Elect Meg Tapucol-Provo National Obama Delegate Congressional District 9!

Never in a million years would I have thought I'd be running for National Delegate. But I'd like to share with you my story, something I didn't have room to share in the limited space I have on my campaign brochure, which is perhaps how you came to this blog.

Just as Hillary Clinton has claimed Barack Obama to be short on experience in the national political arena, some may say I have not been part of the political process for very long. I have not been. I was only recently inspired to become active politically because of Barack Obama. He inspired me to volunteer for his campaign, and I am now a Precinct Committee Officer. I volunteered at the Legislative District Caucus and plan to volunteer at the 9th Congressional District Caucus. I plan to campaign hard for Senator Obama, attend the State Convention in Spokane, and hopefully go to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. However, like Obama, I am certainly not short on experience. I've been a lifelong Democrat, and strongly believe in the core principles of the Democratic Party, particularly regarding civil rights and social justice. So I've devoted the last 17 years of my life to addressing these issues head on. Indeed, it has been my life's work.

This year marked the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Sadly, our country has a long way to go when it comes to the area of race relations. It's a wonderful thing that we have our first viable African-American candidate. But we all see the ugliness surrounding this election as well, and all of the subtle and not so subtle race-baiting that has taken place to play on people's racial prejudices. It pains me to know that there are still people in this country that will not even listen to Senator Obama's message of hope or his stance on the issues because they only see the color of his skin and have decided they will not vote for him. It's bigotry, plain and simple.

I first started working in the early 90's in the diversity arena as an actor touring with a diversity theatre company called the Growth and Prevention (GAP) Theatre Company. Our group traveled throughout Washington and Oregon and as far as Idaho and Reno, performing musicals about racism and facilitating discussions about race with the audiences afterwards. We performed primarily at schools, but sometimes we performed for non-profit organizations. This was back in the early '90s. It was a great experience. What struck me was that many of the kids we talked to felt as if they themselves were open-minded, but they felt that their parents were not. This was a real source of frustration for them, because they felt as if their parents were unwilling to change their views.

I was inspired by that experience and decided to take it to the next level. In 1993, I began working as a corporate diversity trainer, facilitating workshops throughout the country on diversity-related issues. The difference in corporate diversity training, however, was that the focus was on how diversity and inclusion were good for the bottom line, productivity and morale. Also, the definition of differences tended to be focused on the differences that made a difference at a particular organization (for example, people's accents, their educational levels, the types of jobs they have, etc.) What people discover is regardless of what the difference is, people who feel disenfranchised, marginalized and devalued do not perform at their optimum level. This is difficult work. There were many times that I was the only person of color in the room, sometimes the only woman in the room, and I've experienced the passive aggressive behavior of people sitting in workshops, reading the newspaper or working on their laptops because they don't want to be there, they think talking about diversity is a waste of time. But I keep on doing it, because if someone isn't out there fighting for change, then how do things change? Is everything okay the way it is? Are we happy with the status quo? I'm certainly not.

I also started focusing on diversity within the educational arena. I worked for the Anti-Defamation League A World of Difference Institute where I facilitated prejudice reduction workshops in schools throughout Washington state. In 2003, I joined Green River Community College as an adjunct instructor, where I designed and continue to teach Multiculturalism and Anti-Bias in Education. This is a course for preservice Early Childhood and K-12 teachers that helps them explore diversity in the framework of a classroom. We explore issues of race, class, disability and sexual orientation and how to implement an anti-bias curriculum. This class not only is required for the AA in Early Childhood Education, but is also a prerequisite for the Master's in Teaching Program at the University of Washington. Many of my students have indicated that they felt ALL college students should be required to take this class. Click here for one student's response to my class.

On another note, there was a small detour in the midst of my diversity training career. I really shouldn't call it a small detour, because it was truly life-changing. On December 28, 1998, 45 minutes after the birth of my daughter, I went into cardiac arrest. I had suffered an Amniotic Fluid Embolism, an extremely rare and usually fatal complication of childbirth. Although I was resuscitated after 45 minutes of CPR, I suffered several life-threatening complications, and was in critical condition in a coma and on a ventilator for nine weeks in the Intensive Care Unit at Swedish Medical Center. Thanks to the wonderful care at Swedish, and prayers and support from hundreds of people around the world, I survived, and was released from the hospital after five months and one week. I went through a year-and-a-half of physical, occupational, and speech therapy to relearn how to walk, talk and function, and after five years, returned to work.

During my recovery, I started the Northwest ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) Support Network for survivors of this horrible disease. I co-chaired the 2nd Annual Conference for ARDS Survivors, Families and Care Providers, in conjunction with the American Lung Association of Washington and Harborview Medical Center for ARDS Survivors and Caregivers. During the outbreak of SARS in 2003, I worked with Mimi Gan of Evening Magazine to help increase awareness of ARDS (which was actually what many SARS patients were ultimately dying of). Click here to view the online Evening Magazine story. I continue to support people who are ARDS survivors, or whose loved ones are in ARDS crisis. I have also volunteered and raised money for the American Lung Association of Washington.

I am the Vice-President of the Woodmont K-8 PTA. I was also the only parent on the Federal Way School District Elementary Design Team, where I fought to ensure that an anti-bias curriculum was implemented in the elementary grades.

I, for one, am angry about the past seven years. When the election was stolen from Al Gore, I really felt hopeless--I was so shocked that something like that could have happened. And then John Kerry lost, to someone who clearly was a lesser candidate, and I thought to myself, what is our country coming to? The last seven years have been a horrible nightmare, but I feel that now we have hope, and that hope is Barack Obama!

My support for Senator Obama is unwavering. I have had conversations with countless people, some of them strangers, trying to convince them he is the right candidate. I've joined mybarackobama.com and Asian-Americans for Obama and made many friends. I've volunteered for the Obama campaign, at the 33rd Legislative District Caucus, and plan to volunteer at the Congressional District Caucus. I've become a Precinct Committee Officer and once Obama is nominated (which appears to be just around the corner), I will be very actively campaigning for him, as well as other local candidates who also support him. Once at the convention, I WILL NOT switch my vote. I am for Obama ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!!

I am on mybarackobama.com, so if you are too, please send me a friend request!

The following people have endorsed me:

Tina Orwall - Chairwoman, 33rd District Democrats, Candidate for 33rd House Seat

Joan Hudyma Tucker - former director of Northwest Center for Equity and Diversity

Kelly Ogilvie - President and CEO of Blue Marble Energy, former Deputy Director of Outreach for Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels

Diana Holz - Director of Early Childhood Education at Green River Community College, Advisory Committee Member on Governor Christine Gregoire's "Washington Learns" Steering Committee

Akemi Matsumoto - Diversity Consultant, Faculty at Bellevue Community College, Seattle-area Social Justice Activist

Melissa Ponder - Seattle-area Civil Rights Activist

Patricia Hunter - Director, Programs and Policy, Alzheimer's Association

My life has been about walking the talk. Having the hard conversations. Talking about issues that people aren't comfortable talking about, because if we never talk about them, nothing changes. If you are a delegate in the 9th Congressional District, please consider casting your vote for me as your representative in Denver!

