Macon in State of Emergency

I woke up in the wee hours of the morning to the sound of emergency sirens. I huddled in a downstairs bathroom and prayed for the safety of my family and friends. These are the moments when we realize that there is a Power greater than us. In the face of winds that tear trees from the ground and rip houses from their foundations, that we are forced to acknowledge that one's age,race, sex,social status, or political affiliations have no meaning but rather that we are one people striving and praying to preserve the people and things most dear to our hearts. Take a moment and consider what is important in your life.

My prayers go out to the people of Macon and Middle Georgia. This morning Mayor Reichert declared a state of emergency. South and West Macon have been hit the hardest by the storm and at least one person has died in Laurens County. Much of the city is without water due to a loss of electricity to one of the water pumping stations. Those people who do have water are being asked to conserve it. Residents have also been asked to not use their telephones or cell phone unless it is truly necessary to avoid tying up the phone lines and to remain at home and off of the roads.

http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local_story.aspx?storyid=52243

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I'm Back

I had to take a short sabbatical from blogging to attend to the realities of my life. The the uninitiated this is code for "I had to do the work that pays the bills". Last week that work was defending the tenure rights and due process rights of teachers in the event of a demotion in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Having completed that task I decided to squeeze in a quick blog. I have to tip my hat to people who are able to blog daily while still holding down a job. I became interested in blogging after attending a meeting in which a prominent female blogger spoke about the importance of female voices in the bloggesphere. It was after that talk and hearing from other women who had given blogging a try that I decided to take a turn at it as well. I have since discovered the pleasure and the agony of this form of communication. The upside is the opportunity for me to express my deeply held opinions and beliefs to an audience that consists of more than just my five year old daughter who appears to be fascinated always manages to bring the conversation back around to princesses and cookies. I have also had the opportunity to meet other like minded people. The downside is that not everyone is going to agree with your point of view and a thick skin is definitely a job requirement. The other challenge for a blogger is the desire to blog ahead of the main stream media. It is actually quite amazing how much of a delay there is between when stories begin to develop and when you actually hear about it on CNN or read it in your local paper. I would encourage anyone who has written or considered writing a letter to the editor to think about starting a blog. The only requirements are a computer, a Internet connection and a opinion. I found the tools here at www.blogger.com to be very user friendly but there are other ones.

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Obama Phonebank in Macon Georgia

Senator Obama still needs us here in Macon, Georgia. The fight is not over and we have received a request for help from the Pennsylvania Field Director who has asked that we, here in Macon, Georgia, help provide phone support for the campaign workers in Pennsylvania. The campaign workers in Pennsylvania are knocking on doors and they need people on the telephone to help bring Senator Obama's message of hope and change to the "Keystone State". We will have a phonebanking session on Saturday, April 4,2008. It is not necessary that you have any experience making phone calls for the campaign. Even if you have never phonebanked before this a great opportunity to learn, socialize with other supporters and help the campaign. Senator Obama's campaign has reached out to Macon and I know that we are ready to answer the call to service. Please Save the Date, and I will post the exact time and location in the next day or so.

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Lunch and Politics

Big thanks go out to Amy Morton,www.georgiawomenvote.blogspot.com, James Rockfeller, http://www.rockefeller-law.com/, and The Boston Law Firm for coordinating and sponsoring the Lunch and Politics Luncheon today at the Macon City Club. The Macon City Club presented a great luncheon and the staff was very helpful and gracious. I was pleased to see the luncheon was very well attended and full of concerned citizens including representatives of The Center for Racial Understanding , the City Attorney's Office, Kristina Simms and members of Georgia Federation of Democratic Women, http://gfdw.blogspot.com, several local attorneys, business owners, and a host of concerned citizens. Mayor Reichert, the guest speaker, was introduced by Reverend Bumpus of Tremont Temple Baptist Church, Nancy Terrell of Mercer Law School and local attorney Daryl Morton. Mayor Reichert gave an engaging and enthusiastic talk on his annexation plan. Quite frankly, if I did not live in the proposed annexed area, I would probably support his proposal. In support of his plan, the Mayor spoke on eliminating redundant services, increasing the tax base of the City and increasing the population of the City in time for the next Census. There are two major flaws with the Mayor's plan (1) it is extremely unpopular in the affected areas and these areas have the resources and the conviction to fight the plan with vigor and conviction and (2) the residents living in the annexed area already have the services that the City of Macon is offering and the services are better than what the City can offer. This pretty much leaves the City of Macon with nothing to offer except a warm feeling of community, however since most of the people living in the affected areas intentionally moved outside the City limits this argument doesn't stir any greater appetite for annexation. Although, I do not agree with the Mayor's annexation plan, I do appreciate his clear desire to improve the future of the City of Macon. The Mayor went on to describe his plan to either rehab or demolish blighted housing. Now this was a plan that I could get behind. Vacant and dilapidated houses depress neighborhoods and feed crime. Aggressive action in cleaning up the City and bringing the City back to a state of fiscal responsibility will go a long way to improving the City of Macon and who knows it may even change my views on annexation.

