Memorial Day, Please Remember the Fallen Heroes

Today is the day we honor the fallen heroes of our wars. It has been morphed into honoring all dead, but the historical accuracy is that it is to honor the members of the military that have given the ultimate sacrifice.

I have to say, I don't like war, however, this isn't about war, it is about the men and women who have chosen to fight. Some voluntarily, some drafted. All heroes.

Here is a video I received from Military for Obama. It is of a 3rd grade class and it is beautiful.

Here is the statement which accompanied the email I got.

A third grade teacher, from Tussing Elementary in Colonial Heights,
Virginia, wrote this song and taught it to her third-grade students and now
it is on you tube! At the end of the song you can even order the sheet
music! I hope this sweeps our Country and gets sung in all our schools!

Here is the video.



I hope you take a moment and remember the sacrifice of these heroes. If you are going to a cemetery to lay flowers on someone's grave.. take an extra to put on a military grave site. Even if you don't know them.. HONOR THEM.

The President's Weekly Address: Honoring the Fallen

From the White House blog:

Ahead of Memorial Day, the President asks all Americans to join him in remembering and honoring our men and women in uniform who have died in service to the country.

No matter how you feel about war, please take the time to honor the fallen warriors.

What Obama is Doing About the Oil Gusher

I found this yesterday at DailyKos... It is a great diary about the response and actions of Pres. Obama and his Administration.

From Benintn's Diary:

One easy way to see what the US government is doing to coordinate its response to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill is by looking at the Joint Information Center Twitter account. For those who are so busy complaining about the lack of responsiveness, it might be helpful to see what is actually being done and the number of coordinated federal, state, and local responses in coordination with businesses, media, and residents of the area.

He goes on to provide the twitter feed for just the last 24 hours. It shows how many have been sent down to the Gulf Coast and pictures of the gusher itself.

Things like this:

Sec. Salazar & Sec. Napolitano to lead bipartisan Senate delegation to LA to inspect response to the BP #oilspill Press Release .

This press release names Kendra Barkoff (DOI), (202) 208-6416 and Clark Stevens (DHS), (202) 282-8010 as the points of contact for the information.

WASHINGTON—At the direction of the President, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano will visit Louisiana on Monday to inspect the ongoing response to the BP oil spill, accompanied by a bipartisan Senate delegation.

Secretary Salazar, Secretary Napolitano and the Senate delegation will conduct a flyover of the affected areas; discuss the latest response efforts in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast with federal officials leading the effort as well as BP representatives; and meet with local community and industry leaders.

The Senate delegation accompanying Secretary Salazar and Secretary Napolitano will include: Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), and Senator David Vitter (R-LA).

He goes on to say this about this press release:

Note that Vitter and Landrieu will make the trip to represent Louisiana, which is most adversely affected. But I'm also seeing that we've got a 4:2 ratio of Dems to Republicans in this bipartisan group, with Durbin, Bingaman, and Whitehouse triple-teaming Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Durbin's in the home state of BP (formerly Amoco) and I can remember him giving Amoco a hard time a decade ago regarding price gouging of gas in Chicago. I trust that while Durbin is a pro-business guy, he's also going to be using his clout as a top member of the Judiciary Committee regarding the future of any regulation. (Remember that the Dems are battling Republican opposition to increasing the cap on damages from $75 million to somewhere in the billions of dollars - and Murkowski has been vocally opposed to raising the caps because of the potential negative impact on smaller oil and gas companies.) Bingaman, for his part, has been hard on BP execs in his role on the Energy committee. He chaired a meeting 2 weeks ago on the issue of the spill and cleanup efforts. And Whitehouse, for his part, serves on the Environment Committee as well as the Judiciary Committee and has a bully pulpit on the push for green energy legislation as well as corporate regulation.

I don't know if anyone on Daily Kos has written about this flyover, or the continuing push in the Senate to increase the caps on damages caused by this and future spills. But it seems evident to me that the Salazar-Napolitano trip is designed to pressure Murkowski into dropping her block on moving the bill forward.

That's just the first couple of things.. The entire diary is worth a read... Please check it out by clicking HERE.

I really don't see what else the President can do... He is and has been sending his best people to watch, listen and learn and to check what BP is actually doing.

Someone in the comment section said he should get on TeeVee and make a major speech about it... Not sure how that will show anything... He has spoken out a few times... but this person wanted a Prime Time Speech... That sure won't stop the gusher nor will it show anything to clean it up. So what would be the purpose of him doing such a thing.... You tell me.

Thanks all... I hope you read this and make note of the location where this is found. It is worth taking the time to look it all over.

The President's Weekly Address: BP Spill Independent Commission

From the White House blog:

The President announces that the independent commission he created for the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling will be chaired by former Florida Governor and Senator Bob Graham and former EPA Administrator Bill Reilly. He promises accountability not just for BP, but for those in government who bore responsibility.

