Fwd: Re: [IOW] discussing Emanuel in new role

Thinking in the most optimistically possible vein I will hope that

Emanuel will serve as a good diplomat to deliver the peace plans of
Obama to the conservative element remaining in Congress.

Since the bushco administration has been in power, war resistance has
been a hard row to hoe. Personally I think we need to approach the
subject in a lot smarter way then we did in the Viet Nam era. Perhaps we need to demonstrate against the news media, for example, because they don't cover the protests.

This economy is definitely, most certainly about the war machine. It is
the only industry that continues to thrive in this country, and it uses
tremendous amounts of fuel on an hourly basis to stay alive. Climate
change is in the whole mess too.

What we need is an intelligently woven fabric for our future that
includes all the essential fibers and colors. On some news program
yesterday evening a group of young people were saying that Obama
represents more than a Presidency-- he represents a Movement, the Yes We Can Movement.

After a Peak Experience like we all had on Election Day evening it is
common to drift downward a bit and start to wonder if any good will
really come of the change. If we can keep steadily reassuring each other
that we will find new ways to continue forward with new allies,
including the young people who voted for the first time, I believe, Yes
We Can end these wars. The question about Afghanistan & Iraq that exists as I understand it is that we actually invited a new wing of "Al Quaeda" into Iraq by invading them. Obama has been saying we never should have gone there-- we wasted our resources there and stirred up a genocidal conflict.

Meanwhile in Afghanistan the methods being used to track "the enemy,"
either "Al Quaeda" or the Taliban, has been through satellite images and
a huge electronic secret underground Air Force headquarters that
sometimes mistakes civilians for soldiersof the enemy. They bomb villages by pushing a button. It is the remnants of Rumfelt's idea of the remote control war, and it is devastating to its targets. Foot soldiers might actually
be easier for the local villagers to get along with. I don't know how
the costs would compare. We need to start negotiating instead of just
fighting.

At least that is my interpretation of what Obama has been trying to tell
us. It is difficult to make your plans clear under the attack of stupid
ads that emphasize every fact in the wrong light.

So, I take it that everyone is planning to meet with the Greens on Sat.
a.m. for local action about the City Gov.,
Organizing meeting to elect Elston K. McCowan Mayor of the City of St.
Louis.
(Writing a plan to use military dollars for financially strapped
cities sounds like a winner to me.)
10:00 am, Saturday, November 15, 2008
F.I.R.E. [Firefighters Institute for Racial Equality]
1020 N. Taylor [4 blocks north
of Delmar at C.D. Banks St.]

. . . and then they will attend Chuc's  VFP afternoon event at the Carpenter Library regarding the economy. I would think we would talk even more there about how to shift the military budget to domestic needs, pulling the money out from under the war machine.
Pat B.

Announcement: Town Hall  Meeting: Life on the Edge of a Bubble: How Long Can We Hold On?

Saturday, November 15, 3:00 pm - 5:30 pm

Carpenter Branch Library, 3309 South Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, MO

(S. Grand at Utah)

Filmographer Michael Berger has organized a Town Hall Meeting concerning the current financial crisis. Come speak out and listen!

Sponsor: Veterans For Peace

Contact Chuc Smith

We are interested in hearing about how the current crisis is affecting people. We will be asking participants what they see as the long term impact of the unfolding events?  What pressures are you experiencing? Does government have an obligation to work for fairness and equitable distribution of the wealth or should "free" markets be allowed to resolve this crisis.  Will our children and future generations have more or less opportunity for economic mobility?  What is role should government play in our economic affairs?  Can we even speak of a "free" market?  How does government policy influence the economy?  These are a few of the questions we would like to explore.

We need voices and ideas as well as folks willing to listen and learn. This is what Democracy looks like!

All the best...

Chuc Smith, past president of the Don Connors Chapter of Veterans For Peace

Wage Peace!

