Americans Away From Home

I was interviewed by the legendary Peter Sissons on BBC News 24 this afternoon after having cheered for Obama in the morning. If you listen carefully to his press conference in front of Number 10, you can hear the UK's largest group of Obama supporters chanting his name at the gates of Downing Street.

Carole

 

Copyright 2008 BBC News 24

I was interviewed by the dashing Nicholas Owen, sitting with Emily Maitless, on BBC News 24 this afternoon.  I hope you like it.

An intriguing thought - They knew they were speaking to an Obama supporter.  How do the questions I was asked seem to you?

Carole

 

Copyright 2008 BBC News 24

Obama Fever!

It's raging in Europe, and around the world. Outside the U.S., people are crazed to hear what Obama's doing next. I was interviewed by the intrepid Steve Dixon on Sky News, and asked to discuss Barack Obama's trip to Afghanistan. I was told this interview would be shown on Sky worldwide.

Shortly before the interview was to start, everything was changed. I was told I would be having "a bit of a debate" with Charlie Wolf, a staunch Republican supporting John McCain. With no preparation for a debate, and about 30 minutes notice, I did the best I could but to make a point, I fear I humiliated myself as I wound up singing on international television!

I confessed that I can't sing, yet had actually sung a song on worldwide TV, when I got into the car leaving Sky's London studios, telling the driver I'd sung the John McCain song, "Bomb Bomb Iran".

"You need three of them," he said.

"Excuse me?"

"To do the harmony, to do it justice," the driver, Martin Kennedy, said in a lovely British accent. "It's a Beach Boys song, it's an arpeggio, and the harmony's the whole point of that song."

He explained, "It's a very old-fashioned round, like a nursery rhyme, like "Frère Jacques".

"How does this relate to the Sky TV interview?" I asked.

"You should have taken two friends along."

Carole

 

Copyright Sky News 2008

Why was this 4th of July different from other years?

I received two text messages wishing me a happy 4h of July.

"Happy Independence Day. God Bless USA."

"Happy 4th! Here's to freedom and that ever-challenging pursuit of happiness."

                             *                              *                              *

The 4th of July is a happy holiday. It's a celebration. Picnics, barbecues, beaches...innocent pleasures. Fireworks at night. Doesn't take much money. It's for everyone.

                             *                              *                              *

This 4th of July, I woke up feeling hopeful. I feel my country will be in better hands soon.

This 4th of July, for the first time in many years, I am filled with hope that America can be better.

Too saccharine? I hope not.

This 4th of July, I have hope that the U.S. can get back on track.

In the right column of this website there is a clock counting down the minutes until Election Day.

The reason this 4th of July was different from other years is the numbers. When did we have so many people working so hard, doing so much to elect our next President? When did we have 1.7 million people contributing to a Presidential candidate? When did we have the ability to see what other people across the country and around the world were doing to energize people to vote?

This 4th of July, we know this: next year we will have better leaders than we have now.

This 4th of July was the point of galvanizing people to work for better. Wasn't that the point of the original 4th of July, people who wanted better?

Happy 4th of July, Everyone. Keep it the 4th of July in your mind.

Carole

Here it is! The wonderful Wednesday Wire, by John McQueen!

Enjoy!

Carole
__________________________________________________________________________________

Wednesday Wire No. 144

Sat, 07/05/2008 - 10:43 — John McQueen

Today is the Picnic for Change, one of 4,000 events to Unite for Change across the United States.  And the rest of the world.

Last night, I was invited to speak at a Unite For Change event in Oxford, England.  I got home late, to sleep even later, and have been up since 5 planning today's event.

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were speaking in Unity, N.H. while I was at the Unite for Change event in Oxford.  Not much time to add stories here. 

A quick recap:

1.  Thursday night, Barack Obama gave $2300 to Hillary Clinton's campaign.  Michelle Obama also gave $2300 to the Clinton campaign.

2.  Obama and Clinton, campaigning in Unity, the first of a series of campaign stops they'll make together.

3.  4,000 Unite for Change events planned for today. 

The weather forecast is sunshine.  A good sign for Obama.

