We Run Green

Popular Science, a magazine that has never crossed my path or sparked any interest, has just released its list of the 50 Greenest cities in America and I'm rather proud to say that right now I live in the number 2 greenest city and am in the process of moving to #1- yay me! I'd like to think this is possible because I bought a bike

PopSci's greenest city is...

Portland, Oregon, with a score of 23.1 (Electricity: 7.1 Transportation: 6.4 Green Living: 4.8 Recycling/Perspective: 4.8) out of a possible 30. The Rose City earned big points for having half of its energy generated by renewable sources; when it comes to transportation, a quarter of the workforce commutes by bike, carpool or public transportation; when it comes to green living, it has 35 LEED-certified buildings by the U.S. Green Building Council.

and here's the rest of the list with Sciency commentary

2. San Francisco, Calif. 23.0

• Electricity: 6.8 Transportation: 8.8 Green Living: 3.5 Recycling/Perspective: 3.9
• See how San Francisco turns wasted roof space into power, here.

3. Boston, Mass. 22.7

• Electricity: 5.7 Transportation: 8.7 Green Living: 3.4 Recycling/Perspective: 4.9
• CASE STUDY: Grass Power
  Boston has preliminary plans for a plant that would turn 50,000 tons of fall color into power and fertilizer. The facility would first separate yard clippings into grass and leaves. Anaerobic bacteria feeding on the grass would make enough methane to power at least 1.5 megawatts’ worth of generators, while heat and agitation would hasten the breakdown of leaves and twigs into compost.

4. Oakland, Calif. 22.5

• Electricity: 7.0 Transportation: 7.5 Green Living: 3.1 Recycling/Perspective: 4.9
• See how Oakland's hydrogen-powered transit helps the city cut pollution, here.

5. Eugene, Ore. 22.4

• Electricity: 10.0 Transportation: 4.7 Green Living: 2.9 Recycling/Perspective: 4.8
• CATEGORY LEADER: Electricity
  Much of the wet Pacific Northwest draws its energy from hydroelectric dams. But Eugene draws an additional 9 percent of its municipal electricity from wind farms. It also buys back excess power from residents who install solar panel

6. Cambridge, Mass. 22.2

• Electricity: 6.1 Transportation: 7.5 Green Living: 3.9 Recycling/Perspective: 4.7

7. Berkeley, Calif. 22.2

• Electricity: 6.2 Transportation: 8.4 Green Living: 2.9 Recycling/Perspective: 4.7

8. Seattle, Wash. 22.1

• Electricity: 6.2 Transportation: 7.3 Green Living: 4.7 Recycling/Perspective: 3.9

9. Chicago, Ill. 21.3

• Electricity: 5.4 Transportation: 7.3 Green Living: 5.0 Recycling/Perspective: 3.6
• CATEGORY LEADER: Green Space
  In addition to the 12,000 acres Chicago has devoted to public parks and waterfront space, the U.S. Green Building Council has awarded four city projects with a “Platinum” rating, its highest award.
  See how Chicago's power plants produce twice the energy with a third the carbon, here.

10. Austin, Tex. 21.0

• Electricity: 6.9 Transportation: 5.9 Green Living: 3.3 Recycling/Perspective: 4.9

11. Minneapolis, Minn. 20.3

• Electricity: 7.8 Transportation: 7.4 Green Living: 2.8 Recycling/Perspective: 2.3
• CASE STUDY: Citizen Enviro-Grants
  If you’ve got a world-saving idea, the City of Lakes will give you, your church or your community group the money to get it done. Twenty $1,000 mini-grants and five $10,000 awards were distributed last year to programs ranging from household power-consumption monitors to “block club talks” about global warming. A similar initiative has sprung up in Seattle.

12. St. Paul, Minn. 20.2

• Electricity: 8.0 Transportation: 4.0 Green Living: 3.5 Recycling/Perspective: 4.7

13. Sunnyvale, Calif. 19.9

• Electricity: 7.3 Transportation: 6.8 Green Living: 2.2 Recycling/Perspective: 3.6

14. Honolulu, Hawaii 19.9

• Electricity: 6.0 Transportation: 7.8 Green Living: 2.6 Recycling/Perspective: 3.5

15. Fort Worth, Tex. 19.7

• Electricity: 8.3 Transportation: 4.6 Green Living: 2.4 Recycling/Perspective: 4.4

16. Albuquerque, N.M. 19.1

• Electricity: 7.6 Transportation: 5.5 Green Living: 2.4 Recycling/Perspective: 3.6

17. Syracuse, N.Y. 18.9

• Electricity: 7.0 Transportation: 4.9 Green Living: 2.6 Recycling/Perspective: 4.4

18. Huntsville, Ala. 18.4

• Electricity: 6.2 Transportation: 4.1 Green Living: 3.6 Recycling/Perspective: 4.5

19. Denver, Colo. 18.2

• Electricity: 5.9 Transportation: 5.2 Green Living: 3.0 Recycling/Perspective: 4.1
• CASE STUDY: Green Concrete
  Fly ash, a by-product of coal-burning power plants, usually ends up in landfills. Researchers at the University of Colorado Denver found a way to reuse this industrial by-product. They add it at concentrations of about 20 percent to a new green concrete mix. The addition of fly ash also reduces the amount of sulfur- and carbon-spewing concrete production needed to finish a job. The mayor has signed an executive order requiring the use of green concrete in new city projects, and a $550-million infrastructure bond makes demand for the mix likely to grow.

20. New York, N.Y. 18.2

• Electricity: 2.8 Transportation: 10.0 Green Living: 3.4 Recycling/Perspective: 2.0
• CATEGORY LEADER: Transportation
  More than 54 percent of New Yorkers take public transportation to work, beating the next-best metropolis, Washington, D.C., by 17 percent.
  See how New York City turns its tides into electricity, here.

21. Irvine, Calif. 18.1

• Electricity: 4.2 Transportation: 6.8 Green Living: 2.9 Recycling/Perspective: 4.2

22. Milwaukee, Wis. 17.3

• Electricity: 5.0 Transportation: 4.9 Green Living: 3.1 Recycling/Perspective: 4.3

23. Santa Rosa, Calif. 17.2

• Electricity: 7.0 Transportation: 3.4 Green Living: 2.4 Recycling/Perspective: 4.4
• See how Santa Rosa taps geysers for watts, here.

24. Ann Arbor, Mich. 17.2

• Electricity: 4.6 Transportation: 4.8 Green Living: 2.9 Recycling/Perspective: 4.9

25. Lexington, Ky. 16.8

• Electricity: 5.9 Transportation: 3.6 Green Living: 2.3 Recycling/Perspective: 5.0
• CATEGORY LEADER: Recycling and green perspective
  Lexingtonians recycle everything from surplus electronics to scrap metal, and they listed the environment as their third most important concern (behind only employment and public safety)—the highest ranking in our survey.

26. Tulsa, Okla. 16.7

• Electricity: 5.0 Transportation: 3.9 Green Living: 3.4 Recycling/Perspective: 4.4

27. Rochester, N.Y. 16.1

• Electricity: 4.5 Transportation: 4.4 Green Living: 3.1 Recycling/Perspective: 4.1

28. Riverside, Calif. 16.0

• Electricity: 7.5 Transportation: 3.1 Green Living: 2.1 Recycling/Perspective: 3.3

29. Springfield, Ill. 15.7

• Electricity: 5.3 Transportation: 3.0 Green Living: 3.2 Recycling/Perspective: 4.2

30. Alexandria, Va. 15.7

• Electricity: 2.7 Transportation: 6.3 Green Living: 3.1 Recycling/Perspective: 3.6

31. St. Louis, Mo. 15.0

• Electricity: 2.7 Transportation: 5.0 Green Living: 3.7 Recycling/Perspective: 3.6

32. Anchorage, Alaska 14.4

• Electricity: 2.7 Transportation: 4.7 Green Living: 2.1 Recycling/Perspective: 4.9
• CASE STUDY: Power-Saving Streetlights
  Since Anchorage spends a good part of the year buried under highly reflective snow, it doesn’t make sense to keep the street lamps at full bore when moonlight can do the job. The fix? Install citywide dimmers. On top of that, the city is planning to upgrade its 16,000 streetlamps to either LED or induction bulbs, depending on the results of computer simulations designed to find the type of light that helps humans see best and disturbs wildlife the least. The swap should be complete by year’s end, and the initial $5-million investment is expected to save up to $3 million in energy costs annually.

