president

In 1968 President Nixon officially launched the “War on Drugs” in response to what was seen as a growing problem of drug use in the United States. At that time, approximately 1.3% of the U.S. population was considered addicted to drugs and the “War” was waged through measures such as heavy policing and arrests for drug possession and trafficking, building more prisons to house drug offenders, and harsh penalties for users. Over 40 years and 1 trillion tax dollars later, the rate of addiction in the U.S. holds steady at 1.3% and drugs are cheaper, purer, and easier to get than ever before.

Think about this, what if this oil spill, as tragic as it is, provides us with the wake up call about how we power our world? My first thought when the spill happened was, what if we had not gotten rid of the electric car of the 1990's (from the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?) and electric cars had grown in usage for the past decade? Would the drilling platform catastrophe still have happened?
No one can be sure, but what we can be sure of, is that it will keep happening until we change our cars from gas/oil powered to electric powered.

That's why this petition is so important - the Gulf Oil Spill Electric Car Credit. It asks for legislation to give a substantial credit for purchasing an electric car, and it has key provisions to put a lot of people to work, immediately, in a midterm election year. But we need to get support for this idea in the US House and Senate. That's where you can help.

Here is the link to the Charlotte Observer printing of it in today's newspaper. The column originally ran in the Miami Herald.

It's happening right now. Today is also national coming out day. And President Obama gave a speech yesterday on the eve of this event. A busy weekend for gay rights.

(cross-posted at dKos)

Some thoughts from the perspective of a young evangelical Christian who long ago told the Republicans to go fly a kite ...

Overall, I have to call this a draw. Obama couldn't have handled himself better, and judging by the amount of applause probably got a few people off the fence. However, McCain may well have won some people over as well.

More thoughts after the jump ...

"There is one man who knows that knows and understands that this is a time for bold leadership. There is one man that knows how to create the change, the lasting change, that you have to build from the ground up. There is one man who knows in his heart there is time to create one America, not two ... and that man is Barack Obama, " John Edwards told a fired up crowd in Michigan, as he endorsed Barack Obama for President.

For part of 2006, all of 2007 and early 2008 my daily blogging life revolved around getting John Edwards elected President. During that time I did what I could to make it happen, not nearly as much as volunteers like NCDem Amy and Tom P. and not a drop in the bucket compared to the paid staff - Tracy Russo, Aaron Myers and the rest of the crew I got to know while volunteering at the office. When Senator Edwards dropped out of the race it felt like a kick in the groin. It was unexpected, it was painful. To me, John Edwards was really going to be the person that changed the system. I believe in him like people believed in JFK and RFK and as I told my wife "you only get one of these races every lifetime" and for me it wasn't or isn't about Obama it was about John Edwards.
But, he's out. So, after fluttering around for awhile I discovered the second-best candidate running in North Carolina, Dan Besse. Then, finally, I started blogging about the Neal/Hagan race. But, the thrill is gone. I'm all burnt out of candidate fights. I'm burnt out on fighting over he said/she said. I'm going back to issue blogging. At least, for now. So, this is it. This is my final blog on candidates.

gary, indiana

Yes.

MAKE.IT.WORK.....

That is what this campaign is about, Making it Work, for Americans.