I read the DU "mission statement" in class today :)

Doing a speech in my speech class on political websites, so I of course mentioned DU, and I quoted from the about page:

Democratic Underground (DU) was founded on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2001, to protest the illegitimate presidency of George W. Bush and to provide a resource for the exchange and dissemination of liberal and progressive ideas

Fun. :)

VERY nice!! :D

Is this a high school class or a college class? How well did it go over?

I'm going to buy my high school sophomore brother one of those Anyone But Bush shirts (as well as getting one for myself, of course!) He wants one, and I'm curious to see what his school (Columbine) is going to do. Probably suspend him like they did to me back in the day.

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... and the speech went over great. People really seemed into it. When I read the "illegitimate president" part, I heard a couple chuckles.

The other websites I covered were Drudge Report, BuzzFlash, Free Republic, and Bush Speaks. I put this on the overhead while I talked about Bush Speaks: http://bushspeaks.com/home.asp?did=40

That got quite a laugh, with a bit of a delay while the image sunk in. :) As I described why the image was created (Bush using religiously/ideologically charged language... sounding very similar to Islamic extremists), I noticed quite a few people nodding their heads in agreement.

I was also going to cover DeanForAmerica, simply because of his campaign's revolutionary use of the internet, but I was running out of time, so I cut that part out.

Now I need to choose my topic for my persuasive speech. Here are the ideas I have so far:

Watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Vote for/Support Dennis Kucinich for president
I haven't really jumped into the DK camp, but he's the only candidate I feel strong enough about to stand up and make a speech

Legalize Marijuana

Support/Donate to Operation A/C http://www.operationac.com/
I think this would be interesting 'cuz it would be completely out of the ordinary for, and I really do support the great work they're doing.

Oppose the Davis Recall

Buy my g/f's paintings: http://dreamvigil.com/
That was her idea.. hehe.

Vote for me/Support my candidacy for Governor of California.
Hey! $3500 or 10k signatures and I'm on the ballot! Any Calis here who would vote for me for gov?

edit for grammar

You just invigorated my faith today, that there are interested activist members of the twenty-something generation prepared to carry on the fight. Bless you. Spread the word and good job!

... I'm a 28-yr-old returning student, but I guess that still leaves me with most of my life ahead of me.

It's kind of strange being back in college. I really feel a generation gap between myself and the 18-20 year-olds, but I feel more like I "fit in" than I ever did before.

I got kicked out for a day, when I wore "cool as FCUK" shirt, and a Bush or Chimp.

Though my clothes were a big part of it... I got punched by a jock and a teacher saw it. I was sitting down with my back facing him and he decided to start wailing on me because I was a goth kid in high school (and intolerance has always been welcome at Columbine High). We were both sent to the office and I was suspended because "<You> must have said something to provoke him." He wasn't suspended because if he was, he wouldn't have been able to play in the Thanksgiving weekend football game. I always thought I'd never again have to see or hear anything about Columbine after I graduated in '95. Boy, was I ever wrong.

... and I thought my high school experience sucked.

That sounds like something out of a bad movie.

Columbine was hell for anyone who wasn't part of the status quo. If you didn't play sports, you were beaten up. If you were smart, you were beaten up. If you didn't hang with the right crowd, you were beaten up. And if you complained to the administration, you were labeled a troublemaker. If the jocks beat you up and you weren't a jock, you got suspended for somehow aggrivating the jocks (didn't matter if you never even talked to them). When the shootings happened, I wasn't the least bit surprised. The only thing that surprised me was seeing my old high school on TV from my apartment in Maryland.

... sounds like there might have been the basis for quite a few lawsuits there. That's pure negligence.

MoonGod, are you in high school or college? It seems that students are a lot more conservative these days, so you probably raised a few eyebrows.

... so if they had a problem, I guess I'm not hearing about it. All that I got were compliments, and I got quite a few of those. I personally didn't think the speech went all that well, but I guess I wasn't the one watching it.

Either way, I'm here in Southern California, and even in the moderately conservative San Fernando Valley, I pretty much never come across Bush supporters. I know they're out there. I hear other people tell me about them, but I haven't crossed paths with them.

As far as offending anybody, I was most concerned about how the "Mullah Bush" image would be received. You never know how somebody with certain viewpoints might receive that or how that might impact somebody with very different cultural sensibilities... and we have students from all over the world in this class, including one from Afghanistan and several from the Middle East. But, I went ahead with it knowing that my heart was pure. Generally I find that if I have no intention of offending or upsetting anybody, I don't.

Hope you get an A+++.