please read the rest of this republican rant!

-=snip=-

In July I purchased a rather expensive ticket to a John McCain reception at the University Club in Washington DC. It included a round table discussion with Governors Ridge and Keating, two of John McCain's top advisers.

I got one question into the round table, which was the essence of the above story - the fraudulent basis of the entire housing bubble and the futility of trying to maintain home prices.

The question was dodged by both Governors Ridge and Keating, but during the photo session (yes, for my money I got my picture taken with Governor Ridge - wow, what an honor) that followed Governor Ridge pulled me aside and said in a low voice "the essential element in all this was greed, you know." I nodded in reply.

Yes Governor, I do know. But this makes quite clear that John McCain and you know too, doesn't it? -=snip=-

-=snip=-

No, John, I cannot cast a vote for someone who has clearly and publicly countenanced and looked aside at fraud that has coerced millions of Americans to go into debt to the tune of trillions of dollars they have no hope of being able to repay. Then, to add insult to injury, when the music ends, with you having full knowledge of how this occurred you then support and press in Florida and elsewhere a plan to forcibly shift the entirety of this fraud to the taxpayers - including those who were not originally ensnared in the trap and even those who are not yet born.

You, John McCain, your support of the "right to life" obviously don't include a right to freedom. You instead support selling our born and unborn children into debt slavery so that those who perpetrated this fraud will not only go free from punishment but will get to keep their ill-gotten gains as well.

Is Barack Obama perfect? No. He and I have many differences of opinion, some of them very serious, and absent John McCain's attempt to sell my daughter and her yet-to-be-conceived children into debt slavery to satisfy those who committed fraud and now demand to escape with the loot, I would be voting for John McCain.

But I cannot vote for a man who has, through his pubic actions and pronouncements, supports slavery of every taxpayer in America, the children and the unborn - no matter what other positions he holds that I agree with.

For the first time in my adult life, tomorrow I will cast a vote for a Democrat - Barack Obama - and I strongly urge others to do so as well.

Slavery was supposed to end in the United States with the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22nd, 1862.

Someone forgot to tell John McCain.

-=END=-

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

a bit from the middle:

-=snip=-

I am a lifelong Republican and in fact have a Gingrich Speaker’s Gavel on my credenza behind my desk. In fact, since gaining the age of majority in 1981 I have not cast ONE ballot for a Democrat.

-=snip=-

thanks for talking.

California is a disappointment though.

Legalize it.

"NORML celebrates both victories and recognizes that neither would have been possible without the grassroots efforts of Michigan and Massachusetts state activists -- who laid the groundwork for both campaigns by successfully passing a series of similar, municipal initiatives over the past several years."

http://tinyurl.com/654dgn (Alternet)

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Michigan votes for medical marijuana

"Michigan voters Tuesday approved a referendum calling for marijuana to be legal for medicinal purposes. The ballot measure provided that people can grow marijuana and use it with a doctor's approval for specific medical purposes."

http://tinyurl.com/55nkex (UPI)

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US elections: States vote on abortion, marijuana and gay marriage

"Tonight's results represent a sea change," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, which backed the Massachusetts and Michigan ballot proposals. "Voters have spectacularly rejected eight years of the most intense government war on marijuana since the days of 'Reefer Madness.'"

http://tinyurl.com/6c45cs (Guardian)

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California poised to ban gay marriage, reject marijuana decriminalization

"In one of the more shocking developments of a momentous election, California voters appear to be writing an amendment into the state constitution to ban gay marriage and restrict the institution to be "between a man and a woman." At the same time, they're giving thumbs down to a provision that would emphasize treatment over criminal penalties for drug offenders and decriminalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana."

I walked across the street and voted today.

I took a picture of my machine marked for Obama.

No paper record but I have an image to remember.

Then I came home and settled in to channel surf until a winner was decided.

Little by little the dark cloud that has hung over us for the past 8 years was lifted.

Fifteen minutes before Obama was to make his appearance I switched from all the talking heads to C-span.

No comments from any hosts.

Just the pictures and the sounds of the celebration.

It almost felt like being there.

Sometimes the visuals without pundit comments say so much more than the words of analysis.

I am sure you felt the joy of the evening.

A cyber hug for you and a bit of music to start your day.

(Not made by me but by one of the posters at you tube.)

A new day is dawning.........

I didn't know Bob Marley ever recorded this. Enjoy.

Bob Marley & The Wailers 'Could You Be Loved' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQlOLARxC_A

Dear President Obama You Are Awesome!

I don't know how you all felt tonight. I did cry when Barack accepted the nomination, but no tears today--jubilation, victory, those were my sentiments.

I am immensely proud of this man. Hell, if anyone told me twenty years ago that an African-American could be President, I would've said they were crazy. But Barack disproved a lot of us tonight...the speech itself was both foretelling and authoritative. It spelled out a sense of promise and took dead aim at a lot of people who were giving this campaign the cold shoulder, even threats.

Kudos to Barack, Michelle, Joe, and Jill.

Now--our fight still goes on. I can only stress to you all that we cannot afford to blow this chance, the way we did when Clinton was elected sixteen years ago. It's the coming of a new era--and a new generation of activists, attorneys, thinkers, teachers--who will fight for this change. We cannot afford to let our presidency sink into those kinds of pasts. And to those in Massachusetts, well, you disproved me, too!

I never thought I would be proud of being an American again. Not after eight years of George Bush. But strangely enough, it does ring in my heart tonight.

Thanks.

Bob marley - One love live http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QxiZLNHY6M&feature=related

Hey FoM, you and my youngest share a birthday! Cool!

HappyBirthdayFoM MoFyadhtriByppaH

Holy cow - now we got a baby. What do we do now :-)

It's great to see the Dems finally pick a winner after all these years.

I feel your joy, Fight_4_Freedom!

November 4, 2008

Voters in both Massachusetts and Michigan have approved measures easing the laws against the use of marijuana -- at least under certain circumstances. That's according to information from the Marijuana Policy Project.

Massachusetts voters gave the nod to Question 2, under which marijuana would be effectively decriminalized in the Bay State. Criminal penalties for possession would be replaced by a $100 fine, although growers and sellers would still face the full force of the drug warriors.

Michigan voters approved Proposal 1, which approves medical use of marijuana by terminally ill and seriously ill patients. Qualifying patients would have to have doctors' approval and carry ID cards authorizing the use of marijuana.

That's two of the three proposals on state ballots with the potential to ease some of the damage inflicted on this country by drug prohibition.

California's Proposition 5 remains to be heard from.