NEW BLOG

After the end of the Democratic Primary and a brief hibernation period, we are off and running again but this time with a more general approach.

We wanted to focus more on politics in general, GOP and Dem. We wanted a forum to talk about the wide ranging issues of our political landscape.

Please join us for a new approach and a new insight at our NEW BLOG – naked candidate

http://nakedcandidate.com/

-jackson

Off Shore Oil

A MESSAGE FROM THE SIERRA CLUB:

Americans are fed up with runaway gas prices and bloated oil-company profits, but Senator John McCain and President Bush’s proposal¹ to drill for oil along our coastline will only increase Big Oil’s bottom line. Their move to open up our coasts for Big Oil is making headlines all across the country today — I woke up to commentators on NPR talking about coastal oil drilling.

The truth is that offshore oil drilling won’t help with high oil prices² or ease the pain at the gas pump for American families.

We’re launching a petition with our friends at MoveOn.org urging Congress to reject the  plan to help Big Oil drill along our coastline. Will you add your name to our petition telling Congress to stop Big Oil’s drilling plan? Click here:

http://action.sierraclub.org/offshoreoil  

Any oil found along our coasts wouldn’t be available until 2030.² By then it would only add to the oil industry’s tens of billions of dollars in record profits — at the cost of our nation’s pristine beaches and wild places. As my grandfather would say, “Their proposal to drill our coasts makes about as much sense as throwing buckets of gasoline on a burning building.”

The call for oil drilling from Senator McCain and President Bush this week is another Washington gimmick — and this time at our expense.

Please add your name to the petition that we’ll deliver to Congress next week as they consider the FY2009 Interior and the Environment Appropriations bill to protect our coastline.

Thank you for protecting the planet,

Greg Haegele
Director of Conservation

¹ New York Times 6/19/08  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/washington/19drill.html?partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

² Department of Energy, 2007 http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/otheranalysis/ongr.html

Bush’s Gas

When Bush took office the cost of a gallon of gas was $1.47, today a gallon of gas is $4.08. [Fuel Gauge report.]

Now why wouldn’t you trust his last ideas before leaving office to lower the cost of gasoline?

 

McBush Supports Opening Coasts to Oil Drilling

More efforts from the GOP (Gas & Oil Party)

Bush’s proposal would result in additional risks to ocean health without viable solution to oil crisis

June 18, 2008

Washington, DC - Today, Warner Chabot, vice president for strategic campaigns with Ocean Conservancy, made the following statement about President Bush’s support to open more of our country’s coastline to oil drilling by lifting a 27 year ban that is currently in place:

“Our ocean drives the planet’s climate and is the first victim of global climate change — more drilling only guarantees its further destruction while doing nothing to solve our energy crisis.  The President says America is addicted to oil, but the primary solution offered by the Administration is a larger needle to fuel the country’s addiction.

“Risking our coastal waters and beaches to the threat of oil spills for a few months supply of oil, is neither a short or long term solution. In fact, any oil discovered by drilling off our coastline will take seven to 10 years to get to the pump and it will not relieve the pain we are feeling.

“Advocates for new offshore drilling falsely claim that new leases will ‘immediately’ lower oil costs due to speculative pressure, when in fact eight million acres open by President Bush last year did nothing to lower prices – instead we have seen prices skyrocket. Even the U.S. Energy Information Administration agrees that opening up vast new areas to drilling will likely reduce prices a few pennies per gallon, over a decade from now.

“The United States consumes 25% of the world’s oil but only has 3% of the world’s reserves – it is clear that we cannot drill our way out of this problem. Additionally, the oil industry already has 6,000 undeveloped leases covering 68 million acres, an area the size of Nevada – there is no reason to open up even more ecologically sensitive areas when the industry has not yet tapped into the massive area already dedicated to exploration.

“This proposal to open our coasts to oil drilling will put our country at greater risk by continuing our addiction to oil, increase global warming and threaten the future of our oceans and our environment which our grandchildren will inherit from us,” concluded Mr. Chabot.

www.oceanconservancy.org

Why We Fight

Senate Republicans blocked a proposal today to tax the windfall profits of the largest oil companies, despite pleas by Democratic leaders to use the measure to address America’s anger over $4 a gallon gasoline.

