Hag's Blog by John Haggard

"Holy Crap" Post Press Conference Analysis!

 

Push over to 1:20 in the interview and WOW! After I spit out my water I had to check if I was watching Jon Stewart. All in all, I believe it completely, just didn't expect it to be so openly laid out there.

Sorry for the link, MSNBC's "embed" feature is busted. If you get to the interview, you want the "First Black President' interview with Princeton Politics Professor Mellissa Harris-Lacewell.

Dang!

Why Obama Makes a Difference - Intelligent Humility With Humor

What a refreshing difference to have an intelligent humorist who uses all opportunities to not only show his humanity, but uses our attention to communicate important values.

Music making a difference...

Playing For Change | Song Around The World "Stand By Me" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

Sites that will now be useful - www.whitehouse.gov

Edited May 13, 2009

http://www.whitehouse.gov/ - pay attention to policy here, budget is main concern for moment.

http://www.recovery.gov/ - pay attention to milestone timeline, and see how to account for all this money.

http://www.healthreform.gov/ - just what it sounds like.

http://www.usaservice.org/content/home/ - if you wish to do something, go here. This may beg the question and the answer is I do service weekly at a local jail and monthly for a Seattle area hotline for people in need.

http://www.barackobama.com/index.php - here they can ask for your vote.

http://www.usa.gov/index.shtml - if you need gov services. 

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/ - "forum for serious discussion of American foreign policy and international affairs."

http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00e5537c3f3a8834010536f7ceb3970c

Letter to Fellow "Change is Coming House Meeting" Members

Hello,

Seattle had some nasty weather which reduced our numbers to Pearne Robbins, Sarah Haggard (daughter), Rick Rodriguez (Sarah's partner), and myself. If you didn't make it, that is okay, this is your chance to catch up and participate anyway.

I must say that I was inspired, humbled, and awed by Mr. Pearne Robbins' presence. You will see just why in a moment.

Pearne brought an issue, Replacement of Obsolete Public School System, to the table. He brought an attitude of change. He was thoughtful, respectful, and most important he announced he was a man who valued action. He didn't come to dominate a discussion either. I recall his politely pointed simple question of "Which issue(s) are you concerned with?" Pearne's eyes, again politely, indicated he was fully expecting to listen to a response that had some action embedded in it.

Pearne brought a printed page of ideas, one of which closely resembles a certificate which I was ignorant of until today's Seattle Times editorial - National Board Certification. Pearne's idea was "Licensed Qualified Private Professionals" and his criteria isn't too far off of the stated objectives as outlined in the editorial that I read.

The point here is Pearne's actions educated me, caused me to look around and be aware. To be able to see where my desire to change our world for the better can be leveraged. This is how we get in the habit of making small steps toward a better day.

Now, why did Pearne so impress us all? His background is impressive - systems engineer for Boeing for years, UW educated on the GI bill, US Marine, Native American from the Yakima Reservation, etc. All quite impressive. But stunning is his presence.

You see Pearne is clearly not from today's youth movement, he looked to be an older wiser man. But not until he let slip that in 1944 during WWII he was 24. We happened to be discussing different views and he was relating his encounter with an American Educated (UC Berkeley) Japanese soldier.

At 88 years young. Pearne is active in change. He suited up and reported for duty. We were amazed. I stopped and told Pearne exactly how his presence inspired me personally. I wanted him to know that the very act of his participation was causing a change to happen. He graciously accepted praise for my benefit, not his.

I want you to know too. So you can be inspired by Mr. Pearne Robbins, an elder Native American man who's issue was giving all young people the skills needed to gain knowledge.

Please look within to see what issues you can contribute to and find others who are willing to work together. Small relentless steps in the right direction get you somewhere.

Sincerely,

 

John Haggard

You've Got To Be Kidding Me... Someone Listened?

Yesterday I posted that Obama's movement was squandering good will. I said I "learned it is a good thing to look over the horizon because every time, I see that he (Obama) has already been there." I then said he was in danger of not doing "Horizon Work." Well, I stand behind my concerns regarding solicitation of funds, but now I get the email below - precisely what I had asked for. Now the problem is with me if I just sit back and bitch.