33. Athens-Clarke, Ga. 14.1

• Electricity: 2.4 Transportation: 4.7 Green Living: 3.2 Recycling/Perspective: 3.8

34. Amarillo, Tex. 14.0

• Electricity: 5.2 Transportation: 2.9 Green Living: 2.3 Recycling/Perspective: 3.6

35. Kansas City, Mo. 13.8

• Electricity: 2.7 Transportation: 3.7 Green Living: 2.7 Recycling/Perspective: 4.7

36. Salt Lake City, Utah 13.5

• Electricity: 3.6 Transportation: 4.1 Green Living: 2.3 Recycling/Perspective: 3.5
• See how Salt Lake City heats homes from waste, here.

37. Pasadena, Calif. 13.2

• Electricity: 5.8 Transportation: 3.1 Green Living: 1.8 Recycling/Perspective: 2.5

38. Norwalk, Calif. 13.0

• Electricity: 3.5 Transportation: 3.1 Green Living: 2.5 Recycling/Perspective: 3.9

39. Laredo, Tex. 12.9

• Electricity: 4.4 Transportation: 2.5 Green Living: 1.7 Recycling/Perspective: 4.3

40. Joliet, Ill. 12.0

• Electricity: 1.3 Transportation: 4.3 Green Living: 2.6 Recycling/Perspective: 3.8

41. Newport News, Va. 11.9

• Electricity: 2.7 Transportation: 2.7 Green Living: 2.7 Recycling/Perspective: 3.8

42. Louisville, Ky. 11.9

• Electricity: 1.3 Transportation: 4.0 Green Living: 2.5 Recycling/Perspective: 4.1

43. Concord, Calif. 11.9

• Electricity: 3.0 Transportation: 3.2 Green Living: 2.2 Recycling/Perspective: 3.5

44. Fremont, Calif. 11.3

• Electricity: 3.0 Transportation: 3.0 Green Living: 1.5 Recycling/Perspective: 3.8

45. Elizabeth, N.J. 10.5

• Electricity: 2.6 Transportation: 2.8 Green Living: 1.8 Recycling/Perspective: 3.3

46. Livonia, Mich. 10.2

• Electricity: 2.7 Transportation: 2.1 Green Living: 1.8 Recycling/Perspective: 3.6

47. San Bernardino, Calif. 10.2

• Electricity: 2.8 Transportation: 2.3 Green Living: 1.6 Recycling/Perspective: 3.5

48. Thousand Oaks, Calif. 10.2

• Electricity: 2.9 Transportation: 2.9 Green Living: 1.6 Recycling/Perspective: 2.8

49. Stockton, Calif. 10.1

• Electricity: 2.8 Transportation: 2.5 Green Living: 1.0 Recycling/Perspective: 3.8

50. Greensboro, N.C. 10.0

• Electricity: 2.0 Transportation: 2.0 Green Living: 2.1 Recycling/Perspective: 3.9

Are we like you,
I can't be sure,
Of the scene, as she turns,
We are strange in our world,

But we are young, we run green,
Keep our teeth, nice and clean,
See our friends, see the sights, feel alright.

Sphere: Related Content

Happy President's Day!!

Loudon Wainwright III-Presidents'Day recorded in 2004 for that election but finally its last lines have to come true!

We got through Christmas and Thanksgiving too
Halloween wasn't hard - you don't have to be you
But it's there on the calendar just a few days away
The date I dread in Feb. is Presidents' Day

Sent out some Valentines - and I got back a few
This month has 29 days "whoopdeedoo!"
I'm not even religious but I'm gonna pray
That this year we make it through Presidents' Day

George was the first one - Abe was the best
Libraries and airports named after the rest
But this year I'm queasy about Presidents' Day
For there's been more than one George I'm sorry to say

In the paper it says there's a sale and you know
It's "10% off" so we all oughta go
Get us a good deal the American way
But my country's a mystery on Presidents' Day

You sure gotta wonder what these guys are for
With their tax cuts and their budgets... how they took us to war
Gotta love a long weekend - sure that's safe to say
But for me it's Blue Monday on Presidents' Day

George was the father - Abe set 'em free
That's the reason that he got shot obviously
And November is coming and the 2nd's the day
Please no more of George is all I have to say

And Christmas is coming and Thanksgiving too
And I'll be 58 - yeah it's sad but it's true
And next year at this time I sure hope I can say
I feel a lot better about Presidents' Day
(with no George in the White House - Oh Happy Day!)

No George in the White House next President's Day!!!

Loudon Wainwright III- Presidents' Day [download]

Sphere: Related Content

Totally Spent

Robert Reich former Clinton Cabinet member had a really insightful op/ed in today’s New York Times
Now I’m not an economist and don’t really understand all the nuance but it sounds well grounded to me. Of course my economist/investment banking/capitalist pig friends haven’t written me back with their thoughts on it (I’m sure ripping it apart) though these same friends just want to “get rid” of the bottom/poorest 10% of Americans, whatever that means.
So hopefully you’ll read it with a more open mind than that

WE’RE sliding into recession, or worse, and Washington is turning to the normal remedies for economic downturns. But the normal remedies are not likely to work this time, because this isn’t a normal downturn.

The problem lies deeper. It is the culmination of three decades during which American consumers have spent beyond their means. That era is now coming to an end. Consumers have run out of ways to keep the spending binge going.

The only lasting remedy, other than for Americans to accept a lower standard of living and for businesses to adjust to a smaller economy, is to give middle- and lower-income Americans more buying power — and not just temporarily.

Much of the current debate is irrelevant. Even with more tax breaks for business like accelerated depreciation, companies won’t invest in more factories or equipment when demand is dropping for products and services across the board, as it is now. And temporary fixes like a stimulus package that would give households a one-time cash infusion won’t get consumers back to the malls, because consumers know the assistance is temporary. The problems most consumers face are permanent, so they are likely to pocket the extra money instead of spending it.

Another Fed rate cut might unfreeze credit markets and give consumers access to somewhat cheaper loans, but there’s no going back to the easy money of a few years ago. Lenders and borrowers have been badly burned, and the values of houses and other assets are dropping faster than interest rates can be lowered.

The underlying problem has been building for decades. America’s median hourly wage is barely higher than it was 35 years ago, adjusted for inflation. The income of a man in his 30s is now 12 percent below that of a man his age three decades ago. Most of what’s been earned in America since then has gone to the richest 5 percent.

Yet the rich devote a smaller percentage of their earnings to buying things than the rest of us because, after all, they’re rich. They already have most of what they want. Instead of buying, and thus stimulating the American economy, the rich are more likely to invest their earnings wherever around the world they can get the highest return.

The problem has been masked for years as middle- and lower-income Americans found ways to live beyond their paychecks. But now they have run out of ways.

The first way was to send more women into paid work. Most women streamed into the work force in the 1970s less because new professional opportunities opened up to them than because they had to prop up family incomes. The percentage of American working mothers with school-age children has almost doubled since 1970 — to more than 70 percent. But there’s a limit to how many mothers can maintain paying jobs.

So Americans turned to a second way of spending beyond their hourly wages. They worked more hours. The typical American now works more each year than he or she did three decades ago. Americans became veritable workaholics, putting in 350 more hours a year than the average European, more even than the notoriously industrious Japanese.

But there’s also a limit to how many hours Americans can put into work, so Americans turned to a third way of spending beyond their wages. They began to borrow. With housing prices rising briskly through the 1990s and even faster from 2002 to 2006, they turned their homes into piggy banks by refinancing home mortgages and taking out home-equity loans. But this third strategy also had a built-in limit. With the bursting of the housing bubble, the piggy banks are closing.