The Democratic energy package would have imposed a tax on any “unreasonable” profits of the five largest U.S. oil companies and given the federal government more power to address oil market speculation that the bill’s supporters argue has added to the crude oil price surge.

Separately, Democrats also failed to get Republican support for a proposal to extend tax breaks for wind, solar and other alternative energy development, and for the promotion of energy efficiency and conservation. The tax breaks have either expired or are scheduled to end this year. *

——————-

Barack Obama: “The man who rails against government spending wants to spend $1.2 billion on a tax break for Exxon Mobile. That isn’t just irresponsible, it’s outrageous.”

Barack Obama is referring to John McCain’s economic plan where he hopes to quickly lower corporate taxes should he become President. *

Will Somebody Bitch-Slap Jackson?

This is in reference to Jackson’s recent personal and pivotal post, “Obama Won: Do I Effing Care?”  

When Hillary gave her “non-concession” speech the day Obama won the primary, it took the wind out of everyone’s sails.  Here was a monumental moment in history.  Obama did what most thought was impossible: he beat Clinton, Inc.  And he did it as a relatively unknown black man.  He did it with the name Barack Hussein Obama.  He did it as a Junior Senator.  And he did it with the vehicle of unity and grassroots support.  No PACs.  No lobbyists.  No old-school corrupt Washington machinery.  Just people: you and me.

And when Clinton had the perfect stage to shine a light on this historic moment, and to really show some integrity toward healing this fractured party, she instead clung to her fractured ego and said she’s not making any decisions just yet.  Now here we are on Saturday, and news is she’ll finally admit a truth more obvious than the lack of sniper fire when she was in Bosnia, and she’ll “suspend” her campaign today.  It’s most likely too little too late.  She really missed her chance.  And she only put us all even further behind the goal of party unification.  These are her true colors as a leader.  Division before unity (not that that’s necessarily always the wrong choice given a situation in politics – I’m not that naive).

So it’s no wonder so many Obama supporters weren’t feeling what they hoped when Obama gave his “I won the Primary speech” last Tuesday.  They were conflicted.  After so much grueling fight, supporters thought: is that all there is?

But, I also feel like many Obama supporters are treating this thing like a high-school crush.  One in which the boy goes through an endless ordeal of passionate courtship.  And as soon as he finally “closes the deal” (uh, sexually speaking), the boy realizes the girl is not some idealized perfection; she’s just a flawed human like he is.  Insecurities.  Neuroses.  Bad habits.  So, he’s out the door.

Now here we are.  The primaries are done.  We “closed the deal” (no, not sexually speaking – get your mind outta the gutter already).  Obama is our horse.  And after investing so much in him, we realize: oh crap – wait this dude is just a person like me.  Flawed.  Human.  And now we’re crossing the threshold and becoming more intimate in our relationship with him.  I’m not sure this feels so right.  It’s a different feeling than the early “crush” days when things were so rosy and easily exciting.

But, the truth is:  this is when the games really begin.  This is when the relationship becomes deeper and more significant.  Because this is a life-long marriage, not a high-school fling.  And it’s not a relationship with a man named Barack Hussein Obama.  That man on stage is utterly zero without you.  This is a relationship with yourself.  

You are Obama.  

Especially someone like Jackson Wood.  A true leader in the Obama camp.  Highly intelligent, passionate.  Even beyond this blog, he’s someone that keeps people up-to-date with the fight.  Offers new ideas to beat the critics at their game.  Someone that inspires people to be better, to believe stronger.  Jackson is Obama.  And he inspires countless others to also become Obama.

And I’m not even touching on the metaphysical aspects of what a self actually is.  The still unanswered Western philosophical dilemma: the problem with other minds.  The Buddhist notions of no-self.  

Just trust me.  You are bigger than you.

You are Obama. 

