Now Is The Time for Obama - By Tom Ford and Sherry Myers

                        Letter To The Editor

In response to the letter that appeared in the Page News and Courier on August 14, 2008 entitled: Now isn’t time for female or black as president of our country…

It was disappointing to read the letter that appeared last week. No wonder there is "dissention amongst us!"

Now is the time for a decent, strong and committed President to serve our country. Gender and race play no role in who is best—it is the person and their platforms, their character, and their judgment. It is also that person’s ability to bring people together in a way that strengthens America. It is for these reasons that the obvious choice for President is Senator Barrack Obama. Not because of his gender, color, age, or religion; but because he offers a new course for America that will benefit all Americans- especially the struggling lower and middle class citizens of this country. Senator Obama’s policies on strengthening the economy, health care, environmental issues, peace, and education offer a better future for all Americans. Staying the course will only continue to benefit the wealthy, and maintain the downward spiral that we are all experiencing. Our country deserves better, and under the leadership of Senator Obama, and his experienced cabinet, we envision a better life for all.

Senator Obama’s international trip was a step in the right direction. Not only did it provide him with some basic, first-hand knowledge about foreign affairs, it also showed how positively he is viewed by people of other nations. International respect is essential when you must collaborate with other countries, and the United States has much to negotiate around the world.

In regard to Senator Obama’s "movie idol" appeal, this is something promoted by the opposing camp, not by Obama himself. How ironic that this ‘movie idol" appeal was considered a plus for President Ronald Reagan, Sonny Bono, and Arnold! (all Republicans).

So you ask, "Do we really want Obama’s kind of change?" If we want a better America then the answer is, "YES!"

Spread Whose Wealth Around - By Jarret Herrmann

In the recent and final debate, one of John McCain's most subtle attacks was the insinuation that Obama was going to "spread the wealth". McCain, a servant of the big businesses and wealthy interests that Republicans champion, actually sees this as a negative thing!

This further shows how out of touch McCain is. I make around 10000 dollars a year. I have very little wealth to spread around. Odds are, you don't either. McCain doesnt want to protect our meager funds or those of people like "Joe The Plumber". He wants to protect the wealth of those who make hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars a year.

Why does McCain believe that the super rich can't afford a tax hike of a few percentage points. Ordinary people, as I said, do not make a quarter million dollars a year. We do not have any additional wealth to be spread. Obama wants to skim the profits of the oil companies, those who exploit foreign workers and downsize American jobs. And he wants to give back the riches that he takes from the oligarchs to each one of us.

There isnt as much wealth in this country as there was before Bush and Co. came on the scene. Ordinary Americans right here sometimes don't even have enough money to spread around through charity and church collections sometimes. But, by God, they still do what they can! That's more than you can say for a man who seems disgusted by the very idea that people should give something back. I can well imagine John McCain's reaction when the collection plate comes by the door of one of his seven houses.

Baracknowledge by Tom Ford & Sherry Myers

Contrary to what was stated in a letter to the editor of the PNC, much is known about Barack Hussein Obama, II. Yes, Obama was named after his father so get over it! My middle name is Russian and that does not make me a Communist. Our neighbor’s name is German and that does not make him a Nazi. Like "The boy named Sue" in the famous Johnny Cash song, Obama has been challenged by his name. It is important to recognize that while we do not pick our names, we do decide on the course of our lives, and Obama’s life story and accomplishments are amazing. I will highlight some of his bio so Obama’s name can be associated with the facts, not "rhetoric."

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• *Obama was born on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. (a native Black Kenyan) and Ann Dunham (a White American from Kansas). His parents separated when he was two years old, and he met his father only once thereafter.
  
• *Obama lived most of his childhood (5th grade through high school) in Hawaii with his maternal grandparents.
  *Obama graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law School (where he served as president of the Harvard Law Review).
  
• *After Harvard, Obama worked as a community organizer in Chicago, taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School, and practiced as a civil rights attorney.
  
• *Obama met his wife, Michelle Robinson, in 1989 while working as a summer associate at the Chicago law firm where she was employed. They have two daughters, ages 10 and 7.
  
• *Obama ran for Senator of Illinois in November 2004 and received 70% of the vote. As senator, he has helped create legislation regarding lobbying, electoral fraud, climate change, nuclear terrorism, veteran’s benefits, and responsible gun ownership.
• *After announcing his campaign for President in February 2007, Obama emphasized withdrawal from Iraq, energy independence, and universal health care as top national priorities.
• *Obama has authored two books: Dreams from My Father and The Audacity ofHope.