I have to leave to go to the one I'm organizing in Regent's Park today.

This is the way it goes in the U.S. Our beloved Constitution, true trustee of Americans' defining rights, has a second amendment giving Americans the right to own guns.

The second amendment to the U.S. Constitution states:

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

Washington, D.C., also referred to as the District of Columbia, had a 32-year old gun law banning handguns which has now been reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Would the D.C. ban stand, or does it conflict with the rights of Americans under the Constitution, the highest law in the land?

The Supreme Court decision: Americans have the right to own guns for self-defense and for hunting, and are not required to be in a "militia" in order to exercise their second amendment right to own guns. It's still one more 5-4 decision reflecting Republicans' appointment of Conservatives as Supreme Court Judges, appointed for life.

This brings consequences for crime statistics, child protection, police efforts, the NRA, and a cheering George W. Bush. Every nose will now be counted as having the right to carry a handgun.

I knew a fellow once in Texas, who surprised me during lunch one time. I'd asked if it were true, that most Texans have guns. He shifted his weight, reached into his waist pack, pockets, socks, and other parts I couldn't see over the restaurant table, indicating to me where he was carrying five < ! > guns at that moment. I couldn't have seen them.

He must be really happy today. It was like watching Denny Crane in "Boston Legal" being asked what he thinks of gun control. His answer, wordless, was to just pull out guns from pockets, waistband and socks, creating a small private arsenal right on his desk.

Justice John Paul Stevens dissented. He mocked the majority of five judges deciding the case, saying no evidence was found for what they'd like people to believe: that over 200 years ago, the original framers of the Constitution "made a choice to limit the tools available to elected officials wishing to regulate civilian uses of weapons."

Justice Stephen Breyer also dissented. He wrote, ""In my view, there simply is no untouchable constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to keep loaded handguns in the house in crime-ridden urban areas."

Who made this decision?

Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Scalia, Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas.

Dissenters: Justices Stevens, Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter.

The Supreme Court wouldn't even let Washington, D.C. keep its current law requiring that firearms be equipped with trigger locks.

Denny Crane would be proud.  (NY Times story here).

Carole

The way the NY Times tells it, Barack Obama was standing in the Flying Star Café Commissary in Albuquerque when a 23-year old woman put him on the spot. "How do you ground yourself?" she asked, and then, "How do you keep yourself true to the things you say?" Obama looked around, looked down, talked about his life, but searched for a way to give a better answer.
So he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pile of trinkets and "tchotchkes" as only the NY Times can spell it. "I have all these things that people give me,” Obama said. "This eagle that a Native American woman gave me, this woman who gave me her lucky poker chip. "They hand these to you say and say, y’know, ‘I want you to do well but I want you to help me.' "A guy I met wanted to buy me a beer in Pennsylvania even though he had just lost his job and couldn’t afford to put gas in his car and do a job search. The capper: "If you are asking them to vote for you... if you are asking for their trust, you better be serious. You better not over-promise."	(Photo: Alex Brandon/Associated Press)
The comments to the Times article dripped with sarcasm, until an equal but opposite number of people defended their guy. Yet reading it, you have to think about the kind of guy who would reach into his pocket to show a woman how he keeps centered. Now just maybe, I'm just saying, some smart reporter should contact the young woman who asked the question and ask her if she were asked to ask him that, or ask if she worked in TV commercials as a child. Yet I stand touched by Obama's simple, empathetic gesture.  (NY Times story here). Carole

MTV has always refused to take political ads. Until now.

Could this have something to do with the record-breaking numbers of young people voting this year?

6.5 million people under 30 voted during primary season, with eight percent more younger voters this year than in 2000 (in States where data is available for 2000 and 2008 primaries).

In the broadcasting business, as with any other affected business, this translates to money.

MTV is 27 years old; some might say money becomes more important as you get older.

MTV credits the increasing engagement among young people for the change, saying the ads would be "a good fit" for their audience, and would "compliment" their "Choose or Lose" campaign for voter education.

Would that fit be tailored to public interest or bottom line? (NY Times story here).

Carole