Yes We Can!  I'm giving $2,300 - and you?

I'm a technological director of a health care organization building open source solutions to child hood disorders.  I've given $600 so far to Barack Obama.  My limit is $2,300 for this primary and I'm putting what I've got left, $1,700, on the table tonight after I've seen this true leader speak at the Wisconsin Democratic Primary Gala.   Open this link at C-Span listen to Russ Feingold, and then go to the very end (59:47) and then after the jump bounce to (14:30 is when Barack takes the stage) 38:30 when he talked about our people, our constitution, our lives.  Join me below.

My very personal reason for pulling Obama's Lever.

For the big vote on IRAQ/AUMF and PATRIOT -- thousands of people, including myself were protesting on the D.C Mall; as close as we could get to our Senators.  I watched time and time again as Senator Tom Daschle caved in vote after vote after vote.  I cried, I protested, I screamed, I marched.  We had signs that said "No Blood for Oil", "Live Free or Die", "Don't Trust Bush", etc.  We were called traitors.  We were called unpatriotic.  We were ignored.  With the exception of a few brave souls, our congress failed to stand up for what was right and did what was expedient.  They failed to read.  They failed to think.  They failed to have compassion.

While it is not exactly new, it is apparently news to many Daily Kos members that Obama's Health Care Plan is indeed Universal Health Coverage.  Let's face it, with the exception of mandatory requirement differences, John Edward's Proposal was liberally copied and is victorious.  According to Robert Reich:

In almost every important respect, all major Democratic plans are the same. They require employers to "play or pay" -- either provide coverage to their employees or contribute to the cost of coverage. They create purchasing pools that will offer insurance to anyone who doesn't get it from an employer. They offer a public heath-insurance option. The plans preserve freedom of choice of doctors. They aim to save money through more preventive care, better management of chronic disease, and standardized information technology. All of them subsidize lower-income families.

As a health care software developer, I'd like to talk a bit about the lower-level details of Barack Obama's plan and why I think it's not just rhetoric, but is actually likely to succeed as a single-payer, truly universal health plan.

While DHinMI's front-page story makes a good case as for demographics explaining irregularities in the NH voting results, the story fails to discuss the need for Verified Voting.  We've come along way since 2000, currently there are lots of states in the "green", but NH isn't one of them.  Although NH has a voter-verifiable paper record, they lack a regular, random sample, manual audit of this record.

Green = Paper Trail + Randomized Audit;
Yellow = Paper Trail, but no Audit (NH is in this category)
RED = No Paper Trail

NH is good, they have voter verified paper trails (the optical scan ballots), however, there is room for improvement.  What NH could really use is a automatic (not requiring payment, legal paperwork, expression of doubt, legal case, requests or anything) randomized recount of a statistically significant set of districts.

Who sees fixing corruption and repairing our Constitution as the most important challenge we face, and who is likely to have the will to do it?

I'll give you a clue.  It's not the candidate who continues to vote for the war, who actively undermines FISA and constitutional protections.  It's not the candidate who doesn't stand up to big business.  It's not a Republican.  Sadly, it's not one of our own, Hillary Clinton.  Senator Clinton has had ample opportunity to demonstrate her conviction, she hasn't.  Hillary has sworn allegiance to the establishment -- the same establishment that is Hurting America.  We need serious change.  Hillary Clinton is not change.

What's important about the Iowa results is that Hillary is seriously outnumbered -- we cannot let a 3-way "tie" permit her to itch out a win.  Both Obama and Edwards need to back each other, as soon as possible, and publicly.  I'd like to see a pact now, should either drop out, they pledge their delegates to the other.  We need to ensure that our progressive voice is not split

Just like we witnessed during the lead-up to the Iraqi invasion, the "selling" of action against Iran has started.  Historically the NY Times dedicates some news of Iraq, but these last few days, its coverage has been increasing to a daily drumbeat.  Expect the front-page coverage to get louder and louder.

http://topics.nytimes.com/...

Sept 4th, Iraqi Foreign Minister Demands That Iran Stop Shelling Kurdish
Sept 4th, Hard Time Help Leaders in Iran Tighten Their Grip
Sept 3rd, On Two Fronts, One Nuclear, Iran is Defiant
Aug 29th, Bush Cites Nuclear Risk of Leaving Iraq (embolden a belligerent Iran)
Aug 29th, Plan Released by Iran and U.N Atomic Agency is Faulted
Aug 28th, French Leader Rises Possibility of Use of Force in Iran
Aug 23rd, Tehran Says It Has Designed A 'Smart Bomb'
Aug 16th, Terrorist label for Iran Guards; U.S. Impatience With U.N.
Aug 15th, U.S. Weighing Terrorist Label for Iran Guards
Aug  8th, U.S. Says Iran-Supplied Bumb Is Killing More Troops in Iraq
Aug  2nd, Iran Hangs 9 Convicts, 7 Publically, in Crackdown on "Thugs"

Let us stop being chicken-shit liberals. Let's start telling the truth we know: G.W. Bush is a fascist. It is that simple. Say it loudly. Repeat. People who are deceived must hear the truth. The sleepers must awaken!

The real war going on is not in Iraq; it is for the minds of Republicans and "moderate" Democrats who consider themselves "patriots".

This is not politics as usual: we cannot continue thinking we are playing against ethical people. By permitting the "unitary executive" meme to go un-challenged at our local pub, in our family events, and at our workplace, we lose our freedom. Ask them..."Even if there is a 1% chance that G.W. Bush wants to be Dictator, should this not merit a full investigation? Trust, but Verify."

Say it now. G.W. Bush is a fascist. Say it firmly. Say it often. Take no quarter.