The binge seems to be over. We’re finally reaping the whirlwind of widening inequality and ever more concentrated wealth.

The only way to keep the economy going over the long run is to increase the wages of the bottom two-thirds of Americans. The answer is not to protect jobs through trade protection. That would only drive up the prices of everything purchased from abroad. Most routine jobs are being automated anyway.

A larger earned-income tax credit, financed by a higher marginal income tax on top earners, is required. The tax credit functions like a reverse income tax. Enlarging it would mean giving workers at the bottom a bigger wage supplement, as well as phasing it out at a higher wage. The current supplement for a worker with two children who earns up to $16,000 a year is about $5,000. That amount declines as earnings increase and is eliminated at about $38,000. It should be increased to, say, $8,000 at the low end and phased out at an income of $46,000.

We also need stronger unions, especially in the local service sector that’s sheltered from global competition. Employees should be able to form a union without the current protracted certification process that gives employers too much opportunity to intimidate or coerce them. Workers should be able to decide whether to form a union with a simple majority vote.

And employers who fire workers for trying to organize should have to pay substantial fines. Right now, the typical penalty is back pay for the worker, plus interest — a slap on the wrist.

Over the longer term, inequality can be reversed only through better schools for children in lower- and moderate-income communities. This will require, at the least, good preschools, fewer students per classroom and better pay for teachers in such schools, in order to attract the teaching talent these students need.

These measures are necessary to give Americans enough buying power to keep the American economy going. They are also needed to overcome widening inequality, and thereby keep America in one piece.

Robert B. Reich is a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley

Sphere: Related Content

Jezebel Interviews Mike Gravel

The Candidate You Didn't Know You Wanted (And Probably Didn't Vote For)

Did you vote yet? Are you a Democrat bemoaning the departure of Edwards, Kucinich, Richardson, et. al. or are you conflicted about Obama vs. Hillary? Take heart: Mike Gravel is still in the race! (In states where it isn't hugely expensive to get on the primary ballot, that is). Gravel is experienced: he has been a state legislator and a Senator, run a business and spent a few years working, without a salary, for a non-profit dedicated to getting Americans the right to ballot initiatives on the federal level. He's angry about the war too! (He thinks WWII was the only armed conflict that was absolutely necessary). And he's supportive of women's rights. In fact, speaking of women, when many of you took a candidate-matching survey a few months back, he ranked at the top of many lists, but I'll bet most of you didn't take a closer look. Why is that? Well, Mike's got some answers...

Megan: So, the reason I wanted to interview you is that a couple months back, Jezebel invited its readers to take a candidate match survey and an absurd proportion of readers found you at the top of their lists when going on issues alone. Mike: Actually, I get that a lot. It's really interesting to me because it just shows that when people know where I stand they end up finding out we have a lot in common. The problem is that the corporate owned media has gone out of its way to stop me from being visible.

Megan: So, it's not just Jezebel readers? Interesting. I did notice that you were kept out of the (many) recent debates, and then they did it to Kucinich too.
Mike: Kucinich didn't lift a finger when they did it to me, actually.

Megan: Sort of like, when they came for the labor unionists, I didn't say anything, huh? But, why do you think that is that they decided to keep people out? It's not like you got an equal amount of time to talk, or that the most recent debates were more interesting because they were smaller.
Mike: In my case, I'm well know to the Powers That Be, and they know that I'm not politics and usual and that I'm not afraid to go out and do stuff even if people disagree with it. Those that are informed, particular those companies [like GE, parent company of NBC] that are part of the military industrial complex, they know me very well and they know that I'm the last person in the world they want to see in power. Unless they're looking for good government, they know there's no way to influence me.

As for the body politic, the elected officials in Washington, they don't understand that the most important change we can make is to empower the American people with the same power they have: to make laws. They're opposed to that. They don't even understand it. What I want to do is give the power of lawmaking back to the people, by allowing ballot initiatives and referenda at the federal level.

Megan: Well, by those metrics, how do you think your campaign is going so far? It's obviously been difficult attracting attention despite a relatively simple series of policy messages.
Mike: Well, I've spent $300,000 so far, half of which came from me and the other half from small, individual donations. It makes it hard to compete with candidates that can and will spend $300 million and more. But, we're getting along. I'm getting some earned media, like this interview, based on my positions which is really helpful.

Megan: Well, that's kind of cool. But, if you wouldn't mind a terrible segue, can we talk about some of your positions? One of the issues of utmost importance to Democratic voters is the War in Iraq. You've been a strong anti-war advocate for your entire political career. Has there been a war you were keen on?
Mike: I am strongly against war- all of them. Vietnam, Panama, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and soon Iran. While I think that World War II was necessary, it only became necessary because Woodrow Wilson got us involved in World War I and the aftermath of that.

For me, that's the crux of the matter. Wars do not solve problems, they merely beget other wars. That's the tragedy of history... Iraq is not a problem. The problem is that we will go into another war, in part because the military-industrial complex needs conflict to justify production. The underlying structure that permits this to go forward is this attitude of American imperialism. We have a military presence in 130 countries and 700 military bases around the world. If Americans understood this, they wouldn't be for it. They don't want to to be the world's policemen- not when we have an educational system that is shameful, a health system that is shameful and a crumbling infrastructure. What we're doing is following the pattern of prior empires, particularly the Spanish empire who became the sword-makers to the world and were lost in the fog of history.

The people that are running for President, that are left on the scene today, are all supporting this imperialist trend, particularly McCain and Hillary Clinton and even Obama, who doesn't even know that he's supporting it.

Megan: But, let's draw a distinction between you and another candidate who's against American imperialism -- Ron Paul. He's for isolationism. That's not your position, I'm given to understand.
Mike: Oh, goodness, no, I'm not an isolationist. Ron would retreat to Fortress America. What I want us to do is to take our place as an equal in the world and commit to the United Nations and work for world governance and world peace. We now have globalization of the economy; of science; of the ability to destroy the planet; and of the environment. You can't just turn back time. He's steeped in that redneck philosophy that we can't give up sovereignty. I'm suggesting that we move some of that sovereignty away from the nation-state structure and into a world governance structure. We will never have peace on earth until we have global governance. The United Nations is a good charter but it's not functioning on its charter, it's become paralyzed and non-functional as states seek to use it to protect sovereignty at all costs. That's not how to get to world peace.

Megan: That's an interesting perspective. Not too many candidates are advocating world government, so to speak. How does this tie into your position on immigration? Do you feel that your experience as a first generation American informed your position on immigration?
Mike:: Although my parents were both French-Canadians who immigrated here in the twenties, I wouldn't say that their experience motivated my position on immigration, except to realize that you come to love your country through choice. They were really proud to become Americans. My attitude toward immigration comes from living various parts of the country, knowing a lot of various minorities in the community I grew up in and where I studied ... I was never exposed to Latinos until I lived in California when I developed a great deal of respect for their willingness to work hard in this country, which is a value that I got from my father.

But, the immigration issue is nothing more than scapegoating. We have an immigration problem in the minds of our leaders, not in the economy. Because our economy is failing, though, they're looking for someone to blame. There's an interesting parallel: the EU, which is surging ahead of us in many facets of development, they just had 6 countries which lowered all their barriers to the movement of people and capital. But we're erecting a fence on the Southern border. If I were President, I would lower barriers, and I would like to see some of further unity in North American, some sort of central economic entity, to try to match the EU and China on the global stage

Megan: Ok, I apologize, I'm really awful at interview segues, but I do want to take a minute to talk about women's issues for our readers. You are a really progressive candidate on the issues of importance to Jezebel readers, and I just wanted you to talk about them for a minute.
Mike: It's not just women's issues. It's gay rights. It's the drug war, too. It's about individual rights. Let's start with the drug war. Everyone knows marijuana isn't addictive or a gateway drug or anything. But, we arrested 800,000 people last year for marijuana crimes. This is appalling, especially when you consider that we could have spent this money on things like health care. Women are in more danger at childbirth than in any other major industrialized country in the world. It's appalling, and yet we're spending the money that could change that on jailing people who smoke marijuana.

