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"At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise, that American promise, and in the words of scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess." Barack Obama

"If you were born in the United States, congratulations – you have already won the lottery. You are better off than 99% of the world's population."  Warren Buffett

"For of those to whom much is given, much is required." President John F. Kennedy

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Post-DNC Blues
John McCain is literally keeping me up nights, but more about that later. Many of you have asked me about my convention experience. Unfortunately, the politics as usual by the Republican Party has really muted that wonderful experience, but I will try to relate to you just how special it was.

Part of any convention is the special events planned to entertain delegates and guests while not in the convention hall. I was a volunteer captain on such an event. It was called the American Presidential Experience, a bipartisan exhibit of presidential memorabilia. It was held in the parking lot of Invesco Field where Obama gave his speech. Our event was open to the public and although we did not receive much attention from the party celebs, it was a remarkable experience nonetheless. We had over 1000 different volunteers help with our event doing everything for parking control to guiding guests through the exhibits. Our event was one place the Host Committee could place out of state volunteers, so we had volunteers from almost every state and even a fella who came from Saudi Arabia to volunteer. Our volunteers were excited and energized and happy to be a part of the convention in any way. They worked hard and even took it upon themselves to learn more about the exhibit and our presidents. I worked with a fantastic Area Director, Bob, who assembled a team of very motivated, energized, smart Alpha types who took the success of the event to heart. It made me miss being a part of something larger and more important than myself. We all worked long hours in sometimes challenging conditions (tent, hot weather, port-a-potty, etc) with sometimes challenging clients (political memorabilia collectors and exhibitors are a little like circus folk, 'nuff said). It was the most important experience of my professional and volunteer career to date.

Because of my connection with this event, I actually witnessed a miracle. On Thursday, the day of the big speech, I worked the event with all my other captains in hopes that delegates and guests would stop by before taking their seats at Invesco Field. Many of our volunteers wanted to work that day just to be in proximity to history. Unfortunately, the exhibit itself was not well attended, but the electricity of the day was remarkable. Watching the crowds weave thru security and cross the Colfax Bridge, all wanting to be a part of something bigger and historic, was something I will never forget.

Soon it was time to leave and go to the stadium. I found my seat and was immediately disappointed. It was behind the stage and my friends from my local party were dispersed throughout the stadium. I decided to go back the exhibit to get out of the sun and see if the tickets we had there were any better. When I got there, Bob and the other captains were excited about the 17 credentials they had received to pass out to our volunteers. They decided to do a random drawing of the forty or so volunteers present. At least some of our volunteers would get to be present for the speech. This is when the miracle occurred. As Bob began drawing names for those 17 tickets, cell phones began to ring. A few people came up with their own credentials. Another person found a friend with 3 extra credentials. We had 3 extra credentials that our volunteer captain team did not need. One by one, every person who wanted to be present for the speech found a credential. Somehow those 17 credentials got close to 40 people where they wanted to be. After a while I returned to my seat and ran into friends as I made my way through the stadium. The speech itself was electrifying.

I have never felt so united and so hopeful. Even the tribulations of getting out of the stadium were muted because I made my way out with my friends from the Highlands Ranch Dems. On the train on my way home, I thought of the energy, the hope, and the work so many of us have put into trying to change the course of our country. Then I had a sinking realization that it might make no difference at all. That realization now had a name, and it was Sarah Palin.

The first night after our exhibit opened, I was riding the train home and talking to a few volunteers about the exhibit and a particular incident (again, political memorabilia people = circus freaks). It was after a Broncos game so the train was full and many of us were standing. As the train emptied out, a man went to sit down in a newly open seat. I heard him say in a stage whisper, “I had to get away from the Socialists having their meeting.” He said it not once, but three times. Now, I find being called a Socialist especially demeaning since I have fought tooth and nail on the platform committee to keep the Democratic Party from leaning too far left. (Too bad there is no one like me on the right.) The next night driving home, I saw a bumper sticker that read “Your wallet, the only place Democrats want to drill.” We can argue about the problems in this country all we want, but for me the worst problem is the rampant partisanship.