So, I hope you had a nice mini-vacation, Jackson.  But, those horns you hear are from your army wandering the battlefield.  They need their leader back.

Here’s a bitch-slap from me to you:  <<<%%!!@@@**$>>>>>

Now pony-up already and get back out there.  The fight’s just begun.

 

 

Let’s finish what we started

I feel your pain, Jackson.

Strong out the gate but faded at the finish… I’m wondering if I’ve got it in me to drive this thing home.

But it feels good to know that the worst is over. No more squabbling siblings… now it’s Hatfields and McCoys. This is the time for all of us to take pride in our historic Democratic nominee. Never miss an opportunity to engage a Republican…. and enjoy the mumbled responses, the downcast eyes, the limp shoulder shrugs and tortured pretzel logic. This is the Patton flank run, diving into the soft Wehrmacht supply line and rear echelons.

Can you dig me?

Obama Won: Do I Effing Care?

So today is Wednesday. I came home from work last night, stopping to pick up some spicy Thai noodles with tofu, and slumped down onto my post-modern sofa. I contemplated opening up the bottle of pinot noir I had just received in my wine club shipment, a quarterly reminder of just how drunk I got at my last wine country trip. I decided against the wine as I felt I would no doubt fall asleep face down in the noodles if I were to have even a glass. Christ I am a stereotypical liberal.

On the drive home I had been listening to John McCain’s speech on NPR. His lack of charisma pervades both the television and the radio and I could imagine him standing stiffly in front of a room of other Republicans, his face contorting from time to time in forced smiles and his arms never raising above his head. Side bar: if ever the term grin-fuck applied to anyone it is John McCain. I can see his pale face flaying open in that contrived smile he dons on political occassions and his jowls stiffen in a would-be happy face but underneath it all, virtually inaudible, is the ‘go fuck yourself’ message whispered for only angels to hear. He mechanically breaks out that smile any time a good ‘F you!’ would have sufficed. God bless that poor old man.

His speech was almost done about the time my trousers hit the sofa and the CNN punditry went frothing into their critique at his inability to give a speech. I don’t think he is all that bad, it is just not where the poor old man excels. The entire endeavor is exasperated when he is forced to go speech to speech with Obama, which we all knew was coming at some point. It reminded me of having to go watch my sister’s ballet recitals when we were younger. They would trot out the little kids who would flail about and almost keep a tempo, but they were mostly there to look cute, and justify their parents spending $50 a week, before we all got to see the graceful young women dance who had trained for years and were now very adept. McCain is not cute but he is clumsy and awkward in his speaking and you know he is just the opening act because Barack Obama will be at the podium at some point soon and McCain will just have to take his tutu and go home.

I listened to a few minutes of the punditry’s duncery and then I made my way to the kitchen, dumped the noodles into a bowl with some brown rice and threw my freshly pressed shirt onto the ottoman next to the coffee table.

Hillary Clinton soon came on as I was flipping back and forth between CNN’s coverage of the primaries and the Bobby Flay cooking show I had DVR’d at some point. Bobby was making bratwurst with lots of beer right about the time Hillary started making a speech with little concession. It was a tough call but I decided to watch Hillary and not Bobby. If he had been doing something besides brats he might have had me though.

I am not going to go into how she mangled her moment and missed an opportunity to seem like more than a power hungry politician who will not be denied what she thinks she is owed. It was a disgrace and her ongoing factually challenged claims of success do her no service. Her campaign may have effectively stained the legacies of Bill Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro and I am not sure if I will ever want to hear from either of those two again. As for that moment, when she is repeating the word ‘I’ over and over again – I, Jackson Wood, only wanted her to go away. Hillary – find some place without a camera and camp out there for a while and think about what you just did. Country before party, but party before candidate. (Update: I received some emails pointing out that my Cult of Obama post rails against the dangers of political parties. That is correct. I ran through a gamut of political ponderings in this primary season and did vacillate at times about what was best for our country, contradicting myself from time to time. It most often centered around respect for the process versus fear of another Bush-like administration.)

