Oh the primary season

Well it would appear from all accounts that if the primary season didn’t end Tuesday night, it will officially end tomorrow as Hillary Clinton gives her support to Barack Obama.
In case you missed it, NPR has a great “highlight reel” with some of the top sound clips from the campaign season.

Listen here

Sen. Barack Obama :: on faith (or why I liked him in the first place)

Back in October 2006 I shared a post that really turned me onto Barack Obama. I thought it was fitting to re-share this now that just about everyone has declared him the presumptive DNC nominee.

The story is an excerpt from a speech from which was delivered at the Sojourners/Call to Renewal-sponsored Pentecost conference in June 2006. (emphasis mine)…
Continue reading Sen. Barack Obama :: on faith (or why I liked him in the first place)

Will destroy nukes for food

From e-mail:

A new bill in Congress called the Global Security Priorities Resolution (H.R. 1045) would shift tens of billions of dollars from nuclear weapons funding into projects which alleviate global poverty.

Cosponsored by Congressmen Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Dan Lungren (R-CA), the resolution calls for reducing U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals to 1000 deployed/3000 total weapons each by 2015.

It further stipulates that some of the financial savings from such a move would be redirected to the Nunn-Lugar program, as well as $6.5B to “child survival, hunger, and universal education” programs worldwide in an attempt to address the root causes of terrorism.

While the resolution does not advocate complete nuclear disarmament, it sets the proposed actions within the context of our NPT Article VI obligations to pursue nuclear weapons elimination. The Global Security Priorities Resolution is an excellent vehicle for outreach to more conservative members of Congress, and helps to link the elimination of nuclear weapons with vital human needs.

Faithful Security has formally endorsed the resolution, as have the following religious organizations:

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
U.S. Fund for UNICEF
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Union for Reform Judaism
Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Evangelicals for Human Rights
United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Catholic Relief Services

Mennonite Central Committee U.S./Washington Office

Can you take a moment to send a note to your Representative asking him or her to sign on as a cosponsor? Click here to send a quick email.

There are many other ways that you can help the resolution move forward. Visit the Faithful Security website for statements from prominent endorsers, the full text of the resolution, and other resources. Consider writing a letter to the editor about the resolution, or invite other national religious groups to endorse this important legislation.

Need more ideas? Email us at info@faithfulsecurity.org.

The first step is gathering Congressional cosponsors, so click here to send your Representative a note.

Blessings,

Tyler Wigg Stevenson and Jessica Wilbanks

A National Tragedy?!

The Insider – another junk celebrity/entertainment show just said, “ABC News broke into regular programming to report the news… as the country comes to grip with a national tragedy.”

ARE YOU SERIOUS?! Ted Kennedy has a brain tumor and it’s become a national tragedy?!

I feel sorry for him and the family, but a Senator from Massachusetts who’s served since 1962, gets a brain tumor and it’s a national tragedy? Yet 100,000 are dead or dying in China and Burma and more than 3000 soldiers have died in Iraq and a politician getting a brain tumor is a national tragedy?

Am I just too cynical or am I missing something?

Hamas does or doesn’t support Obama

Apparently folks are up in arms because a member of Hamas said he hoped to see Obama win the presidency.

“We like Mr. Obama, and we hope that he will win the elections,” said Yousef. “I hope Mr. Obama and the Democrats will change the political discourse. … I do believe [Obama] is like John Kennedy, a great man with a great principal. And he has a vision to change America to make it in a position to lead the world community, but not with humiliation and arrogance,” Yousef said, speaking from Gaza.

It appears that Obama may be trying to distance himself from the idea that he might be more lenient towards Hamas. Makes sense politically, but I would love to see a president who governs and leads out of love and grace to all, rather than humiliation, arrogance and ignorance.

Don’t see that guy running for president in 2008 yet.