If you like good political discussion, the kind that is well-researched, informed and fair, then I wanted to point out that the book Yes We Did: The Southern Argument for Progressive Change, is now available for sale on Amazon.com.  It’s a great read, a compilation of some of her essays about the Obama campaign and the many issues that came up during the race for the White House.
It’s just $14.99, and more than worth the price.
I’ve quoted Linda plenty of times here, and her writing over at the Huffington Post’s …

One of my dearest friends, Linda Hansen, is a writer I’ve quoted here before.  During the presidential campaign, she was an ardent Obama supporter, and a collection of her dynamic political essays from her newspaper column are available in a book called, Yes We Did: The Southern Argument for Progressive Change.
“Yes, we can.
That simple declarative, early on, became the mantra of the Obama Campaign. If ever an unembellished, three word sentence carried multiple meanings for multiple people, this was the one. For three years Linda Hansen followed the most recent …

Those of you who have been reading my blog throughout Campaign ‘08 will recall me quoting writer Linda Hansen throughout the race to the White House.  Linda is a dear friend and one of the best writers I know.  During the campaign, she volunteered with the Barack Obama campaign and wrote some compelling arguments about the issues and the prejudices of the day.  Some of those essays appeared on the Huffington Post, and others appeared in her local newspaper column.
Now, many of the best of her essays will appear in …

Barack Obama is now president of the United States.  Yesterday, which was Martin Luther King Day, people spent most of the day talking about whether King’s dream had truly been realized through Obama’s election to the presidency.
I am glad I am a child of the 1970s, and not the 1950s.  Racism in the 70s was a lot more subtle: I never grew up in a world of segregated schools or “white” entrances on one side of a room and “colored” entrances on the other.  Since I’m white, I obviously don’t …

Hillary Rodham-Clinton’s mother, Dorothy, sent an email to her daughter’s supporters asking them to stand behind the former presidential candidate one more time:  “Now I have to ask you — for the very last time — to give her your help. This is our last chance to help Hillary pay down the debt from her history-making campaign.  I know how much it would mean to her to have your help this one last time. Please take this opportunity to show Hillary your support by making a contribution today.”  In this …

For those interested in advertising or graphic design, here’s a look at how the logo for the Obama campaign came to be, including some of the other finalists.  I think you’ll agree that the one they ultimately chose was the best of the lot.

The United States Supreme Court refused to hear a lawsuit challenging the eligibility of Barack Obama to serve as president.  In the suit, a New Jersey man claims that since Obama had dual nationality at birth — his mother was American and his Kenyan father was a British subject at the time — he can’t be a “natural born citizen.”
The Constitution, in case you’ve never looked at it, requires that a president be a natural-born citizen.
The lawsuit, to be successful, would presumably have to show definitively that Obama was born …

If you voted for Barack Obama for president and you happen to be Catholic, then you shouldn’t take part in communion until you go to confession and get right with God, a Greenville, South Carolina priest has said.
This controversial stance, which his parishioners seem to support 9 to 1, is based on the fact that Obama supports a woman’s right to choose when it comes to abortion, which Catholics consider a form of murder.
The trouble is, many Catholic voters entered the voting booths with other things on their mind:  like …

A new poll shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans expect great things from the Obama presidency, according to CNN:
“The public thinks it’s likely that Obama will improve race relations, improve economic conditions, bring stability to the financial markets, make the U.S. safer from terrorism, reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil, reduce global warming, win the war in Afghanistan and remove U.S. troops from Iraq without causing a major upheaval in that country.”

That would be a tall order even for a president coming into office on a thriving economy and …

I’m sitting in my favorite coffee shop, pondering what happened one week ago today, and more specifically, what happened in the months leading up to that one particular day.
On Sunday, my pastor did an interesting, brutally-honest sermon about Christians and politics.  It was the kind of sermon you wish you’d hear a pastor deliver, but you’re generally disappointed that no one ever does.
If you’d like to hear it, go to this site and download the podcast from November 9th, titled “Them, Us and Us.”  I don’t think you’ll be sorry.
It …

So my candidate won the presidency on Tuesday.  That was nice, and I think we have a good chance of seeing some positive change from the status quo that has helped us reach a miserable economy.  I hope, along with many others of both parties that the negativity will stop and that this country can get back on track.
I’m not holding my breath about the negativity thing, though.  Because it’s still alive and well.
But a few thoughts come to mind about the election and the campaign and their aftermath, and …

Tomorrow is Election Day, which means, thankfully, that it’s almost time for the campaigns to finally shut up.
But in the last hours before the polls open, I think it’s time to get a few points out there. Perhaps they’ll get you thinking before you step up to the voting booth.
1. RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH
I am absolutely amazed by the number of people — otherwise reasonable, well-educated people, in fact — who continually forward emails designed to besmirch one candidate or the other. In the majority of these emails, the …