"We are the ones we've been waiting for." - Hopi prayer

"We must become the change we wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi

A great Mother's Day!

Today I had a great Mother's Day! Tom, Giancarlo and Karina took me out to brunch on the Argosy Cruise ship--it was fabulous! We had a wonderful brunch while we cruised around Elliott Bay. Also, I received two beautiful handmade cards from Karina and Giancarlo, a tissue-paper flower from Giancarlo, a recipe book that Karina made that contained recipes from her third grade class, a cute white stuffed teddy bear that we've named Puffy, and a Canon A590 Digital Camera from Tom! I had actually mentioned I wanted that for my birthday (which isn't until August), but he surprised me and got it for me today! So we had lots of fun playing with it.


I came home and took a nap, got up and watched the "Meet the Press" netcast (I just can't bring myself to get up at 6:00 AM on Sunday mornings!) and then we went out to dinner at Duke's Chowder House at Kent Station. I had the seafood chop chop salad which was really yummy.


A great day!

Senator Obama is one step closer to the nomination!

After probably the worst couple weeks of Senator Obama's campaign, with the Wright scandal front and center in the headlines, Obama being accused of "elitism" and his loss in Pennsylvania, Senator Obama rebounded with a decisive victory in North Carolina and a performance in Indiana which has virtually ensured his nomination in August.

Senator Clinton needed to win big in Indiana, but only won by two percentage points. It is widely believed that her holiday gas tax proposal, which was opposed by most economists as well as Obama and viewed by him as "pandering" did not help her in either the Indiana or N.C. primary and in fact, may have hurt her.

As usual, the political analysts looked at the exit polls to see how different demographics voted. It is interesting that during this year, race and class have become very important factors in the voting. I cannot recall the analysts talking about "downscale white voters" or the "white working class voters" as much as they do during this election.

I was driving home from the dentist, and I decided to listen to Michael Medved, a conversative radio talk show host, just to see what he had to say about last night's primary results. (It's important to know what your opponents are saying!) Frankly, he disgusted me. He called Obama "dead man walking" and he said that working class whites would NEVER vote for him, that they were Reagan Democrats and they'd all end up voting for McCain in the general election. It sounded like he just KNEW this, and he took it for granted. These are people that were supporters of Hillary Clinton.

If he really feels this is the case, I would really like to know WHY. I know that there is a certain contingent of people who openly admit that they just will not vote for an African-American person, and clearly this is based on racism, pure and simple. I would like to hope that this is a small minority of people. But would there be other reasons why Medved would say working class whites would NEVER vote for Obama? Would they really go against their own best interests and vote for what amounts to a third Bush term? Or is this just right-wing rhetoric? Obama's and Clinton's positions on the issues are much closer to each other's than they are to McCain's when it comes to ecomonic policies, the war, health care, abortion, gay rights, you name it. Clinton herself has said that she would support Obama if he were to be the Democratic nominee. So why would a voter be willing to support Clinton and not Obama, if their own candidate is willing to support Obama? I'd be interested in people's opinions on this.

I think it's important to have these conversations because only then can we come to a greater understanding about people who are different from us. To think that race and class won't be a factor in the general election is to be shortsighted. We've already seen from this primary season that both of these issues have become part and parcel of this campaign season and I have a very strong feeling that in the general election it will get even worse.

Thoughts on being an Obama delegate

I just received an email this morning from Kyle Forar, who is heading up the Obama campaign for the 33rd Legislative District. I am really fired up and ready to go! Never before have I been so excited about the political process. And I am truly impressed by the young people who are still in high school who are actively engaged in this election! I truly believe that it is Barack Obama who has inspired the historic groundswell of participation in the democratic process that we've seen in this election.

Every day I get onto my computer and I log on to msnbc.com and Huffingtonpost to get my political "fix". Yes, I've become a political junkie. I watch video clips of Hardball and Keith Olbermann online. On Sunday morning, I can't wait until the netcast of "Meet the Press". (I won't wake up at 6:00 AM to watch it on TV--I'm not that addicted.)

To be honest though, I do wish the Democratic primary situation would come to an end soon. Obama is clearly ahead in all indicators--contests won, popular vote, pledged delegates. Every day he is gaining a superdelegate, whereas, Hillary has lost superdelegates. The writing is on the wall. The only thing Hillary is hedging her bets on is that the superdelegates overturn the will of the people, and if that happens, it will be a dark day for the Democratic party. It will show that Hillary cares more about herself than about the good of the party.

I actually used to like Hillary Clinton, but there were so many things that she did during this campaign that were so negative that made me lose respect for her. The lies she told about her trip to Bosnia. When she told "60 Minutes" that Obama wasn't Muslim "as far as she knew". The story she told about the pregnant woman who died, which again wasn't true. The fact that she did not renounce Geraldine Ferraro on the spot after Ferraro made racist comments about Obama. The twisting of the facts about Obama in North Carolina. Her twisting of Obama's stance on abortion in New Hampshire. The 3 AM ad. How she said that McCain was more ready to be commander in chief than Obama, yet implied that Obama might be a good VP (that was weird).

Don't even get me started on McCain. Maybe he isn't as conservative as the right-wing wackos would like, but he has a temper on him that would not serve him well as POTUS. It was recently reported that he went on a profane tirade at his wife when she playfully said to him that his hair was starting to thin. Apparently, his face reddened and, in full view of aides and reporters, he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt." Read about it here.

And this is who the Republicans want as their president. Scary, Scary, Scary.

I'm a State Delegate!

Yesterday was the 33rd Legislative District Caucus for the Democratic Party in Washington State. I arrived early at 9:00 AM to help out (and ended up getting an Obama sign and button because I volunteered--woohoo!). I received a short training on how to register the delegates and alternates, then was assigned to the table for the Burien precincts with a woman named Rose. There was a bit of confusion for a while as to whether to hand out index cards. At first we were told to hand them out, then not to, then they changed their minds again. They told us to hand purple index cards out to Hillary delegates, white index cards out to Obama delegates, and then ultimately, it didn't matter when we got into the gym.

I saw several friends there. I sat with my long time friend Vance Bader, who was a delegate from Des Moines. I also saw my friend and former Seattle neighbor, Carla Jones, who is a real estate agent for John L. Scott, and a delegate from Kent. My friend Chitra Solomonson, a physics professor at Green River Community College and fellow Blue Thunder soccer mom was an alternate from Kent who ended up getting seated as a delegate. And new friends and neighbors, Bill Smith and Stephanie Jurado-Smith, delegates from Des Moines were also there.