* Learn more about the government response.
* Learn more about the commission.
* Read the Executive Order establishing the commission.



Since I have been seeing so much about the President not doing anything on the oil spill... I guess this is a good thing for those people. I think it is a great thing in the list of what has been done already. We need to get to the bottom of the cause for this horrible disaster. Then if BP, TransOcean and of course we already know Haliburton is a criminal organization, but if we find it was due to negligence, which is what everyone seems to be pointing toward, they must be prosecuted and must have to pay for everything.

I read a blurb somewhere yesterday.. and I am sorry I don't remember where I read it... That BP may lose it's license to drill in the US. That may be the best thing to happen out of this. If they are and have been the root cause of this spill, and their response has been terrible. Of course, one reason is they don't want to plug it, they want to continue to harvest the oil.

Now, the effort to plug it is being delayed until Tuesday at the earliest. This should have been the FIRST thing they did... was plug it and then drill their side well... .but nope that wouldn't have allowed them to continue to harvest while they dicked around.

Let me know what you think.. Am I correct in my thinking? Do you see the same things I am seeing?

The President's Weekly Address: Wall Street Reform & Main Street

From the White House blog:

The President explains how Wall Street Reform will not only end bailouts and bring accountability for big banks, but empower consumers, shareholders and community banks.

Once again the GOPers in the Senate are playing games. After months of debate and meetings to draw up a plan for Wall Street Reform, they are now claiming they were shut out of the process. Sound familiar?

Yes, they are doing the same thing they did about Health Care.

We must have Reform on Wall Street.. if not the same things could happen again and again. Even if this bill isn't perfect as the President said, it is better than what we have now. They will always find loopholes, they spend millions of dollars just to keep lawyers busy finding them.

The majority of people polled by NBC/Wall St Journal were more concerned about this than they were the terrorist on Times Square. Does that not tell you we really need this done?

Push your Senators to get this done... Even the GOPers need to hear from you.. I know it seems like a wasted effort to call them.. but they have to hear from us about how we want this done.. If enough people call them and let them know their jobs are on the line.. Maybe.. just MAYBE, they will stop obstructing and get this done.

Happy Mother's Day

To all mothers, grandmothers and people who care for children as mothers would...

Happy Mother's Day.

May you find the joy of the day, and take the time to reflect on what your mother taught you. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good.. but Mother's always try to guide you the best they know how.

Thank you to all the Mother's out there...

Happy Mother's Day, mom... I love you!

The President's Weekly Address: Health Reform Starts to Kick In

From The White House Blog:

The President goes through the benefits in health insurance reform that are already kicking in for young adults, retirees, and families, and says more benefits are coming down the pike.

Once again the President is outlining the benefits of this new law. This is one of the best things we can do. Tell people how the new law is going to help them. He is knocking down the meme of increased taxes for small businesses which is what the GOPers have been saying.

We are making progress, but still must push the benefits. It is sad people can't see what is good about this, but it is mostly because the GOPers have had the open mikes of all the talking heads to push their lies... Now is the time to start pushing the truth as much or more.

People will start seeing these new benefits in their lives and we need to help the President and Democrats in this endeavor. Remind everyone of the best parts of this and the things that are starting now. In this way maybe we can help keep the Democratic majority we now have.

Thanks everyone.

Please Give Your Support to Matt @ Osborneink

My friend Matt Osborne is trying to win a scholarship to NetRoots Nation. He needs votes and support from all of us who love his style and his writing.

Please help Matt make his dream come true by going to Democracy For America and voting for him. You can also vote for others who are asking for votes and support.

To vote for Matt, you can go directly to his page and give your support. The place to go is this link to his page.

If you have never read any of Matt's blog you can check it out, by going to OsborneInk.

You may also go to the main page and search all the applicants and vote for the ones you choose. You may vote as many times as you like.

The link to the listing is HERE.

Please give your support to the blogger or writer of your choice. Thanks all for helping.

The President's Weekly Address: Giving Government Back to the American People

From the White House blog:

As the President beats back lobbyists seeking to weaken Wall Street Reform, he talks about an even broader threat that would vastly expand the influence of massive industries and their lobbyists in Washington. A recent Supreme Court decision opened the floodgates for corporations, including foreign corporations, to spend endless money on political ads that would give them even more power at the expense of American families – the President pledges to fight for reforms to stem that influence.

I just hope the President can get this done. With the Rethugs blocking everything and being so favorable to big business, it is going to be a struggle.

We have to keep the government and the process in the hands of the people as much as we can. The Citizen's United case was a disaster for this country as we all know and it must be stopped.

Thanks everyone for stopping by and let me hear your opinions on this.