I was hopeful when this campaign started that for the first time in a very long time, we would have a political discourse about the issues that face this county. The economy, our energy policy, national security, the war on terror, national debt. I was hopeful that John McCain would stick to the issues and let the American people decide based on the issues and not on personal attacks or partisan politics.

I am so disappointed in John McCain. His party’s convention theme is “Country First." Somebody ought to take a big Sharpie over those signs and make them read “Party First." When John McCain realized how bad he would lose focusing on the issues he turned to the ugly politics of Bush and Rove...win at any cost.

John McCain’s campaign for the presidency has three central themes...Country First, Judgment, and Experience. Picking Sarah Palin as his VP running mate shows that he cares about none of these themes, and cares only about winning.

If experience were truly important there is a plethora of far more experienced Republicans than Sarah Palin. Reports say that John McCain had more moderate Republicans on his short list that may have appealed to both sides of the asle, but instead, caved to pressure from the right wing of his party. Is this the kind of judgment we want in a president? McCain did not pick the best person available for the job; he picked the person that catered the best to the right wing. We have had eight years of qualified public servants being passed over for less qualified candidates whose only qualification is their right wing ideology. Think FEMA, the Justice Department, and about a 100 other agencies that Bush has stocked with his ideological cronies. This is no indication of change from the last 8 years.

McCain has also effectively taken experience off the table as an issue in the campaign. A 20-month governor from a state with the population of Aurora, CO has no more experience than anyone else in this race. He belittles his own argument that experience is important with this choice.

Sarah Palin is a right wing ideologue that has energized the base of the Republican Party with her hypocritical views. She uses attacks, partisan politics, and culture wars to divide us. She only wants to win. She cares nothing about this country because if she did she would realize we do need to come together as a country. She was snide, snaky, and sarcastic about Obama, Democrats, and anyone who disagrees with her. In her view, we have no place in the political discourse of this country. Not once was John McCain’s character or experience attacked at our convention. The Democrats attacked his policies.

This constant attacking of values and character in politics has to stop. It drives us apart as people and makes our problems harder to solve. If I were to critically look at Sarah Palin's character, I might want to criticize her for using her children as a campaign tool while citing privacy for them. Why is it that right wingers like her and Dick Cheney can have people and things in their lives that are polar opposites to the beliefs of their party, and we can’t talk about that? Why can’t we talk about the Republicans assault on the availability of birth control and sex education in relation to the pregnant teenage girls like Sarah Palin's daughter? Why can’t we talk about the unequal treatment of gays and lesbians in the Republican Party platform and how that might affect Dick Cheney’s daughter? Why is it that Sarah Palin is a bastion of choice because she chose to have a disabled child but wants to take away other's rights to make that decision for themselves? Why do they get privacy in their lives, but my choices are subject to government intervention?

McCain cares nothing about this country and will stock it with the same right wing ideology that has led us to this place. If you believe that the country is going in the wrong direction, stop voting for those who use division, attack politics, and partisanship, and start electing those who are talking about what is important to you. You see, at the end of day, a pit bull with lipstick is still a pit bull, and she will still tear this country apart. The choice is clear, hope and unity or cynical politics and division.

And one more thing. Stop wishing that by drilling more for oil, energy prices will come down. My car doesn’t run on crude oil. Until we fix the problem of lack of refining capacity, it wont matter how much we drill. Drilling is not the answer, but it is the only one McCain and the GOP have. They have no real plan for alternative energy sources. Their energy plan was written by the oil companies. Remember, never side with those who stand to profit, they are always the bad guys. "Drill baby, drill" is a land-grab for evil oil companies.

For days I have been trying to wrap my head around the Sarah Palin mess and explain how I feel. I should have to just left it to The Daily Show with John Stewart.

Maybe tonight, I can actually get some sleep.

August 25-29, 2008
Stay tuned for Delana's wrap-up of her volunteer experiences at the 2008 Democratic National Convention!

August 22, 2008
Seeing the downturn of Senator Obama in recent polls is worrisome. Americans have made a lot of noise about their desire for change and their dissatisfaction with Congress for not enacting change. Before our leaders can break out of the current mold of Washington gridlock we must show them that we will support them and the change we desire.