When I first arrived, I was not intending to run for state delegate. I had heard that you had to actively campaign and network and shmooze, and I thought to myself, this is just like being a politician. I really didn't want to do that, so I decided against it. But when I got there, so many people encouraged me to do it, particularly Stephanie, and when I saw 100 people get up to sign the sheet to make their speech, I thought, okay, why not?

So I was #37. I went up and talked about my life's work battling racism and bigotry as a diversity trainer and as an educator teaching Multiculturalism and Anti-Bias in Education. Apparently it struck a chord in people because my friend Stephanie, who stayed late to help count ballots, called me and told me I was elected! Stephanie is an alternate! So we are headed to the Congressional District Caucuses now and to the State Convention in Spokane!

The Hurt of One is the Hurt of All

I just finished reading a post by a former colleague of mine, Patti Digh, who writes an award-winning blog, 37 Days. It's called "Stop doing insignificant work in the world" and it provokes those who are white and straight to ask themselves, would they really want to be treated the way people of color and GLBT people are treated in our society, and if not, what are they going to do about it? Very provocative. Here's the link:

http://37days.typepad.com/37days/2008/02/stop-hate.html

I think this is so appropriate, given the fact that today is the 40th anniversary of the assasination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We have so far to go when it comes to racism and homophobia. Yes, we've come a long way, but we're not there yet.

I cannot tell you how many times I have been to social events, and people use gayness as the punch line. Do people not stop to think that maybe the people sitting in the room have gay friends, or gay siblings?

I've gone to social events where people go on and on about "illegals", as if they're some sort of enemy. Yes, these are parties where I'm the only person of color and I'm not sure if I'm the only progressive there, so I don't say anything. But it's very uncomfortable.

I've gone to parties where the hostess, perhaps not through ill intent but rather through ignorance, made comments like, "I can't believe he tried to Jew me down!" or "We didn't have a Chinaman's chance!" Once I ignored it and felt awful for doing so. Another time I confronted the person who made the offending remark, and the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

When Patti talks about doing significant work, how many people really make a point of getting to know people who are different than them? How many people read about people who are different than them? How many people confront others when a racist joke is made? Or a homophobic joke? How many people stand up to racism or homophobia? It is difficult to do, because, as one of my diversity workshop participants put it, you're labeled as "that person". But so what? If none of us stands up to racism and homophobia, how will it ever go away?

Take a look at the presidential candidate you're supporting. How do they do in terms of dealing with racism and homophobia? Not so good? Then maybe it's time to switch your support.

Why I Hate Wal-Mart

I just read a story in today's news that reminded me why I hate Wal-Mart so much. Wal-Mart truly exemplifies corporate greed. How can a company that sells $90 billion in one quarter alone sue an ex-employee for what it paid out to her in health benefits after she suffered irreparable brain damage in a traffic accident?

That's right, you read that correctly. Wal-Mart, the retail giant, successfully sued Debbie Shank, of Jackson, Missouri, who suffered severe brain damage in a traffic accident. Shank was an employee at Wal-Mart stocking shelves. She decided to buy the health and benefits plan. Eight years ago she was in a traffic accident that robbed her of much of her short-term memory, left her in a wheelchair and in a nursing home.

Two years after the accident. Shank and her husband were awarded $1 million from a lawsuit against the trucking company that was involved in the accident. After legal fees, $417,000 was placed in a trust for Shank's long-term care.

However, Wal-Mart turned around and sued Shank and her husband to recoup the $417,000.

Click here to read the details.

Although what Wal-Mart did was not illegal, it is a public relations disaster. This woman has lost her son in Iraq. Her husband divorced her just so she could maximize the amount of Medicaid she could receive. This woman will never have a job again. She has nothing. Wal-Mart has billions. They have a lot of audacity--to them people are nothing but dollar signs. Every decision they make is about the bottom line. They encourage their employees to go on welfare in order to have health benefits. They make people work off the clock. They discriminate against women. They discriminate against people of color. They engage in human rights and labor violations in Third World countries. They put profits before people. It makes me sick.

I know that there are people who love Wal-Mart, presumably because of the low prices. I don't care how low their prices are--I will never shop there because they treat their people like crap. I don't see myself strictly as a consumer, but also as a citizen, and as a responsible citizen, I cannot support a company that essentially abuses its employees.

I completely agree with what Steve Olson wrote on his blog about Wal-Mart. The couple times I have been inside a Wal-Mart I immediately wanted to turn around and walk out. "Wal-Mart's atmosphere is cheap and crass. Target's atmosphere exudes progress and style." Yes, give me Target any day. Stylish products at a great price.

Another Wal-Mart story:

A friend of mine (who is an activist) was having a birthday party at her home and decided to show the movie "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price"--I guess it was just a spur of the moment thing. (By the way, I just found out you can watch the whole movie online here. Anyway, it was a potluck, and there was a couple that had brought a cake from the Wal-Mart Supercenter. Whoops. I guess it was a little uncomfortable.

Hey, I respect people's right to shop wherever they want to shop. And the sad thing is, they do have low prices, and they pay their people so little that I think maybe the only place they CAN shop is Wal-Mart. I just can't stand the place. Everytime I think about it I want to retch.

John McCain's Free Ride

Why is the media giving John McCain a free ride? During this week alone, John McCain made several gaffes during his trip to the Middle East during which Joe Leibermann had to correct him. He sought an endorsement from a controversial preacher, Reverend Hagee, who has made incendiary remarks about Catholics, gays and women. He compared the Jewish holiday of Purim to Halloween. And a staffer of his was fired for creating an attack video of Barack Obama. Yet where is the 24/7 media outrage? Where are the headlines that we were bombarded with and the pundits weighing in hour after hour, as they were after Rev. Wright's remarks were revealed? If Barack Obama had made this many errors, I guarantee you this would have gotten airplay around the clock.

Dan Abrams of MSNBC pointed out that the media has been playing softball with John McCain and I agree. I think it's patently unfair. If the media is going to investigate every relationship between a candidate and the people they surround them with, they need to do it on both sides. And when a candidate makes a blunder, if they're going to call one candidate out (like FOX News did with Obama's "typical white person" remark, which was taken out of context), then they should be "fair and balanced" and do the same with ALL candidates, which of course they don't.

Obama's History-making Speech

I was moved beyond words by Barack Obama's speech today. He spoke with honesty and authenticity about the state of race relations in America. He truly has a unique perspective as a biracial man who has lived in virtually every corner of America, and has relatives of every race. He understands the resentments of both black America and white America.

My concern is that will white downscale working-class voters hear his words with open minds? Clearly, Pat Buchanan still couldn't hear the words. While all his colleagues on msnbc GOT IT, he still sounded like a cranky old bigot. And my fear is that there are a lot of cranky old bigots in America.