And then somewhere between the moment when I was certain I didn’t need a drink and the moment I remembered there were at least two shots of tequila left in the Patron bottle in the kitchen, Obama took the stage for what should have been his victory lap. There was a little excitement as I listened to him begin by thanking Clinton graciously. Barack needs to take a lesson on the grin-fuck from McCain.

Obama was eloquent. He was presidential. He said the right things and bore the right air of gravitas. He was generous with his praise and humble in his acceptance. In short, he was everything I was hoping he could be when I first volunteered for his campaign back in January.

That’s about the time I began to wonder if Then a question arose: Did I really effing care? Barack Obama just won the nomination. The man to whom I donated money and time. The candidate for whom I went door to door and spent my after-work hours managing a team of other volunteers who sometimes behaved as if they were twelve. The candidate I had read about and defended to family and friends back in Texas. The candidate whose campaign had slightly changed the trajectory of my own life. Now, in his moment of victory the whole thing seemed somewhat…anti-climactic.

Was it Hillary’s ‘Never say die‘ speech that had sucked the feeling of victory from out of my living room? Was it the uncertainty as to whether the campaign was actually ending? I am not sure. All I know is that I had this ‘You mean that’s it?’ moment – suddenly empathizing with my college girlfriend after all this time. Sorry Natasha – now I know.

I called my mom to talk about things but she was more interested in my upcoming travels and if she was ever going to meet this girl I have been talking about. My step-dad was a bit more in tune and felt Obama was finally vindicated in his quest and that Hillary was at last vanquished. As former GOP’ers they bore no love for the Clinton’s. But even my talk with him seemed a little stale.

I put down the phone and wandered back to my bedroom wondering if I effing cared.

I slept well last night, which was a first in a while. I have had so much going on that my mind stays up and running long after my body gives way to sleep. I woke up and thought about blogging but I was still plagued by this horrible feeling of ennui. I downed some black java and hopped in the shower.

People always come to me on days like today. Most of my friends and co-workers know I worked on the campaign and that I have been blogging for a while. In my old gig, which I just left a few weeks ago hence the sleepless nights, people would sometimes gather around to get my take or find out what was going on. As the campaign protracted out, I became somewhat negligent with keeping up. By the time Texas was wrapped up I realized I needed some of my life back and had to cut way back on the time I was spending volunteering.

I fell into a malaise with a lot of the rest of our party. I would check headlines and tune into some news here or there but I needed a goddam break. I had to stop blogging for a while and come up for air. I was worried I had lost some perspective.

I have blogged about the cult of Obama before. I was part of it. It is easy to fall into such group think when you are actively volunteering on a campaign, especially for a candidate as charismatic as Obama. People showered him with adulation all the time. I was part of that group, but I do have an inner-cynic who was entirely uncomfortable with the whole thing. There was a grating voice behind my zeal asking me if I was really buying into all this shit. I thought I was and then I realized I needed some time away.

It is dangerous to make people out to be greater than any person is capable of being, but we do it all the time. We most often do it with historical figures and then some wise historian will come along and remind us that Jefferson owned slaves or Truman was flatulent. This gives us pause to remember that none of us are perfect, even our heroes. Obama is certainly a hero and he is being adored as such, but I had to go through a period in which I reminded myself constantly that he was a man, just as I am, lest I set myself up to be disappointed. Or perhaps even worse, we can put too much faith in a person and surrender the necessary rational mind we need as the governed to question and think for ourselves. I did not want the left to commit the same sins of the right.

I briefly ventured away from politics and then I returned with a new vigor. Last night should have been a culmination of all those early energies but I found myself in the midst of another apathetic crisis. Worse was my lack of certainty of my apathy – was it apathy or some emotion that just wasn’t registering?

I spoke to my lady friend this evening and she asked me how I felt about Obama and his big win. (By the way, I only say ‘lady friend ‘ because that is what she recently used. I actually have no idea what the hell that means.) I had nothing very exciting to say. She said I seemed uninspired and she was correct. The whole thing had gone on so long I had fallen into a ‘wake me when it’s over’ state but I had not yet awakened. My only real comment to her was “I hope he’s worth it.”

