All my life I have had one over riding dream. I have had that dream since I was seven years old. That means I have had it for sixty two years now. I plan to tell you what that dream is but first I probably should tell you a bit about why I have it and why I have held it so long.

We hear a lot about poverty from time to time, especially during the Presidential Primaries and General Campaigns. That is nothing new as I have heard the promises of really doing something about poverty from the time that JFK, who was the first presidential vote I ever cast, was campaigning for the President. Yet while both he and then LBJ tried to get some things done we have never really addressed the real poverty in our country.

Then Bobby Kennedy was seeking our highest office and not only I but many others saw in him something that gave us hope that we would finally see real progress toward a more equal opportunity for all in this country. We are all sadly aware that he was not allowed to live to even try to accomplish the task. So today we still have a lot of real poverty right here within the richest nation in the world. Some may say I am wrong, but I can assure you I know what poverty is and I have lived it.

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My wife received one of these hate emails spreading false garbage about B Obama and though she does not tend to engage these people to call it what it is, I felt compelled to reply to this one myself.

This is a typical GOP email that a couple friends of ours always send us, I suppose hoping to persuade us to vote Republican.

Follow me below for the first email and the follow ups.

For weeks now we have seen diary after diary about the candidates and many of them consisted of little more than bashing the other supporters choice. Beyond that, in my opinion,  this type of diary can reflect badly on the supporters of the candidate that is being promoted.

At this point I feel pretty strongly that we stand a very good chance of winning the White House in 2008. So I am not suggesting that the petty fighting over the candidates are going to cost us the election, but rather that it may very well cost us what most liberal Democrats claim to want.

For my reasons for that statement follow me below.

In an earlier diary
Brainstorming Thread it was mentioned in a comment  by JamieG from Md that we should start a Dailykos 527 in order to help our candidates.

At first glance it hit me that it was too big a project, but I think that may have been because of my very limited finances so the thought just overwhelmed me. However I am sure that we have among us some who are far better off money wise that may find the idea to have some appeal.

I know that even with my limited amount of funds I would be willing to contribute what I could. I would find that much more appealing than giving my funds to a committee that does not really vet the candidate to see what kind of Democrat they really are.

Remember that many great things started off small.

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It is getting time that we need to do some serious thinking regarding the candidates. We can come here day after day and bash the ones we do not agree with or we can stop and think in a rational way about just who would best serve the goals of the Democratic party.

It does not matter if you are a Democrat or a Republican, this election is a very critical one as far as what our country will be like and what our kids and grandchildren will face in the rest of this century and beyond.  We are at a place where we can choose either more of the same corporate growth and CEO wealth over food and groceries for those who are not in the upper earning groups. We can choose an America that is a good neighbor to the world and build a better relationship globally which would do far more to combat poverty and hopelessness which would do more to contain  terrorism than all the wars the Neocons would wage.

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I have reached the point that I am almost completely disgusted with the lack of backbone or courage of our national elected officials.

Today after reading an email I received from Mr. Conyers relating to the FISA bill before the congress I have decided that it is time that they understand that just talking tough is not enough. We have now had more than a year of the so called tough talk and no productive action to bring any part of the wrongs to account. Every day that passes this administration compounds the damage they have already done to our nations security and values and it is time for those charged with protecting our nation to do their job and start truly protecting it politics be damned.

It is no longer acceptable to hide behind all the excuses put forth for not taking concrete actions to stop the unlawful acts and contempt for our constitution from this administration.

We do have an impeachment option built into out system for dealing with those who would seek to destroy our nation and it's standing from within.
No one has the right to place impeachment off the table in the face of the  acts of the current administration.

Today I sent the Honorable Mr. Conyers the following letter which is copied in full below the fold.

It is strange the things that a person thinks of during a crisis situation or at least to me it was.

Yesterday morning A heavy pain in my chest woke me up from my sleep at about 6:00 AM. Since I have a history of an over active stomach, I first though it was the simple indigestion and took a couple anti acid tablets.

I have had it with politicians who do not care for our constitution and country enough to put it above political ambitions.

I am well aware that there have been many diaries written here already in regards to impeachment, with comments both for and against our elected officials starting impeachment hearings. I am sure that there are those here even who are wishing that the calls demanding that our leaders start proceedings or hearings to determine if impeachment is warranted, would just die out or go away. I believe that the demand for it is here to stay and that it will only grow stronger.

I for one have reached the decision with myself that I will not give another dime to nor support in any way any official or candidate that does not start talking of holding this administration to account. There are more reasons for proceeding to impeachment hearings on both Cheney and Bush than is needed or required to make it a matter of up most importance.

Follow me below to see who is speaking our for impeachment now.

I just read the very well written FP post by Georgia10 entitled newbie and was struck by the number of members here who responded that are in their twenties or so.