I just finished reading an article by Tim Wise, who writes a lot about white privilege in America. He actually wrote a lot of things that have been going through my mind. Check it out:

Uh-Obama: Racism, White Voters and the Myth of Color-Blindness
By Tim Wise
March 6, 2008

Here's a sentence I never thought I'd write, at least not as soon as I am now compelled to write it: It may well be the case that the United States is on its way to electing a person of color as President. Make no mistake, I realize the way that any number of factors, racism prominently among them, could derail such a thing from coming to fruition. Indeed, results from the Ohio Democratic primary suggest that an awful lot of white folks, especially rural and working-class whites, are still mightily uncomfortable with voting for such a candidate, at least partly because of race: One-fifth of voters in the state said race was important to their decision, and roughly six in ten of these voted for Hillary Clinton, which totals would then represent her approximate margin of victory over Barack Obama.

But having said all that--and I think anyone who is being honest would have to acknowledge this as factual--we are far closer to the election of a person of color in a Presidential race than probably any of us expected. Obama's meteoric rise, from community organizer, to law professor, to Illinois state senator, to the U.S. Senate, and now, possibly, the highest office in the land, is something that could have been foreseen by few if any just a few years ago. Obama's undeniable charisma, savvy political instincts, passion for his work, and ability to connect with young voters (and not a few older ones as well) is the kind of thing you just don't see all that often. The fact that as a black man (or, as some may prefer, a man of biracial background) he has been able to catapult to the position in which he now finds himself makes the accomplishment even more significant. It does indeed mean something.

But this is where things become considerably more complicated; the point at which one is forced to determine what, exactly, his success means (and doesn't mean) when it comes to the state of race, race relations, and racism in the United States. And it is at this point that so-called mainstream commentary has, once again, dropped the ball.

On the one hand, many a voice has suggested that Obama's success signifies something akin to the end of racism in the U.S., if not entirely, then surely as a potent political or social force. After all, if a black man actually stands a better-than-decent shot at becoming President, then how much of a barrier could racism really be? But of course, the success of individual persons of color, while it certainly suggests that overt bigotry has diminished substantially, hardly speaks to the larger social reality faced by millions of others: a subject to which we will return. Just as sexism no doubt remained an issue in Pakistan, even after Benazir Bhutto became Prime Minister in the 1980s and again in the 90s (or in India or Israel after both nations had female Premiers, or in Great Britain after the election of Margaret Thatcher), so too can racism exist in abundance, in spite of the electoral success of one person of color, even one who could be elevated to the highest office in the world's most powerful nation.

More importantly, to the extent Obama's success has been largely contingent on his studious avoidance of the issue of race--such that he rarely ever mentions discrimination and certainly not in front of white audiences--one has to wonder just how seriously we should take the notion that racism is a thing of the past, at least as supposedly evidenced by his ability to attract white votes? To the extent those whites are rewarding him in large measure for not talking about race, and to the extent they would abandon him in droves were he to begin talking much about racism--for he would be seen at that point as playing the race card, or appealing to "special interests" and suffer the consequences--we should view Obama's success, given what has been required to make it possible, as confirmation of the ongoing salience of race in American life. Were race really something we had moved beyond, whites would be open to hearing a candidate share factual information about housing discrimination, racial profiling, or race-based inequities in health care. But we don't want to be reminded of those things. We prefer to ignore them, and many are glad that Obama has downplayed them too, whether by choice, or necessity.

Erasing Race and Making White Folks Happy
The extent to which Obama's white support has been directly related to his downplaying of race issues simply cannot be overstated, as evidenced by the kinds of things many of these supporters openly admit, possessing no sense of apparent irony or misgiving. So, consider the chant offered by his supporters at a recent rally--and frankly, a chant in which whites appeared to be joining with far greater enthusiasm than folks of color--to the effect that "Race Doesn't Matter, Race Doesn't Matter," a concept so utterly absurd, given the way in which race most certainly still matters to the opportunity structure in this country, that one has to almost wretch at the repeated offering of it. Or consider the statements of support put forth by Obama supporters in a November 2007 Wall Street Journal article, to the effect that Obama makes whites "feel good" about ourselves (presumably by not bothering us with all that race talk), and that Obama, by virtue of his race-averse approach has "emancipated" whites to finally vote for a black candidate (because goodness knows we were previously chained and enslaved to a position of rejectionism). Worst of all, consider the words of one white Obama supporter, an ardent political blogger in Nashville, to the effect that what he likes about the Illinois Senator is that he "doesn't come with the baggage of the civil rights movement." Let it suffice to say that when the civil rights movement--one of the greatest struggles for human liberation in the history of our collective species--can be unashamedly equated with Samsonite, with luggage, with something one should avoid as though it were radioactive (and this coming from a self-described liberal), we are at a very dangerous place as a nation, all celebrations of Obama's cross-racial appeal notwithstanding.

What does it say about the nation's political culture--and what does it suggest about the extent to which we have moved "beyond race"--that candidate Obama, though he surely knows it, has been unable to mention the fact that 2006 saw the largest number of race-based housing discrimination complaints on record, and according to government and private studies, there are between two and three million cases of housing discrimination each year against people of color?

What does it say that he has failed to note with any regularity that according to over a hundred studies, health disparities between whites and blacks are due not merely to health care costs and economic differences between the two groups (a subject he does address) but also due to the provision of discriminatory care by providers, even to blacks with upper incomes, and black experiences with racism itself, which are directly related to hypertension and other maladies?

What does it say that Obama apparently can't bring himself to mention, for fear of likely white backlash, that whites are over seventy percent of drug users, but only about ten percent of persons incarcerated for a drug possession offense, while blacks and Latinos combined are about twenty-five percent of users, but comprise roughly ninety percent of persons locked up for a possession offense?

Why no mention of the massive national study by legal scholars Alfred and Ruth Blumrosen, which found that at least a third of all businesses in the nation engage in substantial discrimination against people of color--hiring such folks at rates that are well below their availability in the local and qualified labor pool, and well below the rates at which they are to be found in non-discriminating companies in the same locales and industries? Indeed, according to the Blumrosen study, at least 1.3 million qualified people of color will face job discrimination in a given year. Or what of the study of temporary agencies in California, which found that white women who are less qualified than their black counterparts, are still three times more likely to be favored in a job search? And what are the odds that he'll be likely to mention, to any significant degree, the recent EEOC report, which notes that in 2007 there was a twelve percent jump in race-based discrimination complaints in the workplace relative to the previous year (almost all of which were filed by persons of color): bringing the number of such complaints to their highest level since 1994?

As Obama talks about change and making the "American Dream" real for all, why is he unable to mention the fact--let alone propose specific remedies for it--that thanks to a history of unequal access to property and the inability to accumulate assets on par with whites, young black couples with college degrees and good incomes still start out at a significant disadvantage (around $20,000) relative to their white counterparts? In fact, the wealth gap between whites and blacks--with the average white family now having about eleven times the net worth of the average black family--continues to grow, even as income gaps for similarly educated families with similar background characteristics have shrunk.