Senator Obama has been trying to run a mature campaign focused on the serious issues that face this country. Senator McCain has been running the same old campaign using the same old GOP bag of dirty tricks and it is working. Negative campaigning, questioning Obama’s patriotism, wedge issues and swift boating are turning the electorate away from Senator Obama instead of turning them off to Senator McCain. No elected official will go out of the mode of expected behavior until we show them the kind of leader we want. Do we want someone who wins by any means necessary or someone who wins by addressing the serious problems that face our country? The way one runs a campaign is very telling of how they will run the country.

McCain’s recent attack that Obama only wants to be president because of ambition and not for a need to serve the country is beneath someone who so valiantly served our country. McCain has let his judgment about what constitutes a positive campaign be affected by his own ambition

We had better decide what we want from our elected officials quickly. The silly campaign tactics that we are responding to will bring us four more years of an energy policy written by Big Oil, four more years of fear mongering and Cold War era foreign policy, four more years of inaction on environmental issues and four more years of economic stagnation. Let’s demand serious debate in our elections by voting for the candidate who is running a positive campaign based on the issues and serious discourse on the future direction of this country. If we allow ourselves to be duped yet again by negative campaigning, wedge issues and swift boating, campaigns will become even more barbaric and the level of candidate running will drop. This nation will become severely divided, a collection of red and blue states. If you really want change, stop responding to the negative silliness of John McCain and look seriously at our presidential candidates. Like me, you will realize John McCain offers nothing but the same old, same old.

August 21, 2008
The misconceptions that the electorate still has about John McCain is glaring in the recent Rocky Mountain News Poll. It shows that the massive GOP propaganda machine and negative campaigning still work and how badly the Democrats and media are doing dispelling the myth of John McCain

Most of the public says the War in Iraq was a mistake but the poll shows that 50% of the respondents say John McCain has the right position on Iraq although he supported the war and Obama opposed it. John McCain chides Obama for not admitting that the surge worked (which is debatable) but does not admit his mistake in supporting a war of choice. John McCain laughs off Obama’s ascertation that recent successes in Iraq is due more to factors other than just the Surge while not knowing the difference between Sunni and Shiite or the timing of the Anbar Awakening.

The public does not like the direction of the country but thinks John McCain will do a better job at getting things done in Washington. John McCain has voted with Bush 95% of the time. Not exactly reaching across the isle. He supports tax cuts for the wealthy and has an abysmal report card on veteran’s affairs. His use of negative campaigning shows he is more interested in winning than in serious discussion of the issues.

The poll shows that John McCain leads in having good ides about energy. John McCain’s energy plan is the same one drafted by Big Oil in secret in Dick Cheney’s office with offshore drilling as its centerpiece. It pays lip service to alternatives and renewables with no real money to pay for them. Sounds like the same old bad ideas to me

John McCain also leads Obama in sharing our values and is slightly behind Obama in sharing the concerns of the average Colorado family. John McCain cheated on a crippled wife. He lied about his desire to run a positive campaign, he was a member of the Keating 5 and his is beholden to lobbyists. Lying, cheating, and adultery are not Colorado values. McCain has a net worth of 40 million dollars, owns eight homes, a huge brewing business and can’t remember the last time he pumped gas and we think we shares our concerns? Please, the only thing that concerns McCain is keeping tax cuts for the very rich and staying in the pockets of lobbyists.

McCain far out polls Obama on the question of readiness to lead. We should ask ourselves not who is ready to lead but who has the judgment to lead. Does someone who supported the Iraq war and sent thousands of Americans to their death, have good judgment? Does someone who saber rattles when talking about Iran have sound judgment? Does someone whose foreign policy ideals are entrenched in Cold War paradigms and who does not understand the new realities facing us with the resurgence of Russia and terrorism have the experience and knowledge to guide our country? John McCain is ready to lead if it were still 1984. A thousand years in Washington does not make someone ready to lead in a world that is constantly changing. Good judgment and the willingness to break out of old paradigms is what we need. Not an old man who doesn’t understand the reality of life in 2008.

John McCain is no maverick. He is running for Bush’s third term. He is the same old ideas and the same tired answers. He will further divide this country instead of inspiring us to work together. What we need is a leader that will inspire us to come together to make this the greatest country in the world. If we truly want change, we should vote for anybody but McSame.