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When is enough, enough?

The race for the Democratic nomination has become a bloodsport unlike anything that has been seen since the days of the gladiator. Quite frankly, although I support Senator Obama, I have not been happy with either campaign this week. I grew up in Pensacola, Florida, a Navy town, in a Navy family and in military housing. I am a patriot and I believe that both a former and a current President of these United States deserves some baseline respect and the benefit of the doubt. Consequently, I did not agree with former President Clinton being compared to McCarthy. On the reverse side, I believe that former President Bill Clinton should remain presidential and above the fray and implying that another American is unpatriotic is definitely not presidential. I would love to see him retire from the campaign trail and preserve his legacy. There is something important about being dignified and preserving your legacy.

I also found the comments about the stains on the blue dress to be in such bad taste. It is not as if those were Senator Clinton's stains. I believe that Chelsey Clinton was completely right to decline to answer questions on this issue during her question and answer session at a college campus. Can't we maintain some modicum of respect and by the way it is still appropriate to call people by their title. Senator Clinton, Senator Obama, Senator McCain, these people have earned that respect and I think calling them by their first name alone is disrespectful.

And just when you thought things could not get any more bizarre, we have Senator Clinton lying about her experience in Bosnia. I know there are those who would call these a mistake or a simple embellishment, but every college student who has beefed up their resume to get a job knows that this was an outright lie. Getting shot at by snipers is not something you forget. The thing that makes this particularly sad is that Senator Clinton is an undeniably accomplished woman. She redefined the image of the First Lady from being just pretty decoration and instead blazed a trail that proved that women could be smart and independent in their own right. This is the perfect example of "why tell a lie when the truth will do".

I hate to leave Senator McCain out of the discussion. He took a campaign trip on taxpayer money and then took along a few of his friends to sell us on the story that this was official Senate business. Then he came home and gave a truly awful speech on the economy. The upside for him is that the Democrats are capturing so much of the headlines (and not in the good way) that by the time anyone pays any attention to him, he may have actually have figured out what he should be saying about the economy.

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I don't feel safe yet

We have passed the five year marker of the war in Iraq and we mourn the loss of the lives of 4,000 brave Americans on foreign soil. At this sad point in American history, I am forced to ask myself, do I feel safe yet? This was the war post-911 that was supposed to make me feel safer, but just like the weapons of mass destruction that never materialized that feeling of security has yet to show up either.

This past week we have discovered that all of the presidential candidates have had their passport files snooped into. Regardless, of which canidate you are cheering for, one of these people will be the next President of the United States! Not to mention that one of the alleged snoopers was a new employee..ie..a low level employee. If I hear the phrase low level employee one more time I might just scream. I can't figure out how every low level employee in these political campaigns and in governmental agencies has such free reign and access to secure information. When I was a low level employee I was stuck guarding the stapler and the copy machine. I guess times have changed, and consequently,I am seriously considering quitting my current occupation and becoming a low level employee, because obviously the perks are much better. Forgive me if I am wrong, but if our government can't protect passport information I believe that I am entitled to feel a certain lack of confidence that the war in Iraq is going to protect my life and make my children safer.

Moreover, rather than keeping weapons out of the hands of other countries, today came the revelation that we have shipped missile parts to Taiwan. President Bush and Senator McCain keep telling me that we can't leave Iraq until we have won the war, but when I looked at my children hunting for Easter eggs on Easter Sunday and then went into my house to be confronted by images of Iraqi mothers cradling their children wounded by landmines, I just could not conjure up the feeling that we are winning. Maybe I am just not that bright, but I would love to have the current administration explain to me when I will know when we have won this war. Where exactly is the finish line? Maybe, it is hiding out with those weapons of mass destruction?

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Internship Opportunity

Here is a great opportunity for college students to get academic credit and some unique experience by interning at the Democratic National Convention to be hosted in Denver, Colorado ii August. The deadline is coming up fairly quickly on March 31, 2008, so if you are interested get your applications in asap.

http://www.denverconvention2008.com/files/internapp.pdf

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