Obama's team was over the horizon working on this while I was wondering if they were squandering all that good will and sliding into just another political fund raising scheming group. Whoops.

Needless to say, I am now hosting an event to see how to work together - http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpt5w3.

Best not to blog too early around this Obama fellow!

 

John --

Exactly one month ago, you made history by giving all Americans a real opportunity for change. 

Now it's time to start preparing and working for change in our communities.

On December 13th and 14th, supporters are coming together in every part of the country to reflect on what we've accomplished and plan the future of this movement. Your ideas and feedback will be collected and used to guide this movement in the months and years ahead.

Join your friends and neighbors -- sign up to host or attend a Change is Coming house meeting near you.

Since the election, the challenges we face -- and our responsibility to take action -- have only gotten more urgent.

You can connect with fellow supporters, make progress on the issues you care about, and help shape the future of your community and our country.

Learn what you can do now to support President-elect Obama's agenda for change and continue to make a difference in your community.

Take the first important step by hosting or attending a Change is Coming house meeting. Sign up right now:

http://my.barackobama.com/changeiscoming

To get our country back on track, it will take all of us working together.

Barack and Joe have a clear agenda and an unprecedented opportunity for change. But they can't do it alone.

Will you join us at a house meeting and help plan the next steps for this movement?

Thanks,

David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

Paid for by Obama for America

This email was sent to: john@haggardmail.net

To unsubscribe, go to: http://my.barackobama.com/unsubscribe

How To Squander Good Will and How Not To... Horizon Work

I'm all for grassroots political funding but squeezing the Golden Goose repeatedly is a mistake. Below is an example of just such a mistake. I have given to this campaign on numerous accounts because my perception was the need (use of proceeds) was real, the candidate was real, and the consequences for not making dramatic game-changing changes were too dire. As a result, I have been forgiving on dismissing as a necessary evil the incessant barrage of request for funds throughout the primary and general election campaigns. I figured the net needed to be thrown wide.

Now however, the campaign and election are over. I raised an eyebrow with recent requests for transition and inauguration funds - I didn't contribute. I'm cringing with the requests now.

For sometime I've kept an eye on Obama's grass-roots/social network machine. Why? Because I'm hoping he is going to do something truly special and revolutionary with it - use the machine/process to mobilize armies of citizens to good causes. To allow ordinary people to do extraordinary things on a massive scale. With Obama, I've learned it is a good thing to look over the horizon because every time, I see that he has already been there.

Imagine what Obama's engine could do for spot crisis such as Katrina? Imagine using messages below as a call for citizens to be prepared. To pay into a fund for future or current deployment at the discretion of the President. Imagine the power of citizens en mass responding to a crises because they already funded a response with their own money pre-positioned for just such an event? Imagine Red-Cross 2.0? This is just an idea on how to use the power of the people for good causes.  

Using this very special machine to lure funds with cheesy calendars for a purpose unidentified is simply disappointing at best and insulting at worst. This is not horizon work.

Please do not misuse and squander the goodwill created by empowering ordinary people to participate in performing extraordinary acts. Show me a higher purpose and I'll show you funds and I'll show you feet on the ground where needed.

John Haggard

John --
This holiday season, celebrate the historic accomplishment of our movement for change. Treat yourself or a loved one to a limited edition four-year calendar featuring some of the best images from the campaign trail.
Make a donation of $35 or more right now and get an official Obama calendar to mark an amazing year:

Items purchased by December 15th are guaranteed to be delivered before December 25th.
When you make your donation, you'll be supporting the Democratic National Committee. The resources they invested in the 50-state organizing strategy made this movement possible -- help us build for future victories together.
Share this amazing moment with your friends and family. Thanks to supporters like you, we all have the opportunity to bring real change to America.
Get your holiday Obama calendar today:
https://donate.barackobama.com/calendar
Thank you,
Obama for America

Don't let up now, finish the deal...

Public Copyright Declaration - SSO Stick© & SSO Card©

This describes Single SignOn USB Stick & Smart Card devices whereas the initial authentication of a person is performed by the device itself. Subsequent communication (i.e SSO) of the identity of the user is performed through the exchange of SAML compliant data packets.

When Bad Dreams Appear on the Internet...

 

Great viral marketing by the way... Hook, Line, and Sinker!