How to contribute

Hey there! Looks like you have come to the Boston University College Democrats Blog! I can't begin to imagine what it is you are looking for, wait, yes I can! I am going to imagine that you came to this blog because you were wondering, no! you were thirsting for insights as to what the members of BUCD (I am just going to abbreviate it from here on out) are thinking about. Well you've come to the right...er... the correct place for that (I am going to keep the 'right' out of this, they've pretty much taken over all the other medias). Now I am legally only allowed to speak for myself, although I often feel like I could speak for others if only they'd sign those last pages of the contract..., but I find this blog is a good place to dump all the news I've been reading and then sort it out right in front of the readers (all 2 of you!). Don't like my style? Tough! I have access to this blog and you don't! Unless you want to have access to it, in which case you should contact us @ bucollegedemocrats@gmail.com . But once you have access, do you know what you want to write about? Do you know how blogs works? Do you want to avoid the pitfalls that I often find myself in; avoid writing a post like this? Well below I am going to go into some topics that you may or may not be interested in, and ways you might go about using them for blog posts. Types of Blog Posts: 1. Break News. This type of blog post would be done when you find out something really interesting and really undercovered. A key member of the city council is resigning? Blog it! The mayor of a nearby town or city is slashing education funds? Blog it! You found your keys in your roommate's trash even though s/he told you explicitly they weren't there? Don't blog it! Seriously, this is a political blog, and those types of discoveries, while interesting to some, don't belong here. Some rules you should keep in mind, especially when blogging about breaking issues: Use citation! Are you taking this from a print source? Let us know! Are you taking it from another blog? Link it! From a stranger on the street? Well you should definitely disclose that, and maybe if that's your only source... seriously reconsider the idea of posting it. Citation is very important in breaking news. Its not news if its not cited; its rumor. And if its rumor, it probably shouldn't be posted on this blog, at least not as news. 2. News Analysis. This is a more common type of blog post. You read something in the newspaper and want to talk about it. How do you do that? Well first you should introduce your piece with some fancy words:

Whilst leisurely peering into my latest issue of the New York Times, I did gander an interesting piece titled "Senior Somali Official Survives Suicide Attack" link to it

You can then go on to talk about the piece, quote various passages for specific points. The key here is that you are not simply reposting the article. That would be stealing of the author's content. You are creating your own content by commenting, in long form, about the content of the article. Remember to put quotes " " around sentences, and if you are taking more than one sentence use block quotes. What are block quotes? They are an intent quotation form that allows the reader to see that the whole passage is taken from another source. Note how the above sentence is set off. The block quote command is <+++blockquote+++> <+++/ blockquote+++> without those "+++'s" on either side of the command. Oh I just realized that there was a button for blockquoting on blogger, its right next to the spell check (which I never use, thus my not knowing blockquote was there). See how I could just go back and pretend I never wrote how to do it? Well that wouldn't be honest, and god forbid, you ever use a service that doesn't have those nifty buttons; well you'll be prepared. But I digress... If you wanted to write a blog post today, what could you write about? Well... things you might see on twitter about Republican hypocrisy regarding the stimulus or things you might see in the boston globe in regard to Governor Patrick's taking a stance on health care regulation in MA or things you might see in the phoenix about how there is a musical about Sen. Scott Brown or things you might see in national blogs about how the 1956 Republican Platform is something that dreams are made of. or local blogs on what Governor Patrick is doing in environmental policy, other newspapers like the Washington Post and its coverage of the capture of the highest ranking Taliban leader since 9/11. If you're feeling adventureous, you could use cable noise..I mean... news about how tough it is to be a centrist democrat... or get a different perspective with foreign news sources about the UN envoy's trip to Myanmar magazines 's discussing the difficulty in turning populism into policy or politics or whatever the new yorker is talking about. Or if you want to go really high brow, you could talk about an interesting journal essay about President Obama's ability to make significant change in foreign affairs. 3. Photo Blog. Another form of diary is the photo diary. An example of this can be seen a few pages back by Nora about President Obama. But, just to make this as comprehensive as possible, I'll do a demonstration. Its winter at the White House! Look at Bo! He's really enjoying the snow! All of these photos are from the White House Flickr stream 4. Commentary. Now this is probably the least productive form of blog post. You basically are just full of whimsy and want to share it with the world. Maybe something in politics has been bugging you, not any specific incident. A feeling, a tone, whatever. You could express your frustration at the fetishistic obsession with bipartisanship or gloat about the power and vitality that having a majority in both houses gives you. Its really up to, just keep it relevant. So there it is. Writing a blog post isn't that scary, and it doesn't take that much time. How long did this take me? About an hour, but that's only because I had to teach myself how to add photos and google forced me to change my account password in order to find out that I didn't actually need picasa to add those photos, just the .jpg file name from a website. Relevant? Not in the slightest. If, after all this, you are interested in becoming a blogger on this page please let us know!