July 23, 2008
It has been a while folks and although I hate it when people say, “We’ve been busy” (they usually haven’t), we’ve been busy. Instead of using my blog space to talk about politics (maybe a little) or Peter Forsberg (the countdown to Christmas begins!), I will tell you what we have been up to.

Lena has been swimming and getting ready for 1st grade. She is quite the little swimmer but is taking a break while she adjusts to 1st Grade. She loves school and is happy to be back with the gang. She is over her initial nervousness about the lunchroom and adapting well to rigors of an all day schedule. Evan and I miss her! Evan can’t wait to join her at school and see all his friends. I don’t have the heart to tell him they all graduated last May. He is preparing by learning his letters and numbers. An obsession with clocks has translated into learning how to tell time. They both took ice skating lessons this summer that ended with Evan lying on the ice screaming “I’m done”. My dreams of raising the next John Michael Liles may be done too! They have been keeping busy playing outside (when it is not too hot), swinging, scootering, and destroying the quiet of the neighborhood.

As for me it is pretty much politics all the time. I worked on the Colorado State Platform committee in April. So if you had plans with Brian and he did not show up it was because for 3 weekends straight, I was at HQ sorting out the platform. If you wanna hear more, you have to buy me a drink. The fruit of our labors can be viewed here. I was a delegate for the County, CD6 and State conventions and assemblies. I also spearheaded a big data entry project for the county party, which took much longer than I expected but was pretty successful. We had a party for our precinct in June and are preparing for a big one in September. I also have a gig at the DNC working at The American Presidential Experience. Should be fun. Bring the kids down! Of course, Josh And Gus’s Run is September 21st at Clement Park. I still need volunteers! (hint). After that I will devote my time to getting Senator Obama elected. I will collapse they day after the election . Please don’t call if you voted for McCain and he happens to win. If you love me, you won’t vote for McCain. If Obama wins, don’t call because I will be nursing a hangover!

April 2, 2008
Sooner or later, you knew this was going to happen. But really, did it have to look so effortless? Luongo is just counting the days until he goes back to Florida to see his kid.

April 1, 2008
For you climate change skeptics: The Wilkins Ice Shelf is falling into the sea, further proof of climate change.

Change those light bulbs and start recycling, folks. The threat is real.

March 31, 2008
A lot of my blog entries are very serious, well thought out calls for change. Today, however, I want to talk about something far less serious--the importance of things like movies, pop culture, and sports. Some find these things trivial and meaningless.

I remember learning in school that people pursued art when they had leisure time and this pursuit was the sign of an advanced civilization. I see movies, sports, and TV shows in that vein. Some are better examples of art than others, but they all serve the same purpose. They take us away from the drudgery of everyday life. Imagine if you had nothing to distract yourself from life. Imagine if every waking moment was spent thinking about life, work, worrying about your family or friends. Art is the great distraction.

"Hockey and television are art?" you ask skepetically. If you have ever seen Wayne Gretzky score a goal, you might come away thinking you have seen poetry. Peter Forsberg scoring 5 goals in the Stanley Cup finals in 1996 might make you as happy as a beautiful painting. The fact that we can get caught up in their quest for glory and feel that by supporting them we had some small part in it is inspiring just like the symphony. To get caught up in a game for an hour or two and forgetting that a friend has died, well that can be therapeutic. Remembering Tracey crying at an Avalanche game because her nephew was just born is something I feel lucky to have been a part of and a memory we both share. Brian and I have always had hockey. From the day we met, our mutual love of the sport has bound us. During those rough times, we could always talk about hockey even when every other subject was off limits. Many, many years from now when my dad is gone, I will have those hockey game memories. That Wayne Gretsky goal, the exact moment that my dad decided he hated Adam Foote and Super Joe (Sakic) saving the day will comfort me because I shared them with my dad.

My family loves movies. My dad has seen everything John Wayne ever made and those movies were an escape from a horrible childhood and the stresses of being an adult. Today they stave off boredom as he waits for the snow to melt so he can play golf. Some of my finest memories are of taking my neices and nephews to various movies. I cherish the memory of taking Ashley and Shelby to see "The Nutcracker" as much as I cherish the memory of taking Logan and Kyle to see "The Revenge of the Sith". The conversations we had before and after built and strengthened our relationship. The next time you see Kyle, ask him why he no longer eats or drinks at movies.