When it comes to abortion, we have a government that, whether it's run by Republicans or even Democrats, has failed to make education about sex, sensuality or love the preeminent education of our children. What is more important in life than that? We make out that something's dirty about sex, and let religion get a hold of what we can do in the bedroom. It's appalling, and there's no reason for this. We're free people, and the definition of freedom is the participation in power. When you as a woman lose power over your body by virtue of people determining when you can procreate, then you're not free. Whether you want to talk about LGBT rights or sex education or anything to do with procreation, the dispensing of condoms, needles... health should be the preeminent concern and the government should get out of the equation after that.

We need more women getting elected to public office, definitely. But I have not seen in my career that women who get into power act that much differently than men. For instance, since I'm in California, Barbara Boxer is very liberal and very good, but Diane Feinstein is more politics as usual. Nancy Pelosi is a liberal politician by virtue of her district, but as Speaker she has governed the same way as any man did before her, and it's disappointing. I would love nothing more than to see a minority or a woman as President. But I want the right woman, or the right minority person: one who believes in civil rights, and who believes in peace and not in defense spending. Otherwise, what's the use? It's just voting for the same policies in different clothing.

Megan: That's a really harsh indictment of some pretty seniors Democratic politicians, and I'm not brave enough to delve any deeper than that. So, let's talk a little about you. On a more personal note, what would you say is your biggest regret?
Mike: My biggest regret was when I was in the Senate, I was very controversial. I was a maverick. I used to get a lot of pressure from my staff, and peer pressure, to be more like everyone else. And I regret not being hard enough, not being more partisan, because that's when I got things accomplished. Today there is this whole attitude that we have to reach across the barriers of parties to accomplish anything. But, by reaching across barriers, they don't actually end up accomplishing anything. Whether it was ending the draft or building the Alaskan pipeline, reading the Pentagon papers or stopping nuclear testing in the North Pacific, all of that was done in my first four years, and none of it was done by reaching across the aisle. By reaching across, what it means is that you put the lobbyists in charge, by giving them more control.

Megan: One thing I hear a lot from some readers is that it's supposedly really important to band together and vote for the candidate most likely to win against the "other" guy rather than voting one's conscience. It's something that really frosts my ass [Yes, I really said this] because it seems to me that it flies completely in the face of the whole point of voting. I thought you might have something to say about that.
Mike: You have it absolutely right. If you vote for power over substance, then you won't ever get either. You've got to vote for substance regardless of who you think will win, because you'll see that substance will win out in the end.

Megan: Any last thoughts?
Mike: The key to everything I stand for is: the definition of freedom is participation in power. The American people at the federal level do not participate in power. They give it away on election day, because they vote for people to make laws rather than the laws themselves. So, we don't have the freedom we think we have, and it shows.

I really think there's something incredibly noble and inherently American about all these "long shot" presidential candidates who travel around the country scrapping by talking to only a few people at a time with no realistic chance of winning. I think it would be an amazingly fascinating documentary to follow around a "Mike Gravel" candidate.
It's all just tilting at windmills but it's just like Sam said about the Republican running in his district in New York on Process Stories

God Bless American Dreamers

Sphere: Related Content

No, Thank You John!

John Edwards' speech from the Lower 9th Ward today.
It actually made me cry

Thank you all very much. We're very proud to be back here.

During the spring of 2006, I had the extraordinary experience of bringing 700 college kids here to New Orleans to work. These are kids who gave up their spring break to come to New Orleans to work, to rehabilitate houses, because of their commitment as Americans, because they believed in what was possible, and because they cared about their country.

I began my presidential campaign here to remind the country that we, as citizens and as a government, have a moral responsibility to each other, and what we do together matters. We must do better, if we want to live up to the great promise of this country that we all love so much.

It is appropriate that I come here today. It's time for me to step aside so that history can blaze its path. We do not know who will take the final steps to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but what we do know is that our Democratic Party will make history. We will be strong, we will be unified, and with our convictions and a little backbone we will take back the White House in November and we'll create hope and opportunity for this country.

This journey of ours began right here in New Orleans. It was a December morning in the Lower Ninth Ward when people went to work, not just me, but lots of others went to work with shovels and hammers to help restore a house that had been destroyed by the storm.

We joined together in a city that had been abandoned by our government and had been forgotten, but not by us. We knew that they still mourned the dead, that they were still stunned by the destruction, and that they wondered when all those cement steps in all those vacant lots would once again lead to a door, to a home, and to a dream.

We came here to the Lower Ninth Ward to rebuild. And we're going to rebuild today and work today, and we will continue to come back. We will never forget the heartache and we'll always be here to bring them hope, so that someday, one day, the trumpets will sound in Musicians' Village, where we are today, play loud across Lake Ponchartrain, so that working people can come marching in and those steps once again can lead to a family living out the dream in America.

We sat with poultry workers in Mississippi, janitors in Florida, nurses in California.

We listened as child after child told us about their worry about whether we would preserve the planet.

We listened to worker after worker say "the economy is tearing my family apart."

We walked the streets of Cleveland, where house after house was in foreclosure.

And we said, "We're better than this. And economic justice in America is our cause."

And we spent a day, a summer day, in Wise, Virginia, with a man named James Lowe, who told us the story of having been born with a cleft palate. He had no health care coverage. His family couldn't afford to fix it. And finally some good Samaritan came along and paid for his cleft palate to be fixed, which allowed him to speak for the first time. But they did it when he was 50 years old. His amazing story, though, gave this campaign voice: universal health care for every man, woman and child in America. That is our cause.

And we do this -- we do this for each other in America. We don't turn away from a neighbor in their time of need. Because every one of us knows that what -- but for the grace of God, there goes us. The American people have never stopped doing this, even when their government walked away, and walked away it has from hardworking people, and, yes, from the poor, those who live in poverty in this country.

For decades, we stopped focusing on those struggles. They didn't register in political polls, they didn't get us votes and so we stopped talking about it. I don't know how it started. I don't know when our party began to turn away from the cause of working people, from the fathers who were working three jobs literally just to pay the rent, mothers sending their kids to bed wrapped up in their clothes and in coats because they couldn't afford to pay for heat.

We know that our brothers and sisters have been bullied into believing that they can't organize and can't put a union in the workplace. Well, in this campaign, we didn't turn our heads. We looked them square in the eye and we said, "We see you, we hear you, and we are with you. And we will never forget you." And I have a feeling that if the leaders of our great Democratic Party continue to hear the voices of working people, a proud progressive will occupy the White House.

Now, I've spoken to both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama. They have both pledged to me and more importantly through me to America, that they will make ending poverty central to their campaign for the presidency.

And more importantly, they have pledged to me that as President of the United States they will make ending poverty and economic inequality central to their Presidency. This is the cause of my life and I now have their commitment to engage in this cause.

And I want to say to everyone here, on the way here today, we passed under a bridge that carried the interstate where 100 to 200 homeless Americans sleep every night. And we stopped, we got out, we went in and spoke to them.

There was a minister there who comes every morning and feeds the homeless out of her own pocket. She said she has no money left in her bank account, she struggles to be able to do it, but she knows it's the moral, just and right thing to do. And I spoke to some of the people who were there and as I was leaving, one woman said to me, "You won't forget us, will you? Promise me you won't forget us." Well, I say to her and I say to all of those who are struggling in this country, we will never forget you. We will fight for you. We will stand up for you.

But I want to say this -- I want to say this because it's important. With all of the injustice that we've seen, I can say this, America's hour of transformation is upon us. It may be hard to believe when we have bullets flying in Baghdad and it may be hard to believe when it costs $58 to fill your car up with gas. It may be hard to believe when your school doesn't have the right books for your kids. It's hard to speak out for change when you feel like your voice is not being heard.

But I do hear it. We hear it. This Democratic Party hears you. We hear you, once again. And we will lift you up with our dream of what's possible.

