Charlize Theron has a new film!* A wildly important film about democracy and protest and getting things done. Written and directed by Stuart Townsend and also starring Woody Harrelson and Ray Liotta. The short description is:

Based on one of the most incendiary political uprisings in a generation, Battle in Seattle takes an in-depth look at the five days that rocked the world in 1999 as tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in protest of the World Trade Organization. What began as a peaceful protest intended to stop the WTO talks quickly escalated into a full-scale riot and eventual State of Emergency that squared off peaceful and unarmed protesters against the Seattle Police Department and the National Guard.

This is the movies website:http://www.battleinseattlemovie.com/

There has been much discussion about the crime of NAFTA, and its contribution to the destruction of jobs and whole sectors of manufacturing, and much discussion about its place in political debate. Recently of course there were revelations in this election cycle. Much more needs to be discussed, including how it came about, and why it was pushed forward. Here is where America began the discussion about the WTO and NAFTA and the World Bank, before Seattle it wasn't above the radar in debate, wasn't seriously discussed in polite political discussion. We should all know this story.

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Barack Obama will be President of the United States and I could not be prouder. I watched his speech on race and I have read his speech on Iraq and he is the real deal. The leader that America needs. Obama far transcends politics and I feel lucky he has chosen to be a politician and a leader and to offer his judgement and wisdom to a notion that is so sorely in need of both.

To have watched that speech, to hear that sense, to feel that courage just fills me with hope and pride. This is the real deal. The style of speech making is different now than it was in the middle of the 1800's, there is little flowery excess now, few poetic leaps, but Lincoln made speeches like that, FDR moved people with common sense like that. Humble, reaching out, courageous, honest and trusting in the wisdom of the American people.

And today he gave another on Iraq. Powerful direct honest and politically wise. He is in the middle of a long struggle for the right to serve America, he knows that. He knows how best to show why McCain has no right to be President, he understands why the war is so bad for the security of America, why judgement is more important than connections. I urge you to read it.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community /post/samgrahamfelsen/gGBFrl

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The phone rang for how long? Waiting and waiting and waiting. Ring RRRRRing RRRing. Has someone picked up and told her that her contribution has if not hurt the campaign at least run it course?

Ferraro the Clinton stalking horse continued to spread fertilizer in the news. It wont grow anything but it smells enough. Ferraro goes on BillO's show, yes that right, on BillO's show to continue spreading it. Who is she preaching to? the massive numbers of Democrats who tune in to see brilliant analysis? She's not speaking to the latte crowd I guess. I cant believe how low they will go, what they are willing to do. RRRRinnnggg!

But what she says is even worse. so read it.

This is the exchange ---

   O'REILLY: This crossed the wire. Apparently you told the Daily Breeze newspaper in Torrance, California, quote, "If Obama were a white man, he would not be in this position. If here were a woman of any color, he would not be in the position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is in a country who's caught up in the concept." Did you say that?

   FERRARO: Yeah, but I also said a lot before that.

   O'REILLY: Right, but you know you're gonna get hammered on that.

   FERRARO: I was not speaking - no, I was speaking to - it was a paid speech. I was not representing a campaign. I go out and give speeches. I don't -

   O'REILLY: Oh, I understand that.

   FERRARO: You know, like you do.

   O'REILLY: I absolutely know they can take you out of context, but do you believe that Barack Obama, if he were a white mean, white senator, would not be in the position?

   FERRARO: Absolutely

   O'REILLY: I got it. I got it. I got it. No, listen, I mean, I'm not saying you're wrong [...]

   but you're gonna get hammered by it, but if anybody does, let me know, and I'll take care of them. Geraldine Ferraro, everybody. Geraldine's too nice, see.

Rinnnggggggg
I have tried twice to comment but I havent done a great job leaving out the bile, so heres what the reality based blog says.

Some readers have suggested that Geraldine isn't racist, she's just stating "the truth." This is such a staggering absurdity that even gigantic-toothed John Gibson wouldn't believe it. The truth is that the black population of the USA is 13%. The truth is that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton couldn't get anywhere near a nomination. The truth is that Obama's success is based on him being smart, inspiring, and not a Washington regular for two decades. To suggest that being black is somehow an advantage for anyone in this country is to be so myopically blind that you need more than just a refill on your glasses, you need new eyes.

http://www.bobcesca.com/blog-archives/20 08/03/geraldine_ferra_1.html

I am greatly saddened by the HRC campaign. Greatly saddened. We all should be. There are still many many wonderful things to be remembered about the whole Clinton legacy, her campaign will not one of them.