I have to admit that I had never thought of what it must feel like to someone of that age seeing this victory after the long dark spell that we have been going through. I am sure that it could even feel a bit like shock at first. However as it settles in and one can understand that this truly is the start of the long journey back down the road of sanity for our country if we can keep our eyes on the proper goals and hold true to them, then it is easy to envision the great things our nation can accomplish.

Please follow me below the jump for a few thoughts that my 68 years of living in this crazy world of ours has left in this muddled brain of mine.

During my years I can remember too many times that the family was called together upon the news that a terminally ill family member was at the end of their time. It is always an uncomfortable time and I often found myself wondering if there was anything at all we could have done to have prevented that death.

Today I find that I am asking myself if there is anything that we can do in another time of crisis of lingering between life and death. Today our great country, the United States of America as we have always known and loved it is struggling to keep from succumbing to not one but several fatal maladies. Yes the America that we and generations before us have fought and died to protect, and we have loved and been proud of the fact that we lived in America the beacon of freedom and hope to the whole world. Make no mistake about it, that even though the United States of American will most likely survive this disease physically, it will never again be the great country we love if it does not get an immediate transfusion of courage in our legislative houses of Congress.

I hope you will follow me below for following part.

In times like these, when I feel the anger and despair surrounding me, I spend a little time thinking of my Grandfather and the things he use to tell us, his grandchildren.

As he would talk at times there would be tears flowing and at other times you could see the pride he felt inside because of who he was and how brave our people had been. You see I am a direct descendent of the Great Native American Cherokee Indians. He would tell us about many things of both bravery and of humor but the one story that always stayed in my mind the most was when he would tell of the forced removal from their homeland, referred to by most today as

"Trail of Tears".

Some of you may have known about this already but I only found out today and really wanted to share it with you. It seems that there has been a movement that has started within the Country Music industry aimed at taking the core of the industry back from the right wing that has held much control over it in the past few years.

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It is sicking to witness the low level that the so called anchors and pundits on CNN will stoop to when any challenge is mounted against any of their beloved favorite politicians.

Any news person worth an ounce of creditability would not continue to air an accusation such as Lieberman's site being under an attack when all they have to do is about 15 minutes or so of investigating and they would clearly see that the evidence would suggest that it is untrue.

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While we all do not agree with the Republican politics, I am sure that
most of can agree that they have been very effective with deceit and false
representations. Of course one of the reason that they have been so effective
has been the MSM giving them every edge that one could want in comparison
of GOP Versus Democrats. We have to assume that their advantage with the Media
will not change between now and the Nov elections.

Anyone who has been watching this administration for any length of time should
also realize that Rove and Bush can not afford to let the Democrats take either
or both the houses this Nov. We should be very cautious of something in the
wind and we should not put anything beneath the Republican machine. I have a
strange feeling that the surprise may be more obvious than some may think.

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Mr Kerry I am 67 years old and I have some questions for you.
Sir if you would please try to put my mind at rest.

First let me say that back in 1966 I was already protesting
the VN War before you came back and started protesting it. I
will forever be grateful to you for your efforts in the antiwar
demonstrations after your return. I have always had a good
feeling in my heart toward you for that as well as all the
great things you have helped to get enacted since you went to
Washington.

My questions to you now sir has nothing to do with my admiration
for you, but rather has more to do with your high profile within
not only our Democratic party but also our government. They are
below the fold.

Hummm I found this interesting and at the same time I found a wierd sort of pleasure of it happening to Republicans.

The story is on the Washing Post

Credit for this reportaing goes to.
By Matthew Mosk and Ann E. Marimow
Washington Post Staff Writers

It appears that they are a bit upset with being the minority and having no power.

An excerpt of the lead paragraph

Republicans in the Maryland Senate unplugged their computers, picked up their belongings and marched out of the chamber yesterday afternoon in protest of a frantic push by Democrats to pass a stack of hotly contested bills

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To borrow a line from Paul Harvey because I felt it was fitting.

We all know the disregard that our giant Corporations, especially the
oil companies  have for the US citizens and how they rob us blind and
destroy every part of our enviroment that they can, with the help of course
of our Republican Administration.

We all know how angry it makes us and also how it
unites many of us to try to make our legal system and our government
hold them accountable and to stop it. What would we do to try to stop
all this if there was absolutlely no way that we could change our
political policy ( it may well be getting close to that) or to any
other peaceful means? Would we fight or revoltto preserve our country?

I believe that if given that as the only option, we would see a
revolution in this country and no doubt it would be a bloody one.

Now the rest of the story. Below the fold

It certainly should come as no surprise that this administration has contributed to yet another loss of hope for Democracy, only this time it involves one of our neighbor islands.

The Article can be found at the New York Times

Mixed U.S. Signals Helped Tilt Haiti Toward Chaos

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