It's easy to make 30-50 calls per hour. The dialing is automatic. Try it!

Hey Dems! Martha Coakley really needs your help! Don't let Ted Kennedy's seat go to the Republicans! Instructions from the Massachusetts State Party: Hello and thank you for volunteering for this important race. If you have questions please feel free to ask one of our organizers, or a campaign representative. Thank you for your dedication and hard work! Getting Started: Step 1: Dial 877-490-5608. There will be a short tutorial so that you can become familiar with the system. Step 2: Type in the agent ID 1015725# and pin number 2010# Step 3: The system will tell you to get ready to start taking calls! Step 4: Soon you will hear a beep. Say hello as soon as you hear the beep. Use the script that is provided for you. Step 5: When you are finished with the call DO NOT HANG UP, press * on your phone keypad to hang-up with the caller, then press the response (as indicated on your script) which best represents the results of your conversation. Then simply wait for the next call. * Remember to say hello right as you hear the beep. We have taken a second or two to determine if it is a live answer. When you hear the beep the person on the other end has just said "hello." Massachusetts Democratic Party GOTV Script DIAL IN: 1-877-490-5608 AGENT ID: 1015725 PIN: 2010 Hi, my name is____________________ and I'm a volunteer for Martha Coakley's campaign for Senate. I'm calling to make sure you're planning to vote this Tuesday, January 19th -- the day after Martin Luther King Day. Are you planning to vote this Tuesday the 19th? [IF YES WILL VOTE] Great, the polls are open from 7AM to 8PM. It is important that everyone in your household votes for Martha. Will you be voting with anyone else from your household? * Do you know where your polling location is? If they do not know direct them to polling location lookup tool: www.pollingplaces.democrats.org OR transfer to Help Desk If need a ride to the poll, transfer to Help Desk * Do you know how you will get to your polling location and when you'll be going on Tuesday? This race will decide who fills the seat of Senator Kennedy. Interest in this race is at an all time high and you don't want to be left out of this important election. We'll see you Tuesday at the polls. [IF MAY NOT VOTE] The national Republican Party, extreme right wing groups and corporate special interests are pouring money into Massachusetts hoping to derail critical programs that protect seniors, children and working families. Martha Coakley will be the 60th vote to ensure we fulfill Ted Kennedy's dream of healthcare reform, Scott Brown will stand in the way of that dream. Your vote matters and you don't want to be left out of this election. Martha needs your vote on Tuesday, January 19th. At the end of the call press the star key (*) to end the call THEN enter the results on the key pad of your touch-tone phone. Results: 1-Will Vote, Bring others 2- Will Vote 3- May Not Vote 4- Not Coakley Supporter 5- Refused to Answer / Hung Up 6 - Transfer to Coakley HQ "Please hold while I transfer you to our help desk. Let me also give you the phone number in case you get a busy signal, 1-800-485-0444" Other Results: 7 - Answering Machine / Hang Up Before Hello 8 - Wrong number / Operator Intercept 9 - Language Barrier / Other After you enter the CODE above, Do not hang up. Get ready to start taking calls again. Once the dialer thinks it has found a live answer, you will hear the beep and you will start script again.

Every blog must do this!

