Cristina Saralegui addresses DREAMERS at the DNC Convention

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Cristina Saralegui, the Latina Oprah, was introduced by a DREAMER, Benita Veliz from San Antonio, Texas, an honor student and valdectorian of her high school class at the age of 16, and a college graduate at the age of 20.

Cristina Saralegui's talk show had 100 million viewers in 40 countries. She addressed the need for comprehensive immigration reform, and passage of the DREAM Act. She has never endorsed a political candidate in the past, but she has endorsed President Barack Obama for his efforts towards immigration reform.

Video below the fold.

President Bill Clinton: The Fact-Checker-In-Chief debunks the GOPropaganda big lies

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The "Big Dog" delivered a virtuoso performance on Wednesday night. President Bill Clinton was the Fact-Checker-In-Chief, point-by-point debunking the GOPropaganda "big lies" upon which the "Galt – Gekko 2012" campaign is built, as well as the fallacy of the disproved and discredited faith based supply-side "trickle down" GOP economics.

Bill Clinton was both professor, explaining how policies work in clearly understandable terms, and prosecutor, sorting through the weight of the evidence and making his closing argument to the jury. He wielded folksy humor and mockery like a stilleto knife. By the time Clinton finished, the "Galt – Gekko 2012" campaign and the GOP were decimated in the dust.

This was a tutorial to Democrats — and the feckless media villagers — on how to respond to the Big Lie GOPropaganda campaign. Bill Clinton's speech will be studied in political science classes for years to come.

There is a wealth of material that can be used from Bill Clinton's speech. You can expect to see clips from this speech used in 30 second and one minute ads in the near future. Here are some of the highlights. DNC 2012: Bill Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention (Full transcript):

Philosophy of Governance

Now, folks, in Tampa a few days ago, we heard a lot of talk all about how the president and the Democrats don’t really believe in free enterprise and individual initiative, how we want everybody to be dependent on the government, how bad we are for the economy. This Republican narrative, this alternative universe says that every one of us in this room who amounts to anything, we’re all completely self-made. One of the greatest chairmen the Democratic Party ever had, Bob Strauss, used to say that every politician wants every voter to believe he was born in a log cabin he built himself. But, as Strauss then admitted, it ain’t so.

We Democrats, we think the country works better with a strong middle class, with real opportunities for poor folks to work their way into it, with a relentless focus on the future, with business and government actually working together to promote growth and broadly shared prosperity. You see, we believe that “We’re all in this together” is a far better philosophy than “You’re on your own.”

So who’s right? Well, since 1961, for 52 years now, the Republicans have held the White House 28 years, the Democrats 24. In those 52 years, our private economy has produced 66 million private- sector jobs. So what’s the job score? Republicans: twenty-four million. Democrats: forty-two. [See Democratic presidents are better for job creation.]

Code Pink To Dems: Stop Drone Warfare, Bust Up Big Banks

2012-09-05-codepink617sm72.jpg

by Pamela Powers Hannley
I knew when I saw that hot pink bra on the sidewalk, I knew that Code Pink must be nearby. 
Code Pink, the women-initiated peace and social justice group, protested the War on Women at the Republican National Convention. Their message for President Barack Obama and Democrats targets the military-industrial complex.
At the People's Convention, sponsored by Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin spoke against war– particularly drone warfare– and called for Congress and the President to make dramatic cuts to the military budget.
Benjamin, author of Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control, is a highly vocal peace activist.
At the PDA event, she said that there are strong, powerful men like Arizona Senator John McCain, who are standing up against cuts to the military budget, which are scheduled to go into effect due to sequestration.
But where is the movement to protect Pel Grants, Medicaid, and other social programs? she asked. According to Benjamin, the US could cut the military budget by 80% and still have the largest military in the world.
"Slash the Pentagon and put that money into life-affirming activitieis, which is what the people on the planet need," Benjamin demanded.
Attacking the other sector of the military-industrial complex, Benjamin and other Code Pink protesters wore pink bras on the outside of their clothes and shouted "Bust up the banks" in front of Bank of America, which is headquartered in Charlotte, host city of the Democratic National Convention.
Video after the jump.

Undocumented protesters arrested outside of Democratic Convention

Undocubus image 1-sm72

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Ten undocumented protesters from Arizona were arrested late Tuesday afternoon outside of the Time Warner Arena in uptown Charlotte, as Democratic National Convention delegates watched.

Chanting in Spanish and English, the protesters– surrounded by media and conventioneers with smart phone cameras– quickly marched toward the arena where First Lady Michelle Obama was scheduled to speak.

As throngs of convention delegates bustled down the sidewalk, the small band of Latinos laid a large yellow mat decorated with butterflies in the middle of the intersection and sat in protest of US immigration policies. Just as quickly, they were surrounded by police on foot and on bicycles. Although it was difficult for passersby to see them, we could hear their stories and feel the passion. 

More details and video after the jump.

First Lady Michelle Obama owns the convention

 

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

First Lady Michelle Obama owned the convention last night with a brilliantly written emotive speech that connected on an emotional level with the delegates in the hall and viewers at home. This was a masterful speech that will be remembered as one of the great convention speeches, certainly by a First Lady.

And let's not forget that Michelle Obama is a skilled attorney. She deftly destroyed the narcissistic GOP meme of their convention, which took the words of President Obama out of context, to assert that "we built it" (all by ourselves). Transcript: Michelle Obama's Convention Speech

Like so many American families, our families weren't asking for much.

They didn't begrudge anyone else's success or care that others had much more than they did…in fact, they admired it.

They simply believed in that fundamental American promise that, even if you don't start out with much, if you work hard and do what you're supposed to do, then you should be able to build a decent life for yourself and an even better life for your kids and grandkids.

That's how they raised us…that's what we learned from their example.

We learned about dignity and decency – that how hard you work matters more than how much you make…that helping others means more than just getting ahead yourself.

We learned about honesty and integrity – that the truth matters…that you don't take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules…and success doesn't count unless you earn it fair and square.

We learned about gratitude and humility – that so many people had a hand in our success, from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean…and we were taught to value everyone's contribution and treat everyone with respect.

Those are the values Barack and I – and so many of you – are trying to pass on to our own children.

That's who we are.