And why such muted discussion about the way that, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, government at all levels and across party lines has engaged in ethnic cleansing in New Orleans, failing to provide rental assistance to the mostly black tenant base for over a year, plotting to tear down 5000 perfectly usable units of public housing, failing to restart the city's public health care infrastructure, and even ordering the Red Cross not to provide relief in the first few days after the city flooded in September 2005, so as to force evacuation and empty out the city? While Obama has spoken much about the failures of the Bush Administration during Katrina, openly discussing the deliberate acts of cruelty that go well beyond incompetence, and which amount to the forced depopulation of New Orleans-area blacks, has been something about which he cannot speak for fear of prompting a backlash from whites, most of whom, according to polls, don't think the events of Katrina have any lessons at all to teach us about race in America.

Surely, that Obama is constrained in his ability to focus any real attention on these matters, suggests that whatever his success may say about America and race, one thing it utterly fails to say is that we have conquered the racial demons that have so long bedeviled us. And to the extent he must remain relatively silent about these issues, lest he find his political ascent headed in a decidedly different direction, it is true, however ironic, that his success actually confirms the salience of white power. If, in order to be elected, a man of color has to pander to white folks, in ways that no white politician would ever have to do to people who were black or brown, then white privilege and white power remain operative realities. Obama's ascent to the Presidency, if it happens, will happen only because he managed to convince enough whites that he was different, and not really black, in the way too many whites continue to think of black people, which according to every opinion survey, is not too positively.

Transcending Blackness, Reinforcing White Racism: The Trouble With Exceptions
Obama's rise has owed almost everything to his ability--and this, again, coming from people who support him and are willing to speak candidly--to "transcend" race, which is really a way of saying, his ability to carve out an exception for himself in the minds of whites. But this notion of Obama "transcending race" (by which we really mean transcending his blackness) is a patently offensive and even racist notion in that it serves to reinforce generally negative feelings about blacks as a whole; feelings that the presence of exceptions cannot cancel out, and which they can even serve to reinforce. To the extent Obama has become the Cliff Huxtable of politics--a black man with whom millions of whites can identity and to whom they can relate--he has leapt one hurdle, only to watch his white co-countrymen and women erect a still higher one in the path of the black masses. If whites view Obama as having transcended his blackness, and if this is why we like him so much, we are saying, in effect, that the millions of blacks who haven't transcended theirs will remain a problem. To praise the transcending of blackness, after all, is to imply that blackness is something negative, something from which one who might otherwise qualify for membership ought to seek escape, and quickly.

Note, never has a white politician been confronted with questions about his or her ability to transcend race, or specifically, their whiteness. And this is true, even as many white politicians continue to pull almost all of their support from whites, and have almost no luck at convincing people of color to vote for them. In the Democratic primaries this year, Obama has regularly received about half the white vote, while Hillary Clinton has managed to pull down only about one-quarter of the black vote, yet the question has always been whether he could transcend race. The only rational conclusion to which this points is, again, that it is not race per se that needs to be overcome, but blackness. Whiteness is not seen as negative, as something to be conquered or transcended. Indeed, whereas blacks are being asked to rise above their racial identity, for whites, the burden is exactly the opposite: the worst thing for a white person is to fail to live up to the ostensibly high standards set by whiteness; it is to be considered white trash, which is to say, to be viewed as someone who has let down whiteness and fallen short of its pinnacle. For blacks, the worst thing it seems (at least in the minds of whites) is to be seen as black, which is no doubt why so many whites think it's a compliment to say things to black folks like, "I don't even think of you as black," not realizing that the subtext of such a comment is that it's a damned good thing they don't, for if they did, the person so thought of would be up the proverbial creek for sure.

In what must prove among the greatest ironies of all time, for Barack Obama to become President, which he well may accomplish, he will have to succeed in convincing a lot of racist white people to vote for him. Without the support of racists he simply can't win. While this may seem counterintuitive--that is, after all, what makes it ironic--it is really inarguable. After all, according to many an opinion survey in the past decade, large numbers of whites (often as high as one-half to three-quarters) harbor at least one negative and racist stereotype about African Americans, whether regarding their intelligence, law-abidingness, work ethic, or value systems. Without the votes of at least some of those whites (and keep in mind, that's how many whites are willing to admit to racist beliefs, which is likely far fewer than actually hold them), Obama's candidacy would be sunk. So long as whites can vote for a black man only to the extent that he doesn't remind them of other black people, it is fair to say that white people remain mired in a racism quite profound. To the extent we view the larger black community in terms far more hostile than those reserved for Obama, Oprah, Tiger, Colin, Condoleezza, Denzel and Bill (meaning Cosby, not Clinton, whose blackness is believed to be authentic only by himself nowadays), whites have proven how creative we can be, and how resourceful, when it comes to the maintenance of racial inequality.

By granting exemptions from blackness, even to those black folks who did not ask for such exemptions (and nothing I have said here should be taken as a critique of Obama himself by the way, for whom I did indeed vote last month), we have taken racism to an entirely new and disturbing level, one that bypasses the old and all-encompassing hostilities of the past, and replaces them with a new, seemingly ecumenical acceptance in the present. But make no mistake, it is an ecumenism that depends upon our being made to feel good, and on our ability to glom onto folks of color who won't challenge our denial let alone our privileges, even if they might like to.

In short, the success of Barack Obama has proven, perhaps more so than any other single thing could, just how powerful race remains in America. His success, far from disproving white power and privilege, confirms it with a vengeance.

Barack Obama is not Muslim

How many million times does that have to be said before it gets through people's heads? My God, I have seen so many comments on blogs, on 60 Minutes, EVERYWHERE! Do people think he's lying? There have been investigations done! He is not Muslim. They interviewed the headmaster of his elementary school. It was not a Muslim school. It was NOT a madrassa. What I find interesting is the people that are most gullible are those who choose not to educate themselves. They're like little lemmings who just follow the crowd and jump over the cliff because all the other lemmings are jumping over the cliff. Please, please, please people...EDUCATE yourselves! Don't believe every email that comes into your Inbox! It's like the people that forward every virus hoax that comes along before verifying it. It absolutely amazes me how many people choose to believe this about Obama without doing their homework, and then when he says he's not Muslim, would rather believe the rumors than believe him!

At the Democratic caucus, one woman there was voting for Clinton because she was worried about Obama and his being a Muslim when he was a child and how that would affect his judgement. Four of us at the table told her that it was not true, that it was just a rumor that was being spread about him. Yet she could not be persuaded that it wasn't true. She was absolutely convinced. What is wrong with these people? Do they WANT to believe this about him for some weird reason?