My point here is that life is more than just "life". People have imaginations, ideas, and talents of which we can only dream of, but we can get a glimpse into that world through their art. Whether it is Super Joe scoring a goal and saving the day or watching "Wings of Desire" (a truly poetic movie), their art adds to our lives. When we share a hockey game with our husband or a movie with our neice, we build memories. This spring, I will see a movie and raise a cosmopolitan glass to someone who is no longer with us. That is neither trivial or meaningless.

March 19, 2008
"Sometimes, I guess there's just not enough rocks." Forrest Gump

Or enough Kleenex. Sometimes, there is no consolation, no rhyme and no reason. Life is not fair. Sometimes, all you are left with is sadness.

My mom believes that the old saying "everything happens for a reason" is stupid. My mom believes "shit happens" and trying to find a reason for stuff is an exercise in futility. My mom, as usual, is right. There is no reason that a 45 year-old mother of two with numerous friends and a family that loved her dies suddenly and unexpectedly leaving so many people with nothing but sadness.

As I stood in the card aisle to find a sympathy card for Russ and his daughters, I was struck by how many cards said something about time healing all wounds. Obviously, these card writers had never lost anyone. If they had they would realize the wound of losing someone never heals. You might learn to live with it or it might scab over but the scab can be pulled off easily and the wound reopened.

If the world was fair or there was some cosmic balance sheet, only the old would die. We console ourselves with the knowledge that they had lived a long and wonderful life. How do you console yourself when someone dies with children left to raise, a husband to love, family to gather with, books to read and adventure not yet completed? There is no consolation for her daughters, her husband, her brother, her sisters and her friends. There is nothing but sadness.

For me I am filled with regret that I wasn’t a better friend. That I didn’t realize the pain that Ann was in and offer to help. I should have called more often and invited Ann and Russ to more of our events and such. I should have called Ann and thanked her for the 40th birthday presents that she sent with Russ to my party. But most of all, I should have called and told her that she was missed at that party. I thought I would see her again and have that opportunity but I never will.

Ann will be missed.

January 14, 2008
We all know that I do my best thinking on the treadmill. Multitasking at its finest! So the other day as I watching (okay reading) Barry Melrose on the treadmill, dreaming of him saying that Forsberg is returning to the Avs, I come across the "Saints are coming" on my iPod. This lyric always gets to me:

Child on her rooftops
Mother on her knees
Her sign reads: I am an American

In case you don't know, this song is a reworking of a Skids song done by U2 and Green Day to benefit musicians who lost everything in Katrina. So the song always reminds me of seeing people waiting for someone, anyone to help after Katrina and of my embarrassment that we looked like some hapless third world country who could not build a levy to literally save our lives. It always brings back my shame about how badly we handled the crisis.

So, it makes me happy to know that the victims of Katrina are suing the US Government for $3,014,170,389,176,410! I read that a third of the $3 quadrillion, stacked in pennies, would reach Saturn. A mere $1 quadrillion would dwarf the U.S. gross domestic product which was $13.2 trillion in 2007. Needless to say, they wont get that kind of cash but I am hoping it sends a message. You see there used to be this doctrine "of sovereign immunity (that) made governments immune from suits unless they consented to be sued (fat chance). However, in almost every jurisdiction you now have the opportunity to recover damages if you're injured through the negligence of a government worker, or because of poorly designed or maintained government property." (from Findlaw.com) To me this change is very important. I feel it might make the government more accountable. Instead of saying the previous administrations did not maintain the levys, each person is accountable for their job. So if it is your job to maintain those levys and you don't get them up to snuff, those deaths are on your shoulders. Just like if I don't clear my sidewalk after a snow storm and you fall on it and get hurt, I pay your expenses. Why should the government be exempt?

"The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment." - Robert M. Huchins

A great democracy needs to be constantly watched, questioned and held accountable for its actions. To me this suit shows that the apathy that has paralyzed us for so long is finally beginning to evaporate.

