am calls, etc. Two Harvard lawyers with brilliant publicly-accountable records of service ought to count for something…. Warner knows his way around Congress too….
I think the public will love a ticket with 5 beautiful young girls gracing it, headed up by these two rock stars…. This is 2008, after all…. Their wives would be great friends–both are remarkable women and good campaigners. Warner would help to bring in Virginia and Indiana (his birthplace) and would attract all Republicans, Independents and centrists/rural folk too, because that's the way he is.
I can't imagine women not being drawn to these two remarkable men…. I wish Warner were a Hispanic woman, but you can't have everything. I think Hispanics will vote for an Obama/Warner ticket over McCain and ???.
I won't go into all the ways Warner's expertise offers depth to the Obama ticket, but Warner is especially strong in managing government and money/budgets/taxes, strong in his business abilities and connections (he was a founder of Nextel), very good at improving education, a strong record in transportation work, the environment, energy, health care, the war, a competitive economy, infrastructure, health care, technology…. All in all, a great record of interests and accomplishments. So great in fact, maybe Barack won't even consider anyone else at all….
Warner seems to have great integrity, great judgment and superb political instincts. And he's not one to put his foot in his mouth….
Warner's politics can't be tooooo far from Barack's because Warner cut his teeth on politics as a young man working for Chris Dodd. I suspect Barack and Warner have a great number of common goals for change…..
Warner’s wife might help bring in some mlitary voters (she’s a brat) and may help with Texas too, where she went to grad school (in Austin.) She's bright and attractive and capable (graduate degree in public health, a great field.)
When voters and the media get to know Warner–who has earned the warm affection and great respect of 80% of the Virginians in both parties, that is, all who know him–they’ll all be thrilled with the ticket. Warner is so funny, just so appealing, just like Barack (except different, of course.)
Does anyone remember how much fun it was when young(ish) Bill and Al hit the campaign trial? Just their energy was an amazing contrast…. If Barack believes in this centrist, then I do too…. Having Warner on the ticket will convince more people that “Yes we can” GET IT DONE….. If Barack picks Mark Warner, then this ticket feels great to me…. They certainly have similar visions, values and approaches. I'm happy Barack may have found someone deserving of running and working beside him as he brings real change to America…. Continue reading →

Here's Why Barack Obama Is Our Most Electable Candidate.

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Barack is our most electable candidate in November. Here's why…. Continue reading →

I’ve Finally Decided That Barack Obama Will Pick Bob Casey for His Vice Presidential Running Mate. Or Maybe Mark Warner.… Or Maybe Kathleen Sebelius… Or Bill Richardson? Jim Webb? Or maybe Gore. Or Biden. Or…#@%*!!??

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I’m enjoying watching the Obama veepstakes unfold….
If Hillary doesn't want the job, which she isn't right for (although I love her) maybe Barack will pick either Pennsylvania’s Bob Casey or Jim Webb. Continue reading →

CNN’s Disappointing Coverage of the Pennsylvania Democratic Primary Election Returns

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I was greatly distressed to watch CNN’s coverage of the Pennsylvania Democratic primaries. I tuned in when the polls closed, and listened until nearly 11 p.m. when I got disgusted and turned the TV off. ……… Not a single commentator mentioned the most glaringly obvious outcome, that Barack Obama, a virtual unknown a year ago, had used his time in Pennsylvania to gain from ten to fifteen percentage points on well-known local girl and party-insider Hillary Clinton, an eight-year first lady to a popular president—and thus added to his chances of winning the presidency. As in every other state Obama has campaigned in, people who get to know him, like him, vote for him, and go on to campaign for him. Not a soul on CNN’s political panel mentioned how clearly time has proven to be on Barack’s side, or how, truly, in the general election in November, only the math will count…………..No one brought up the important point that Hillary has played every card the Republicans will use against Obama later—except the overt hate-and-fear-of-black-people racist card—while principled Obama hasn’t even begun to untie the huge and readily-available bag of old Clinton family footage, quotes, votes, indiscretions, innuendo, mistakes, and general nastiness (think Kenneth Starr’s report, for starters) which anonymously-funded demagogues have no doubt already begun pawing through and honing, with anticipatory glee, to disgusting effect. Bill Clinton survived his campaigns because he was wildly appealing and charismatic. Hillary is neither, and her negative campaigning against her widely-liked and respected opponent only makes her seem smaller, meaner, scareder. Why didn’t CNN’s commentators point out how Barack has survived Hillary’s worst, while she hasn’t even begun to reckon with the evil that will come at her when the Republicans strike up their band?………….Several other astonishingly clueless comments were voiced by the CNN bobbleheads-of-the-night. One callous voice commented in passing that, if super-delegates coldly overrule the will of the American people in November, “Sure, the Black people will be disappointed, but…”…………. Continue reading →