What I am reading

After a minor hiatus, the list continues:

• First some process-y stuff that has caught my eye over @ congressmatters.com. The health insurance/ care reform food fight (HICRFF? How many letters is too many in an acronym?) has been jammed up by the likes of "moderates." The Senate, being the place where any Senator with a bone to pick about... anything can hold up business, got its the HCR bill thru first major procedural hurdle: opening debate. Next there will be a few more hurdles in the floor debate, amendments and finally the cloture vote to CLOSE debate so the bill or whats left of it can get to the floor for a vote (51 votes win). There are still hold outs in the Dem camp, notably the Senators from Arkansas, Nebraska, Louisiana, Connecticutt (Blanche Lincoln, Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, Joe Lieberman). They need to vote for cloture for the bill to come up for a vote. Are they reliable? Doubtful. So what choice is there? Reconcilliation. How good of a choice is that? Well it depends on how some issues are resolved. What issues? Check out the article here
• Alright, so enough health care, how about them deficits? Paul Krugman has some interesting analysis here here and here. Speaking of deficits, some people have gotten it into their heads that democracy is a scary scary thing, and can't be trusted with important issues. Their idea? Make a comission that is unanswerable to anyone; stock it with people that probably aren't as objective as they'd like to think they are, and make their recommendations pretty much law.
• How do deficits happen? Probably when people start spouting off like Evan Bayh about how fiscal constraint only applies to things that help Americans. Wars are great, other things are unimportant. Glenn Greenwald lays down some harsh words for Senator Bayh.
• Check out Digby if you don't already.
• As for some news closer to home, Alan Khazei scored some endorsements of late that may be important, may be pointless. The first was the Boston Globe on sunday. The second was Ret. General Wesley Clark. Why is their influence questionable? Because endorsements often don't do much, especially this late. The only reason I can see this mattering, and I've seen this echoed around the blogosphere, is that Khazei has been struggling because he has a low name id or is considered a strong 2nd pick for a lot of voters. If these endorsements push voters to take another look, or persuade them to go with someone they thought liked but thought couldn't win, it could be a big deal. On top of that, the latest polling shows that Khazei might have moved from 5% to 14%. In that same poll, it shows that 22% of voters don't know Khazei enough to have an opinion (at time of polling, neither of these endorsements had been made).
• In that same poll by rasmussen, Martha Coakley was still in the lead with 36%, Mike Capuano had second with 21%, and Steven Pagliuca with 14% (down from the mid 20's). Capuano scored a coup with an endorsement recently by Fmr Gov. and Fmr Democratic Presidential Candidate Mike Dukakis . That adds to the long list of endorsements Congressman Capuano has gotten this campaign, which includes Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and many of his colleagues from the MA congressional delegation.
• There will be back to back debates for the democratic candidates tomorrow (tuesday the 1st) and wednesday (12/2/09). The election is on the 8th, so its really coming down to the wire. disclaimer: I am a volunteer with the Khazei campaign. I am not being paid by the campaign, and am not posting this in any capacity for the campaign.
• For races nationwide, check out the swing state project.
• I am just going to quote TMP about the recently released "Statement of Disbursements" which details all the spending of the House of Representatives.
• "If you have the time and stomach to look through a 3,404 page document that contains items like "Electronics Technician (Overtime): $186.79," it's here"
• I thought the whole "ginger" thing on facebook was a joke. No one could seriously think people with red hair are anything but normal . Apparently some people aren't that smart. So I guess my solution is this: if you can't deal with "gingers," send 'em my way. Don't hurt them because well, they're people and you're an idiot.
• It makes me sick to think that people still try to obfuscate the truth about global warming/climate change. I can dig up a bunch of people to say its false. But can I dig up real scientific evidence to say its false? No. Just because someone says something, and maybe has a white coat, doesn't make them an authority. Science isn't based on people, its based on empirical evidence. Its been that way for... centuries. Any while nations "dither" on what do to things are dying.
• Basically the Supreme Court is just following precedent: Congress acted to change a law and thus made a suit moot. The SC ruled it moot. What would have happened if Congress didn't act? Well thats... moot. All the same, I would have rather had those photos released. Every time we stand to our values, it helps us in the end.
• I hate celebrities, always trying to get in the spot light with... wait what?
• Those Europeans and their... hatred? What caused this could be anti-religious trends, anti-islamic trends, or maybe anti-Minaret? Weird, and probably not helpful combating the whole "West vs Islam" narrative.
• Speaking of West vs (fill in the blank), some news from Iran concerning nuclear enrichment, and the protests after the elections and the UK is sending more troops to Afghanistan

Well thats it for today. Same Disclaimer as the others:Although I may be highlighting certain articles, opinion pieces, and analysis in this, and subsequent blog posts, I do not necessarily agree with all or any of the positions undertaken by the respective authors. This is merely an abbreviated list of items that I have read recently and would like to share for discussion.

