I have an eight year old son.

[Pacifist Patriot]

He's eaten his breakfast, is splayed across my bed watching cartoons and in about thirty minutes will begin his school work. He loves legos, Aston Villa football, horsing around in the swimming pool and archery.

In thirty years he could conceivably be involved in charitable organizations. Heaven knows who will serve on the board with him. Might be a couple of rehabilitated Republicans with umpteen ethical censures and a smattering of corruption convictions behind them. Maybe a disgraced page diddler or two.

How strange would it be in thirty years to have his character defined by the criminal behavior of the GOP during the latter part of the previous century and the early years of this century?

See, it defies reason. Which means that anyone using the Ayers story to prop up McCain and the GOP, or anyone buying into the story to justify their voting Republican, is at a minimum unreasonable. But I will take it further. These individuals are utilizing the classic tactics of the witch hunt. They are tapping into the psyche of the homogenous community with an instinctual fear of difference. They are so damaged they are choosing hate as their lense through which to view the world.

I look at my sweet adorable eight year old boy who sees joy everywhere he goes. I don't ever want him to experience this hate, either from the inside or the outside. This is another reason why an Obama presidency is so important to me. It would truly be a visible example of triumph over hate. That is the world in which I want my son to thrive in thirty years.

[stoge18]

1. I'm with you.

Just the other day, a stranger at a large community festival in Northwest PA noticed my Obama pin on my ballcap and asked me why I'm supporting "him" (to her credit, she did say "him" without any noticeable contempt in her tone). I nodded in the direction of my beautiful 5 year old girl and 2 year old boy and said, "I'm doing it for them." I added that from the moment I first saw the man and heard him speak at the 2004 Convention (I'd never even heard of Barrack prior to then), I knew with no hint of uncertainty that Barrack Obama is a very special man.

[klebean]

9. my number one reason to support Obama - the Future

Working in the northeast suburbs of Hotlanta, this was my primary strategy...and it worked.
"If we give Obama leadership, and a congress that can function - there is hope for future generations."
I always frame it this way - don't expect big changes now that will affect you personally - change takes time.
Do it for your children. and their children.

Going to LV, NV to GOTV. What are you doing in the next 3 wks? Let's keep the pressure on!
From dry, windy SoCal....klebean

[stoge18]

PA kick-off event in about 3 hours

Here in PA, my wife, son, and I are attending the official opening of the local Obama phonebank. Former SC Governor Jim hodges will be there to speak. I will work with the GOTV campaign as much as I can over the course of the next 3 weeks. Also taking the day off work on November 4 so that I can drive people to the polls or whatever else the local coordinators need me to do.

My children, and their future children thank you for your hard work.

:patriot:

[stoge18]

10. PA kick-off event in about 3 hours

Here in PA, my wife, son, and I are attending the official opening of the local Obama phonebank. Former SC Governor Jim hodges will be there to speak. I will work with the GOTV campaign as much as I can over the course of the next 3 weeks. Also taking the day off work on November 4 so that I can drive people to the polls or whatever else the local coordinators need me to do.

My children, and their future children thank you for your hard work.

:patriot:

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

2. This is the perfect way to frame that argument

It should make their claims about Ayers seem ridiculous to any reasonable person.

[thecrow]

3. Beautiful job! Please send it to Jack Cafferty at CNN!

And umpteen other media outlets :)

[snappyturtle]

4. I once had a sweet adorable eight year old boy too. He's now 32 years old.

I once hoped he would see only see kindness and peace. When think about how generous and kind and happy he was it is with sadness I see him now. These past few years of his life have been a struggle and an awakening. Thankfully he is an ardent Sen. Obama supporter. His spirit is remarkable as he holds down two jobs. When I express sympathy to him for having to work sixty hours a week, he tells me it's not so bad. Hopefully, he can finish his education in the near future and create a better life for himself. I helped him all I could for as long as I could not that he demanded or expected that help. Oh, I'm ranting,,,,,May all of our sons and daughters thrive in a future world where hate is no longer a part of the social scenery.

[Kalyke]

5. I can take that a step further.

I have a 9 year old boy who's familial name is "Hussein."

My ex-husband, his father, is from Jordan. In Arab countries, children are given their father's first name as one middle name and their grandfather's first name as a second middle name. "Hussein" is my son's grandfather's first name.

My son, who is also sweet, adorable, sees joy everywhere he goes and, like Obama, is being raised Christian by me, his Christian mother, cannot understand why their is so much derision over his familial name. It's sickening.

[tavalon]

6. There are few good things one could say about autism,

but one is that my now 13 year old son is as guileless as a 6 year old and is as sweet and loving as an 8 year old and he doesn't notice diddly squat about anyone but his family and his school teacher so if he gets taunted (I doubt it) he isn't aware of it.

[felinetta]

7. Well said!

[Doodler71]

8. Well said.

I feel the same way about my kids.

Please pass this on or submit it as a LTE. It's too good and too important to die a death at the end of a long list of online posts.