K Gardner
K Gardner's JournalObama is Absolutely Tearing It Up..
Live on MSNBC right now - in Boca Raton, Florida - speaking about the effects of the new proposed Ryan Budget, taxes, education.. giving concrete examples and really explaining things in a way I've never heard from him before. I do believe he's given up on bipartisanship, finally. The audience is going wild.
This Obama is unbeatable. Wow.
"And now, its our turn to be responsible. It's our turn to preserve The American dream for future generations. It's our turn to rebuild, to make sure we have the most competetive work force on earth, to make sure that we have clean energy that can help clean the planet and help fuel the economy. It's our turn to rebuild our roads and bridges and airports and ports. It's our turn to make sure that every person, every child here, if they're willing to dream big dreams and put blood, sweat and tears behind it, they can make it. I know we can do that. We can do that because of you. You're here because you believe in your future. You're working hard. Some of you are balancing job and family on the side. You have faith in America. You know it's not going to be easy but you don't give up. That's the spirit we need right now.
Because here in America, we don't give up. Here in America, we look out for each other. Here in America, we help each other get ahead. Here in America, we can meet any challenge. Here in America we can seize any moment. We can seize this moment and we can make this century another great American century."
HOLY MOTHER.. I couldn't type as fast as he was talking.
I want this thing in a booklet. This is our battle cry. "Here in America, we can."
CSPAN of Video (thanks WheelWalker) http://www.c-span.org/Events/Pres-Obama-Speaks-to-Florida-Students-about-The-Economy/10737429737/
"Stand Up Miss Jean Louise" - A DU Redux - Barack Obama and "To Kill a Mockingbird"
Some of you 'old timers' who were around here during the 2008 Primary Season might remember the uproar over the first Presidential Debate - the one where McCain refused to make eye contact with Barack Obama. You might remember, also, a thread I started comparing that to Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird". To this day, it has been my most rec'd post. (300 back then was a good day!)
Yesterday, I heard that our President is going to be introducing "To Kill a Mockingbird" on USA Network this Saturday. So I'm inspired to do a redux. Substitute Jan Brewer or any right-wing hatemonger for McCain, and you have a post just as relevant today as it was then. The hatred and bigotry is coming again, and will be in full force until November.
In honor of my President and the courage he has shown in the face of continued disrespect; in honor of Harper Lee and her work exemplifying courageous honor amidst racial injustice and bigotry; to the memory of Trayvon Martin and all who went before him, with a fervent hope for justice, and an America of civility and equality, I'm re-posting "Stand Up Miss Jean Louise, Your Father's Passin". There are so many parallels we can draw to today's world; so many lessons we can learn, if we'll only take the time to open our hearts and listen.
********************************************************************************
(Sept 27, 2008) It takes awhile, they say, for the result of a debate to settle in. A bit of time for the words and images to weave their way into our souls and deposit there a lasting image the impression we then take away for all time. I guess that is why the pundits get it so terribly wrong so very often. Theyve allowed no time for the settling. And anyway, they see what they want to see, what theyre told to see; and from there, try to influence and mold what we see.
Ive been mostly sad today. I left the TV off. And I didnt know why until I watched a re-run of To Kill a Mockingbird and was dumbstruck by this line, this scene:
Miss Jean Louise, stand up, your fathers passin.
The people relegated to the balcony stood in unison as Atticus Finch passed. A silent gesture of respect, of honor, to a man who struggled to do what was right, no matter what the personal cost. A man who fought for principles greater and far beyond himself.
I cried, realizing then that I was thinking about Barack Obama and how hard it must have been for him to stand on that stage and talk to a man who refused to even acknowledge his presence. Who refused, out of a meanness of spirit unfathomable to me, to look him in the eyes, man-to-man; human being to human being, Senator to Senator.
And I realized then why the picture of him hugging Michelle afterward touched me so. She alone would understand how that hurt him. A hurt he would likely never voice to anyone. Yet he stood there, for ninety minutes, without acknowledgement from his opponent. Stood there brave and calm and unflinching, fighting for us and for the principles he believes in.
I turned, as I so often do, to Dreams from my Father, to Barack Obamas own words to try to find some meaning, some salvation; perhaps to assuage my own guilt over the affront I felt was afforded to Barack Obama. And I found, in pages 156-158, words he wrote about people on the South Side how they felt about accomplishment and the obstacles they had to overcome to be accepted; and how often they were not accepted.
"So, despite the deserved sense of accomplishment these men and women felt, despite the irrefutable evidence of their own progress, our conversations were marked by another, more ominous strain. The boarded-up homes, the decaying storefronts, the aging church rolls, kids from unknown families who swaggered down the streets loud congregations of teenaged boys, teenage girls feeding potato chips to crying toddlers, the discarded wrappers tumbling down the block all of it whispered painful truths, told them the progress theyd found was ephemeral, rooted in thin soil; that it might not even last their lifetimes.
As it had for the men in Smittys barbershop, the election had given these people a new idea of themselves. Or maybe it was an old idea, born of a simpler time. Harold was something they still held in common: Like my idea of organizing, he held out an offer of collective redemption.
Even after this, when the man who refused eye contact stumbled painfully upon the name of Ahmadinejad, this remarkable American said to him with a soul full of humility and compassion, "It's OK, John, that's a hard one."
That is the mark of greatness. The man who stood there without being acknowledged, unflinching and without a spark of bitterness in his heart, is the next President of the United States.
Its about Respect. Its about Hope and the Future of a nation. Its about the struggle for Human Dignity throughout the ages.