Foreign Perspective: Obama en France

Hello BU Dems! This is Hope, a former BUCD e-board member studying abroad in Grenoble, France for my junior year. I'm going to try to make some guest blog posts every now and then as I can. This is a post I made on my wordpress blog that I thought you all might find interesting.

So after three weeks in Grenoble, I feel comfortable enough to start making sweeping generalizations about the political views of the French. Bear with me on this one.

They love Obama, straight up.

Seriously. Any time politics comes up in discussion, they will ask me what I think of him. Then before really listening to my response, they respond “oh nous, nous l’adoooore” ("we looooove him”). They are open about their dislike of Bush, too. They tell me that before, they hated American politics and had no respect for us. Now, they say, they couldn’t be happier and are outright excited for the future relationship between France and the US. They repeat “Yez we cahn!” and tell me they wish there was something that inspiring in French politics.

But France’s love affair with Obama isn’t just due to their hatred of Bush. France has an exceedingly complicated relationship with race, and a high immigrant population. For many, Obama’s appeal isn’t because of his trade policies or his position on the Iraq War. It’s because his father was an immigrant, and that he is half-black. There are very few high-ranking ministers or members of the National Assembly who are immigrants, blacks, or Muslims. France, for all its emphasis on “liberté, égalité, fraternité” and its philosphical foundations on equality, is a shockingly racist place. For example, I’ve heard it’s about five times harder for Arabs and blacks (especially first and second generation immigrants) to find work (though I can’t source that statement, it’s just something I’ve been told). I can say that even in the short time I’ve been here I’ve noticed a level of casualness to some downright racist comments that in the US (well, Boston at least) would have turned heads.

It’s a complicated topic that I am struggling to get a handle on; I’m far from an expert. But, talking with my host family has definitely given me a lot of consider. My host mom is a white born-and-raised Grenobloise, and my host dad is from Martinique. He’s not an immigrant per se, as Martinique is an overseas department of France, but still is considered separate, in a way, from mainland France. Most of their friends that I have met are in biracial or have a spouse of a different race and are forthcoming in talking about the difficulties they face.

So for them, and for many people, to see a mixed-race man whose father was an immigrant to the US achieve the presidency sends a message to the French about the future of race relations in the US, and gives hope to those who want change in French politics. Hope and Change– Obama’s message is as welcome in France as it was in the States.

A Game Changer

SO. Candidate for mayor, City Councilor at Large Michael Flaherty just announced his new running mate in an email to supporters, and it is none other than (one of) his former opponent(s) SAM YOON. I can't tell you how excited I am. After Tuesday night, I had resigned myself to watching Mayor Menino cruise to victory. Now, I believe we'll be spending the next month+ watching a very interesting, very close race. I guess I should just tell you right now that as of tonight, my personal bias is towards the newly hatched Flaherty-Yoon ticket (but of course, the BU College Democrats don't endorse [ever]). Moving on, one of my personal heroes, David Bernstein wrote in last week's Phoenix about Councilor Flaherty's need to woo former Yoon supporters. Bernstein talks about the "New Boston" ie. young progressives, minority voters and immigrants and their solid support of Councilor Yoon. According to him, Flaherty borrowed some of Yoon's campaign rhetoric for his victory speech: he was introduced as representing the New Boston, and he led his crowd of (mostly white) supporters in a "We Can't Wait!" chant. If we do the math, Mayor Menino won 50.52% of the vote, while Councilors Flaherty and Yoon won a combined 45.12% (they each won 23.9% and 21.16%, respectively). If every person who voted in last week's preliminary voted in November, Mayor Menino would win. But of course, voter turnout in the general election will be higher than turnout last week, and the higher the turnout, the better things look for the Flaherty-Yoon ticket because it was a game of numbers for the Mayor in the preliminary, and I personally believe the same will be true of the general election. We also can't assume that the city's progressives will just hand their votes straight to Michael Flaherty. Mayor Menino won endorsements in the preliminary from the MA League of Environmental Voters, MassEquality, the Massachusetts chapter of the National Organization of Women (MassNOW) and a number of unions. Endorsements which he earned via 16 years of supporting progressive legislation in the city. Michael Flaherty also promised a two-year term limit on the mayor if he wins, something Sam Yoon had promised all along. I can't tell you exactly how I feel about term limits. I feel like term limits assume that voters are stupid and can't decide on their own to stop voting for a representative who stops being helpful and starts becoming greedy, and I'm sure many of you would answer, "Well, voters are stupid." ...but then why let them vote? Anyway, if you want to hear more from the campaign, make sure to tune in tomorrow at 10:15am for their official announcement/press conference. PS: There's tons of exciting things to attend around Boston in the next few weeks: A chance to hear Noam Chomsky on grassroots democracy; a free screening of "Capitalism: a Love Story" and a Q&A with Michael Moore; a reproductive rights lobby day; and more! Check out our weekly update for more info!