A Feminist for Obama

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I love Marianne Williamson (www.marianne.com). Like me, she believes in Barack Obama. We are both feminists. For me, feminism means being able to live your life in integrity with your own values and preferences and perspectives, not according to someone else's belief system about what is feminine or gender-appropriate.
For more insight on Marianne's wonderful take on feminism, read her great book A Woman's Worth. But for now–here's Marianne's endorsement of Barack Obama, a true friend of women and men alike:
“As a feminist, I believe nurturing and nourishing a world trying to be born is the most efficient way to counter the malevolent effects of a world that needs to pass away.
That is why I support Obama.
As a feminist, I believe inclusion is more powerful and life producing than is exclusion.
That is why I support Obama.
As a feminist, I believe tending and mending is a more effective way to deal with the world's stress points than is fighting or fleeing.
That is why I support Obama.
As a feminist, I believe having a vision for what I want the world to become is as important as solving problems that have arisen in the world that is.
That is why I support Obama.
As a feminist, I'm more concerned with creating a world my great-great-grandchildren can live in than in trying to make things better for me right now.
That is why I support Obama.
As a feminist, I am convinced that building authentic relationships is a more lasting, creative way to build peace than just strategizing to destroy enemies and manipulate alliances.
That is why I support Obama….” – by Marianne Williamson (www.marianne.com ) Continue reading →

Warning: THIS (Richardson's Crucifixion) is What Happens to Clinton Deserters!!!”

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The long cruel media-bashing of Bill Richardson by Hillary Clinton’s attack-dogs, led by James Carville at his most offensive (which is saying a lot), was impeccably timed to stop cold the imminent bleeding of super delegates and other influential public figures to the Obama camp. Making an unfairly public example of Richardson, vengefully humiliating and marginalizing him, worked like a charm, though, and it’s still working. Leaders everywhere, the small and the mighty alike, are terrified now to defect to Obama, no matter how much they might want to. They’ve heard loud-and-clear the ringing message: “This is what will happen to you if you desert the Clintons!”********************
Bill Richardson has shown amazing integrity, grace and courage in standing up for what he believes to be best for all concerned. The Clintons deserve only condemnation for pigheadedly insisting on loyalty to persons over loyalty to country.****************
Like many others, I have admired the Clintons greatly, chalking up their political relentlessness mostly to their Christian compassion and desire to serve others. They’ve changed. They’re in it now more for the power than for the opportunity for service, and will apparently do whatever it takes to get back in the limelight. Power corrupts….****************
Regrettably, had the Clintons not fallen in love with themselves in power for eight more years, they would have been the first to jump at the chance to become Barack Obama’s most famous and influential supporters, because he’s exactly their kind of candidate. That opportunity for selflessness still lies ahead of them–an opportunity to reclaim the idealism which once so drew me and others to them when they truly were, as Obama is now, the future of the Democratic Party. *************
They'd better make up their minds soon, though, or instead of making twenty-first century history, the Clintons will be relegated to its periphery, becoming living anachronisms who leave only dinosaur footprints.***********
Please send your comments to njcpace@gmail.com , and I'll post them below this article. Thanks, Nancy :) Continue reading →

“Attack-Dog Hillary Heals Nation and World.” (Not Likely.)

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(excerpt): If Obama were killed today, he would be mourned as one of our greatest and most beloved American heroes for the priceless vision he came so close to successfully pulling off—the transformation of American politics. (Excerpt): Barack Obama, like Dr. King, is at great risk for assassination, because an Obama Presidency would completely upset the applecart for all the moneyed insider special interests in America on both sides of the political aisle. And there are some scary white supremacists out there who would kill him just for being presumptuous. (Excerpt): Obama is not only popular, well-organized, politically astute, and brilliant, he is a very viable political candidate, which makes him a huge target for assassination. Historically, America kills her charismatic popular leaders, those few and rare individuals who are brave, talented, and daring enough to actually stick their necks out to serve the people instead of established interests. Obama and his family are incredibly courageous, as courageous as Dr. King and his family were. (Excerpt): What are Obama’s odds of just surviving this campaign? Of living through a two-term Presidency? Of just plain living long, and prospering? I, for one, don’t intend to wait around to support him until after he’s dead. I only hope many more Americans will soon recognize what an unusual and precious political commodity Obama is, and what a rare opportunity we have for real change, if we will come together right now under his capable leadership. (Excerpt): How many Americans once misunderstood or opposed Dr. King, who now wish that they had dropped what they were doing to walk beside him? Well, we’ve got our chance again. (Excerpt): “Barack Obama Heals Nation and World.” Yes, I can see it. And I will hope and work to see it happen. Continue reading →

7 Reasons Why Barack Obama is Uniquely Suited to be President

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Only a United States of America and an Obama presidency will change a bleak American future into one that is genuinely hopeful and positive. Barack Obama’s unique combination of strengths and abilities make him the only candidate:
1. Who convincingly articulates an ambitious plan for addressing the most pressing common problems facing most Americans;
2. Who has the leadership, character, and political skills to take the Democratic nomination from insider/“incumbent” Hillary Clinton;
3. Who will win the general election with the backing of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike;
4. Whose popular “coat tails” will pack Congress with legislators from all parties supportive of his agenda in ’08 and in following elections;
5. Who will inspire national leaders having competing interests, ideologies, and agendas to find workable legislative solutions;
6. Who will inspire a grassroots citizen movement to get behind and pass such legislation; and
7. Who has the honesty, integrity, courage, intellectual bandwidth, global perspective, vision, character, judgment, and Presidential leadership skills necessary to simultaneously and successfully handle breaking crises as they arise, while healing and transforming national and international relations, and shepherding huge domestic policy changes through Congress.
If we want to elect the smartest and best person in America willing to take the job, we should be working to elect Barack Obama President of the United States of America. Continue reading →