Saturday, September 6, 2008

Internet Election


So I just received an email letter (e-letter?) from a friend, about the upcoming election. I suppose we will see and send many in the next few months but I felt compelled to post this.
I hear that this is the Internet Election, we can now post, link, upload a variety of information. This is good, and I assure my readers that I will certainly apply editing skills to avoid overload, but when something touches my heart, I must share it with you:


Dear friends and acquaintances,
I grew up on the dark stories told by my parents, Holocaust survivors. Watching the Republican convention on TV, I became physically ill because this is what Fascism looks like in its early stages. The venom, the lies and half-truths, the mockery, the nationalistic fervor, the demagoguery, and the utter lack of empathy for most of humankind chilled me to the bone. Couple this with the fact that the Republican Party strategists are not allowing journalists access to Palin (just heard this on CNN) and are effectively demonizing the media that veer from right-wing ideology, and we can see clearly where our democracy is heading.

We can, of course, shrug and say this is hopeless situation, or we can resort to magical thinking that all will turn out for the best if we simply send Obama good thoughts and vote for him. Let us instead act. In the two months remaining let us do EVERYTHING to elect the Obama and Biden and (for those of us living in Colorado) Mark Udall--who is being relentlessly attacked by the oil industry--and Jared Polis. For our children and grandchildren, let us do everything and then some. If it is comfortable to send $25 to the Obama campaign this week, please send $50. If you are well-to-do, please be extraordinarily generous in your giving; give so it makes a dent. Go to https://donate.barackobam.com/wecan. If you don't have discretionary money, think of something else to do, and keep on doing things until election day. My friend, Wayne (a physician) plans to go to nursing homes to inform patients that under a McCain/Palin administration, Medicare (which really works!) is threatened. My Sudanese daughter Rose is volunteering in Mark Udall's office even though she is not yet a citizen. My husband and I, both introverts, are canvassing for the Democratic Party.

In addition to working for the Obama/Biden ticket, if you like this letter, please send it on to others--those already committed, those on the fence, and those in the McCain camp.

Thank you with all my heart,
name withheld

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