Hurricane Gustav is moving into a category 5 Storm. It has ripped through Haiti, Jamaica and parts of Cuba. 150 mile per hour winds are its signature and its getting stronger…The Mayor of New Orleans, a city now occupied by the National Guard, has issued a mandatory evaculation order….This is happening on the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina….No media outlets I have seen connect the severe weather we are experiencing and global warming….

More on this story and others tomorrow. Now back to my earlier blog…

FRIDAY MORNING: Gov. Sarah Palin Is McCain’s Choice for Vice President
First-term Alaska governor is first woman to join Republican presidential ticket. (WP)

IS THIS THE AGE OF OBAMA OR THE AGE OF KATRINA?

GUSTAV KILLS 51, PROBABLY MORE, IN HAITI, TRASHING JAMAICA AS I WRITE, AND THREATENING NEW ORLEANS.

NOT AGAIN! Yes, possibly, Again!

BARACK OBAMA’S MOMENT
PUTIN SAYS US PROVOKED WAR FOR POLITICAL REASONS
REMEMBERING THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON

DISSECTING “LIVE” FROM THE LIVING ROOM AT THE RACE BROOK LODGE IN THE BERKSHIRES:

And then it was time for the Obama video. Serious. Personal, not that political. Syrupy: “I am my brother’s keeper.” …. Moving…..and yet riddled with truth about empathizing with all people, certainly a compassionate communique unlike any we have seen in recent years.

And then he walked on stage, with that beaming smile of his, with a musical soundtrack, in front of 75,000 of his new best friends, thanking and thanking the assembled 85,000 again and again. (Usually you say thanks at the end…no?)

He expresses profound gratitude and great humility as he accepts their nomination…..he salutes Hillary, Bill Clinton, OOPS SOUND PROBLEM ON PBS, he thanks Biden who he calls one of the “finest statesman” and then acknowledges Michelle, “the love of my life,” and then his kids ….and then the speech begins….

He speaks initially to the economic woes of many Americans and indicts the “failure to respond” on the part of government….We are a better country than that…He’s citing all the problems his campaign has mentioned including the drowning of a great city…He says ENOUGH….Keep the American promise !…We can’t let the next four years look like the last 8…..the audience is chanting Change is coming…

He praises McCain and then turns on him as devotee of Bush….He has been anything but independent…He references Phil Gramm’s reference to a “nation of whiners…” and demolishes it….he offers a litany of issues on which he says McCain doesn’t get it….He says the “ownership society” means you are on your own….

Its time for them to own their failures….its time for us to change America….

He then moved to spell out what his idea of change means—His issues: Tax reform, Create jobs, Cut Taxes for 95% of all working families, end dependence on oil from Middle East, renewable energy, tap natural gas, safely harness nuclear power, mmm, clean coal. affordable and renewal energy, meet moral obligation, a world class education for all, early childhood education, recruit an army of new teachers, pay them well, affordable education for those who serve the country and their communities, affordable health care, change bankruptcy laws, equal pay for equal day’s work…

now he talks about how he will pay for this by closing corporate loopholes…He says we need parents, not just programs, and and more involved fathers….He is advocating individual responsibility and mutual responsibilty…..

He is now using, actually repeating the phrase Dr King used 45 years ago on this day:”NOW IS THE TIME!”

On foreign policy, he calls for more troops for Afghanistan…He says McCain will follow Osama Bin Laden to the gates of hell,but not he says to the cave he lives in…. he wants to remove our troops in Iraq….etc.etc…..We are now on familiar ground…he wants to to defeat Russian Aggression with diplomacy… (Iraq veterans are protesting outside but they are not acknowledged or supported….He is burying the war as an issue, moving beyond it.)

He strikes out at partisan bashing and using patriotism as a tool to smear each other..he recites the Party positions….and calls for unity…challenges cynicism….I am not the likeliest candidate…something is stirring…This election is not about me, its about you….Change doesn’t come from Washington; it comes to Washington…he calls for a new politics for a new time….