A little levity in my inaugural blog post

Weekly Digest: What I am reading

Although I may be highlighting certain articles, opinion pieces, and analysis in this, and subsequent blog posts, I do not necessarily agree with all or any of the positions undertaken by the respective authors. This is merely an abbreviated list of items that I have read recently and would like to share for discussion. Week #2

1. First, something relatively breaking.
2. Senate Mark Up, Finance Committee, woooooooh. Admittedly, boring. But informative.
3. Sotomayer is talking up some interesting notions I couldn't be more pleased about. About what? Oh this
4. Mayoral Race? The Globe endorses Menino and Flaherty, Pheonix goes Yoon and the daily freep...?
5. In case you missed it, the Newton Race is down to Ruth Balser and Setti Warren
6. The UN is coming back to NYC. What are you watching?
7. Swingstateproject
8. Looks like good news for HCR
9. I want to use words that I can't. Read this. All I can say is "ha ha"

And there, I am done for the week. Got suggestions? Post a comment. Make sure to come to the meetings (7pm @ Sargent 102). We got some kinda big things coming up, that I won't post on here cuz... then you would have no incentive.

Joe the Racist?

I would like to preface this post by saying I'm a 21 year old white girl from the Midwest or in other words not an expert on racism. I do understand that I have white privilege and that being from a small city in the Midwest means I also haven't had an especially large exposure to minority groups (I'm not saying none I'm just saying we have a lot of Germans in Wisconsin). I don't normally preface things with disclaimers but since this post is about race and race so easily becomes a heated topic I wanted to put out there where I'm coming from. This is my opinion and you are free to disagree. On to the topic at hand... As I am sure you know, Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina) decided to heckle President Obama during his health care address. (For the record, in 2003 Joe Wilson voted for federal money to give illegal immigrants health care.) This event has, understandably, garnered a huge amount of media attention. (Gallup did a poll that says 2/3 of Americans don't approve of Wilson's outburst). It has also brought the issue of race, and more specifically the racism that our first African American President is enduring, into the news cycle. Jimmy Carter is the most recent figure to weigh in but reporters, columnists, politicians, and celebrities across the country have commented on the racist undertones of Joe Wilson's outburst and the reaction that it produced. Maureen Dowd wrote an op-ed piece that is highly worth reading about the cloying feeling that though he didn't actually say it what Joe Wilson meant was "You lie, boy!" Jimmy Carter told Brian Williams "I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he is African-American," and repeated the sentiment at an address that he gave at Emory University when he said "When a radical fringe element of demonstrators and others begin to attack the president of the United States as an animal or as a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler or when they wave signs in the air that said we should have buried Obama with Kennedy, those kinds of things are beyond the bounds." Bill Cosby voiced his consent with the former President's view of the situation as well. Dick Harpootlian, the former Democratic Party chairman of South Carolina states "I don't think Joe's outburst was caused by President Obama being African-American. I think it was caused by no filter being between his brain and his mouth." Robert Gibbs speaking on behalf of the White House said that the President doesn't belive the policy critisism is "based on the color of his skin." (both quotes from MSNB) Before this progresses too much farther I'd like to give you some background on Representative Wilson. Joe Wilson used to work for the Strom Thurmond. Strom Thurmond held the longest filibuster by a single Senator he did this to try to derail the Civil Rights Act of 1957, he also opposed the Supreme Court decision to immediately desegregate the South. But that's just who Mr Wilson worked for. When Essie Mae Washington-Williams announced in 2003 that she was Thurmond's illegitamate daughter from an affair he had with his black maid, Joe Wilson strongly voiced his doubt. When Ms Washington-Williams' claims were varified, Joe Wilson felt that she still shouldn't have come forward because her birth was a smear on Thurmond's legacy. Calling someone a racist is a hard move to make, it instantly raises the hackles and often times changes the discussion into how horrible it was that someone was accused of being a racist rather than how they said something that offended people . At the same time it seems hard to believe that Representative Wilson's comment did not have some backing in racism, especially given his history. Aside