The Fist Bump Heard Around the World

The night Obama won the Democratic primary, he gave his wife Michelle an endearing "fist bump". I let out quite an audible "awww" when I saw it.

Michelle and Barack would make the cutest first couple ever. Let's make it happen!

Check it:
Barack Obama

McCain: No One Has Supported Bush More

So check it. McCain is the presumptive Republican nominee, and recently he's been trying very hard to distance himself from the idea that his presidency - were he to win - would be no different than a third-term Bush presidency.

Here's a fun video that shows the contrary.


McCain & Iraq: No One Has Supported Bush More (Source)

Check it:
Barack Obama

Go Team Obama!

Go team Obama!

Check it:
Barack Obama

Spramp Tweets 27

I am obsessed with Twitter! Here is my day in tweets, just for you:

• 09:02 Coffee then work...I'll make an appearance on campus. Still need to get my laptop fixed. Might be a sign to get a new Mac. We'll see. #
• 14:12 Repairs on my laptop will take 7 days ... Grrr ... #
• 20:26 Team Obama! Woot! #

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I Love

Team Obama! Go Portland! The image says it all.

Why I Love Seattle: "Oh, Those 43rd District Dems"

Obama Super Tuesday Happy Hour at the Showbox
Originally uploaded by jan

I just read the following from this week's The Stranger (the local, alternative rag here in Seattle). The article reaffirms why I love Seattle as much as I do. Folks in Seattle are a rare but fun breed of people - perhaps "wacky" is a better term.

Oh, Those 43rd District Dems
Notes from the Caucus, Round Two
by Eli Sanders

I sat through about four hours of the April 5 legislative district caucus in Seattle's 43rd District—the invocation by a local Buddhist, the laughs at the die-hard Kucinich supporters, the yawns, the shouts, the period of American Idol–style campaigning for those coveted spots as a state convention delegate. It was all very long, but very interesting, quite well attended, and, of course, a little nutty.

This particular legislative district caucus meeting was held at the former Lincoln High School in Wallingford. When I showed up, the gymnasium was overflowing with precinct delegates who had been elected at their precinct caucuses on February 9—and with what seemed to be an even larger number of wannabe alternate delegates. So much for the idea that all those young, energized, newly involved Democrats wouldn't show up for the next step in this process.

After registration was done, the energized Democrats listened to speeches delivered from a half-darkened stage in a nearby auditorium. (How many Democrats does it take to turn on a spotlight? Apparently more than the 1,000-plus in the auditorium, because the spotlight never came on.)

There was a portion of the program devoted to surrogate speeches, and Obama's surrogate, state senator Ed Murray (D-43), stood at the rear of the stage (where the lights were actually on) and pronounced: "I have been coming to these meetings since the mid-1980s and I have never seen anything like today." The numbers were a very good sign, he said.

Hillary Clinton's surrogate? He was very, very late, causing a lot of grumbling from the crowd, which was overwhelmingly pro-Obama. When he finally did show up he was... Sean Astin??? Yes, the man who played Samwise Gamgee in Lord of the Rings had flown up to rally the Clinton troops. Which made very little sense, given that the type of people who show up for legislative district caucuses on a Saturday don't really need a celebrity (or semicelebrity) to motivate them to take political action.

Astin's speech was most memorable for this line: "Should Obama get the nomination, I will become a massive Barack Hussein Obama supporter."

Hussein? Eyebrows shot up. Brows furrowed. Heads turned. A friend in the audience texted me: "Hussein!?" I'm not sure what Astin was up to with that line, but someone probably should have told him that Seattle's 43rd District is the last place in the U.S. where subliminal messaging around Obama's middle name is likely to move Democrats toward Clinton.

Further proof of this: There was some time to kill as multiple tallies of the delegates and alternates were done, and when the time killer of taking audience questions had run its course and the idea of telling jokes had been nixed, someone suggested doing the Pledge of Allegiance to pass the time.

At the mere mention of doing the pledge, there were groans and boos. Then, when the district chair put the idea of doing the Pledge of Allegiance up to a vote, it was overwhelmingly voted down.

There were to be 67 delegates to the state convention apportioned at this legislative district caucus, and the end result was no surprise: 14 for Clinton and 53 for Obama.

(Source: The Stranger: April 10 - 16, 2008)

Check it:
The Stranger

Black Is the New President

Well stated - "Barack knows how to answer the phone!" LOL.

Spramp Public Service Announcement: A More Perfect Union

"A More Perfect Union," Barack Obama (Source)

I've been moved so many times by Barack Obama, a big reason why I'm supporting him. Politics is a dirty game, and I've admired his ability to handle with grace, intelligence, and vision the often murky American political waters. Every time I think I can't be moved any more by Obama, he comes forth to offer yet another side to him that makes me believe that he has the brilliance and humanity to lead the U.S. to something better than what we have today. He has a rare vision that we can't afford to ignore.

The speech he gave in Philadelphia on "race" in the United States was itself a vision. As a teacher - and as a latte-sipping liberal - I was floored by the honesty and the intelligence of the speech. Not in my lifetime have I witnessed a leader address the complexities of race with such thought and foresight, without the reductive tendencies that seem to undergird most discussions of it in our country. As an activist and seeker for social justice, I admit my own thought-processes on race have often been reduced to its most divisive qualities. Yet after witnessing history the other night, I see the clarity of Obama's words - his vision to move us forward, to make us understand why we can no longer fall victim to stagnation and our old and often dominant ways of invoking race in our lives. We need to move forward and see our lives as intersecting with others of all backgrounds. "We are our brothers keepers ... our sisters keepers." I firmly believe Obama can inspire and help us to do just that.

Read it:
Transcript of "A More Perfect Union"

Check it:
Barack Obama Official Website

Change

Change - Shepard Fairey (Source)

I was really bummed when I couldn't get a hold of Shepard Fairey's (the OBEY artist) first print-run of the Hope posters he created to support Barack Obama (I'm sure you've seen them everywhere). When I checked on eBay, some were going for close to $500. Shepard scolded those sellers, which I support. Looks like Shepard's creating a new print - could it be the one above? I like the seriousness of the print - decidedly more Presidential-looking. I hope I can get my hands on a print!

Check it:
Obey Giant

John He Is

john.he.is (Source)

My friend Denise sent me this today. I make no front about it, I'm an Obama supporter, and I'd even posted the "Yes, We Can" video created by will.i.am et al. on here a few weeks back. This "john.he.is" video is inspired by John McCain, the likely Republican nominee. It made me laugh. All funny aside, however, I was actually surprised that McCain said all those things compiled in the video. Wow! Is the American public really ok with a 10,000 year American occupation in the Middle East? I wonder if he thought about how at some point his words would all potentially come back to haunt him. Ok back to the funny - the video is brilliant!

Yes We Can!

"Yes We Can" (Source)

I'm a believer in faith in the possibility ... I love this creative collaboration! For those of us in the U.S., let's take that important step to our future, mindful of our past achievements but always staring confidently forward. Let's vote wisely!

Check it:
Barack Obama Official Website