The phone rang for how long? How long?? RrRRRRRrriiiIIINGGGGGG
common decency calling, civil rights calling, riiinngggg MLK on the phone, riiinngggggg legacy calling!!

Riiiinnggggg.

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Nobel Prize economist Joseph Stiglitz didn't believe reports on the cost of the war he was hearing and did a study.
This is from The Guardian   http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb /28/iraq.afghanistan
 

Some time in 2005, Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes, who also served as an economic adviser under Clinton, noted that the official Congressional Budget Office estimate for the cost of the war so far was of the order of $500bn. The figure was so low, they didn't believe it, and decided to investigate. The paper they wrote together, and published in January 2006, revised the figure sharply upwards, to between $1 and $2 trillion. Even that, Stiglitz says now, was deliberately conservative: "We didn't want to sound outlandish."

So what did the Republicans say? "They had two reactions," Stiglitz says wearily. "One was Bush saying, 'We don't go to war on the calculations of green eye-shaded accountants or economists.' And our response was, 'No, you don't decide to fight a response to Pearl Harbour on the basis of that, but when there's a war of choice, you at least use it to make sure your timing is right, that you've done the preparation. And you really ought to do the calculations to see if there are alternative ways that are more effective at getting your objectives. The second criticism - which we admit - was that we only look at the costs, not the benefits. Now, we couldn't see any benefits. From our point of view we weren't sure what those were."

And this is from The Times (UK)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment /columnists/guest_contributors/article34 19840.ece

The Bush Administration was wrong about the benefits of the war and it was wrong about the costs of the war. The president and his advisers expected a quick, inexpensive conflict. Instead, we have a war that is costing more than anyone could have imagined.

The cost of direct US military operations - not even including long-term costs such as taking care of wounded veterans - already exceeds the cost of the 12-year war in Vietnam and is more than double the cost of the Korean War.

Nothing has yet been paid for, the costs are still going up, leaving will cost too and then there are the wounded and the costs of dealing with the radicalization that The Bush Horror has caused.

The Costs more after the break.

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This is for everyone, HRC fans and Obama fans included, its
very very funny. You have been warned.

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

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The Peace symbol, which has been not seen enough lately turned fifty on February 21st.

Here's a link or two
http://www.happybirthdaypeace.com/
http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/p eace.html
http://www.peacesymbol.org/

Originally made from the semaphore symbols for N and D for nuclear disarmament the peace symbol has come to represent all those working for, dreaming of, aching for and desperately needing peace.

"Blessed are the peacemakers."

And a reminder part of what is at stake this election.

"There will be more wars."
     John "10,000-years-in-Iraq" McCain

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They shut down the highway as they marched seven miles to cast their votes on the first day of early voting.

Texas Republicans have worked overtime to make it harder for key Democratic voting groups to vote and be represented fairly. The redistricting games they've played are infamous. And for the Prairie View A&M University precincts, they put the early-polling place more than seven miles from the school.

So what did the students in this video do? They shut down the highway as they marched seven miles to cast their votes on the first day of early voting.

THEY SHUT DOWN THE HIGHWAY AND MARCHED SEVEN MILES TO VOTE.

You can hear the woman's voice at the end. "oh my god. . ."

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Arlington, Texas (Feb 21, 2008)-- Barack Obama has a double digit lead over Hillary Clinton in Texas, according to a statewide survey of 678 registered voters planning to vote in the March 4 Democratic Primary. The survey was conducted February 20 and 21 by Decision Analyst, a major national survey research firm. Decision Analyst projections indicate that if the election were held today Obama would win 57% to 43% over Clinton. The survey�s margin of error is 3 percentage points, plus or minus, at a 90% level of confidence.

Update: I have determined it's a less than high trust type of poll. It is an online poll. That it has high risk of being wrong doesn't mean that Clinton or Obama is ahead it just means it can be ignored, no more useful than a fortune cookie.

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Another Landslide!

Barack Obama has won the Democrats Abroad Global Primary, according to the International Chair for the Democrats Abroad, Christine Marques.

