Letters posted here are associated with the following article:

346
Letters
Friday, August 1, 2008 12:00 AM

Who's playing the race card?

Barack Obama says John McCain is trying to scare voters because he "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills," and the McCain camp cries foul.

The letters thread is now closed.

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Sunday, August 3, 2008 04:52 PM

I'm sure you looked pretty impressive in your pith helmet

I lived a year in Cairo, Egypt.

"Masalma" as we used to say.

Sleep tight and don't let the vipers bit.

Sunday, August 3, 2008 04:41 PM

Mr. K. You haven't seen a spitting viper

I've lived in West Africa (not in tourist-y, Mediterranean climate South Africa). The Ashanti people would put you to shame. Keep on nursing your grudges if they comfort you. Good-night. I'm going to sleep tight.

Sunday, August 3, 2008 04:05 PM

Jebldmm...

If you want to troll or have confrontations with Clinton supporter's, please save Jeralyn the effort of banning you. She's a busy woman and she has better things to do.

My response:

I am a Clinton supporter. I only posted this article because I thought it was interesting. I have never posted to this site, but thanks for the 411.

Sunday, August 3, 2008 04:01 PM

Klytus, Klytus, Klytus....

"Do you really think you have a true grasp on the whole complicated enchilada of the whole African American political scene?"

My response:

Good question, but no I don’t. How about you? Personally, I am still learning when it comes to understanding the whole “African American political scene”, but I try to share what I learn with others who may also be searching for insight. Klytus, you must remember that history has been made, and this is a new challenge for Black people. We must now confront many issues that we have ignored for too long. So my friend, I don’t claim to be the all knowing, but I do try to expand my awareness of the issues.

Sunday, August 3, 2008 03:56 PM

@jeb

I think you've overreached your 10 post limit.

Sunday, August 3, 2008 03:39 PM

@Queen "B"

Great site, but people should know that the posters are largely critical of Obama. Jeralyn was a Clinton supporter, although she is now supporting Obama. She does not allow insults against other posters or candidates, bad language, or "chatter", which it poorly defined, but seems to come down to clogging threads with irrelevant things. The site is first and foremost a legal blog, and they often post interesting information on legal issues along with the political posts. It is heavily moderated. New posters are limited in how much they can post - I think it's 10/day, but I'm not sure. Oh... and any Kossacks should be aware the Armando is a contributor. A virtually daily contributor. He is usually a bit milder than he was on dKos, but he is still Armando, even with a different screen name. He is and has always been an Obama supporter, but not blindly. If you want to troll or have confrontations with Clinton supporter's, please save Jeralyn the effort of banning you. She's a busy woman and she has better things to do.

Sunday, August 3, 2008 02:27 PM

Go tell it on the mountain sister O'Donnell Superior...

All us thankless yanks!

With our loose understandings of our own society

In such sharp comparison to yours

Well, we should all bow down to offer our humblest thanks.

Tell it true

Tell it strong

With the latest edition of the Sun in front of your nose

You can tell no wrong.

Sunday, August 3, 2008 01:19 PM

A member of the intelligentsia, Mindyp5l, invoked the name of

Judas and Moses came out of his basket in a recent campaign ad. but I wrote more about Mammon than about either of them - not that it matters. It's hard to know whether members of the rhymers' club are being deliberately obtuse, in a state of suspended animation or are just plain planks.

Sunday, August 3, 2008 12:51 PM

Queen, Queen, Queen..

Do you really think you have a true grasp on the whole complicated enchilada of the whole African American political scene?

And maureen odonell, invoking the Bible, like you're conducting some kind of a melodramatic and heavy handedly dogmatic - tent rivival?

There can be no utility in hateful futility.

Use your Sunday fruitfully, it's a good day to relax

It's the day when the lord said "chill..

kick back and relax."

Sunday, August 3, 2008 10:09 AM

Holding Barack Obama Accountable

By Jeralyn, Section Elections 2008

Posted on Sun Aug 03, 2008 at 07:59:00 AM EST

The Nation has an open letter to Sen. Barack Obama and is asking his supporters to sign it. The letter, Change We Can Believe In, seeks to hold Obama accountable to the positions he's endorsed while a candidate.

The letter will be delivered to the Obama campaign prior to the start of the Democratic National Convention on August 25. So far, more than 13,000 have signed. I just added my name. You can too. (Added: Big Tent Democrat writes why he won't sign here.)

Why is this necessary?

Since your historic victory in the primary, there have been troubling signs that you are moving away from the core commitments shared by many who have supported your campaign, toward a more cautious and centrist stance--including, most notably, your vote for the FISA legislation granting telecom companies immunity from prosecution for illegal wiretapping, which angered and dismayed so many of your supporters.

[More...]

We recognize that compromise is necessary in any democracy. We understand that the pressures brought to bear on those seeking the highest office are intense. But retreating from the stands that have been the signature of your campaign will weaken the movement whose vigorous backing you need in order to win and then deliver the change you have promised.

The letter then lists "key positions you have embraced that we believe are essential to sustaining this movement." Among them (at least the ones that resonate most with me):

•Withdrawal from Iraq on a fixed timetable.

•Universal healthcare.

•An end to the regime of torture, abuse of civil liberties and unchecked  executive power that has flourished in the Bush era.

•A commitment to the rights of women, including the right to choose abortion and improved access to abortion and reproductive health services.

•An immigration system that treats humanely those attempting to enter the country and provides a path to citizenship for those already here.

•Reform of the drug laws that incarcerate hundreds of thousands who need help, not jail.

The letter concludes with this:

In other areas--such as the use of residual forces and mercenary troops in Iraq, the escalation of the US military presence in Afghanistan, the resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the death penalty--your stated positions have consistently varied from the positions held by many of us, the "friends on the left" you addressed in recent remarks. If you win in November, we will work to support your stands when we agree with you and to challenge them when we don't. We look forward to an ongoing and constructive dialogue with you when you are elected President.

Stand firm on the principles you have so compellingly articulated, and you may succeed in bringing this country the change you've encouraged us to believe is possible.

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/8/3/0596/81710?referer=sphere_related_content

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