from Wilson's personal history I think it is also important to keep in mind that desegregation is a very new policy for the United States. A lot of the time it seems as though the Civil Rights era was far in the past, but that was our parents generation and the ramifications of the Jim Crow era are still being felt in America today. Segregationist from that era are still alive, as are their children who were raised under those conditions. Those children are now the age of our politicians. I'm not saying everyone that was raised by segregationist or racists is one, I'm just saying we do not live in a post-racial society and that deeply racist policies were widely accepted less than a lifetime ago. So is Joe Wilson a racist? It's hard to say definitively, I personally think he is, but what is very clear is that whatever his motivation he has become the face of a racist movement. Since his outburst Joe Wilson has apologized, but he then went on to use his outburst as a stump position for campaigning. He was seen signing a photo of his outburst (right after his "apology"). Conservative grassroots organizations: are heralding Wilson as a "folk hero" for the movement against Obama's "lies," which are actually pretty easily verifiable truths (but that requires, you know, looking at the bill). The Republican party has even decided to spin the story claiming that Obama "started it" by "being a poor guest," which actually hurts my brain to try to comprehend. Even if Joe Wilson did not mean his comment to be racist by not decrying the racist fringe of his supporters who are using his name for their cause he is passively supporting what they say. Perhaps President Carter sums it up best, "The president is not only the head of government, he is the head of state and no matter who he is or how much we disagree with his policies, the president should be treated with respect." additional article consultation from: Kate Harding at Jezebel

Weekly Digest: What I am reading

Although I may be highlighting certain articles, opinion pieces, and analysis in this, and subsequent blog posts, I do not necessarily agree with all or any of the positions undertaken by the respective authors. This is merely an abbreviated list of items that I have read recently and would like to share for discussion.

Welcome to the first of what I hope to be a weekly installment on the Boston University College Democrats website highlighting news from various medias that may interest people but might have been missed in that vast system of tubes known as the internet.

Now there will be some pages that I frequent that will appear to repeat, more than likely these will be blogs in which there is a community, or at least a large number of people, posting. The larger the community, the more posts, the more issues, the points of view.

On to the posts that make my list:

1. Congressmatters has the latest in Harry Reid's attempt to make the Senate do something or else!
2. Glenn Greenwald points out the Tea Parties' Stockholm Syndrome in loving that which they rally against!
3. Every weekday (roughly) the people over at DailyKos.com compile a round of political news. Here's the latest.
4. Over at Talkingpointsmemo.com I found a new HCAN (Health Care for America Now)
5. John Cole goes to the TeaBagger's Rally to get a reality check
6. Apparently this whole healthcare debate has been an effort to further discredit Republicans. I didn't know they could get more discredited. But whatever, as long as in the end we get a robust public option in health care without triggers I'll be appeased for the moment.
7. I'll be honest, in my mind late night TV goes like this: Conan > Letterman > pretty much anyone > Leno > Carson Daly. But I'd watch Letterman next monday
8. Great news! More people will be paying more money for less healthcare!
9. Apparently it won't be long until we can get the vaccine for the swine flu. (Incidentally, I read recently that the USDA wants ppl to stop calling it swine flu because tests show it is closer to the 1918 influenza, appears to have started from humans, AND it is hurting the pig farming industry.)
10. How that works with this dreary bit of news, I dunno.
11. Although a bit dated by now, this is a pretty good run down of the MA Sen. Seat. race
12. Apparently Rep. Lynch is not going to run for Senate, and Bluemassgroup is discussing what that means....
13. Additionally, it looks like my hometown Congressman, John Tierney is not throwing his hat in either!
14. Over at the national site, college democrats of America, they're really digging into those issues that effect you and me, you know, students.
15. Has all of this confused you? Don't know where you stand on anything? Well you can count yourself as having something in common with the likely republican candidate for Senate for our neighbor to the north, New Hampshire
16. To round out the list, President Obama gives his weekly address over at the party website