One America, one America that works for everybody.

One America where struggling towns and factories come back to life because we finally transformed our economy by ending our dependence on oil.

One America where the men who work the late shift and the women who get up at dawn to drive a two-hour commute and the young person who closes the store to save for college. They will be honored for that work.

One America where no child will go to bed hungry because we will finally end the moral shame of 37 million people living in poverty.

One America where every single man, woman and child in this country has health care.

One America with one public school system that works for all of our children.

One America that finally brings this war in Iraq to an end. And brings our service members home with the hero's welcome that they have earned and that they deserve.

Today, I am suspending my campaign for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency.

But I want to say this to everyone: with Elizabeth, with my family, with my friends, with all of you and all of your support, this son of a millworker's gonna be just fine. Our job now is to make certain that America will be fine.

And I want to thank everyone who has worked so hard – all those who have volunteered, my dedicated campaign staff who have worked absolutely tirelessly in this campaign.

And I want to say a personal word to those I've seen literally in the last few days – those I saw in Oklahoma yesterday, in Missouri, last night in Minnesota – who came to me and said don't forget us. Speak for us. We need your voice. I want you to know that you almost changed my mind, because I hear your voice, I feel you, and your cause is our cause. Your country needs you – every single one of you.

All of you who have been involved in this campaign and this movement for change and this cause, we need you. It is in our hour of need that your country needs you. Don't turn away, because we have not just a city of New Orleans to rebuild. We have an American house to rebuild.

This work goes on. It goes on right here in Musicians' Village. There are homes to build here, and in neighborhoods all along the Gulf. The work goes on for the students in crumbling schools just yearning for a chance to get ahead. It goes on for day care workers, for steel workers risking their lives in cities all across this country. And the work goes on for two hundred thousand men and women who wore the uniform of the United States of America, proud veterans, who go to sleep every night under bridges, or in shelters, or on grates, just as the people we saw on the way here today. Their cause is our cause.

Their struggle is our struggle. Their dreams are our dreams.

Do not turn away from these great struggles before us. Do not give up on the causes that we have fought for. Do not walk away from what's possible, because it's time for all of us, all of us together, to make the two Americas one.

Thank you. God bless you, and let's go to work. Thank you all very much

God bless you John. The dream will never die.

John Edwards for President.

(and on a more personal note I always love seeing the gray and khaki of the AmeriCorps kids)

Sphere: Related Content

Hold Fast To Dreams by Langston Hughes

Hold Fast To Dreams

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow

(oh and what do you know post 1100 ::sarcastic woo::)

Sphere: Related Content

Mysterious Traveler Entrances Town With Utopian Vision Of The Future

Oh, ONN- I don't know whether to be peeved or bemused

Mysterious Traveler Entrances Town With Utopian Vision Of The Future

An enigmatic man appeared in Hastings, NY, beckoning people to join his quest for a world free of despair as he shook hands and kissed newborns.

And no I won’t see anything about media coverage and how “making history” somehow became more important than “making a difference”

Sigh, laughing helps to keep from crying

And here's something The Onion did back in the middle of last year, about our boy John, back when...back when hope wasn't so fleeting and far from here (and you can tell it's from "long ago" by the "Rudy Giuliani, Republican Front-runner")

John Edwards Vows To End All Bad Things by 2011

...Former Sen. John Edwards made his most ambitious policy announcement yet at a campaign event in Iowa Monday: a promise to eliminate all unpleasant, disagreeable, or otherwise bad things from all aspects of American life by the end of his second year in office.
"Many bad things are not just bad—they're terrible," said a beaming Edwards, whose "Only the Good Things" proposal builds upon previous efforts to end poverty, outlaw startlingly loud noises, and offer tax breaks to those who smile frequently. "Other candidates have plans that would reduce some of the bad things, but I want all of them gone completely."

According to Edwards, his plan is composed of three steps. Everyday bad things, such as curse words and splinters, would be eradicated during his first six months in office. Next, very bad things, including child abduction, soil erosion, and resurgent diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis, would be ended by the the end of 2009. Finally, extremely bad things—plights such as genocide, species extinction, and virtually every form of cancer—would take a full two years to wipe out.

"Racism will soon be a thing of the past," Edwards said. "Same goes for being picked last for playground athletics, AIDS, robbery, not having enough spending money, and murder. Because these things are bad and not good, I promise they will be eliminated."

Other bad things the 2004 vice-presidential nominee vowed to end include the housing crisis, skinned knees, frowns, steep staircases, jailbreaks, water that is too cold to swim in, pain, traffic, being tired in the morning, sprained ankles, hunger, not having enough energy at night, teen pregnancy, cases of the blahs, thunder, the high cost of admission to events, type 2 diabetes, games of tic-tac-toe with no clear winner, the lack of parking in urban areas, forgetting birthdays, child prostitution, and confusion.

"Imagine a world free of procrastination, class disparity, and itchiness," Edwards said. "It will only be possible if we try."

Edwards told the gathered audience that the second half of his presidential term would be devoted to a $125 billion effort to supplant the abolished bad things with good things, such as flowers, the laughter of children, butterflies, sunny days, financial stability, Skittles, and medicine.

Though some Democrats are applauding the positivity of Edwards' pro-good agenda, critics say that the wealthy former trial lawyer is, at best, paying lip service to the issue.

"This is certainly a step in the right direction, but it's not enough," Daily Kos contributor BitchingPoints wrote hours after Edwards' announcement. "Where in Mr. Edwards' list of bad things does it mention poisonous snakes, nasty red wine stains on rugs, trolls, and noisy neighbors? Edwards has left the door wide open for a rival candidate to outflank him on his own issue by introducing a comprehensive plan that fills these gaping holes."

Republican front-runner Rudolph Giuliani attacked Edwards Tuesday for labeling things as bad when they may actually turn out to be good in the long run.

"Is 'shooting' always a bad thing?" Giuliani said. "I think such a position would undercut not only our soldiers in Iraq, but also law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line every day, not to mention our basic Second Amendment rights."

Added Giuliani: "On a personal note, I rather like cloudy days, and I don't want to live in a world where they don't exist."

siiiiigggghhh. What do people want?
"Abortions for some, miniature American flags for others".

Sphere: Related Content

In Ralph We Trust

In that last post I was going to try to edit and embed the clip from The Simpson episode “E Pluribus Wiggum” where Nelson laughs at I thinkfa reporter from the Washington Post because “your medium is dying. (Nelson! But it is! There’s a difference between being right and being nice”), and I was going to use that to say something like “hopefully they’re not dead yet” but then I started watching the episode again and I had totally almost forgotten how great it is.
Well firstly it was a great episode because of the Bayeaux tapestry conceit in the coach gag
Secondly the whole episode kinda sums up what this whole election seems to be about "hey who’s the new shiny toy, I mean candidate? He must be amazing because he’s new! What are his politics? Who cares he can bring everyone together? Yay!” which was totally how I felt when this episode first aired, I think after Iowa, when I was really bitter
Thirdly Moe when being asked if he has a preference answering immediately “ I like girls”
Fourthly (is that a word?”) Homer actually knowing what a think tank is
Fifthly – Senator “Whinergirl”
Next the Michael Huffington reference
Ah it’s just an amazing amazing episode for so so many reasons that you’ll rediscover
And one you won’t: it’s great because Ralph is really my favorite Simpsons character of like forever (the only Simpsons article of clothing I’ve ever bought was a shirt of Ralph with his finger in his noise, back when I was young. And by young I mean 19)
So here it is


Ralph Wiggum: such a winner

Sphere: Related Content

John Edwards Making the Rounds

here is John on Letterman from Tuesday


and here he is on Keith Olbermann last night

(and I really think if he could give endorsements and not pretend to be impartial that Keith would totally be behind John- they both have the same kind of fire and fighting spirit)

Sigh, I'll alway love that man even if the rest of the world doesn't now

Sphere: Related Content

Forgot About JRE?

