untitled nomination weekend 2

@heyayeh: thanks a lot, heyayeh! the tension really was palpable; i don't think there were any bored people in the room

@bm: bm, thanks for your comment. to answer your question, only if by spoiler you mean that he will help spoil corporate control and corruption in this country. i think most Nader supporters would rather not vote or write someone in than vote for Obama--someone who's voted for all the war funding Bush has asked for, voted to reauthorize the PATRIOT Act, voted for a tort act (that even Hillary voted against) which basically kills most class action lawsuits, voted for the FISA telecom immunity bill that basically throws our right to privacy out the window, a huge supporter of nuclear industry, is backing down on offshore drilling, wants to leave tens of thousands of troops in Iraq and over a hundred thousand mercenaries, won't pledge to end the Iraq war by the end of his first term, wants to move troops to Afghanistan where we're doing outrageous things that aren't reported on the daily news, wants to increase the already gigantic military budget--i can continue much longer if you would like. Enough Is Enough!

I leave you with a quote from this article:

"Lawrence O'Donnell, best known as the director and writer of TV's West Wing and staple liberal voice on the McLaughlin Group, a favorite of mine which we like to call "The Shouters." But not so long ago, O'Donnell was the Democratic Chief of Staff of the United States Senate Committee on Finance from 1993 through 1995. In 1992, he was Chief of Staff of the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. So he knows the ways of the Capitol and the Democratic establishment from deep inside. On a discussion of Ralph's third party runs for president, O'Donnell had these memorable words:

" "If you want to pull the party--the major party that is closest to the way you're thinking--to what you're thinking, YOU MUST, YOU MUST show them that you're capable of not voting for them. If you don't show them you're capable of not voting for them, they don't have to listen to you. I promise you that. I worked within the Democratic Party. I didn't listen, or have to listen, to anything on the left while I was working in the Democratic Party, because the left had nowhere to go." (Caps represent O'Donnell's emphasis, where he raised his voice.)"

@sherri: LOL -- thank you, Sherri!

@yiannis krikis: thanks, yiannis. he's the guy responsible for the fact that cars have seatbelts and airbags.

@Twelvebit: you raise an important issue. electoral reform and voting systems were things a lot of people brought up there.

@Ina: thanks, Ina!

@Kevin from OrganicPIX.com: thanks, that's nice of you to say! :)

@Ron: appreciate it, Ron! you're right, most of them were middle-aged and white, though there were a fair number of Latinos (hope that's the right term?) you can't see in this picture, but only a few African Americans.