It is, most of all, about Equality.
Miss Jean Louise, stand up, your fathers passin.
originally posted on Democratic Underground September 27, 2008
Published at Daily Kos 4/5/2012
Kay W. Gardner
Hal Uhrig - Zimmerman's New Defense Counsel - "I Don't Need to Look Him in the Eye"
Uhrig appeared on local Florida Fox TV tonight and explained that GZ "passed his voice stress test, so I see no need to look him in the eye." That's how he explained that neither of GZs two lawyers have ever met him and don't need to. Huh?
George Zimmerman has hired attorney Hal Uhrig, stations reported tonight. The name will be familiar to people who followed the Casey Anthony coverage, because Uhrig offered analysis for Fox-owned WOFL-Channel 35.
http://www.thegrio.com/specials/trayvon-martin/trayvon-martin-case-george-zimmerman-hires-casey-anthony-tv-analyst.php
Mr. Uhrig graduated from the University of Florida College of Law in 1974. Before that he had spent over 6 years with the Gainesville Police Department, where he was a Sergeant at the time of graduation from law school. Since that time he has served as the Police Legal Advisor for the Gainesville Police Department; as General Counsel and Legal Advisor to the Orange County Sheriff's Department (4 years); as Police Legal Advisor to 10 Central Florida law enforcement agencies; as President of the Florida Association of Police Attorneys; As Vice President of the Central Florida Criminal Justice Council; as Assistant Attorney General for the State of Florida in the RICO and Organized Crime section of the Attorney General's Office; as an Assistant Public Defender for 3 years, trying hundreds of criminal cases; as an Associate Professor in the Master's Level Program in Criminal Justice at Rollins College; as an instructor in Criminal and Constitutional Law at Columbia College, as a Police Standards Instructor at four separate accredited Police Academies and as a private criminal defense trial attorney. Mr. UHrig was the lead defense attorney in the nation's first four DNA evidence trials and has appeared on the Today Show as well as numerous radio programs over the years.
EDUCATION:
1964-1965
United State Coast Guard Academy
1972
University of Florida, BA in Political Science & English
1974
University of Florida, JD from the College of Law
1974
FBI National Academy, Legal Officers School
1975
Case Western Reserve University, Post Doctoral work in Public Safety Law
EXPERIENCE:
1969-1975
Gainesville Police Department - Police Officer, Police Sergeant, Police Legal Advisor
1975
Special Assistant State Attorney for the Eighth Judicial Circuit
1975-1976
Partner- Winnie, Winnie & Uhrig, PA. --- criminal defense
1976-1979
Orange County Sheriff's Department-- General Counsel and Legal Advisor to the Department and the Orange County Jail
1976-1979
Assistant State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, - handled all extradition litigation for the State Attorney's Office
1977-1979
Police Legal Advisor for the police departments of Winter Park, Maitland, Apopka, Winter Garden, Ocoee, Oakland, Windermere, Eatonville, and Edgewater
1976- 1980
Instructor in Criminal and Constitutional Law at Columbia College
1978-1979
Associate Professor in the Master's Program in Criminal Justice at Rollins College
1980
Assistant Attorney General- State of Florida- assigned to RICO and organized Crime
1981-1984
Assistant Public Defender, Ninth Judicial Circuit (Orlando)- trial attorney and Division Chief
1984-present
Private practice, engaged in the practice of criminal defense.
MEMBERSHIPS AND ASSOCIATIONS:
Mr. Uhrig is now, or has previously been a member of the following:
The Florida Bar (Criminal Law Section)
The American Bar Association
The Alachua County Bar Association (Criminal Law Section)
The Orange County Bar Association (Criminal Law Section)
The Seminole County Bar Association (Criminal Law Section)
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
The Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
The Florida Academy of Trial Lawyers
The National DUI College
The Central Florida Criminal Justice Council
The Florida Association of Police Attorneys (Past President)
The Florida Sheriff's Association (Legal Officers Section)
The International Association of Chiefs of Police (Legal Officer Section)
The Vollie Williams Chapter, Inns of Court-- Sanford, Florida
Michael Isikoff Says Zimmerman Calls Show No Profiling - WTH?
Michael Isikoff is an award-winning journalist and author, formerly with Newsweek, who is now an investigative journalist with NBC News. This week, he is reporting from Twin Lakes, where Trayvon Martin was killed.
Isikoff broke some exciting news today on Hardball, which he says will be crucial to the defense of George Zimmerman against any "racial profiling" charges.
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/hardball/46945486
He says he went back today and "listened to ALL the Zimmerman tapes" - or calls to police, that are still in existence from the past year or so. Mr. Isikoff says at NO TIME did Zimmerman initially identify the people he was calling about as "black".
Mr. Isikoff stated this would be "critical to the FBI profiling case "and it is worth pointing out that in every instance that he called about suspicious activity from a black male he "DOES NOT VOLUNTEER THE INFORMATION". He says this shows there was no racial profiling. WTH??
Joy Ann Reid, from The Grio.com, and Michael Schmerkonish, both had to ask Isikoff if he Zimmerman ever called about "suscpicious-looking white people." The brilliant journalist had to begrudgingly admit, well, no - "but he never volunteered the information about them being black until he was asked."
Could he get it more wrong if he tried? Did anyone else see this?
He also states that they have the Power Point Presentation given to Twin Lakes neighborhood watch meeting, arranged by Zimmerman, that clearly instructs no weapons and no pursuit. Well, at least Isikoff got that much right.
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