Now to the stated issue of concern: the second amendment. Obama has made it more than clear that he supports the second amendment, and that he is committed to gun rights, to every hunter’s culture and heritage, and also to the conservation and protection of our natural resources. In fact, Obama spoke in Lebanon, Virgina on September 9, 2008 and stated the following:I believe in the second amendment. I believe in people’s lawful right to bear arms. I will not take your shotgun away. I will not take your rifle away. I won’t take your handgun away. There’s some common sense gun safety laws that I believe in, but I am not going to take your guns away. So if you want to find an excuse not to vote for me, don’t use that one ‘cause it just ain’t true.

It is noteworthy that Obama has the support of Ray Schoenke, President of the American Hunters and Shooters Association. Schoenke recognizes the danger to our loved ones, friends, and society-at-large when illegal guns end up on the street and in the hands of criminals, those mentally challenged, and reckless individuals.

So please, talk to all your friends and neighbors and tell them the truth about the real Obama and what he represents- reasonable, thoughtful gun control measures that respect the second amendment and people’s traditions, while keeping America a safer place for all of us.

Obama is the future of Virginia by Jarret Herrmann

 One of Senator McCain's aides has shown a particular lack of grasp of Virginian history and American ideals. One Nancy Pfotenhauer said this week at an event in Woodbridge that McCain was going to win this state because he has support in the conservative Southern areas that she called "Real Virginia" This brings up several questions.

Should Northern conservatives be left out of this new state? What if an Obama office opens in a conservative rural area, like the one in my own town? Am I no longer a real Virginian? Ms. Pfotenhauer painted the North of Virginia as being literally invaded by Democrats from the District of Columbia, as though we were all living in a surrealistic version of Iraq, or the post-war confederacy.

Never mind the idea that Democrats born and raised in Virginia are not real, or the inference that folks who dare to move here with different political ideals are little better than carpet baggers. What truly irks me is that she believes Virginia is required to be a conservative, Southern state, to tow her party's line above our own interests.

Ms. Pfotenhauer, I address this letter directly to you and your friends in the campaign. Virginia is, first and foremost, for Virginians. If we believe Barack Obama can benefit our state, we will vote for him. Whether you consider our votes "real" or not is of no consequence to us. And Virginia is not as conservative as you might believe.

The reason for the belief that Real Virginia is Republican goes all the way back to the Solid South, and the hatred for the party that had freed the slaves and declared all men equal. Actually, it was the Republicans that did this great deed, and for a century or so the "real" South, including "real" Virginia was reliably democratic! This changed when Harry S Truman and most of the Democrats decided that civil rights and equal opportunity were a democratic ideal and the Southern democrats left the party to support their own splinter groups and anti-integration Republicans. But even during the Civil War, Virginia was still different.

For instance, as a scholar of Civil War history, I'm sure you're aware that Virginia seceded. You might not know that we were the second to last state to do so. We did not jump at the chance to break up the union, to join the "real" states to the South. We were willing to abide by the progressive laws of the U.S. government until finally we heard the calls for help of our friends and family further South, and we heeded those calls and indeed held the Southern banner aloft by our might and blood for four terrible years.

And it was during this time that a Virginian decided that black folks ought to be equal to white ones, that they should be allowed to fight for their freedom alongside their countrymen. Robert E. Lee was his name, and he was not alone in his beliefs about equal opportunity and self-determination, Thomas J. Jackson, another Virginian, was also opposed to inequality as a staunch Baptist. The reason the plan that Lee supported was delayed and not implemented is that the "real" Southern leaders did not support it.

Virginia, as you can see, has a clear history of forward thinking, of choosing to do difficult things rather than take the easy path. Of supporting causes such as states rights. For instance, states rights to choose what the nature of marriage is, a right Sara Palin would like to revoke.

As such, I am proud to call myself a real Virginian, and don't at all mind sharing my home state with folks who have different ideas about where our nation should go. But I cannot stand by and see people looked upon as less than natives of this great state simply because they are more forward thinking than your campaign. Calling a Virginian a fake for being a Democrat is a short step away from calling an American a fake for exercising their American rights and voting Obama, and that is something that cannot be allowed either in this state or any other, lest we become again a country torn asunder.

The point with my argument has thus far been history, and there's a reason for that: Virginia has a proud history of choosing its own future. And our young people are that future. Education and integration with our brother Virginians have purged many of the incorrect ideas that led to the solid South. You claim that those college educated younger voters in the North of the state are not real Virginians? I say that they are the future of Virginia, and that future will be decided by them, and not by the whims of John McCain and his campaign.