This diary is mostly self-centered, a way of dealing with 'writer's block' for the project I'm working on.

Her:

Racism lives in the U.S. today.
Better get hip to what Martin Luther King had to say.
I don't want my kids being brought up this way.
Hatred to each other is not okay.

As was the theme of the 60s, it rings far more true in modern times.

Just look at all the wrongs in the world.

To keep this diary short, I have been in love with someone for a long time and I will always be, even if nothing comes from it. I have had a crush on her since we were in middle school. I cannot explain any of it but I prefer not to.

It is both uplifting and depressing at the same time. More below.

Having written my fair share of political diaries of late, today, Sunday, seems the day to post something a little different, something outside of the political box. The kind gift of your precious minutes in reading will make me glad, and I hope that my words will return the favor.

I am to give a commencement speech at a local high school later this month. I was asked to keep it short, inspirational, and relatively apolitical (my community knows me too well). What follows is my best effort.

If after you read this you feel so inclined to leave a tip, I thank you now. If you know someone who is graduating from high school or college this month or next and feel so inclined to pass this on to them, I thank you again. And if you wish to leave a constructive comment on how I might improve this, I would be grateful for advice.

Good morning friends, it's a great day to be an American.

We just stopped in for lunch, then we are back out into the intense Miami sunshine to register more voters.  Here is a taste of the Vote For Change Kickoff packet, meet me after the break for pics!

Vote for Change is a national voter registration effort.  We are looking to register new voters, re-register voters who have moved, and talk to voters who do not typically vote but wish to become engaged in the political process.  On May 10, over 100 cities across the country will kickoff a 6-month campaign to expand participation in the democratic process.

Over the past year, Barack Obama has brought his message of change to every corner of this country, and the American people have responded in a way few thought possible. We've seen unprecedented voter turnout in state after state among Americans of all races, religions, and walks of life.

I had the great privilege of appearing on the same ballot as Senator Obama in Pennsylvania primary this past April 22nd, 2008.

http://www.co.monroe.pa.us/...

(James Lyons - AKA the PoconoPCDoctor)

Alas and alack, due to Governor Rendell's churning out the vote for Senator Clinton, as well as Senator Clinton's "growing up in Scranton" stories, the voters determined my fate in whether or not I got to wear a funny hat at the DNC convention in Denver this August.  I got 28,999 votes, but the 11th Congressional District in Pennsylvania is a an odd numbered district, and so is "gender favored."

This basically means that the spot for Alternate Delegate, the position I was running for, will go to the Clinton delegate.  My sister, who was an organizer for ACORN in her younger days, thought I would definitely be going to Denver, since I was the only Alternate Delegate for Senator Obama.  It was not to be.

"Hope is a good thing - maybe the best thing, and no good thing ever dies"

Stephen King

This is my very first diary so forgive my niavity in this process.

A Christmas present was given to me by my loving parents (not Santa Claus) the year that I turned 10. I was given two small identical "baby dolls" that were not much bigger than my hands, cute little rubbery baby faces clothed in the same tiny diaper and t-shirt. I said to my Mother, Mommy why did you give me two dolls? Even at only 10 years old I knew money was tight and that the gifts had to be shared with my siblings.

Lie to me and tell me everything is all right
Lie to me and tell me that you’ll stay here tonight
Tell me that you’ll never leave,
oh and I’ll just try to make believe
that everything, everything you're telling me is true
Lie to me.
-Jonny Lang

The Lie That Launched the 21st Century

Today we affirm a new commitment to live out our nation's promise through civility, courage, compassion and character.

-George W. Bush's 2001 Inaugural Address

We wuz bamboozled.....

Everyone has said how important this election is, the candidates, all the pundits etc.

Tonite, the voters of NC and IN made an impressive statement as to how important they think it is too.

And it's about change more than anything.

I've been reading Don't Think of an Elephant by George Lakoff. The subtitle is, "Know Your Values and Frame the Debate," which basically sums up the book, though the finer details more than make it worth reading.

Lakoff argues that the right rose to supremacy by pumping millions and millions of dollars over several decades -- starting in earnest with the nomination of Barry Goldwater in '68 -- not just into combatting the left issue-by-issue, but into building an intellectual infrastructure which has churned out far more ideas and literature than the left, and which today dominates 80% of media airtime and spends about four times as much as the left.

As I was reading I began to grow frightened. Progressives are not like conservatives. We do not fall so easily into a cohesive bloc. By our very nature, we encourage far more diversity of ideas, and far more individualism and independence. We are therefore less effective in coming up with unifying themes and messages and sticking to those themes and messages.

And yet, despite this handicap, we are winning.

It's been a long couple o weeks for Obama... and by extension, i think for a lot of us his supporters... but don't forget what's at stake... and that, yes.we.can.

Last night Obama's campaign office was vandalized with racial epithets. You can read about that here: http://www.dailykos.com/...

This is the town that made me what I am.  I am not the sum of that city's parts, but rather a reaction to it.  I am a liberal, Democratic, progressive, and this is why I left.

When I was in elementary school, I learned a song that said something about how we've got to "accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative" it's too easy for us to get focused on all of the things that can go wrong, and ignore what's going right.

JuMp

Yeah, I know, no one here likes Zogby, but their tracking poll in PA was pretty darned accurate, much to my displeasure, hoping beyond all hope that Sen. Obama would win PA in an upset.  But take a look at this:

While our nation is at war, American families are being forced out of their homes, and gas is inching towards four dollars a gallon, we have more important issues to talk about than Obama's ex-pastor. I was personally troubled by Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s warped view of the world, and I understand why many Americans were angered by his message, but it’s ridiculous to think the former pastor's sentiment is a representation of Barack Obama's values or judgment. We would be no more justified in criticizing the whole of Christianity for Reverend Wright's comments than pundits and rival campaigns have been in criticizing Obama for vitriol the former pastor spewed. This election is about war, the economy, healthcare and our global climate crises. It's time we focused on these issues instead of what Obama's outlandish ex-pastor said.

Another night of worry for planet, politics, poor innocent horses and general life stuff.  So, "And now for something completely different."

Spring is returning slowly here at 1850 feet in the Pines of Western Monroe County, PA. Last week we had stunning purple finches, male and female. Today we have quite a few bright yellow goldfinches for the first time this year, hanging upside down on the Nyjer thistle feeder.  We are also being visited by two gorgeous male rose-breasted grosbeaks, a female evening grosbeak with her new blue-green bill, and just now a female ruby-throated hummingbird sipping at the purple petunia planter.  Oh, yes, and yesterday we saw a bumble bee.

Well, this is a semi-humorous diary on the eve of the upcoming primaries to inspire some hope and bring some smiles for Obama supporters...

I'm a New Jersey doctor who sees patients from all sides of the socioeconomic spectrum.  I grew up in a NJ town with friends from all cultures and creeds.  My experiences as a young doctor have shaped my understandings of how progress can be made during all interactions, even the most adversarial of ones. I wholeheartedly support Barack Obama for his life experiences as a man who grew up in a multicultural world, attuned to the hearts and minds of diverse numbers of people.  His ability to convey a complex message to a broad swath of society will serve as his tool to innovate our political system for the better.  His diplomacy skills within both parties, the nation and the world will set the spark for a reversal of our misfortune for the past 7 years.