If you are a member of Crafting Our Message you need to go and take yourself off of the listserv. I am currently donwloading over 700 e-mails from this server. Do Not Check Your E-Mail!

Hi all - Haven't forgotten PB just busy with life. Also still working for change we can believe in.

Late Friday afternoon I was driving with my daughter. She asked if I was going to watch Stand Up 2 Cancer that evening. I said yes but that it was going to be hard. You see my mother died of cancer. My wife�s father died of cancer. My daughter said she guess she understood. The thing is someday she probably will. As we all learned that night or at least those who did not know already, everyone gets touched by cancer eventually.

When the show began I was where I am most nights at eight oâ�� clock, I was washing dinner dishes. I looked up and saw the people in the stands as they asked that every other person sit down. As I listened to one person after the next tell who in their lives had already been lost salty tears reached my lips. Ever time someone said â��my momâ�� the tears grew stronger. I remember my mother taking care of a neighborâ��s wife as she whittled away from cancer. My aunt on my motherâ��s side was more than emaciated by the time she passed. I remember saying good-bye to my own mother while she could still understand. The more I watched the more it reminded me of other telethons gone by.   Read More »

From the lion Teddy Kennedy to the not so silent lamb Michelle Obama, that is the way to start a convention. Baltimore's favorite Californian Speaker Pelosi let the convention know that we'll get to take on John McCain, later. [Just heard the Tonight Show audience's response to Leno's question to McCain about houses and his POW answer - Carson would have thrown them out of the theatre] Back to what I was going to say. The themes they spoke about are the ideals that first brought me to the Democratic Party. First family, seating down to dinner together, helping kids with home work, helping neighbors when they need it. The other ideal, that to who much is given, much is expected. There are two views of America - one that looks at the shining city on the hill and the other stands on the shore looking out on the horizon.   Read More »

Words have to be more than just words. As we reach the apex of another election cycle it is time for words to start having real meaning. Unless you were the neighborhood bully one of the first platitudes thrown at you came from your mother, "Sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never harm you." Nice sentiment but as we grew up we learned that words can be more harmful than sticks and stones. The words I would most like to see us work into the fabric of our government come from Pres. Eisenhower and Sen. Robert Kennedy.   Read More »

Lets see how this goes over here. On DailyKos it has garnered more comments than anything I've ever written. I was even called a troll.

This will be a short one. I was truly disappointed yesterday when I heard Sen. John Edwards' announcement. I feel sorry for Elizabeth Edwards and the Edwards' family. However, there is a part of me that would have stood up and cheered if Elizabeth Edwards had announced that she was leaving him. Why do politicians keep doing this?   Read More »

 Register to vote, and send Voltage to play at the Democratic National Convention.  We have songs that are perfect for the event already written, and I am already the number one democrat at the DNC.

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The following is a repost of a something I recently posted elsewhere. This is the tale of Casey's Dream. It is an important story because it demonstrates the shortcomings of two segments of American life, a broken healthcare system, and a declining economy. It is also the story of one person, a little boat, a blog page, and the end of one. The person is me; the boat is called Casey's Dream and so is the blog. So let me take you back to the summer of 1998.   Read More »

I am new to this site, I dont really know the in's and the outs but I really wanted to try and get the word out about democratic congressional candidates. I thought I could do one a day. So... Here is my first, his name is Rob Hubler and he is running against Republican Steven King in the Fifth district in Iowa, here is some information and a link to his site, get a hold of me, or his campaign if you want to help. I have no affilation with this campaign but am very hopeful that he can win. http://www.hublercongress.com/home.html   Read More »

I guess this site hs turned into the Clinton DLC Builder site considering the number of bloggers that think Hillary is the one who can win. Hillary and I will stop calling her Senator, has been adding a few chapters of her own to the Karl Rove, Lee Atwater playbook. I'm waiting for the Ken Starr endorsement to be announced. Remember Tanya Harding's performance in the Olympics after she kneecapped her opponent? Well that is what it will look like if Hillary is nominated.

While I have written in favor of the senator's various positions I have not made a formal endorsement. That ends here. I believe that the one Democrat that can truly change this nation for the betterment of the average American household is the Honorable Junior Senator from the state of Illinois, Sen. Barack Obama. Why? He was right on Iraq. He is right on the issue of lobbyist in Washington. He is right about the havoc that insurance companies and drug companies have to to our healthcare system. He is right on the corruption of wealth in the oil industry. He is right on the need to concentrate on protecting and improving the environment. He understands why my wife and I are making more money than ever before, yet are budget is past the breaking point. He understands that we are no longer viewed in the world community as the great United States of America. We are viewed as a nation that is wrong on Iraq, wrong on trade, and wrong on diplomacy. Our nation was for many years as the last best hope. Now more everyday we are viewed as a nation of greed and corruption. The generation after the baby boom of the late forties and fifties was called the 'Me" generation. As a nation at 232 years old we are coming into our teens. So the choice is do we want a to be a generation dedicated to change that helps all or a "me" generation dedicated to seeing this new gilded age going forward. From this amateur historian's point of view I can't help but point out that while the "gilded age" did build a lot of wealth and founded companies that are still at the heart of our economy, it also was the catalyst for the "Great Depression." So the question is do we re-elect a "Hoover" ensuring a second "Great Depression?" Or do we want to elect a "FDR" and make the course correction before the disaster hits.

This should be an award given to all the HillBills that don't see your are beating are horse deader than Whitwater and Monica Lewinsky. Team HillBill has decided that the tools of the vast right-wing... that nearly took down his presidency should be used against a member of their own party. But then they were the team that wanted Republicans to vote for Dems because they couldn't get Dems to come out and vote for them. Hillary is a New York Senator not because she won the Dem vote but because she won the upstate Republican vote. If we put up Hillary we will have a new Republican President. How would President-elect Romney or President-elect McCain sound to you then. You will have to run against every Clinton scandal proved or otherwise in Nov. so be careful what you wish for.

It is time to shoot for the stars. When it comes to healthcare that means a single-payer system. When Dick Cheney piled a bunch energy execs in a room to work out the nation's energy plan we all shouted foul. As we look back at how the Clinton's jointly did the same with healthcare we again are calling foul. Why, because the results seem to be much the same - rising costs for the American people. That is only the first foul I want to call on the Clintons.   Read More »