rdolan
03-18-2008, 05:51 AM
Hi-
I sent this email out to friends and family tonight. I thought I'd post it here as well.
Thanks,
Ryan
Hello Friends-
I am writing you on my own volition, because I feel a very important speech is taking place Tuesday in Philadelphia (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/us/politics/18wright.html?hp).
As some of you may know, I volunteer once or twice a week at Obama's HQ answering phones. The phone calls that come in run the gamut of crazy to supportive, from hateful to inspiring. I am sad to admit that I have talked to large number of people that call in that are incredibly misinformed about Mr. Obama's race, religion, and love of country. More importantly, I am exposed to the inherent, conscious and sub-conscious bigotry and intolerance that is alive and well in our country
None of us are perfect. We all have our biases and prejudices. I understand that.
In the past couple of weeks, these phone calls have been getting worse in my opinion as more and more slanderous emails and web sites attack Obama. Most recently, Fox News has released footage of Obama's pastor saying some inflammatory things about our country and its role with race and our country's incitement of hatred across the globe. This is no different that many on the far right, including Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, have said about our country and afterwards been embraced by our republican presidents to no outcry or protestation (http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/03/17/wright/index.html). Some white people call in and are furious that Obama would worship under Rev. Wright. When I ask them if anything that Obama has ever said reflected in anyway what Rev. Wright has said, they answer "no," but they and their anger are not appeased.
Then they often ask me how I could sit there and answer phones for Obama, and why I support him. I tell them the truth. I talk about Mr. Obama's speech at the 2004 National Democratic Convention. When he said he "didn't see a 'Red America' or a 'Blue America," he only saw the United States of America," that hit home with me.
When I sit down at Thanksgiving, I tell people, I sit down with family members from a broad spectrum of idealogies and political persuasions. My family members are not my enemies. They are people who I love very much, and who love me back. We basically all want the same thing. We want a good education for ourselves and our kids, a good economy, affordable healthcare, affordable housing, etc. We might disagree about the best way to go about that, but we're all pursuing the same ends with fundamentally the same point of view: treat others as we like to be treated. I believe Obama understands this and it's a principle tenet in how he would run his administration and our country.
The United States is at a crossroads. After 8 years of terrible mis-management at home and abroad, this next election is extremely important in setting the direction of our country. In such an important time, our politicians should be elected on the basis of their ideas and ideals. Settling for the last candidate standing after a barrage of hate, slander, and attack politics as dictated and delivered to you by our mainstream press and every hack political web site, should not be an option for us. We should demand better. We need to demand better.
Barack Obama is giving a speech about race and religion tomorrow in Philadelphia. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/us/politics/18wright.html?hp) It doesn't have to change your mind about whether you like him or someone else for president. It does matter, however, because Obama should not lose because of bigotry and intolerance. If he does lose, it's should be because another candidate has proven to the American public that they are a better choice to lead our country out of these troubling times of war, recession, selfishness, and ignorance. This speech tomorrow, my gut feeling tells me, might very well be the most important speech he's given and one of the more important speeches of our lifetime. The speech won't solve everything by itself. The issues that it raises needs to be analyzed, discussed, and propagated by you intelligent folks. I hope you keep your eye out for news coverage of the speech, and/or a clip of it on youtube and the transcript of the speech.
I am sometimes asked by frustrated people that call in, supporters for Obama, what they could possibly do to counter all the negativity surrounding this election. I tell them that the fact they called the campaign is important. Passing a comment along to a campaign is important. Because the comments add up and people take notice and the candidate speaks because of those comments. I've seen it happen. Write or phone your politicians. Leave a comment after you read a news article on the web. Send an email to the DNC about Florida and Michigan or a platform you want democrats to address. Write the reporter at the New York Times or MSNBC or your local paper. You'd be surprised that sometimes they actually write back. They definitely read it.
Most importantly reach out to your friends and family members. Many of us come from places outside of Chicago or major metropolitan areas. We forget that people outside the city (not to mention in the city) often have different viewpoints on issues. It's important to open up these discussions and listen to each other. It's important to get our views out on the table and talk about what's right, what's wrong, and what we can do to make things better.
Thanks for taking the time to read this somewhat lengthy email. Take care.
