On October 8, 2011, Democrats Abroad France held an event titled "Voices for Obama" at the Nikki Diana Marquandt Gallery in Paris. One of the speakers was the American author Jake Lamar. This clip is a shortened version of his talk. (Recorded at the Atelier de la Main d'Or, October 2011.)
October 21, 2011 1:35 PM
By year’s end, ‘America’s war in Iraq will be over’
By Steve Benen
When it comes to the U.S. presence in Iraq, there’s been question a lingering question as to how many American servicemen and women would remain in the country in 2012. Even as U.S. combat troops returned home, there was an expectation among many that thousands of American servicemen and women would continue to serve in Iraq to assist the country with special operations and training.
That’s not going to happen. This afternoon, President Obama announced that all U.S. forces will be entirely out of Iraq by the end of this year.
In his remarks in the White House briefing room, the president noted that, as a candidate, he “pledged to bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end.” It’s a commitment he’s been able to keep.
“I can report that as promised, the rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year,” Obama said. “After nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over.
Over the next two months our troops in Iraq, tens of thousands of them, will pack up their gear, and board convoys for the journey home. The last American soldier will cross the border out of Iraq with their heads held high, proud of their success, and knowing that the American people stand united in our support for our troops. That is how America’s military efforts in Iraq will end… Today I can say that troops in Iraq will definitely be home for the holidays.”
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October 21, 2011 8:40 AM
An inspiring story, which isn’t true
By Steve Benen
Sen. Marco Rubio, a far-right Republican from Florida, has always benefited from an inspiring family history. Even his harshest critics have been willing to concede Rubio’s background, and the perseverance of his family battling long odds fleeing a repressive regime, is a great American story. It’s not at all surprising, then, that Rubio would shape his political identity around this story, making it the cornerstone of his 2010 stump speeches and campaign advertising.
There is, however, a problem. The story isn’t true.
During his rise to political prominence, Sen. Marco Rubio frequently repeated a compelling version of his family’s history that had special resonance in South Florida. He was the “son of exiles,” he told audiences, Cuban Americans forced off their beloved island after “a thug,” Fidel Castro, took power.
But a review of documents — including naturalization papers and other official records — reveals that the Florida Republican’s account embellishes the facts. The documents show that Rubio’s parents came to the United States and were admitted for permanent residence more than 2 1/2 years before Castro’s forces overthrew the Cuban government and took power on New Year’s Day 1959.
Even this morning, more than 12 hours after the Washington Post first broke the news that Rubio’s family history is not what he says it is, the senator’s office hasn’t bothered to correct his online biography.
The second sentence, as I type, reads, “In 1971, Marco was born in Miami to Cuban-born parents who came to America following Fidel Castro’s takeover.”
Unless Rubio believes 1956 follows 1959, that’s plainly not true. To publish a falsehood is a problem. To leave the falsehood uncorrected after it’s been exposed is brazen.
For his part, the right-wing senator defended his bogus story by saying he’s “going off the oral history of my family.” Way to throw your parents under the bus, Marco. He’s not lying; he’s only wrong because those rotten family members misled him.
In this case, the problem with the truth is that it’s actually fairly mundane. Rubio’s parents, like millions of other Americans’ parents, simply chose to immigrate to the United States. They weren’t fleeing persecution or tyranny; they just wanted a better life. They became Americans and had a family.
There’s nothing wrong with this story, of course; it’s quite nice. But it’s also quite common and not the sort of thing a politician can exploit to inspire others.
So, the story changed and the fabricated version of events were infused with a larger political meaning that reality didn’t offer.
It’s hard to say, at least at this point, how damaging this will be to Rubio’s career — he’s assumed to be the top Republican choice for the vice presidential nomination, no matter who wins the GOP nod — but as a darling of the party, the media, and the political establishment, this certainly takes some of the bloom off the rose.
