Days with incredible hits are really ego-boosting, but I think that the reality is that they aren’t necessarily real, as in people don’t really see them unless they are watching the AI site to comment or find new sites, which I do every night for a little while just to see who is out there.

It’s an interesting concept, but do we pin the perceived success of our sites on the traffic count we’ve been getting? That’s the big question.

http://brucemhood.wordpress.com/

best
bruce

Happy Channakuh, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to all here, if I can say that without giving offence.

mark

Jim Lunsford Says:

Thank you Ceci, for your patient and well-written response, however I would like to point out that even though the Rick Warren issue seems to dominate the bulletin, there are many other issues being discussed as well. It does take patience to wade through it all, but I believe it an excellent opportunity to make a real difference for change.

You’re very welcome.

I agree. I realize that there are a plethora of issues being discussed on Change.gov. that are challenging and thought-provoking. Due to the length of comments, it is also rather cumbersome to get through each message. But, as my grandmother said, nothing beats a failure but a try.

Don’t worry. I keep my eye on Change.gov. It is a matter of picking my battles and finding the appropriate subject to discuss. By hook and by crook, the will be one thing that will get me to answer appropriately and persuasively.

As for the Bush, or Obama approach, there is only the appearance of difference. Presidents do not rule this country, bankers rule it. Woodrow Wilson, Eisenhower, and JFK all said the same, albeit in cryptic messages. I personally believe the best political commentary I’ve ever heard was on the George Carlin video on You Tube, “You have no rights”.

I am very familiar with Carlin’s take on politics. And, at times, I find him rather astute and succinct when it comes to describing how everyday people get left out of the process. His attacks on the political process are where it’s at as well.

So when you look at the entire process with the electoral college in tow, I think that it is accurate to say that everyday people do have very little to do with the process by the way things are set up.

However, I tend to believe that where people can affect the process is by voting and continually holding their politicians to the fire. By becoming a pain the derrieres of those who represent us, then our issues will get heard regardless. I also believe that if people relied less on just simply believing our politicians and thinking more, then it wouldn’t be business as usual as well. Carlin, in his politics, believed that as well.

Because of how corporate influence has influenced some very big issues that Congress as well as the other branches of government have taken up, I agree that bankers do hold the cards. However, I also believe that how a presidency is run depends on whether that leader is a strong or weak figure. Time will tell if Obama how he will lead. But eight years of George Bush have taught us how a weak President could use the office to line the pockets of his friends. As a result, everyday Americans are getting screwed from all that paying court to Bush’s corporate suitors. And now, we are seeing the detriment that is happening to the infrastructure of the United States when the corporations get all the money.

That’s why I had hoped that instead of Lincoln, Obama might have been taking his lessons from FDR–especially because it is primer of what and what not to do in dire economic times. Despite his choices to head his economic policy, Mr. Obama will have to realize that eventually he answers to the everyday people who helped fund him and put him into office.

So, I’ll be very interested in what Obama does. And, I do agree with you that we have a change to persuade him (if there are enough of us) to think about the implications of his decisions if they are drastic.

I truly believe that this time must impel people to fight for their future in America. If we leave it to the corporations, we’ll all be in breadlines.

There are the differences you spoke of in the dixiecrats and all that, and I do not argue that point. It is interesting to note however, that once George Wallace got shot, he changed his tune and was actually quite active for his entire constituency, not just the whites. He was a rare man though, to go from hate to compassion, and a hate that was the south of that time, an honest hate as Malcolm X would have said. To an honest compassion.

I realize that. And in conversations about race and the past, I’ve discussed this issue with others who have felt the same way. Redemption and change is a powerful thing. But, George Wallace (as well as Strom Thurmond, Jesse Helms and the rest of their ilk) left an ugly stain on the livelihoods and lives of a lot of folks of color. Some of these legacies of hate last even to this day. And to think that Wallace manipulated the system to get into politics and benefited from a society of hate, it is rather hard to believe that this man had changed his spots at the end. His compassion was too little, too late for a lot of people. And there are some of us who have long memories of what Wallace represented in a society of segregation, repression and animus.

I understand what you are trying to say. But, respectfully, we’ll agree to disagree there.

However, politicians do as they are told, in the important laws. Unfortunately, we have not known (as a nation) who has been doing the telling until the internet came into it’s own. For now, both parties are the banker party, with only lip service to what they are supposed to stand for. Soon, the spectrum will shift once again. This internet has already effected more change in the past ten years (I count ten years because that was when it began it’s popularity with the emergence of internet porn. I know, but it’s true. In 1997 or so) than the printing press did in hundreds of years.

I can attest to that. The Internet has been a vast storehouse of knowledge in which everyday folks can educate themselves on all aspects of information. It is a valuable resource that helps the populace become more educated about what their politicians do as well as what are the vital issues of the day. So, more than ever before, the American people has the ammunition to hold our officials’ feet to the fire.

As for both parties being the “bankers party”, it would be accurate to say that money does dictate what certain politicians do. That’s why it behooves the American citizenry to work toward promoting representatives who will work for their best interests and not that of the corporation. Because we have access to more information that we’ve ever had before, we have a chance to turn the tables and fight for leadership who will help us for a change. What the election of 2008 did was teach a whole lot of us that we deserve more in our leadership. Therefore, fighting for quality people is the order of the day.

Let’s hope that this becomes a reality.

But please, regardless of your position on issues, this is a real opportunity to affect change, and your voice is waiting to be heard. There are threads you can join. Thanks, Jim

Again, I thank you for alerting me to latest on the Change.gov discussion area. As I said before, I will try to insert myself into the conversations over there when I can. For myself, there will be a time and place where I can be part of the conversation. I will do my best to give my two cents whereever it is needed. I understand very well the gravity of these times and why not any of us can afford to stay silent.

Well wishes on your endeavors at this time. And as always, thank you for responding so forthrightly and frankly on these issues. In this age, we desperately need it.

Take care,

Ceci