Dreamhost has moved our site to a faster server! Now posting can resume. Full speed ahead.

It seems the server AAR sits on is verrry slow. Maybe some other site also on the server is being “attacked” I don’t know. Please let me know if you are having any problems accessing the site or posting comments. (If you can get on.) Dreamhost is working on it. I hope to have the problem fixed soon.

Just got this email from Rick Jacobs over at the Courage Campaign:
We won!
After weeks of bad news, here’s the good news: Tens of thousands of “Decline-to-State” (DTS) voters — who intended to cast a ballot for Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton on Super Tuesday — will now have their “double bubble” votes counted by the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters.

And it’s because of you.
Thank you to the eye-popping 32,802 concerned Californians who signed our “Count Every Vote” petition to Dean Logan, the Acting Registrar of Los Angeles County.
Thank you …

***Update…erm, I meant denounce. This is why you should actually read what you write out loud always, even when you’re in a hurry. My mind said denounce but my fingers said renounce. Yikes. Sorry.
Obama was right to “denounce” and reject” Louis Farrakhan and his unsolicited endorsement. If Obama is to lead in a new way, if he is going to be a leader who stimulates our highest impulses, then he will have to be bold and steadfast in his repudiation of all bigotry and those who promote it. Truth is, …

Karl Rove spoke at a public lecture last night and I went to hear him. His moral compass is pointed in a different direction than mine, but his brilliance is indisputable and Rove understands much about running winning political campaigns. I wanted to hear what he had to say up close and personal…well, relatively.
Rove spoke with wit and keen attention to specifics. The most informative part of the evening was Rove’s 41 Rules to winning a presidential election, his prepared presentation which lasted approximately 30 minutes. Since I’ve long taken …

UPDATE: And now Clinton issues the non-denial denial – Read more

So with the latest polls showing Clinton losing support in both Ohio and Texas, the Clinton campaign has done exactly.what.I.predicted. they would do. They have reached down to the sewer, grabbed a handful of race-tinged slime and are slinging it hoping it will stick anywhere, somewhere. According to the Drudge Report, the campaign is circulating this picture as “Obama Dressed.”

The Clintons hope that FEAR of Muslims will beat out HOPE for a future fueled by activated Americans. And in the …

I’ve posted my thoughts on Ralph Nader’s role in the presidential race over at The Unapologetic Mexican, where I am honored to have been graciously offered some fancy real estate on which to hang out…otherwise known as crossposting.
Please head on over and have a look.

Backstrokin’
The Fatback Band

awwww yeahhhhh.

I got sad watching Barack Obama’s speech Tuesday last night. And yes, it was something he said. First Obama stood, basking in the unabashed passion the crowd was sending his way. And then he reminded them:
“Change doesn’t come from the top down, it comes from the bottom up.”
The people roared. And I felt sad because I realized how few of them really heard what he said and understood what it means for our future as Americans. Beyond all of the all of the hullabaloo surrounding the campaigns to put …

I have been running ragged taking care of offline tasks and meeting offline deadlines. I have to get the car in the shop right now, but I will have two or three longer posts by this afternoon PST.
Please bear with me and in the meantime, you might want to read the New York Times article about John McCain. I will be posting about this one.
READ MORE – For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Its Own Risk

Ben & Jerry’s founders have endorsed Obama and they’re giving away free ice cream.
The founders of Ben & Jerry’s endorsed Barack Obama on Monday, and lent his Vermont campaign two “ObamaMobiles” that will tour the state and give away scoops of “Cherries for Change” ice cream.
“If there was ever a need for real change, and if there ever was a candidate to inspire us and make that happen, it’s now,” said Ben Cohen.
Added Jerry Greenfield: “Barack is showing that when you lead with your values and follow what you have …

If I had seen Kevin Merida’s article in the Onion instead of the Washington Post, I would have thought it was a spot on parody of the panic on display by some black politicos right now.
Which brings us back to the dilemma facing some of Clinton’s high-profile black supporters — those with titles and constituencies of their own. They are feeling some kind of crazy pressure. Last Friday, about 25 of them held an hour-long conference call to discuss what one described as an effort to “pester, intimidate, question our …

George Washington has been on my mind pretty heavy during the past 48 hours. Happy Birthday, Mr. President. I think of George Washington as a courageous and strong soldier, a devoted family man and thought leader who helped unite a young America during the Constitutional Convention. I also think of our nation’s first President as a slave owner.
I grew up in Maryland. That meant regular elementary school field trips to Mount Vernon. I guess I had been to the plantation about 3 or 4 times by the time I …

Good Life
Inner City

Let me take you to a place I know you want to go
it’s a good life
I wanna stand around and beg you
just don’t say no
no no
no no.
I have got a feeling that you’re gonna like it what I’m doing to you
And I know what I’m doing
I’ll be doing what you want to me to do.
Love is shining
life is thriving in the good life
good life

I have great respect for what John Lewis has done for our country. As a very young man, he put his body and soul on the line as a Freedom Rider to make life better for black people; all people really. I was dismayed by his early endorsement of Hillary Clinton, but it looks like Lewis may be contemplating a switch to Obama, now backing away from any definitive declaration of a switch:
Confusion erupted Thursday night amid reports that a prominent African American supporter of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s had …