I read his first memoir, "Dreams of My Father". This was written in his first year after graduating from Harvard Law. There was not one mention of being Muslim. NOT ONE. He did mention the Christian church he belonged to. This was way before he even considered running for President. Isn't that enough proof right there?

The really disgusting thing about this is that the scurrilous email that apparently has been going around is really offensive to Muslims because it suggests that there is something wrong with being a Muslim.

Republicans use his middle name, Hussein, repeatedly. They know that it's code for "Barack Hussein Obama is a Muslim, therefore he is anti-Israel, or pro-Palestinian or soft on terrorism." It's gotten to the point where the Republican National Committee has now said, "Don't use Obama's middle name."

Stop the bigotry!

McCain vs. Obama

Thinking about the strong possibility of a general election where John McCain faces Barack Obama, one cannot help but notice the contrasts between the two. It will be the largest age gap between presidential candidates in American history. There will be the inevitable distinctions drawn between change vs. experience, fresh vs. tested, liberal vs. conservative. But there is another distinction that is extremely obvious, and this is something that not only gives Obama's campaign its energy, but tends to drag McCain's campaign down. Frank Rich wrote about it in the New York Times:

The Grand Old White Party Confronts Obama
By Frank Rich

THE curse continues. Regardless of party, it’s hara-kiri for a politician to step into the shadow of even a mediocre speech by Barack Obama.

Senator Obama’s televised victory oration celebrating his Chesapeake primary trifecta on Tuesday night was a mechanical rehash. No matter. When the networks cut from the 17,000-plus Obama fans cheering at a Wisconsin arena to John McCain’s victory tableau before a few hundred spectators in the Old Town district of Alexandria, Va., it was a rerun of what happened to Hillary Clinton the night she lost Iowa. Senator McCain, backed by a collection of sallow-faced old Beltway pols, played the past to Mr. Obama’s here and now. Mr. McCain looked like a loser even though he, unlike Senator Clinton, had actually won.

But he has it even worse than Mrs. Clinton. What distinguished his posse from Mr. Obama’s throng was not just its age but its demographic monotony: all white and nearly all male. Such has been the inescapable Republican brand throughout this campaign, ever since David Letterman memorably pegged its lineup of presidential contenders last spring as “guys waiting to tee off at a restricted country club.”

For Mr. McCain, this albatross may be harder to shake than George W. Bush and Iraq, particularly in a faceoff with Mr. Obama. When Mr. McCain jokingly invoked the Obama slogan “I am fired up and ready to go” in his speech Tuesday night, it was as cringe-inducing as the white covers of R & B songs in the 1950s — or Mitt Romney’s stab at communing with his inner hip-hop on Martin Luther King’s birthday. Trapped in an archaic black-and-white newsreel, the G.O.P. looks more like a nostalgic relic than a national political party in contemporary America. A cultural sea change has passed it by.

The 2008 primary campaign has been so fast and furious that we haven’t paused to register just how spectacular that change is. All the fretful debate about whether voters would turn out for a candidate who is a black or a woman seems a century ago. Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama vanquished the Democratic field, including a presidential-looking Southern white man with an
enthusiastic following, John Edwards. What was only months ago an exotic political experiment
is now almost ho-hum.

Given that the American story has been so inextricable from the struggle over race, the Obama triumph has been the bigger surprise to many. Perhaps because I came of age in the racially
divided Washington public schools of the 1960s and had one of my first newspaper jobs in Richmond in the early 1970s, I almost had to pinch myself when Mr. Obama took 52 percent of
Virginia’s white vote last week. The Old Dominion continues to astonish those who remember it when.

Here’s one of my memories. In 1970, Linwood Holton, the state’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction and a Richard Nixon supporter, responded to court-ordered busing by voluntarily placing his own children in largely black Richmond public schools. For this symbolic gesture, he was marginalized by his own party, which was hellbent on pursuing the emergent
Strom Thurmond-patented Southern strategy of exploiting white racism for political gain. After Mr. Holton, Virginia restored to office the previous governor, Mills Godwin, a champion of the state’s “massive resistance” to desegregation.

Today Anne Holton, the young daughter sent by her father to a black school in Richmond, is the first lady of Virginia, the wife of the Democratic governor, Tim Kaine. Mr. Kaine’s early endorsement of Mr. Obama was a potent factor in his remarkable 28-point landslide on
Tuesday.

For all the changes in Virginia and elsewhere, vestiges of the Southern strategy persist in some Republican quarters. Mr. McCain, however, has been a victim, rather than a practitioner, of the old racial gamesmanship. In his brutal 2000 South Carolina primary battle against Mr. Bush and Karl Rove, Mr. McCain’s adopted Bangladeshi daughter was the target of a smear campaign. He was also pilloried for accurately describing the Confederate flag as a “symbol of racism and slavery.” (Sadly, he started to bend this straight talk the very next day.) He is still paying for correctly describing Jerry Falwell, once an ardent segregationist, and Pat Robertson, a longtime defender of South African apartheid, as “agents of intolerance.” And of course Mr. McCain remains public enemy No. 1 to some in his party for resisting nativist overkill on illegal immigration.

Though Mr. Bush ran for president on “compassionate conservatism,” he diversified only his party’s window dressing: a 2000 Republican National Convention that had more African-Americans onstage than on the floor and the incessant photo-ops with black schoolchildren to sell No Child Left Behind. There are no black Republicans in the House or the Senate to stand
with the party’s 2008 nominee. Exit polls tell us that African-Americans voting in this year’s G.O.P. primaries account for at most 2 to 4 percent of its electorate even in states with large black populations.

Mr. Obama’s ascension hardly means that racism is kaput in America, or that the country is “postracial” or “transcending race.” But it’s impossible to deny that another barrier has been surmounted. Bill Clinton’s attempt to minimize Mr. Obama as a niche candidate in South Carolina by comparing him to Jesse Jackson looks more ludicrous by the day. Even when winning five Southern states (Virginia included) on Super Tuesday in 1988, Mr. Jackson received only 7 to 10 percent of white votes, depending on the exit poll.

Whatever the potency of his political skills and message, Mr. Obama is also riding a demographic wave. The authors of the new book “Millennial Makeover,” Morley Winograd and Michael D.
Hais, point out that the so-called millennial generation (dating from 1982) is the largest in
American history, boomers included, and that roughly 40 percent of it is African-American, Latino, Asian or racially mixed. One in five millennials has an immigrant parent. It’s this generation that is fueling the excitement and some of the record turnout of the Democratic primary campaign, and not just for Mr. Obama.

Even by the low standards of his party, Mr. McCain has underperformed at reaching millennials in the thriving culture where they live. His campaign’s effort to create a MySpace-like Web site flopped. His most-viewed appearances on YouTube are not viral videos extolling him or
replaying his best speeches but are instead sendups of his most reckless foreign-policy improvisations — his threat to stay in Iraq for 100 years and his jokey warning (sung to the tune of the Beach Boys’ version of “Barbara Ann”) that he will bomb Iran. In the vast arena of the Internet he has been shrunk to Grumpy Old White Guy, the G.O.P. brand incarnate.

