CONGRATULATIONS TO BARACK OBAMA, the 44th president (-elect) of the United States of America. And to all who supported and worked for or contributed in some way toward this moment. It has been an overwhelming and amazing night. Here’s looking toward the future, and all it may contain.
HERE IS AN ‘I VOTED’ BUTTON that I was hired to make. The person who bought it gave permission for me to offer it to you freely, in the spirit of our new Black Socialist Nation. So spread the pixels, my friends, if you so desire.
SHOT WHEN I WAS WORKING FOR MTV and their Choose or Lose Street Team, here are three videos of Obama speaking here in Oregon. I feel very lucky to have been part of history in the small way I was, by hearing him speak and shooting these. The first video begins with people lined up around the block waiting for hours to hear Barack Obama speak. Just like the lines at many of the polls today.
STEPHEN COLBERT always jabs and parries and stutter-steps while most of his guests are busy arranging their facial expression or shouting out unfunny jokes to try and appear as if they are keeping up. Author Sherman Alexie gets off some fast shots and smart comments as he makes his case for Barack Obama.
THE SANCTUARY EDITORS: Showing the vitality and importance of voices from outside the mainstream two-party political paradigm, Congresswoman McKinney puts forth not only a strong understanding of the complexities of the Immigration Issue, but also a vision of real-world solutions with a refreshing willingness to confront the broader social and economic realities which undergird international migration.
SHOT AND EDITED in the style of Apple’s “Switch” commercials, here is a video featuring Republicans, Conservatives, Evangelical Christians and those in “the middle” who are giving their reasons for voting for Obama. It sure feels good to see people hoping and daring to believe in a way forward. It’s been a long, dark 8 years.
NOBODY likes to think this way, yet we are well aware of how much the Right does not want to let go of the grip on power they thought they had and thought they would have forever. From Delay to Rove to Bush; from the last two stolen elections to the recent DOJ vote purge, the thieving Republicans have shown us that Democracy means nada to them. So we must prepare.
AS I DO LIVE IN THE BEAVER STATE, where Jeff Merkley is campaigning, I figured I should post this endorsement by the hottest new blue brand in the land.
SOMEONE UP IN HERE HAS A BIGOTRY PROBLEM or some kind of creepy fetish that stretches across the entire racial spectrum. Guess who? You might never know.
LASA: The way to manage immigration is not by building a giant wall. The United States should support more equitable economic development in Mexico and Central America. The U.S. must reconsider drug control policies that have not worked and have been part of the problem of political violence. And the U.S. must renew its active support for human rights throughout the region. Unfortunately, in the eyes of many Latin Americans, the USA has come to stand for the support of inequitable regimes.
COLIN POWELL ON OBAMA: “He has energized a lot of people in America. He has energized a lot of people around the world. And so I think he is worth listening to and seeing what he stands for.” Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced today that he will be voting for Barack Obama.
JOHN MCCAIN AND SARAH PALIN cannot pretend to be unaware of the world they are living in. They must factor in all the potential violence and fear that lives, still, in the minds and hearts of human beings in today’s world. If a leader cares about society, s/he does not brush by these ghosts casually, nor rouse them if at all possible.
JOHN MCCAIN turns out to be right in that Obama is hiding some family affiliations that the world really needs to know about. “Who is Barack Obama?” Obama posits rhetorically, repeating McCain’s ads—and then proceeds to tell us. And then, to smile as he takes John McCain apart piece by violet-hued and gummy-looking piece.
THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES ARE OVER and unless a fireball comes blazing out of the sky with Osama bin Laden handcuffed to it bearing an oxygen tank to resuscitate the Free Market Philosophy wrapped in a economic surplus-scented plan to win Afghanistan, John McCain’s anger and slurs won’t be enough to yank the Republican brand out of the septic muck in which it has mired itself.
THE TENSION MOUNTS as we approach a historic and final round of debates slated to test the candidates for President of the United States of America. Will John McCain finally make clear to the national audience just how dangerous community organizing is to the health of a Republic such as ours? Will Barack Obama fess up to his secret plan of normalizing cocoaliciousness? Tune in to UMX for a liveblogging extravaganza!
House of Nezua
the XOLAGRAFIK theater!