He speaks of the promise 45 years ago….of young preacher from Georgia speaks of his dream…of the March (see below) ..america, we can not turn back. ….we can not work alone…we must pledge to march into the future…and closes with reference to scripture……And the band strikes up a song about the promised land…..and then the fireworks outdoing the Olympics in Beijing….They are now blowing confetti a la Cirque du Soleil…..lots of heroic music, men embracing, some in tears…

It is celebration time…..CNN calls it the most important speech he has ever given….He took on his weaknesses….He has shown he is “tough enough.!” Question: was he convincing to independents and doubters in his own party?

This phase of his race is over–but the campaign is just beginning once again….

TECHNOLOGY ON DISPLAY

Technology is on display in Denver. As the audience waited for Obama, they were given an assignment:

In the hours before he made his entrance, these supporters were being asked to text message the Obama campaign and their friends and to make phone calls from specially tailored call sheets as part of an unprecedented effort to mobilize voters and get nonvoters to register.

Yes, I was texted too….

THE BEST LINE

The best line from the ordinary voters backing Obama: “I want a president who will put Barney Smith Before Smith Barney.”

The stadium at Invesco Field was packed. It was supposedly the hottest ticket in town. Stevie Wonder was on fire. There was a stage full of Amirals and Generals. Dwight David Eisenhower’s grand daughter Susan was on message and intelligent.

Al Gore cited Abraham Lincoln as an example of a state legislator who went on to become a President. He said e are at the end of an era with a mandate from history. He worked the phrase an “inconvenient truth” into his presentation. Good speech by Al, thoughful, with a sense of history and morality (ie to redeem the purpose of historyy. I watched him with a group of middle-aged women, one of whom feared that he was too intellectual. Another countered that he was adding substance. Folks cheered as a song from HAIR regaled the Stadium. I am watching on CSPAN so there’s no voice-over, just cheering.

MCCAIN’S RESPONSE: THE SPEECH SHOWS OBAMA IS NOT READY TO BE PRESIDENT. HE ISSUED A REBUTTAL AND PLANS TO ANNOUNCE HIS VP RUNNING MATE TONIGHT AT A RALLY IN OHIO.

67 DAYS TO GO.

IS THIS A PROGRESSIVE VICTORY?

David Sirota thinks so and so writes on TomPaine.com

The Rise of the “Democratic Wing” of the Democratic Party

Despite the personality tiff between the Obama and Clinton people, and despite some blemishes on Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden’s record, one thing is undebatable: The progressive wing of the Democratic Party — the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party, as Paul Wellstone famously called it — has finally defeated the party’s corporate wing. But there’s much more work to do.

Harpers reported that 75 coprorations contributed to the Democratic convention; only 50 for Republican.

WATCH THE LOBBYISTS OPERATE IN DENVER

NY TIMES: BLACK FUNDRAISING ELITE EMERGES

A cadre of black elites has emerged as a significant force in the most prolific fund-raising operation in presidential history.

RIGHT WINGNUT SEES SOROS-GEFFEN PLOT BEHIND OBAMA
The PR AGENCY SPECIAL GUESTS GETS DISSECTOR GOLD MEDAL FOR ABSURDITY

Two of the wealthiest people in the world support Barack Obama. Setting up the American public as the collective goat, did they also create him to benefit from two nefarious plots that are to be carried out in October and November respectively?

Author Lee Troxler has uncovered what he says are plots involving George Soros and David Geffen that are just plain diabolical. “Does anyone think Barack Obama would be the nominee without the support of Soros and Geffen,” Troxler asks. “In writing this book, we have uncovered why he’s their guy and the answers are more than just a little sobering.”

Based on these finds, Troxler is convinced that there are two political bombs set to go off – one from New York in October and one from Hollywood in November that are designed to assure an Obama victory that will put Soros and Geffen at the controls.