United States Marine Corps. Sgt. Shamar Thomas from Roosevelt, NY went toe to toe with the New York Police Department. An activist in the Occupy Wall Street movement, Thomas voiced his opinions of the NYPD police brutality that had and has been plaguing the #OWS movement. Thomas is a 24-year-old Marine Veteran (2 tours in Iraq), he currently plays amateur football and is in college. Thomas comes from a long line of people who sacrifice for their country: Mother, Army Veteran (Iraq), Step father, Army, active duty (Afghanistan), Grand father, Air Force veteran (Vietnam), Great Grand Father Navy veteran (World War II).Marine Shames NYPD some more occupy wall street - marine veteran rant against NYPD brutality - times square - oct15
A Northside great-grandmother taped a statewide TV ad on behalf of Senate Bill 5 opponents – only to be stunned and outraged when she saw herself featured in an ad for the other side. The fight over the Cincinnati great-grandmother’s image is now the latest battle in the hard-fought campaign over Senate Bill 5, which limits collective bargaining for public employees. Ohio voters will decide whether to keep the law in November; it’s on the ballot as Issue 2. “I think it’s dishonest and downright deceitful that they would use footage of me to try to play tricks and fool voters,” Marlene Quinn said in a press release by We Are Ohio, the anti-Issue 2 group that initially produced the video. Three television stations in Columbus and two in West Virginia pulled the controversial ad, at the anti-SB5 group’s request. The use of Quinn’s image in the ad was first reported Tuesday by the liberal blog Plunderbund.The original ad:
Quinn credits Cincinnati firefighters with saving the life of her great-granddaughter Zoey Quinn, now 4, and grandson in a November fire. In an ad she taped for Senate Bill 5 opponents, Quinn says, “When the fire broke out, there wasn’t a moment to spare. If not for the firefighters, we wouldn’t have Zoey today. That’s why it is so important to vote no on Issue 2.” Quinn continues, “How many of those politicians in Columbus have fought a fire, have been short manpower? The politicians don’t care about the middle class. They turn their backs on all of us. I don’t want the politicians in Columbus making decisions for the firefighters, the police, teachers, nurses or any organization that’s helping the people. Fewer firefighters can mean the difference between life or death, and that’s why I’m voting no in Issue 2.”And then former Fox News personality John Kasich’s version:
Building A Better Ohio released an ad this week that starts with the same image of Quinn saying “When the fire broke out, there wasn’t a moment to spare. If not for the firefighters, we wouldn’t have Zoey today.” Then another voice says, “She’s right. By voting no on Issue 2 our safety will be threatened. Without Issue 2, communities will have to lay off hard-working firefighters to pay the excessive benefits of other government workers. Issue 2 protects our communities.” Quinn appears again saying, “Fewer firefighters can mean the difference between life or death.” Then the ad ends with “Vote Yes on Issue 2.”We’re getting direct mail here from “The Alliance for America’s Future” which is some shady right wing group out of Virginia. Their website made me laugh out loud because it reveals absolutely nothing about the group, or why they would spend millions of dollars union-busting in Ohio.
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Now Quinn is appearing in a new We Are Ohio ad in which she reiterates her opposition to Issue 2 and slams the other side for dishonestly twisting her words:Being a Negro in America means trying to smile when you want to cry. It means trying to hold on to physical life amid psychological death. It means the pain of watching you children grow up with clouds of inferiority in their mental skies. It means having your legs cut off, and then being condemned for being a cripple. It means seeing your mother and father spiritually murdered by the slings and arrows of daily exploitation, and then being hated for being an orphan. Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, 1967.The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Foundation President, Harry Johnson explains the creation and meaning behind the MLK Memorial in Washington, DC.
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Thousands Gather for MLK Memorial Dedication
WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 16: People wait in line during sunrise for a dedication ceremony at the Martin Luther King Memorial on the National Mall October 16, 2011 in Washington, DC. President Barack Obama, entertainers, civil rights leaders and others attend the ceremony to formally dedicate the memorial to the civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King who was assassinated in 1968.
----Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images
U.S. President Barack Obama walks with his family at the dedication ceremony of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in West Potomac Park in Washington, October 16, 2011.
--Larry Downing
US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama (2ndR)with daughter Malia (L), Sasha(C) and mother-in-law Marian Robinson(R) visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial October 16, 2011 in Washington, DC. Obama hailed the "moral imagination" and "hopeful vision" of Martin Luther King on Sunday at a Washington ceremony attended by thousands to dedicate a monument to the slain civil rights icon.
---MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
The MLK that's never quoted
Obama: King 'Stirred Our Conscience'
Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Three Activist Women
By ALAN COWELL
Published: October 7, 2011
The Nobel Peace Prize for 2011 was awarded on Friday to three campaigning women from Africa and the Arab world in acknowledgment of their nonviolent role in promoting peace, democracy and gender equality. The winners were Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf — Africa’s first elected female president — her compatriot, peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman of Yemen, a pro-democracy campaigner.
They were the first women to win the prize since Kenya’s Wangari Maathai, who died last month, was named as the laureate in 2004. Most of the recipients in the award’s 110-year history have been men, and the award seemed designed to give impetus to the cause for women’s rights around the world.
“We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society,” said the citation read to reporters by Thorbjorn Jagland, a former Norwegian prime minister who heads the Oslo-based Nobel committee that chooses the winner of the $1.5 million prize.
In a subsequent interview, he described the prize as “a very important signal to women all over the world.”
As the prize was announced, Bushuben Keita, a spokesman for Mrs. Johnson Sirleaf’s Unity Party, declared: “We are dancing. This is the thing that we have been saying, progress has been made in Liberia. We’ve come through 14 years of war and we have come to sustained peace. We’ve already started dancing.
“This is proof that she has been doing well, there’s no cheating in this, this comes from other people. She’s doing very, very well. Her progress has been confirmed by the international community.”
In Yemen, Ms. Karman, 32, sat in a tent where has been living since February as part of the sit-in organized to underscore demands for change. “This is the victory of our peaceful revolution,” she said. “I am so happy and I give this award to all of the youth and all of the women across the Arab world, in Egypt, in Tunisia.”
“We cannot build our country or any country in the world without peace,” she said.
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