Edgy Mama

How are you feeling today?

I’ve heard predictions that up to 75 percent of registered voters are expected to vote in this election. That sounds a bit high to me, but let’s try to beat this:
“The rate to beat in modern times is the 64 percent who voted in 1960. But the real record was set a century ago, when 66 percent voted in a race that no doubt warms the heart of Mr. McCain: 1908 was the year that William Howard Taft, the Republican, defeated the golden-tongued Democrat, William Jennings Bryan (and a real Socialist, Eugene V. Debs).” –From The New York Times

I voted. Have you?

More of my photos of the crowd outside the Sarah Palin rally here and here.

I don’t have a photo of myself, unfortunately, as I realized the next day that I was dressed just like Sarah Palin. I’d dressed a bit more conservatively than usual in order to move through the crowd easily. So both of were wearing too long dark demin jeans, long-sleeved white Tees and black blazers. We both had on our smart girl glasses and beaded dangly earrings. So what does this mean?

New article about Obama and North Carolina in The Nation.

A number of folks noticed this afternoon that both the Manifest Obama video (I posted it last week here) and website had disappeared. I’d received a nice note about the video from Lauren Rosenfeld, one of its creators (see comments), so I e-mailed Lauren and her husband, James, to find out what happened.

Here’s their response:

Anne,

Thank you so much for your kind support of Manifest Obama.  We took it down because it was no longer serving its intended purpose of watering the seeds of peace and positive focus amongst supporters.
We were at 23,000 views around dinnertime last night, and things had been going well – lots of very nice, very positive feedback from supporters.  But then we started noticing a huge spike in traffic (an additional 20,000 views by this morning) and experienced an overwhelming number of very troubled & troubling comments, both on the video and on outside blogs.  When we learned this morning that Glenn Beck had mentioned the project in a negative light on his show, we realized that we were catalyzing & provoking exactly the opposite of what we wanted.  So we pulled the plug swiftly.

Though it was perhaps a disappointing ending, we feel the project served its purpose.  Everything is impermanent!    We were so happy and grateful for your comments and other comments from similar supporters.  We will all continue to stay positive and proactive, continue to focus on bringing peace & prosperity to everyone in this nation & the world.  We will continue to recognize and transform the suffering we see around us, even & especially in those who disagree with us.  We will continue to work towards the day when Obama, an exceptional and inspiring leader, takes the oath of office.  Thank you for all your support!!

Many blessings,
James & Lauren

Thank you, James and Lauren, for providing hope in a positive manner. As I mention in my post below, I often attract haters as well, and I know how icky it feels. At least on this blog, I can moderate comments and refuse to post anything that I think is rude, bitter, inappropriate, or worse. I guess y’all had no such recourse on YouTube, which is unfortunate. I think, regardless of controversy, you’ve got to keep putting your truth out there. Perhaps we’ll get to see the Manifest Obama video back up on November 5th.

Check out more of my photos of James Taylor for Mountain Xpress.

JT, as always, sang beautifully. And spoke eloquently in support of Obama. What a guy!

This video was made by a 5th grade teacher at Rainbow Mountain School here in Asheville. Eight people have e-mailed it to me over the past few days. Depending on who you’re voting for, it’ll either make you cry or make you rip your hair out. Happy first day of early voting in North Carolina!!

UPDATE 10/22: The video and the website have disappeared. I hear Glenn Beck was ranting about the video, but I can’t imagine that right-wing influence would be strong enough to knock this down. The only reason I can imagine would be sufficient enough to remove all traces of the video would be if the Obama campaign decided that it was somehow harmful. Anyone know what gives?

The conservative Republican explains why, for the first time ever, he’ll be pulling the Democratic lever on November 4.