Troxler strongly urges and encourages people to stop and think about this man’s rise. “The fact that Barack Obama surpassed Hillary Clinton against virtually all odds and expectations is not due to sheer charisma,” he said. “Charisma is nice to have but the reason Barack Obama is on the cusp of becoming president of the United States can be traced almost exclusively back to two people who are plotting the future of this country.

ACTVISTS HAVE BEEN MEETING IN DENVER ON EVERY FRONT

On the eve of the 3rd Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Sara K. Gould, President & CEO of the Ms. Foundation, is hosting a roundtable discussion, ” What Women Want: Journalists and Activists Connect Stories and Solutions,” in collaboration with Women’s eNews, just blocks away from the convention, at Big Tent Denver.

Panelists, including grassroots activists from New Orleans, Providence and Denver, and leaders of organizations like the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, are addressing the impact of the economy, post-Katrina recovery and other key issues on women—particularly low-income women and women of color, who are hardest hit in times of crisis. They are also offering cutting-edge solutions—grounded in the experiences and expertise of women themselves.

GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE MCKINNEY ON BIDEN

“Joe Biden is handmaiden to the special interests in Washington, D.C. that rely on war, death, untold carnage, and the insecurity of average, ordinary American citizens to have their way. It is clear that a vote for the Democratic Party is a vote for more war.

ERIC ALTERMAN: HOW THE MEDIA STIRRED A CLINTON –OBAMA CONFLICT

WHO WAS WATCHING? NIELSON REPORTS

Nielsen just released its ratings for Day Three of the Democratic National Convention. The key takeaways are:

1) Bill Clinton and Senator Joe Biden drew more viewers (24 million) than Michelle Obama (22.3 million) – but fewer than Hillary Clinton (26 million).

2) Older viewers (age 55+) continued to dominate the TV audience Wednesday night, with 18.1% of all Americans in that age group — 12.5 million people — tuning in to the convention coverage.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

It’s a beautiful summer day the way it was 45 years ago when with great anticpation and excitement our busses started to roll out of East Baltimore to join the great March on Washington. The year 1963 had been a year of feverish civil rights activism all across the South and the March was to be its culmination. I was working then as a field organizer for the Northern Student Movement’s Baltimore project and we managed to fill five busses with young people who were fired up and ready to go, NSM was a northern affiliate of SNNC, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, one of the March’s movement sponsors. We had a statewide committee in Maryland that I was part of coordinating the State’s response. Frankly, we had no idea of how it would all go down.

You might want to check in on this link for more information on how the March was organized.

What’s important to know is that the Labor movement was helping to fund it and our demands were for jobs and justice. The Kennedy Administration was nervous about it and in fact the press that day would later focus on its peaceful nature, not its demands or Dr, King’s memorable speech. Many don’t know that Dr. King gave the speech in Detroit at the end of June to see what kind of reaction he would get. It was an uncomfortable coalituon. The NAACP and Urban League were conservative and suspicious of March organizer Bayard Rustin who worked for labor leader A/ Phillip Randolph, who had actually floated a similar idea during World War 2 that ended up getting an executive order to desegregate the military. SNCC and CORE were the militants. Jim Farmer of CORE was actually in jail in Lousiana. John Lewis of SNCC was being pressured to tone down his speech.

The stakes were high and the March was a high point of the first mass phase of what we called “THE MOVEMENT.” The President welcomed the March leaders to the White House afterwards. Later in the evening Malcolm X would turn up to the march’s headquarters to warn of the consequences of government inaction.

Of the leaders who spoke that day, only John Lewis is alive, now an outspoken Congressman from Atlanta. If you there that day, as I was, you will never forget that day even if most of the country, thanks to our media, has had it and the struggle that continues reduced to just four words—“I Have A Dream.”

Dr. King’s eloquence is important—in many ways it inspired Obama’s style—but it was not the movement just as Obama himself is not the Movement. He is now all those people who identify with his values and hopes.