The theory of the McCain candidacy is that his “maverick” image will bring independents (approaching a third of all voters) to the rescue. But a New York Times-CBS News poll last month found that independents have even a lower opinion of Mr. Bush, the war, the surge and
the economy than the total electorate and skew slightly younger. Though the independents in this survey went 44 percent to 32 percent for Mr. Bush over John Kerry in 2004, they now prefer a Democratic presidential candidate over a Republican by 44 percent to 27 percent.

Mr. McCain could get lucky, especially if Mrs. Clinton gets the Democratic nomination and unites the G.O.P., and definitely if she tosses her party into civil war by grabbing ghost delegates from Michigan and Florida. But those odds are dwindling. More likely, the Republican Party will face Mr. Obama with a candidate who reeks even more of the past and less of change than Mrs.
Clinton does. I was startled to hear last week from a friend in California, a staunch anti-Clinton Republican businessman, that he was wavering. Though he regards Mr. McCain as a hero, he wrote me: “I am tired of fighting the Vietnam war. I have drifted toward Obama.”

Similarly, Mark McKinnon, the Bush media maven who has played a comparable role for Mr. McCain in this campaign, reaffirmed to Evan Smith of Texas Monthly weeks ago that he would not work for his own candidate in a race with Mr. Obama. Elaborating to NPR last week, Mr. McKinnon said that while he is “100 percent” for Mr. McCain and disagrees with Mr. Obama “on very fundamental issues,” he likes Mr. Obama and what he’s doing for the country enough to stay on the sidelines rather than fire off attack ads.

As some Republicans drift away in a McCain-Obama race, who fills the vacuum? Among the white guys flanking Mr. McCain at his victory celebration on Tuesday, revealingly enough,
was the once-golden George Allen, the Virginia Republican who lost his Senate seat and
presidential hopes in 2006 after being caught on YouTube calling a young Indian-American Democratic campaign worker “macaca.”

In that incident, Mr. Allen added insult to injury by also telling the young man, “Welcome to
America and the real world of Virginia.” As election results confirmed both in 2006 and last week, it is Mr. Allen who is the foreigner in 21st century America, Mr. Allen who is in the minority in the real world of Virginia. A national rout in 2008 just may be that Republican Party’s last stand.

Thoughts on being a leader...

I found two quotes that I feel really sum up quite nicely why Barack Obama is clearly heading toward the Democratic nomination for President of the United States...

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams

"What Mrs. Clinton has that Mr. Obama does not have, Mr. Obama can get. What Mr. Obama has that Mrs. Clinton does not have, she can never get." - Alec Baldwin

A Statistic About Cardiac Arrest

Tonight, as I was doing my nightly scan of online articles to see if Obama had won the Wisconsin and Hawaii primaries, an article caught my eye on msnbc.com. The title of the article was "Hospital's 'Code blue' most deadly at night". The reason it caught my eye was because I went into cardiac arrest in the hospital after the birth of my daughter Karina, and a Code blue was called, at night. I was interested in what the article had to say.

Apparently, they define night time to be after 11 PM. (I went into cardiac arrest sometime between 6:30 and 8:00 PM and my anesthesiologist was in the room when it happened, so resuscitation began immediately.) Graveyard shift tends to be less staffed and when someone goes into cardiac arrest, hospital employees may not be paying as much attention in the middle of the night as during the day. But what really caught my eye is this statistic: 80 to 85 percent of people who go into cardiac arrest in the hospital DIE IN THE HOSPITAL. Only 20 percent of people who go into cardiac arrest during daytime hours survive. Only 15 percent who go into cardiac arrest in the middle of the night survive.

These statistics again remind me how lucky I am to be here.

And They Say The Young Are Apathetic

Check out this video...this interviewer picked the wrong Obama supporter to try to railroad.

http://thinkonthesethings.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/video-interviewer-picks-the-wrong-obama-supporter-to-try-to-railroad/

After watching the video, check this second video out...Derrick talks a bit more about his background and gives an even more impassioned argument as to why he is supporting Obama. Whereas the first video talks more about policy, this one is more of his emotional response. Excellent.

http://thinkonthesethings.wordpress.com/2008/02/12/video-obama-supporter-derrick-responds-to-his-video/

I am hard pressed to find anyone who can articulate their position as well as this young man! These are Obama supporters! Yeah!

Comparing Obama and Clinton's Campaigns

Last night I was having a passionate discussion with family members about the obvious reasons Obama should be the Democratic nominee. As I thought back over our conversation, another reason crossed my mind. Look at the way their campaigns are going.

Obama's campaign has been bringing in millions of dollars, mostly from small donors. He has inspired voters from all walks of life, all races, all ages, to become involved. He has done something that hasn't been seen since John F. Kennedy, and that is inspire a nation. HE IS A LEADER. That is what a President is. His campaign is a well-oiled machine that has run with integrity, and without the help of lobbyists. If he were President, it would be fair to assume his Administration would run this way as well.

On the other hand, Hillary Clinton has run out of money. She has already had to loan her campaign $5 million out of her own personal fortune. Her campaign manager has resigned. She has taken money from lobbyists. She has attacked Obama and her husband was chastised by Democratic party leaders for his attacks as well. When her people are questioned, they spin and spin and never answer questions directly. Would it be fair to assume that her Administration would run this way as well? It appears as if her campaign is falling apart, and she truly appears like a desparate woman. She also seems to be hinging her nomination on a few big states, whereas Obama obviously can garner votes from all over the country.

I also recently discovered that in New Hampshire, the Clinton campaign misled female state senators to sign a letter attacking Obama's women's rights record. After the New Hampshire primary, the senators appologized for misleading people about his record and took issue with the Clinton campaign's practices. This incident left great division among women's rights activists in New Hampshire.

When women's rights came under attack in South Dakoat, women's rights activists asked all the senators in Congress to write a letter and help fundraise on their behalf. Obama was the only Senator who did so. Clinton did not.

Clinton has also tried to mislead voters about Obama's commitment to helping victims of sexual abuse, an issue on which he has been a strong advocate.

So why are so many middle-aged women voting for Clinton? Is it just because they desperately want to see a woman in the White House? I feel that is not the right reason to put a person in the White House. I would love to have a woman in the White House, but I truly believe that you need to choose the right PERSON, and not just vote for them BECAUSE they're a woman. I believe, and I think millions of people agree with me, that Barack Obama is the better PERSON for the job, regardless of race or gender.