While this is more a survey of stories I found interesting, hopefully it will point you to new stories, sources and opinions. Notably, most of the stories have been about healthcare. That will not always be the case (hopefully health will pass and that will be that), so I look forward to sharing more, on more topics, from more places.

Until Next Week...

Meeting Thursday

The BU College Democrats will be holding our first meeting this Thursday, Sep. 10 at 7pm in Sargent 102. We’ll be talking about what the club is all about along with upcoming events and opportunities. For more information on the BUCD, please visit our website.

1. Volunteer for Newton Mayoral Candidate Setti Warren We’re volunteering to elect Setti Warren for mayor of Newton on Saturday. Find out more about Setti here at www.settiwarren.com. Meet in Marsh Plaza at 11am and we’ll leave together. 2. Attend a Hearing and a Press Conference There is a big hearing TOMORROW (Wed) on giving the governor the authority to appoint an interim senator in Gardner Auditorium at the State House at the top of Beacon Hill (near the Park Street T stop). There will also be a Mass Democratic Party Press Conference before the hearing. The press conference is in front of the state house at 12pm. If you get there by 11 you will be in backdrop holding a sign. Senator Kerry and Governor Patrick are still unconfirmed to make an appearance but likely to speak. It will be a lot of fun (and Republican protestors are expected). See you Thursday, Katie

Secretary, BU College Democrats

http://bucollegedemocrats.com bucollegedemocrats@gmail.com

the work goes on, the cause endures...

Edward M. Kennedy

February 22 1932-August 25 2009 The loss of Senator Kennedy has been an incredible shock. He was a party leader and a great Senator, but most importantly he was my Senator, our Senator. It's seems impossible for me to think of a Massachusetts, of a Boston, of a BU and of a BUCD without Senator Kennedy. One of the first things I did with the BUCD as a freshman was make phone calls for Senator Kennedy during the 2006 midterms, and on November 2nd, surrounded by the friends and confetti, I watched him speak, congratulate our new Governor and usher in the first Democratic majority in 12 years. I don't know how much I can say about the Senator that hasn't already been said. I think that the best I can do is share his own advice, "The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die..."

Worth a Thousand Words

A lot has happened in the world of politics this summer: Al Franken was finally able to join the Senate, Sarah Palin decided to defy "politics as usual" by not finishing her term in office, here in Boston the Mayoral race is heating up (personal bias: GO SAM YOON!), not to mention health care, health care, health care! BUCD has also had a fairly eventful summer as well; with the CDA Convention occurring last weekend, the addition of our new faculty adviser Melissa Staz and our beautiful new website. Yet, with all this going on I would like to write about one of my new found summer obsessions the White House Photostream via Flickr (which is where all the photos in this post come from btws). I started browsing through the Photostream to find a good desktop for my computer after I saw this picture from the Fourth of July:

The pictures on the website range from beautiful images like the one above to a series of silly photos of the White House staff throwing a football around and my favorite of Obama and Reggie Love pounding it while Rahm Emanuel watches awkwardly:

Mainly though my fascination with the White House Photostream stems from the how very awe inspiring and down right presidential Obama looks in the photos. Whether he is speaking in Ghana:

Or, as in the photo I chose for my desktop, he is talking to Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in the Oval Office:

It shouldn't be saying much that President Obama looks presidential but after the past eight years with President Bush I guess the image is, to me at least, still fascinating. I don't agree with our President on everything (the administration's views on gay marriage are a pretty large example) but I find the Photostream serves as reminder of the Hope and Change that Obama offered to America. Obviously the pictures aren't substantive policy and looking presidential is a pretty low standard to hold the President to, but paging through them will give you a glimpse into the personality of the White House and what a remarkable change this administration is from the last. The change is one that America voted for and to me that is a hope for the future.