Charles T. Smith

1524 Eastmont Place

University City, MO 63130

--

Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and test of our civilization.  
Mohandas Ghandi

After the celebration, back to work in Congress

We can be proud as Missourians that one of our Senators had been on board with the candidacy of Barack Obama from the beginning. They were good friends when Claire McCaskill was running for her current office, and Obama came to Missouri to campaign for her, as she later accompanied him in his run for President.

Now that he is our President-elect, as well as still a Senator for another couple of months, here is a speech that you might want to read that reveals how she felt about the bailout. She and Obama ultimately both voted to support it, but these words do reveal how well she comprehends what they were doing and how adamantly she decries the continued corruption of a deregulated free market system.

Here is a letter that I just sent her encouraging her to continue reigning in the CEOs.


Dear Senator McCaskill:

Most Americans are elated to have our newly elected President preparing to take over. As Missourians we are also proud to have one of our Senators playing the role of close associate to him.

At the same time the reality of everyday life has been shaken by our economic catastrophe. The "news" of the downturn apparently was brought out to the surface months after it first appeared as a way of making certain that the privileged few at the top could hold onto some of their wealth through legislative robbery of the people who are mere workers.

Don't imagine that your constituents will simply get over this. People are blogging about which of these "bailed out" firms contributed to whom and in what amounts.

You yourself are a woman of considerable wealth compared to most, and I hope that you understand that many of us are still angry at the Clinton Administration for passing NAFTA, which seemed to have been based on the economy of Arkansas related to Tyson chicken factories.

When John McCain's campaign began to use the phrase "change is coming," I laughed, saying, no, CHANGE IS HERE. This is the truth of the matter. The ever expanding materialistic marketplace that has put product above humanity has cornered us. Those who recognize how some of this happened will reassess the size of their own garages and tighten their belts, as our parents used to say.

But we will also be looking for people in Washington who are going to show genuine tightening of the Beltway as well.

We are done with artificiality. We want the Senate to take leadership in reigning in the spoiled rotten CEOs. No economy, no bonus. No bailout for bank administrators.

Bailouts for workers.

My computer clock shows a few minutes after 10pm. NBC has just declared Barack Obama the winner, and our new President Elect. I have been watching/listening to the election results via KPLR/The Beacon online.

Lacy Clay is being interviewed. MO has still not been declared either way. It is an emotional moment, electric. Crowd chanting "Yes we did," after campaign slogan "Yes we can" has been accomplished, at least presumably. Tears flow.

And our new Governor is Jay Nixon, no surprise at all. But he has had an impressive lead. He is giving his acceptance speech, and is overjoyed. Of course, he may not have the other State wide offices in his corner.

My daughter calls to share her excitement.


Huh, the real live John Combest, MO bloggers' best friend, is on camera now. I didn't realize he is that young.

10:19 John McCain is conceding already!! OMG! as an election integrity advocate I would advise him to wait until morning, but I guess it looks that solid. My daughter calls to share her excitement.

"Whatever our differences we are all Americans."

The crowd is a bit contentious over his statement of personal blame for the loss. He is very gracious, the crowd is as polarized as ever. Let's hope that they will see the coming change, which has been the theme of the contest, as a transformation that fits their needs as time progresses.

We still don't know the outcome of the Presidential race in MO. I will be curious to see the final results of the polling compared to the counted votes.

So much for now. I have an appointment tomorrow & have to get some sleep. My daughter is elated, and so am I, although still wondering about some of the state offices.

Well, I do need to mention the 7 hour waits in Velda Village today, and Goeke's comment on TV that the Missourians for Honest Elections were to blame, because they advised people to ask for paper ballots, LOL. Everybody with a brain knows by now that paper is quicker as well as safer. You would think that it would be a no brainer to provide all the polling places in North St. Louis which have a majority of black voters with an adequate number of paper ballots.

Nevermind. The truth will emerge. And the BoEC will be newly appointed by a new governor.