Thoughts on caucusing

Yesterday was the second time I've caucused, and it was a great experience. I loved getting together with other people and talking about politics. This was an extremely important event because the results of the caucus was going to determine the delegate count for Clinton and Obama, and right now, they are in a race for delegates. The turnout for this caucus was double the turnout of the 2004 caucuses. I honestly attribute this to the inspiration of Barack Obama, who is influencing people to get involved all across the nation.

However, I also wondered, why are there so many who don't caucus? Yesterday morning, there were so many people who said to me, "Have fun at the caucus today!" I thought to myself, these people are Democrats, why aren't they going to the caucus? Don't they want their voices to be heard?

The fact of the matter is, many people don't like politics, or don't care that much about politics. They are uncomfortable talking about politics, or thinking about openly discussing why they prefer one candidate over another. Maybe they feel they cannot articulate why. Maybe they have other work responsibilities (although the fact that it was on a Saturday afternoon would make it more accessible for those who work during the week). Maybe some believe their vote won't make a difference.

So what happens is that those who are highly motivated, and usually more educated about the issues, are the ones who attend the caucuses. Obama has tended to attract the more educated voters, and as a result, has done well in the caucuses. Personally, I like the fact that people can discuss their votes openly. It was interesting at yesterday's caucus how one Clinton supporter at our table actually believed that Obama had a childhood background as a Muslim and was afraid to vote for him because of that. Even though we told her it was all rumor and not fact, she did not believe us and was absolutely certain that these rumors were true! I think this open discussion actually is a great forum for talking about these issues.

I think another issue, and this has been talked about in quite a few blogs, is the fact that when a person votes openly in a caucus, that peerson would be less likely to want to expose any prejudices. They're held accountable for their votes. They're less likely to say, "Well, I'm not voting for Obama because he's black," whereas in the privacy of the voting booth, a scenario like that is more likely to happen. Who wants to be seen as outwardly racist?

Even though primaries are more convenient, and are more inclusive of the general population, I would hope that everyone who votes educates him or herself on the strengths and weaknesses of the two candidates and makes an INFORMED decision. I truly believe that those who go to the caucuses have at least thought long and hard about who they want and do not take it lightly. The fact that Obama beat Clinton in Washington by 2-1 voters speaks volumes.

I'm an Obama Delegate!!!!!

Today was the Democratic Caucus in Washington State. My precinct caucus was held in the gym of Woodmont Elementary School, where my children attend. The gym was already packed when I arrived at 12:50 PM. I ended up being the caucus chair for my table, which meant I led the caucus for the people sitting at my table, who were from my immediate neighborhood. Of the 22 people at our table 14 voted for Obama and 8 for Clinton. Which meant we were allotted 3 Obama delegates and 1 Clinton delegate (plus 3 alternate Obama delegates and 1 alternate Clinton delegate). Then we had a discussion in which people spoke up for their candidate, trying to persuade others to switch their vote. In the end, the Obama folks were able to get two people to switch their vote from Clinton to Obama; however, it didn't end up in a change in delegate count.

I am going to be a delegate to the legislative district caucus in April! I am so thrilled! Go Obama!

In other news today, my daughter, Karina, was selected to be on the U-10 Development A team for the Federal Way Reign Select Soccer Club. Go Karina!

Barack Obama Rally

Today I went to the Barack Obama Stand for Change Rally at the Key Arena in Seattle. It was one of the most awe-inspiring events I've been to in my life!!!! The arena was filled with an energy and excitement that was palpable. Even outside, just arriving, people were running into line, as if they just couldn't wait to hear from this man who is inspiring a nation to come together to change the way the things are done in our country. We waited a long time in our seats, watching Obama videos overhead, doing the wave, watching a crazy dance-off between two women in the stands. And finally, when Obama finally did enter the arena, there was a deafening roar, as if Obama were the biggest rock star on the planet. Key Arena was filled to capacity, 18,000 people, and there were 3,000 people out in the plaza who could not get in, listening to him speak through loudspeakers. Incredible. He speaks without notes, and when he talked about hope, that hope does not preclude being a realist, that hope is what gave slaves freedom, hope is what gave women the right to vote, hope is what gave African-Americans the right to sit at the same lunch counter as whites, my eyes started welling up. Things do not begin to change without hope.

Mind Your Asthma

For the past month now, I've been battling with my asthma symptoms.

I developed asthma when I was pregnant with my son. I've had allergies all my life, and during my pregnancy in 1996, I had a cough that wouldn't go away. I saw a pulmonologist and discovered that I had allergy-induced asthma. I was put on a corticosteroid inhaler and that lessened my asthma symptoms. For many years my asthma was under control, and I actually stopped using the inhaler for quite a while with no problem.

In 1998, after I gave birth to my daughter, I suffered an Amniotic Fluid Embolism. It is a long story, but suffice it to say, it was an experience that changed my life. While in the ICU, I developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, which is basically acute lung failure. I was on a ventilator for nine weeks (intubated for four weeks and on a trach for five weeks) and now have scarring in my lungs.

Because I am an ARDS survivor, my asthma has been exacerbated. Whenever I get a cold or my allergies start to act up, my asthma symptoms start to flare up. A year ago, despite the fact that I received a flu shot, I caught the flu from my children. My asthma symptoms became extremely severe, my peak flow was in the red zone, and I ended up in the ER with pneumonia.

This latest episode started when I caught a cold from my daughter. The problem is, I should be doing my corticosteroid inhaler ALL THE TIME, even when I feel good, because that is what keeps my airways open consistently. But I don't. So I caught the cold, and it wouldn't go away. I coughed and coughed. Then it turned to coughing and wheezing. And now it's at the point that I can't even walk up the stairs without becoming short of breath and doing a full exhalation. I was at the mall and I wanted to do a half-hour walk yesterday, and after 15 minutes I felt like I was having an attack, and ended up at the doctor's office. So now I'm on a short high dose burst of oral prednisone. I'm really afraid of possible side effects, but just after my first dose last night, I'm already starting to feel better.

So if you have asthma, keep taking your steroid inhaler, even if you feel okay! I guess I have to learn the hard way...

A New Beginning

Sometimes we need to make changes in our lives that are difficult to make. Difficult because they go against society's expectation of what makes sense. I subscribe to a blog called 37 Days and back in February 2007, Patti Digh wrote about Letting Go of the Monkey Bar. I feel like I've just let go of the monkey bar myself, although holding on to that bar was not a desirable alternative for me. And although I'm in that space between trapezes, that space after having let go and before grabbing another one, I feel a sense of peace, a sense of a huge burden lifted.

This past weekend was great! Karina's soccer team, the Federal Way Wildcats, won their last league game to end the season with 8 wins and 1 tie. They then played two indoor games and after a bit of a shaky start trying to get used to the much faster game during their first game and playing an older team and losing 0-2, they got it together in their second game and won 9-2. They then played in the Narrows Jamboree and went undefeated in three games. Afterwards, we went to Browns Point Pizzeria and surprised Hannah and Glaysia with a birthday celebration!