Ok the coolest thing that happened yesterday, when I was volunteering for the event where Obama appeared, (outside of getting a pic w/him and getting his lunch), was, my job was crowd control, well some people were pretty far back and so I would take the kids up to the VIP section to get a picture of Obama. Well one little guy during the Q&A session held his hand up to get his question answered, I knew there was no way Barack would even see him.

I went up to him and his family and asked what he wanted to ask Barack, he told me and I walked him up to the VIP section and stood there with him and got the crowd to get Baracks attention so he could ask his question. Which he did and here is what happened, watch for the little guy that was 10, (you can see my blonde head crouched down behind him) :

http://www.bsu.edu/web/news/obama/

We need more kids like this little guy, it was so cool, all the news media wanted to interview him. I had a man after the event come up to me and said he had watched how I was getting kids and taking them up front (which I am sure I was breaking rules) , He was a principal, thought it was really great, that I, more than likely, got them involved in our political process, because when he was 14 and Robert Kennedy came to Marion, a man that ran Kennedy's campaign in Marion, took the time to talk to him and his friend and treated them like their opinions were important. He then said the guys name was John Tolbert. I almost fainted, because that is my dad, he was shocked too.  It was such a neat moment to think my dad inspired people to get involved in community service.

Well, will this hurt Obama?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080412/pl_politico/9561

Neil Lindholm wrote: I remember when at University, we had a girl there from New Mexico and she said that she had never voted because it was too difficult to register.

That's bunk.  I've lived in three states (Minnesota, Florida, California) and it was incredibly easy to register in all three.  One of the first things I did, as a matter of fact.  Anyone saying it's too difficult to register is looking for an excuse.

Anyone saying it's too difficult to register is looking for an excuse.

*********

True. I registered in New York as a teenager, in Germany while stationed there, in Georgia while at Fort Gordon and finally in Pennsylvania where I live now. Never had any trouble. In fact in PA you register to vote when you renew your driver's license.

Yeah, another tempest in a teacup about his quote - everyone agrees - he said something true, he just said it in a way some people would get their widdle feewings hurt. 

Meh - yet again, I am unimpressed by this.  Standard politicing - I get that Hillary and McCain have to jump on this, else they wouldn't be who they are, but it's not anything that's distasteful.

What's more, I can see this helping in the long run - fact of the matter - people are bitter.  And it's because the Bushes and Clintons (now being represented by McCain and Hillary)  did ignore thier plight.  Obama's right.  And people will respect that more than get thier feelings hurt, because that wasn't his intention - to hurt their feelings, it was to explain why they're feeling the way they do.  And then he did the most un-Bush thing, and admitted he did that wrong and could have done it better.

And this is good because while it's good to be firm in your beliefs, Bush is just arrogant, and has stood by his actions even when they delve into criminal, treasonous, psychopathic.  I think America wants to swing the other way - we want a guy who will be willing to say, "Well, that didn't work out the way I intended it to, let's learn from that and fix it."

America is tired of stupid - they need intellegent.  

I don't get it. Obama says that some people in Pennsylvania are bitter because they feel they've gotten a raw deal and that they cling a bit too much to things that they feel give their life meaning, simple knee-jerk issues or antipathies.

How is that bad? how is that arrogant? It applies to a lot of people everywhere and it shows a complex understanding of the issue.

He's not saying they're stupid or evil or mean or any of the sort. And quite frankly, when he's talking about antipathies he's more than likely referring to racial prejudice as well. So in short he's saying that (for instance) people who cling to racial prejudice do so not because of hate or ignorance but because they feel powerless and abused and they seek comfort in easy answers or simple issues or explanations. When he's talking about clinging to guns, he's talking about the NRA and opposition to gun safety regulations. When he's talking about clinging to religion he's talking about Anti-gay policies, creationism in school and abortion rights.

Isn't it true what he's saying? Don't we all know that? They're labeling him as condescending and arrogant becasue he doesn't peddle the same flattering lie about the status quo in America as the other candidates.

People everywhere are bitter and unhappy. People everywhere cling to prejudices and issues that don't really make their life better just because they find comfort in them. So let's be honest about it.

Interesting, if true:    http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/It39s-Obama-stupid-Carte r-and.3976738.jp