Marques tells CNN the results of the week-long vote were:

Barack Obama - 65 percent, Hillary Clinton - 32 percent, with the rest of the candidates pulling in less than 1 percent of the vote each.

Democrats Abroad will send 22 delegates to the Democratic Convention, with half a vote each, carrying a total of 11 votes.

This caps a perfect Month for Obama. Once again getting more than
2 to one in votes.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/200 8/02/21/obama-wins-democrats-abroad-cont est/

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I think something amazing is happening. There is a magnificent slow march to Washington happening before our eyes. This close it is hard to make out, and its exact description will take better writers working more skillfully than I to describe it. It will take a little remove, a little distance in time, to put it all in perspective. But some things are clear.

There is a march to Washington happening, and it is huge, massive beyond experience. In each state the totals are larger, the participants more varied and their choice amazingly clear. Last night Hawai'i voted in a landslide to send its delegates to Denver to make Barack Obama the Democratic Presidential Nominee. But it wasn't just a landslide for Obama, it was a landslide for Hawai'ians. The number of people voting in the Democratic Party caucus was seven fold the highest number ever to vote before. Seven fold. Seven

Wisconsin had I think if not the highest, among the highest turnout for a primary for any state ever. The highest. And HRC beat every Republican combined. If you add all the votes for all Republicans together, they do not come close to the number for HRC alone. An amazing achievement, were not for the fact that she also lost in a landslide to Barack Obama. The numbers of people coming forward to commit, to wait in lines, to brave weather to stand in cold rain to declare their democratic choice for Obama is simply unheard of. If there were drums beating and soaring inspirational music, and there will be in the historical drama that will be produced, it would not have been out of place at the schools and community centers of Honolulu and Madison. And this is not the first time. Obama has won states with 70% many times, with 60% many times. These are whole communities making up their minds at once.

And it is a diverse community, a community of communities. It is amazing to see (I)Independents and independents and uncommitted and youth all choosing Obama, it is amazing to see 12 year Republicans excited about being able to help and move Obama forward. Large portions of communities that are not known to be involved in politics are part of the march that is in progress. We have been watching the battle for delegates, so we haven't seen, or are just beginning to recognize, the juggernaut massing before us. It's growing, its getting more confident, and its reaching out.

I don't think this could have happened without Clinton. If HRC had conceded early Obama would not have grown so large, if HRC had not played her campaign the way she did, it would not have contrasted so well, shown why it was not just possible but necessary to stand and march with him. She has tested Obama, and honed his skills, she has pressed him, as did Edwards, and sharpened him. If there is one thing about her attacks and the results last night is that Obama knows now he cannot go negative and off his message of hope. Edwards chided him well in debates, but HRC proved it, voters proved it in Wisconsin and Hawai'i.

Part of what makes HRC admirable is her strength and grit. Make no mistake, this is a formidable woman. She has chosen in her life to work for us with her skills, she has learned how to fight with moneyed interests and the special interests and "those that have a strangle-hold on Democracy" as Edwards so aptly declared, and she can play them like nobody's business.

If hope was lower, if Obama and his message of change wasn't available and compelling, that might be what we needed. But that isn't what Americans want anymore, not now. They want it swept away. The corruption, the money, the "strangle hold on Democracy" -- all of it.

If it felt to Americans that it was still a gladiators fight with the moneyed interests throwing fighters into the arena, fighters so similar we needed to look close to see if one would be more for us, which might send us some small relief, and they felt it was not going to change, if hope had not been raised, if the need had not be so apparent, if the desire - the demand, for change, fundamental change, were not so great, Hillary Clinton would be our champion. But American is not willing to settle any more. They want the spectacle to end, the game to end and the promise of America to be kept. Obama calls to that unkept promise.

So when the dust settles, I think we must thank Hillary Clinton for the heat and fire of this campaign furnace. Without it, many fewer would have come to Obama's side. The massive numbers of people coming forward to choose Obama to stand with him to push him forward, to march with him to Washington, would have been smaller, the distinction not so clear. They can now see what the choice is, and why Clinton is part of the past, even if part of our past victories as well. Clinton in many ways is responsible for providing the circumstances, the opportunity, of so many more Americans to think: I am part of this movement.

In state after state, in community after community, people can say "I am part of this." It is happening because "I chose to commit" to organize, to show up, many when they haven't even ever done so before.

It will be said about this campaign, what glorious hopeful people these are, these Americans.

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