I went to my town's Memorial Day parade and ceremony today. In it was an Interfaith Network for Peace and Justice group. They carried a simple sign that said, "The Interfaith Network grieves the loss of our Illinois troops in Iraq".

Along with that sign they carried a rope. Hanging from this rope were the names and pictures of all Illinois soldiers that have been killed in Iraq, one sheet of paper for each soldier. The rope was almost a block long, and was carried by somewhere around 30 people. (I'm kinda guessing here, I didn't count.)

The tragedy of this situation is below the fold.

I caught about 5 minutes of Meet the Press yesterday. It was only 5 minutes because I got so angry, I had to change the channel. Between Huckabee going on and on about how much of a maverick and non-traditional Republican McCain is with almost no challenge, and the best Democrat they could find being Harold Ford JR, I couldn't take watching it.

I have seen the same concern being expressed about Obama over and over again: "I don't want someone who will compromise, I want someone who will fight!" I agreed for a long time.

I have a daily calendar with wonderful quotes from different women every day. Yesterdays quote was very interesting to me. It was a quote from Daniele Vare, and Italian diplomat. She said,

Diplomacy is the art of letting someone have your way.

Racism has become a major issue in the context of the presidential race. We are so focused on what people are saying about Obama, what white people are saying about black people, what black people are saying about white people.

However, there is a much MUCH larger race relations problem in this country. It has nothing to do with words spoken, or even black and white skin. It has to do with a portion of this country facing 20% unemployment rates, 70% poverty rates, 45-65 year life expectancy, and some of its people still being held as political prisoners for crimes they did not commit.

I am speaking, of course, about the American Indian.

I could not bring myself to vote for Bill Foster, for many reasons, and I did not. The biggest reason is that I am tired of the choice between Republican and Republican-lite.

So many people told me, "But, he comes from a Good Democratic Family, and he'll be a Good Democratic Vote in Congress." To which I usually responded, "I'll believe it when I see it."

Unfortunately, I haven't seen it. IL-14 has another Republican representative. The only difference is, he has a D after his name. We have effectively traded Hastert for someone the likes of Emmanuel or Bean.

I missed the Texas debate on Thursday night, but I watched part of it on YouTube last night. The biggest question that stuck out to me was the question of whether the candidates would meet with the new leader of Cuba.

In their answers, both candidates mentioned that Cuba needed to release its political prisoners. Obama stated this more than once, and Clinton made it one of the conditions for her even considering a personal trip to Cuba.

All I could think was, what about OUR political prisoners?

Update: Thank so much for the sympathy and support! I have a friend coming over in about a half an hour. She's meeting me at my apartment, and we are going to the "Protect NIU from Westboro" meeting. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Since it's becoming vogue now to share Obama stories, I figured I'd post mine. ;)

Obama has a good memory for people... almost eerily good. My husband met him in his run for Illinois Senate in 2004. It was in a very VERY small farm town downstate: a town of about 1,200 people. That was the first thing that impressed me: That he would even go to such a tiny little town in the most blood red area of the state there is, and meet the people there. It was about a 20 minute drive from the town we lived in, so my husband went. (I couldn't go, I had to work.)

In light of the Nebraska caucus, I have seen so much stereotyping of rural voters. Very little of it is funny, and none of it is true.

So, I want to tell you the stories of where I come from.

I proudly call myself a hick. I love loud country music, old rusty pick-ups, and cowboy boots. The saddest part of moving to "the city" for me was not being able to find a line dancing club.

So, come on and give me some fresh air give me that farm
Give me some time with you in my arms
Far away from the hustle and the pressure and the noise

Gonna kick off my shoes
And run in bare feet
Where the grass and the dirt and the gravel all meet
Goin' back to the well gonna visit old friends
And feed my soul, where the blacktop ends

(From "Where the Blacktop Ends" by Keith Urban)

Just a quick anecdote, then I've got to get back to work! ;)

When Edwards and Kucinich both dropped out, I no longer had a proverbial horse in the presidential race (though I was an Edwards leaning undecided before he dropped out). I was torn between Hillary and Obama... both had their ups and downs, though I was definitely Obama leaning.

I had decided on him because of how much he inspires the youth. We need more involvement, and the youth is instrumental in turning our party in the progressive direction.

I have been guiding a first-time voter through the process. Follow me below the fold for her story.

I don't know if this meets the requirements for a diary entry, and I can delete if it doesn't, but I need help, and I know you all can dig up extraordinary research on google. :)

This morning, I went out, started the car, turned on the rear defroster, and went back into the apartment. I came back out a few minutes later and heard a LOUD pop. I thought it was the ice cracking. Hubby went to scrape the ice off the back windshield... the glass all shattered and about a third of the back windshield fell in tiny little pieces into my back seat and dash.

So, I need your help.

I am completely undecided between the two. I want supporters to tell me: Why should I vote for your candidate?

Read that question carefully: I don't want to know why I should NOT vote for your candidate's opponent. I want to hear the case FOR your candidate, based solely on the issues.

As many of you know, I volunteer for the John Laesch for Congress campaign in Illinois' 14th congressional district, the seat formerly held by Dennis Hastert. Many are calling this the ground-zero fight between a grassroots Progressive and a self-funding Blue Dog. Many are drawing comparisons between the race last season between Duckworth and Cegalis in Illinois' 6th district, in which the DCCC candidate won the primary and was defeated by the entrenched, corrupt republican.

All of this makes the letter I just received especially ironic.

More below the fold.

Believe it or not, advertisements can be an accessibility issue. That is why I use my ad blocker here and on every other site.

I ask for forgiveness in advance if I go on a NCLB rant, because this story is exactly why I DESPISE NCLB.

I was a smart kid. Quite socially awkward, but given my height, other physical problems, and things in my personal life, it wasn't a surprise. I got As and Bs on all my exams, and I scored in the 98th - 99th percentile on most standardized tests. I was the model student in many cases. So, what's the problem?

The problem was in the classroom and at home.

I delved into Freeper Land today because I was curious to see what they had to say about Rove's resignation. Instead, I found this little gem about the Meet the Press debate between Harold Ford and Markos. It's really quite humorous, but if you'd rather not go into Freeper Land, follow me below the fold for the highlights.

No, not budget deficit. I'm talking about Attention Deficits and Learning Deficits. This section of the "A Little Bit Special" series will come in two parts. Todays will simply explain what my deficits are and how they affect my every day life. Next Sunday will be about growing up with these deficits being undiagnosed. (They weren't diagnosed until my 4th year of college.)

Follow me below the fold for a look at a day in the life of me.

It's been a busy campaign season so far... I'm putting together a Women for Laesch group (La Laesch League? ;) ) and working on another big project. We are doing phone banking this afternoon... lots of fun stuff going on, and the kitties aren't liking it too much. They are a bit attention deprived, except for when I'm snapping pictures of them. ;)