Wading In

Obama will bring new direction to nation By Kelvin Wade | | October 30, 2008 18:09 The presidential choice is clear. Don't buy the fear that John McCain is selling. Barack Obama brings the right experience, judgment and inspiration to be president. Barack Obama graduated from Columbia University with a BA in political science, briefly worked in the corporate world but then moved to Chicago to be executive director of the Developing Communities Project, a faith-based organization. After a trip to Europe and Africa, he went to Harvard Law School. He was editor of the Harvard Law Review and graduated magna cum laude. Instead of becoming a Supreme Court clerk like most in his position, he went back to Chicago to lead Project Vote in the largest minority voter registration drive in Chicago history. Obama spent nearly a decade as a civil rights attorney and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for 12 years. After our current president, we n...

Play the real American song (Hulk Hogan theme song). In search of the 'real' Americans By Kelvin Wade | | October 22, 2008 21:20 '. . . (A) house divided against itself shall not stand.' - Matthew 12:25 Are you a real American? Is a gay guy working to defeat Proposition 8 and planning his wedding a real American? Are members of Code Pink who protest the war in Iraq real Americans? Is my friend who donates to Democratic candidates and who happens to be an atheist a real American? If you support a progressive tax code with higher taxes on the wealthy, are you a real American? Conservative Republicans lately have been drawing a troubling distinction. Last week, Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann told MSNBC's Chris Matthews, 'I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people of Congress and find out if they're pro-America or anti-America.' McCain senior adviser Nancy Pfotenhauer rece...

“It was totally about race. The Powell nomination — or endorsement — totally about race.” ---Rush Limbaugh, October 20, 2008 Radio blowhard Rush Limbaugh, conservative firebrand Pat Buchanan, and other right wingers have dismissed Gen. Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama for President as racially motivated. Give me a break. Colin Powell is a Vietnam Veteran, four star general, former National Security Advisor to Ronald Reagan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Secretary of State. In addition to his numerous military awards, he’s been awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, two Presidential Medals of Freedom, and the President’s Citizen Medal. So we’re talking about someone whose life has been dedicated to service of this country. But those critics would have you believe that Powell, after establishing his integrity his entire life, would sell out for racial reasons in the sunset of his years. Name something that Colin Powell has done that has been racially motivated in the past. Do...

Let's drop the mud-slinging and compromise By Kelvin Wade | | October 16, 2008 23:35 Proposition 8, which would ban gay marriage, is the measure that has commanded most of the attention this election season. However, Proposition 4, which if passed would mandate a 48-hour waiting period and parental notification before a minor can terminate a pregnancy, also deserves our attention. It also deserves to become law. It's an idea that passes the common sense test. There are so many things in our society that require parental consent for minors to participate in. Body piercing of minors requires parental consent. We require parental consent for surgery on a minor. We require parental consent to teach a child sex education but minors can currently terminate a pregnancy without their parents knowing. This law would just require notification. Similar parental notification measures narrowly lost in 2005 and 2006. This measure is even more reasonable because it comes with numerous excepti...

Too much is at stake to be on the fence By Kelvin Wade | | October 09, 2008 17:49 Who are undecided voters? How can anyone be undecided about the presidential election at this time? First, let me admit that I'm an elitist. No, I'm not wealthy by anyone's standards and I didn't attend an Ivy League school. I don't eat arugula. I don't even know what it is. I've never driven a Volvo, hugged a tree, or drank a latte in my life. I've never been windsurfing. I own three guns. But I'm still an elitist because I think if you're undecided at this point, perhaps you should sit the election out so as to not skew the results. If you could sit through Enron, 9/11, the politicization of 9/11, the Iraq war, outrageous government spending, Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, Swiftboating, Katrina, Supreme Court appointments, high gas prices, the housing bubble bursting, the Obama-Clinton primary, banking meltdown, and Sarah Palin and be undecided in this el...

This is an article from the current issue of Rolling Stone magazine that every voter needs to read. It's eye opening. It's very long but it's worth it. Make-Believe Maverick A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty TIM DICKINSON Posted Oct 16, 2008 7:00 PM Advertisement • VIDEO : Five Myths About John McCain • The Double-Talk Express • Mad Dog Palin: The Full Story A t Fort McNair, an army base located along the Potomac River in the nation's capital, a chance reunion takes place one day between two former POWs. It's the spring of 1974, and Navy commander John Sidney McCain III has returned home from the experience in Hanoi that, according to legend, transformed him from a callow and reckless youth into a serious man of patriotism and purpose. Walking along the grounds at Fort McNair, McCain runs into John Dramesi, an Air Force lieutenant colonel who was also imprisoned and tortured i...