Sincerely,
Ryan Dolan
I sent this email out to friends and family tonight. I thought I'd post it here as well.
Thanks,
Ryan
Hello Friends-
I am writing you on my own volition, because I feel a very important speech is taking place Tuesday in Philadelphia (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/us/politics/18wright.html?hp).
As some of you may know, I volunteer once or twice a week at Obama's HQ answering phones. The phone calls that come in run the gamut of crazy to supportive, from hateful to inspiring. I am sad to admit that I have talked to large number of people that call in that are incredibly misinformed about Mr. Obama's race, religion, and love of country. More importantly, I am exposed to the inherent, conscious and sub-conscious bigotry and intolerance that is alive and well in our country
None of us are perfect. We all have our biases and prejudices. I understand that.
In the past couple of weeks, these phone calls have been getting worse in my opinion as more and more slanderous emails and web sites attack Obama. Most recently, Fox News has released footage of Obama's pastor saying some inflammatory things about our country and its role with race and our country's incitement of hatred across the globe. This is no different that many on the far right, including Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, have said about our country and afterwards been embraced by our republican presidents to no outcry or protestation (http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/03/17/wright/index.html). Some white people call in and are furious that Obama would worship under Rev. Wright. When I ask them if anything that Obama has ever said reflected in anyway what Rev. Wright has said, they answer "no," but they and their anger are not appeased.
Then they often ask me how I could sit there and answer phones for Obama, and why I support him. I tell them the truth. I talk about Mr. Obama's speech at the 2004 National Democratic Convention. When he said he "didn't see a 'Red America' or a 'Blue America," he only saw the United States of America," that hit home with me.
When I sit down at Thanksgiving, I tell people, I sit down with family members from a broad spectrum of idealogies and political persuasions. My family members are not my enemies. They are people who I love very much, and who love me back. We basically all want the same thing. We want a good education for ourselves and our kids, a good economy, affordable healthcare, affordable housing, etc. We might disagree about the best way to go about that, but we're all pursuing the same ends with fundamentally the same point of view: treat others as we like to be treated. I believe Obama understands this and it's a principle tenet in how he would run his administration and our country.
The United States is at a crossroads. After 8 years of terrible mis-management at home and abroad, this next election is extremely important in setting the direction of our country. In such an important time, our politicians should be elected on the basis of their ideas and ideals. Settling for the last candidate standing after a barrage of hate, slander, and attack politics as dictated and delivered to you by our mainstream press and every hack political web site, should not be an option for us. We should demand better. We need to demand better.
Barack Obama is giving a speech about race and religion tomorrow in Philadelphia. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/us/politics/18wright.html?hp) It doesn't have to change your mind about whether you like him or someone else for president. It does matter, however, because Obama should not lose because of bigotry and intolerance. If he does lose, it's should be because another candidate has proven to the American public that they are a better choice to lead our country out of these troubling times of war, recession, selfishness, and ignorance. This speech tomorrow, my gut feeling tells me, might very well be the most important speech he's given and one of the more important speeches of our lifetime. The speech won't solve everything by itself. The issues that it raises needs to be analyzed, discussed, and propagated by you intelligent folks. I hope you keep your eye out for news coverage of the speech, and/or a clip of it on youtube and the transcript of the speech.
I am sometimes asked by frustrated people that call in, supporters for Obama, what they could possibly do to counter all the negativity surrounding this election. I tell them that the fact they called the campaign is important. Passing a comment along to a campaign is important. Because the comments add up and people take notice and the candidate speaks because of those comments. I've seen it happen. Write or phone your politicians. Leave a comment after you read a news article on the web. Send an email to the DNC about Florida and Michigan or a platform you want democrats to address. Write the reporter at the New York Times or MSNBC or your local paper. You'd be surprised that sometimes they actually write back. They definitely read it.
Most importantly reach out to your friends and family members. Many of us come from places outside of Chicago or major metropolitan areas. We forget that people outside the city (not to mention in the city) often have different viewpoints on issues. It's important to open up these discussions and listen to each other. It's important to get our views out on the table and talk about what's right, what's wrong, and what we can do to make things better.
Thanks for taking the time to read this somewhat lengthy email. Take care.
Sincerely,
Ryan Dolan