I haven't, thousands upon thousands of people in Nevada haven't and neither have millions of people across America,
but The Media certainly has

What is the difference between media perception and reality? Well, for the better part of a year the media has focused on 2 celebrity candidates.

Even after beating one of the celebrity candidates in Iowa (hint, it was Hillary Clinton), the media focused on two. Even after poll after poll show competitive races in Nevada, South Carolina, and other states, the media focuses on two.

Well, the reality is that there are 3 candidates, but only one who will fight to save the middle class and has led the field with the boldest agenda for change – John Edwards.

EDWARDS LEADS ON WHAT REALLY MATTERS:
John Edwards' Policy Proposals Have Shaped the Debate

Have Your Say, don't let The Media speak for you
Ask "Them" Where is John?

After Saturday we'll all know...

(and of course the title was a take off on Forgot about Dre. I could've made it more obvious but I thought titling a post "Muthafuckers act like they forgot about JRE" would be a little...salty albeit true)

Sphere: Related Content

My Plan to Save America: Presidential Election Reform

It should be noted at the beginning that I don't believe in democracy; it very rarely works in my opinion* but since we're stuck with it** I decided it should be improved and so this plan was inspired by a variety of reasons.*** First the idea of a regional primary, which has been floated around, would kind of let each candidate focus more in depth on areas of concern specific to each region, cut down on the insane travel and carbon emissions and immense stress and strain that flying from Iowa to new Hampshire to Nevada to South Carolina and back again must cause, as well as not letting a few small**** states always having the opportunity to shape the race. Especially in a year like this when every primary moved up so severely so that there are only 5 days between Iowa and New Hampshire, those two traditional starting points, which leaves no time for momentum to change or develop more.

The public financing stems directly from a something that either Barack or one of his staffers said regarding their view that John Edwards isn’t viable because he hasn’t raised $100 million, which just seems like a horrible way to judge relevance and to determine the next “Leader of the Free World” not on ideals or issues really but on whether they have raised an absurd amount of money (perhaps from questionable sources.) And so candidates won't spend so much time begging and pandering for money that may compromise their integrity. This way anyone who “deserves it” will not be shut out but actually have a louder voice, which should contribute to a more diverse set of ideas and voters won't be necessarily swayed by whose face is seen most often.
And the tiered voting plan came from***** the idea of earned citizenship******, that you should have not only some stake but experience before you are allowed to help decide the history of the world. Being born in America and contributing nothing then being allowed to vote doesn’t really work for me.
(hopefully everyone recognized the hyperbole and exaggeration in the above words)

And so here are the sketches for whatever ill informed plan I have

• Candidates can announce their candidacy and start building staff and organization (drumming up support) after the newly elected congress is sworn in. They will have until Sept 30 to qualify for public financing, which entails getting 100,000 more signatures than is required to get the candidate's name on the ballot and they must reach this threshold for all 50 state's ballots to be considered viable.
• A Federal Election Committee (Fair Election Bureau*******), will give 50 million to each candidate who qualifies.
• There will be 4 regional primaries
• The West Region: Hawaii, Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Utah
• The Midwest Region: North Dakota, Minnesota Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, South Dakota Nebraska
• The South Region: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, SC, NC, Florida, Virginia, West Virginia
• The North East Region: Maryland, DC, Delaware, NJ, NY, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, RI, Vermont, NH, Maine
• These primaries will be held on January 15th, February 15th, April 15th, May 15th of the Election Year (regional primaries order of occurrence will rotate with each election cycle; i.e. 2012 the order would go West, Midwest, South, North East; 2016 Midwest, South North East, West)
• In each primary all state delegates will be pooled together into a Regional Delegate Poll and will be distributed in proportion to what percentage of the total vote each candidate receives (get 45% of the total vote, receive 45% of the delegates and so on)
• At any point after the first Primary candidates can throw their support and their remaining money behind any other candidate that they choose to endorse once they drop out.
• National Conventions will be held in June and July, the latter date being for the convention of the party in power.
• After the convention each nominee will receive 75 million in additional funds from the FEC (FEB) plus they are free to receive money from their National Committees and other outside donors.
• The Electoral college is to be dismantled
  
• All unused Federal money (from each candidate) should be returned to the Bureau
  

Tiered Voting Plan

• Either you can vote for an office once you're eligible to run for that office yourself (35 to be President or Vice President, 30 to be a Senator, or 25 to be a Representative. 18 for all state positions.)
• Or those 30 and older may vote for president
• those 25 and older may for Congress
• and those 18 or older can vote for all local and state positions.
• Age verification will be done at the polling stations with specific ballots being handed to those who qualify
  

Perhaps there should also be a compulsory two year service to either the Military or a program like the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps to give a greater sense of the world and America and to engage in and demonstrate some civic concern and responsibility-earn your vote more or less********.

And yes I realize this would disqualify me for voting for President********* but that's a small price to pay for the good of America.

*perhaps I’m just bitter because there’s not an election, on any level including high school and college, I can remember that I was totally happy about
**Until the Coming Glorious Revolution
***stemming from my current frustration and opposition to Barack
****and honestly insignificant
*****my disgust with young voters who before I didn't mind because I was either with them or they were too apathetic to matter
****** really I'm sure that they're are so many "illegal immigrants" who've contributed so much more to the world and they can't vote while I , just be virtue of being born like 200 miles north of an imaginary border can enjoy all these "magical privileges;" seems horribly unjust
*******perhaps a Special Sub-Committee of House Appropriations or a Special Committee of the Committee on House Administration
*******so you know people won’t actually be dumb and have some experience in the world before their allowed to decide who runs it.
******** But it would also exclude a lot of morons. And as Jay told me, because it make sense, there should be some sort of Literacy requirement; if you can't read then you're probably not qualified to judge who should be President

Sphere: Related Content

The Dream is Still Alive

"Our Country"

Written by John Mellencamp

Well I can stand beside
Ideals I think are right
And I can stand beside
The idea to stand and fight
I do believe
There’s a dream for everyone
This is our country

There’s room enough here
For science to live
And there’s room enough here
For religion to forgive
And try to understand
All the people of this land
This is our country

From the east coast
To the west coast
Down the Dixie Highway
Back home
This is our country

That poverty could be
Just another ugly thing
And bigotry would be
Seen only as obscene
And the ones that run this land
Help the poor and common man
This is our country

From the east coast
To the west coast
Down the Dixie Highway
Back home
This is our country

The dream is still alive
Some day it will come true
And this country it belongs
To folks like me and you
So let the voice of freedom
Sing out through this land
This is our country

From the east coast
To the west coast
Down the Dixie Highway
Back home
This is our country

From the east coast
To the west coast
Down the Dixie Highway
Back home
This is our country

You can watch the rest of John Mellencamp at John Edwards' rally here


and here is the set list (I don’t have To Washington, sorry)
Pink Houses [download]
Minutes to Memories [download]
To Washington
Small Town [download]
Our Country [download]


(and a song he should’ve sung)
The Americans [download]

The dream is still alive.
This is our country.

Vote John Edwards

Sphere: Related Content

Who Said It: TR, FDR, HST, RFK or JRE?

(the rhythm of that title was a lot better but then I added in Teddy Roosevelt)

this is obviously in the same vein as something I did last year and I hope my point will be proved again. Just like last time guess who the speaker of each quote was, either John (Reid) Edwards, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman or Bobby Kennedy. And yes this time I am explicitly comparing them.