January 4, 2008 (Part One)
Faithful readers, Sorry to not blog for so long. Life got in the way. Anyway, good blogs are like fine wine and cannot be rushed.

If you had been a fly on our wall a week ago, you would know that I do not believe that co-dependency, in any form, actually exists. I believe it is an excuse created by some lazy psychiatrist who did not want to get off his/her arse and make the changes necessary to have a better life. I won't go into what led me to this conclusion but a few days later, I found more fuel for my fire.

I often hear from people when discussing climate change that the problem is so big that only the government action can tackle it. Is this some strange government co-dependency? Are you waiting for our government to act on climate change before you do? Maybe you should reconsider.

First, there has been a movement in America led by conservatives to destroy our government. Our government is now led by a group of people who hate government. So do you really think they are going to led on any issue that doesn't conform to their interests? Do you think there are a few things about climate change that might not float their boat? Put more simply, most of our "leaders" have ties to the very industry that really wants the existence of the internal combustion engine to continue.

Second, our government has led not on one significant change. Every change whether the suffragist movement, civil rights, women's rights, etc has been fought for by the people. It is the idea of the tipping point or the collective conscious. Al Gore said, "I do genuinely believe that the political system is not linear. When it reaches a tipping point fashioned by a critical mass of opinion, the slow pace of change we're used to will no longer be the norm". So change begins at home. If you are waiting for the government to act, stop waiting. Do what you can to lessen your carbon foot print then demand that our government does the same.

So I ask again, what are you doing to reduce your carbon footprint? For me, it is less packaging. Whether it is tomatoes that come in a package or bottled water, it is time to be more aware of the packaging. Thanks to Wendy, I have a super-cool reusable water bottle to make this task easier. So why don't you change a light bulb or recycle a newspaper? It is the little things we all do that makes a big difference.

"Never doubt that a small group of concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead

January 4, 2008 (Part Two)

"Now I believe there comes a time
When everything just falls in line
We live and learn from our mistakes
The deepest cuts are healed by faith"

I embarrassed to say which artist I was listening to on the treadmill this morning, but this resonated with me. I want to be proud to be an American again. I want to live in a country where anything is possible again. I want to live in a country that leads not reacts. I want to have faith in my government and faith in my president, my congress and my judiciary, that they are working toward the common good. Last night, I had a feeling that I have only experienced by hearing the speeches of JFK, FDR and MLK. For the first time in my life, I got goose bumps hearing a politician share their version of America and for the first time in a very, very, very long time I have faith. Faith that the wounds of this country can be healed and that we all can come together. Maybe everything is falling in line, maybe we will learn from our mistakes and maybe this is what the last eight years of hell have been about. Maybe we needed that to get to a new place. I don't know. I want to be inspired and I want to be asked to do more than go shopping. I know that when Americans are asked to do more for others than for ourselves, we as a people are at our best and absolutely unstoppable. So I leave you with this:

Years from now, you'll look back and you'll say that this was the moment, this was the place where America remembered what it means to hope. For many months, we've been teased, even derided for talking about hope. But we always knew that hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path.

It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it and to fight for it.

Hope is what I saw in the eyes of the young woman in Cedar Rapids who works the night shift after a full day of college and still can't afford health care for a sister who's ill. A young woman who still believes that this country will give her the chance to live out her dreams.

Hope is what I heard in the voice of the New Hampshire woman who told me that she hasn't been able to breathe since her nephew left for Iraq. Who still goes to bed each night praying for his safe return.

Hope is what led a band of colonists to rise up against an empire. What led the greatest of generations to free a continent and heal a nation. What led young women and young men to sit at lunch counters and brave fire hoses and march through Selma and Montgomery for freedom's cause.

Hope -- hope is what led me here today. With a father from Kenya, a mother from Kansas and a story that could only happen in the United States of America.

Hope is the bedrock of this nation. The belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us, by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is, who have the courage to remake the world as it should be.

The same message we had when we were up and when we were down; the one that can save this country, brick by brick, block by block, that together, ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

Because we are not a collection of red states and blue states. We are the United States of America. And in this moment, in this election, we are ready to believe again.

Barack Obama, January 3, 2008