I hope he is worth the time and effort so many people I respect and care about have put into it. I hope he is worth the faith we have put into him. I hope he is worth all that we have been through and may have risked and I hope he is up to the task.

Is it buyer’s remorse? No. I would not have voted differently and I would not have worked for anyone else’s campaign. It is just a moment to exhale and take it all in, surveying the landscape and realizing that this is the most important election of my voting life to date. I hope he is worth all we have done for him because he is our candidate and will be our President – a public servant of the American people.

I do care – I just need some time. Like all Americans, I have bills to pay and a career to mind and somewhere in there I have to make a life for myself and pursue my dreams. Sometimes these things have taken a back seat to Obama’s campaign and sometimes they have found their way back to the forefront. Now, with a little distance between me and the campaign, I have to relish his victory while working on victories of my own.

I believe he is worth it. I believe he deserves the chance to serve and deserves the efforts of all the good people I know who gave up parts of their life for him. And as I write this I am certain I do care, but it is a far cry from the zealous devotion I once had – and that is a good thing.

I think we all need a few moments. We need a chance to exhale and a break from talk of delegates and primaries. I will be ready for it all again, very soon, but for now I just want a couple of peaceful days to take it in and let it set. It just happened.

Do I effing care? Yeah, I just need a moment…maybe two.

Has Barack Obama Won the Nomination?

Obama has more than enough delegates to be assured of capturing the nomination. The delegates are not finalized yet, as they are able to vote however they wish at the convention, but for all intents and purposes the primary is over and Obama is our nominee.

I am disappointed that Senator Clinton did not make more of an effort to reach out to Obama and offer her take on the next few steps that the Democratic party must take in line behind Obama. She almost seemed defiant at times, pressing her victories and thereby bolstering her cause. She was a distraction in tonight’s culmination and thereby missed her opportunity to help bring things together. There was nothing conciliatory in her tone whatsoever and so she lingers about a little longer with odd questions troubling the Democratic party. What does she plan to do next?

One can only think back on Bill Clinton’s long exit in 2000. Al Gore and many Democrats were left wondering when exactly Bill was going to step out of the spotlight. The Clintons are not good at leaving the stage.

I am even a little surprised that she was not savvy enough to take a high road and appear to be ready to work to bring the party together. She is a leader of our party and has run an incredible campaign and she missed a chance to come across as a magnanimous uniter this evening.

However, this is merely the distraction and not the focus. Barack Obama is now the Democratic Party’s nominee for President of the United States and we are moving on to face the Republicans in a showdown for which party can set our country back on the right path.

We have for too long wandered about aimlessly these last eight years. At times inconsistent and at times belligerent – our leadership has displayed naive arrogance and a bravado born from its inability to stop and think carefully about the big picture. Our leadership veered away from the people they represented and lost track of our priorities, of our pains and of our hopes. Now we are beginning a new fight to take back the pursuit of hope, to answer and ease our pains and reestablish our priorities.

Now we begin the fight for tomorrow and launch our quest to leave Bush and his ways in the sands of yesterday. Now we truly begin the battle for change.

Motley Crue for Barack Obama

Don’t Go Away Mad

…That’s alright, now that’s okay
We were walkin’ through some youth
Smilin’ through some pain
That’s alright, let’s turn the page
And remember what I say girl
And it goes this way

Girl, don’t go away mad
Girl, just go away
Girl, don’t go away mad
Now girl, just go away
Here we go

Don’t go away mad
I don’t want you to stay, Yeah
Come on, girl

Come on, baby
I’ll say it one more time

Girl, don’t go away mad
Girl, just go away
Girl, don’t go away mad
Girl, just go away yeah, yeah
Girl, don’t go away mad
Girl, just go away, Yeah
Now I said girl, don’t go away mad
Girl, just go away
Now I said girl, don’t go away mad
Girl, just go away, yeah
Girl, don’t go away mad
Girl, just go away…