1. The government is us; we are the government, you and I.
2. Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change.
3. I think that Jesus would be disappointed in our ignoring the plight of those around us who are suffering and our focus on our own selfish short-term needs. I think he would be appalled, actually.
4. A revolution is coming — a revolution which will be peaceful if we are wise enough; compassionate if we care enough; successful if we are fortunate enough — But a revolution which is coming whether we will it or not. We can affect its character; we cannot alter its inevitability.
5. This world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.
6. A President cannot always be popular.
7. I think back to what Camus wrote about the fact that perhaps this world is a world in which children suffer, but we can lessen the number of suffering children, and if you do not do this, then who will do this? I'd like to feel that I'd done something to lessen that suffering.
8. Hard work should be valued in this country, so we're going to reward work, not just wealth.
9. Like it or not we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history. And everyone here will ultimately be judged — will ultimately judge himself — on the effort he has contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which his ideals and goals have shaped that effort.
10. Carry the battle to them. Don't let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive and don't ever apologize for anything.
11. We don't want people to just get by; we want people to get ahead.
12. It is not realistic or hardheaded to solve problems and take action unguided by ultimate moral aims and values, although we all know some who claim that it is so. In my judgment, it is thoughtless folly. For it ignores the realities of human faith and of passion and of belief — forces ultimately more powerful than all of the calculations of our economists or of our generals. Of course to adhere to standards, to idealism, to vision in the face of immediate dangers takes great courage and takes self-confidence. But we also know that only those who dare to fail greatly, can ever achieve greatly.
13. And the heart of this campaign -- your campaign, our campaign -- is to make sure all Americans have exactly the same kind opportunities that I had no matter where you live, no matter who your family is, no matter what the color of your skin is.
14. Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.
15. All of us, from the wealthiest to the young children that I have seen in this country, in this year, bloated by starvation — we all share one precious possession, and that is the name American. It is not easy to know what that means. But, in part, to be an American means to have been an outcast and a stranger, to have come from the exiles' country, and to know that he who denies the outcast and the stranger still amongst us, he also denies America.
16. Absence and death are the same — only that in death there is no suffering.
17. Better a thousand times err on the side of over-readiness to fight, than to err on the side of tame submission to injury, or cold-blooded indifference to the misery of the oppressed.
18. I believe in corporations. They are indispensable instruments of our modern civilization; but I believe that they should be so supervised and so regulated that they shall act for the interest of the community as a whole.
19. I have learned two great lessons--that there will always be heartache and struggle, and that people of strong will can make a difference. One is a sad lesson; the other is inspiring. I choose to to be inspired
20. All great questions must be raised by great voices, and the greatest voice is the voice of the people - speaking out - in prose, or painting or poetry or music; speaking out - in homes and halls, streets and farms, courts and cafes - let that voice speak and the stillness you hear will be the gratitude of mankind
21. Probably the greatest harm done by vast wealth is the harm that we of moderate means do ourselves when we let the vices of envy and hatred enter deep into our own natures. But there is another harm; and it is evident that we should try to do away with that. The great corporations which we have grown to speak of rather loosely as trusts are the creatures of the State, and the State not only has the right to control them, but it is duty bound to control them wherever the need of such control is shown
22. We shouldn't have two public school systems in this country: one for the most affluent communities, and one for everybody else. None of us believe that the quality of a child's education should be controlled by where they live or the affluence of the community they live in. It doesn't have to be that way.
23. As long as men are hungry, and their children uneducated, and their crops destroyed by pestilence, the American Revolution will have a part to play. As long as men are not free — in their lives and in their opinions, their speech and their knowledge — that long will the American Revolution not be finished.
24. What we have to do is get rid of the structural deficiencies in the American economy. And we have to create jobs, protect American jobs. We have to strengthen and grow the middle class, which is struggling mightily in this country today. And one of the reasons that we've lost jobs, we're having trouble creating jobs, we're having trouble growing & strengthening the middle class is because corporate power and greed have literally taken over the government. And we need a president who's willing to take these powers on. It is the only way we're going to strengthen & grow the middle class, have universal health care, have a trade policy that actually works for American workers, have a tax policy that's not favoring big multinational corporations, but instead favors the middle class and working people.
25. Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation... It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is thus shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
26. To hell with them. When history is written they will be the sons of bitches - not I.
27. I believe that, as long as there is plenty, poverty is evil.
28. [There's] one America that does the work, another America that reaps the reward. One America that pays the taxes, another America that gets the tax breaks.
29. It is not enough to understand, or to see clearly. The future will be shaped in the arena of human activity, by those willing to commit their minds and their bodies to the task.
30. I met a man a few years ago, who talked about having to look his child in the eye and explain why her daddy, who had worked in that mill his entire life, that factory, had lost his job and hadn't done anything wrong, because his child did not understand. American trade policy is catering to the interests of big corporate America. It has been for a decade and a half. And we desperately need a president of the United States who, instead of asking, is this going to help corporate profits--is this actually going to stand up for American workers and American jobs.
31. On this generation of Americans falls the burden of proving to the world that we really mean it when we say all men are created free and are equal before the law. All of us might wish at times that we lived in a more tranquil world, but we don't. And if our times are difficult and perplexing, so are they challenging and filled with opportunity.
32. The very idea that in a country of our wealth and our prosperity, we have children going to bed hungry? We have children who don't have the clothes to keep them warm? We have millions of Americans who work full-time every day to support their families, working for minimum wage, and still live in poverty. It's wrong
33. People say I am ruthless. I am not ruthless. And if I find the man who is calling me ruthless, I shall destroy him.
34. Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator. And change has its enemies
35. When I say we believe it's wrong to have 36 million people who wake up in poverty every day, there is actually a document that says something about how we treat and how we care about those who are struggling. There is a document that says what our commitment is to ending poverty in this country. And there is a document that says whether we are honoring our moral test to do unto others. And it's called the budget. Others have said this, but the truth is, the budget is a moral document.
36. Since the days of Greece and Rome when the word "citizen" was a title of honor, we have often seen more emphasis put on the rights of citizenship than on its responsibilities. And today, as never before in the free world, responsibility is the greatest right of citizenship and service is the greatest of freedom's privileges
37. I think the key is to see things through the eyes of regular Americans. That's a perspective that people are hungry for.
38. The future is not a gift: it is an achievement. Every generation helps make its own future. This is the essential challenge of the present.
39. The plight of the cities--their physical decay and human despair that pervades them--is the great internal problem of the American nation, a challenge which must be met
40. Together, we can make ourselves a nation that spends more on books than on bombs, more on hospitals than the terrible tools of war, more on decent houses than military aircraft.
41. You know that being an American is more than a matter of where your parents came from. It is a belief that all men are created free and equal and that everyone deserves an even break.
42. The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something. The millions who are in want will not stand by silently forever while the things to satisfy their needs are within easy reach. We need enthusiasm, imagination and the ability to face facts, even unpleasant ones, bravely. We need to correct, by drastic means if necessary, the faults in our economic system from which we now suffer. We need the courage of the young. Yours is not the task of making your way in the world, but the task of remaking the world which you will find before you. May every one of us be granted the courage, the faith and the vision to give the best that is in us to that remaking!
43. It goes to the basic question [of a lack of equality]. To have a president that's going to fight for equality, fight for real change, big change, bold change--we can't trade our insiders for their insiders. That doesn't work. What we need is somebody who will take these people on, these big banks, these mortgage companies. That's the only way we're going to bring about change.
44. This is America, where everything is still possible.
45. You knew that what is given or granted can be taken away, that what is begged can be refused; but that what is earned is kept
46. The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the larger centers has owned the Government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson
47. Let's stand up for the working people whose labor made this country great. Organized labor has fought for and made better the lives of every working man and woman, by giving them a voice - labor never stands silent where wrongs need to be righted. It is time we acknowledged that it is organized labor, which has protected the American worker against mistreatment by corporate America
48. The modern hero is a person who does something everyone thinks they could do if they were a little stronger, a little faster, a little smarter, or a little more generous. Heroes in ancient time were a link between man and perfect gods. Heroes in modern times are the link between man as he is and man as he could be.
