Why do so many of us follow the news of the presidential campaign so closely? (I'm only asking) It's not like you have yet to make up your mind, is it?

Isn't there a better way to spend your time? (lol)

As has been reported the NC Senate's failure to pass anti-bullying legislation in tact despite having the votes is disappointing shows a disturbing and unacceptable lack of courage and compassion. They threw kids in the state of North Carolina under the bus when they had an opportunity to protect them.

I have communicated privately with many members of the NC House and the NC Senate regarding passage of the anti-bullying legislation. In doing so, I made clear to them that mine was a private correspondence written as a parent, not as a politician and not as someone who planned to publicize our discourse so at to subject them to outside pressures. I did so in order to give them an opportunity to round the votes required for passage of bill without feeling as if I were trying to shame or embarrass them publicly. And I did have continued private conversations with members of both houses, Democratic and Republican.

Now that the bill has failed to pass, I'm am not going to break my word to kiss and tell about those conversations. However, am going to comment on the failure to pass this legislation and go on record publicly with my thoughts. First, here is an excerpt of a personal story which I related to them.

Today I decided to add a fundraising link to my Obama page. I set my goal at $500 and sent emails to all of my friends and family members. The response has been okay, so far three donors and $55. Most of the holdouts have been from people who are paranoid about using credit cards over the Internet.

So now I ask a favor.

As someone who grew up in North Carolina during the 80's and 90's, it is hard to find words to convey the role has Jesse Helms played in my worldview. One of the first memories I have of Helms is being told that he had said "vulgar and common" things about my grandfather, Thad Stem, a poet who wrote liberal columns for the Raleigh News & Observer at the same time Helms was a political commentator on a Raleigh television station.

Jesse Helms 1921-2008:  The man who gave the Karl Rove types the blueprint on how to divide and conquer the United States of America.

That is BIG news were I'm from.  Practically the entire Section A of the Charlotte Observer is dedicated to Senator NO this morning.   Different writers with both positive and negative views expressed.

If we want to drive the far right out of power, we need to start at the foundation Senator Helms built.

update: title changed from Stop GOP Oil Mania:National Monument Designation Could Save Ecosystem

A coral ecosystem exists off the southeast coast that is roughly the size of the land area of South Carolina.  

Economically, that ecosystem:

1. Provides food for Millions of Americans

2. Protects our coasts from Hurricanes and Nor'easters(like a winter Hurricane)

3. Protects our ports like Savannah, Wilmington, Morehead City (supports a Marine base) and the nation's most important Hampton Roads where the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay guarding Norfolk Navy Yards, Portsmouth, Newport News and Baltimore.  (Newport News is where the large Navy ships are built like Air Craft carriers)

4. Provides Millions of jobs to American by providing fisheries, deep water ports (including the US Navy's biggest base), tourism nand forestry (much of the USA's pulp wood is grown in the coastal Southeast).

Why even worry about protecting something so important to the well being of the United States of America.  Surely NO USA CITIZEN would threaten such a valuable National Treasure.

Some very creative people in Charlotte created a very funny comic story of what really goes on in the world of giant banks.

So that is really what happens to pension funds and mortgages.   Hopefully not.

Barack Obama’s "The Change That Works For You" tour begins today in the Triangle of North Carolina. And here is one Kossack that will report back (via update) after attending the event.

There's a whole lotta love and a whole lotta pride and a whole lotta energy here in North Carolina for the change that the Barack Obama campaign represents. Here's a 3 minute video to commemorate and to celebrate and to share that energy. Enjoy!

North Carolina’s fifth district, spanning the northwest corner of the state, is currently represented by second term congresswoman Virginia Foxx, who, in addition to being in lockstep with President Bush on nearly every issue, has voted against SCHIP, Hurricane Katrina Relief, and extending the Voting Rights Act. Challenging her is Roy Carter, a longtime high school teacher and football coach whose dedication to public service spans 40 years. This district, until recently a Republican stronghold, is energized for change. Foxx’s approval rating within the district has been dropping steadily for months, and currently is among the lowest of active representatives.

I realize this is sort of counter-intuitive, but bear with me here.

Just after PA, the sort of "CW" was that Obama would probably win NC by around 20 points and that IN was a tossup.  Somehow or another, even given this, IN was considered the key for Obama to finish off the race (for whatever reason), and he was given at least a 40-50% shot of winning it.

Why my Aunt Eloise (80 yo) Switched to Obama in NC

I know a little about this place, Forsyth County, NC.  Its major city is Winston-Salem, NC.  Used to be completely in the 5th Dist (US) back when Stephen Neal was able to rely on Republican cross-overs to stay an elected D in a solidly R seat.  But W-S and Forsyth County as a whole has not changed as much as some parts of NC over the past 10 years.  Its grown, but it hasn't grown at any speed.  Point being, a look into the Forsyth returns is a look into something you just don't see at the macro level, and it reveals, to me certainly (as a longtime political follower) but to anyone who will listen how Barack Obama's gains are real, solid, and intriguing.

My predictions for the primary races yesterday were for Hillary Clinton to win Indiana by 3% while Barack Obama took North Carolina by 14%. My expectation was that a 3% victory would be enough for Hillary to claim Barack still can’t close her out and she would continue on this month until a steady stream of superdelegates threatened to ensure her defeat by raising Obama’s delegate count to the 2025 number needed to clinch the nomination.

North Carolina came home as expected, dead on 14%.  Bow to the left. Bow to the right. Thank you, thank you.

But the real story last night is that by all measures, the people HAVE selected a nominee. The math is in and Hillary is publicly revealed to have no conclusive path to nomination.

The question everyone is wondering now is: When does the other shoe drop?

The Power of "One" posted by NC 4 Obama Volunteer

Well, we did it here in NC!
Now on to part Deux of the process!

If one of the following is your representative CONTACT HIM REPRESENTATIVE NOW and ask him to publicly commit.  All of the other Dem representatives have commited to OBAMA.  This is our only chance to end this thing before June, July, or August.

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Do these guys know that they are parodies of themselves?  Obama gives a great speech about America the Great.   About opportunity.  About ending divisions. About equity for all.  And about avoiding distractions from the real issue.  So ... What does Tweety do - but wax ineloquent about Wright and elitism.

I know this is diary violates the rules about being more than three paragraphs (or whatever the minimum standard is).  But how do you write more than three paragraphs about people who are parodies of themselves and don't even recognize it?

Enough of the boob tube and back to "the tubes"

Hope y'all are having a good evening.  We in NC are feeling right fine tonight, thank-you very much.