49. "And as long as America must choose, that long will there be a need and a place for the Democratic Party. We Democrats can run on our record but we cannot rest on it. We will win if we continue to take the initiative and if we carry the message of hope and action throughout the country. Alexander Smith once said, 'A man doesn't plant a tree for himself. He plants it for posterity. ' Let us continue to plant, and our children shall reap the harvest. That is our destiny as Democrats."
50. I understand that a job is about more than a paycheck; it's about dignity and self-respect.
51. The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.
52. One-fifth of the people are against everything all the time.
53. Once in, you’ve got to see it through. You’ve got to perform without flinching whatever duty is assigned you, regardless of the difficulty or the danger attending it
54. Death is always and under all circumstances a tragedy, for if it is not, then it means that life itself has become one.
55. We can do nothing of good in the way of regulating and supervising these corporations until we fix clearly in our minds that we are not attacking the corporations, but endeavoring to do away with any evil in them. We are not hostile to them; we are merely determined that they shall be so handled as to subserve the public good. We draw the line against misconduct, not against wealth
56. Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing
57. The object of government is the welfare of the people. The material progress and prosperity of a nation are desirable chiefly so far as they lead to the moral and material welfare of all good citizens.
58. We wish to control big business so as to secure among other things good wages for the wage-workers and reasonable prices for the consumers. Wherever in any business the prosperity of the businessman is obtained by lowering the wages of his workmen and charging an excessive price to the consumers we wish to interfere and stop such practices. We will not submit to that kind of prosperity any more than we will submit to prosperity obtained by swindling investors or getting unfair advantages over business rivals.
59. Political parties exist to secure responsible government and to execute the will of the people. From these great tasks both of the old parties have turned aside. Instead of instruments to promote the general welfare they have become the tools of corrupt interests, which use them impartially to serve their selfish purposes. Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics, is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.
60. If I must choose between righteousness and peace I choose righteousness.
61. No man is worth calling a man who will not fight rather than submit to infamy or see those that are dear to him suffer wrong. No nation deserves to exist if it permits itself to lose the stern and virile virtues; and this without regard to whether the loss is due to the growth of a heartless and all-absorbing commercialism, to prolonged indulgence in luxury and soft, effortless ease, or to the deification of a warped and twisted sentimentality.
62. I am in this cause with my whole heart and soul. I believe that the Progressive movement is making life a little easier for all our people; a movement to try to take the burdens off the men and especially the women and children of this country. I am absorbed in the success of that movement.
63. Each nation has its own pet sins to which it is merciful, and also sins which it treats as most abhorrent. In America, we are peculiarly sensitive about big money contributions for which the donors expect any reward. In England, where in some ways the standard is higher than here, such contributions are accepted as a matter of course, nay, as one of the methods by which wealthy men obtain peerages. It would be well-nigh an impossibility for a man to secure a seat in the United States Senate by mere campaign contributions, in the way that seats in the British House of Lords have often been secured without any scandal being caused thereby
64. A typical vice of American politics is the avoidance of saying anything real on real issues.
65. I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do! That is character!
66. Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country
67. If you're [Black}, you're more likely to be charged with a crime. If you're charged with a crime, you're more likely to be convicted of the crime. If you're convicted of the crime, you're more likely to get a severe sentence. There is no question that our justice system is not color-blind.
68. A radical is a man with both feet firmly planted — in the air. A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned to walk forward. A reactionary is a somnambulist walking backwards. A liberal is a man who uses his legs and his hands at the behest-at the command — of his head
69. If we stand idly by, if we seek merely swollen, slothful ease and ignoble peace, if we shrink from the hard contests where men must win at hazard of their lives and at the risk of all they hold dear, then the bolder and stronger peoples will pass us by, and will win for themselves the domination of the world.
70. We are passing through a period of great commercial prosperity, and such a period is as sure as adversity itself to bring mutterings of discontent. At a time when most men prosper somewhat some men always prosper greatly; and it is as true now as when the tower of Siloam fell upon all alike, that good fortune does not come solely to the just, nor bad fortune solely to the unjust. When the weather is good for crops it is also good for weeds
71. We find our population suffering from old inequalities, little changed by vast sporadic remedies. In spite of our efforts and in spite of our talk, we have not weeded out the over privileged and we have not effectively lifted up the underprivileged. Both of these manifestations of injustice have retarded happiness. No wise man has any intention of destroying what is known as the profit motive; because by the profit motive we mean the right by work to earn a decent livelihood for ourselves and for our families.
72. The most successful politician is he who says what everybody is thinking most often and in the loudest voice.
73. Inequality in America is at the heart & soul of why I'm running for president. The truth is that slavery followed by segregation followed by discrimination has had an impact that still is alive & well in America, and it goes through every single part of American life. These two Americas that I've talked about in the past--man, they are out there thriving every single day. We have two public school systems in America--one for the wealthy, one for everybody else. We have two health care systems, and we know that race plays an enormous role in the problems that African Americans face and the problems that African Americans face with health care every single day. And making sure that every single American, including people of color, are allowed to vote and that their vote is counted in the election. All of us have a responsibility to build one America that works for everybody, across all racial barriers that still exist in this country.
74. Whenever a fellow tells me he's bipartisan, I know he's going to vote against me.
75. I want to be a champion for the people I have fought for all my life - regular people.
76. The unforgivable crime is soft hitting. Do not hit at all if it can be avoided; but never hit softly
77. We have, however, a clear mandate from the people, that Americans must forswear that conception of the acquisition of wealth which, through excessive profits, creates undue private power over private affairs and, to our misfortune, over public affairs as well. In building toward this end we do not destroy ambition, nor do we seek to divide our wealth into equal shares on stated occasions. We continue to recognize the greater ability of some to earn more than others. But we do assert that the ambition of the individual to obtain for him and his a proper security, a reasonable leisure, and a decent living throughout life, is an ambition to be preferred to the appetite for great wealth and great power.
78. People are selfish, but they can also be compassionate and generous, and they care about the country. But not when they feel threatened. That's why this is such a crucial time. We can go in either direction. But if we don't make a choice soon, it will be too late to turn things around. I think people are willing to make the right choice. But they need leadership. They're hungry for leadership."
79. I never gave anybody hell. I just told the truth and they think it's hell.
80. The hours men and women worked, the wages they received, the conditions of their labor — these had passed beyond the control of the people, and were imposed by this new industrial dictatorship. The savings of the average family, the capital of the small-businessmen, the investments set aside for old age — other people's money — these were tools which the new economic royalty used to dig itself in. Those who tilled the soil no longer reaped the rewards which were their right. The small measure of their gains was decreed by men in distant cities. Throughout the nation, opportunity was limited by monopoly. Individual initiative was crushed in the cogs of a great machine. The field open for free business was more and more restricted. Private enterprise, indeed, became too private. It became privileged enterprise, not free enterprise
81. I will win this election and make these Republicans like it — don't forget that! We will do that because they are wrong and we are right,
82. It was natural and perhaps human that the privileged princes of these new economic dynasties, thirsting for power, reached out for control over government itself. They created a new despotism and wrapped it in the robes of legal sanction. In its service new mercenaries sought to regiment the people, their labor, and their property. And as a result the average man once more confronts the problem that faced the Minute Man.
83. We are in a troublesome period, and some "nonsense" as you term it — but this is a great nation with a high purpose, and we shall come to our senses and resume our course.
84. The future is not a gift: it is an achievement. Every generation helps make its own future. This is the essential challenge of the present." "The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of bold projects and new ideas. Rather, it will belong to those who can blend passion, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the great enterprises and ideals of American society."
85. These economic royalists complain that we seek to overthrow the institutions of America. What they really complain of is that we seek to take away their power. Our allegiance to American institutions requires the overthrow of this kind of power. In vain they seek to hide behind the flag and the Constitution. In their blindness they forget what the flag and the Constitution stand for. Now, as always, they stand for democracy, not tyranny; for freedom, not subjection; and against a dictatorship by mob rule and the over-privileged alike.
86. There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.
87. I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made
88. In our seeking for economic and political progress, we all go up — or else we all go down.
89. It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.
90. It isn't sufficient just to want — you've got to ask yourself what you are going to do to get the things you want.

*Most all of these quotes came from the respective wikiquotes pages of each champion of the poor and the American Dream, shining lights of America, they.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Francis_Kennedy%2C_Jr.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_Truman
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/FDR
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Edwards
Two Americas Speech text

Sphere: Related Content