One by One

I just attended a lecture by Professor Takami Hatano, visiting from the International Buddhist University in Osaka, Japan. He was speaking about climate change and pollution issues impacting Japan. Someone in the audience had a question about oil tankers leaking, crashing, dumping, and otherwise making a mess in the ocean surrounding the Japanese islands. He confirmed just such an incident and then shared an anecdote which, to him, was completely mundane; he did not anticipate the impact this story would have on his American audience. Speaking only for myself, I can say it filled me with reverence and gratitude.

When an oil tanker crashed in the Sea of Japan the current washed most of the crude oil ashore on Japan's beaches. Professor Hatano told us that after this happened, "Volunteers from all over the country came to the beaches. Everyone came to help. Everyone cleaned the rocks, one by one. Everyone polished the rocks, one by one. One by one we cleaned the oil away."

913,305 Strong

I've claimed, multiple times, to not be a Political Bogger; but what I'm about to do is comparable to the rabid habits of blogosphere junkies. I can't help myself. Not this time. I've posted about how many emails the Clinton and Obama camps send out each week and I've often thought about passing on bits and pieces of those emails to readers of this blog, but who has the time? Well, this afternoon, I'm making time for this message.

In a recent post I shared this news about the Obama strategy: The newest move by the campaign is to highlight the number of individual donors, rather than the number of dollars, and the goal is 500,000 donors by 04 March. Well, in an email that went out from the Obama camp this afternoon: "We're already more than 900,000 strong, including over half-a-million donating so far this year." Did the full weight of that sink in? There are already over 500,000 donors in 2008 and the goal was only to break even at 500,000 by 04 March, which is still about two weeks away! The momentum is absolutely intoxicating. Bored pundits are beginning to jab and jive on the "Cult of Hope" surrounding Obama. Not cool. There's nothing cultish about it. Read a history book. It's called democracy...of the people, by the people, and for the people. (read this Daisy Khan blog post...it's very short)

You may be a Barack fan, you may not be, but either way...read his message in his own words. In the name of democratic dialogue...

Friend --

We learned something extraordinary since I wrote to you last night. We've crunched all the numbers and discovered that we are within striking distance of something historic: one million people donating to this campaign. Think about that ... nearly one million people taking ownership of this movement, five dollars or twenty-five dollars at a time.

We're already more than 900,000 strong, including over half-a-million donating so far this year. This unprecedented foundation of support has built a campaign that has shaken the status quo and proven that ordinary people can compete in a political process too often dominated by special interests.

Unlike Senator Clinton or Senator McCain, we haven't taken a dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs. Our campaign is responsible to no one but the people.

One million donors would be a remarkable feat -- something that's never been done before in a presidential primary and something no one ever thought would be possible for us. And you still have the opportunity to be a part of it.

If you make a donation right now, one of those 900,000 donors has promised to give again in order to match your first gift. You can double the impact of your first donation -- and you can even choose to exchange a note about why you are part of this movement.

Be one of the million who will own a piece of this campaign before the potentially decisive March 4th contests. We started this improbable journey a little over a year ago in Springfield, Illinois. And because you've joined together to make your voices heard, this journey isn't looking as improbable anymore.

Since our victory on February 5th, we've won ten straight contests. But on March 4th, we face a huge challenge in Texas and Ohio, who will vote along with Rhode Island and Vermont. We are behind in the big states and need as many people involved as possible if we're going to win.

If we can reach our goal of one million donors by March 4th, we can send a powerful message that the Washington establishment and big-money interests cannot ignore. As one million people with one voice, we can tell them that their days of dominating Washington are coming to an end -- the old politics are crumbling and a new voice is breaking through. Our voice.

I learned the power of ordinary people coming together as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago. I worked side-by-side with people who had been laid off from steel plants that were moved overseas. These were people who needed new jobs to rebuild their lives, and their political leaders were ignoring them. But even though the odds were stacked against them, they discovered that by coming together with one voice, they could no longer be ignored.

When we launched this campaign, we knew we were up against similar odds. We knew we'd be running against a massive political machine with deep ties to the Washington establishment. We knew it wouldn't be easy. But if we can do this, we're not just going to win an election. We're going to change our country.

Thank you so much,
Barack

https://donate.barackobama.com/match

A Beautiful Blessing

When I was with my Turkish friends this weekend they taught me a beautiful saying. When people get married it is tradition to offer this blessing:

Allah bir kastikta kocatsin

(May God let you grow older
together on the same pillow)

Turkish Tea Set

Red Lentil Fingers

In January it was baklava and this past Saturday it was red lentil fingers (I can't recall the Turkish name of the dish). The friends that I made through the Multicultural Arch Foundation are still hosting cooking gatherings and each month I look forward to our time together. The dish we made this weekend is a combination of red lentils, bulgar, and a slew of veggies and seasonings.

Once everything is all mashed up together, you form little rolls (or "fingers") with your hands. My Turkish friends were grabbing the mixture with two hands, forming a little roll in each hand in about half a second, and then putting them both on the plate. They were trash talking each other about how slow the other person was and how much faster "my mom can roll the fingers..." It was hysterical.

You eat the lentil fingers wrapped in lettuce and they are so good! As always, our gathering is a full on Turkish feast via potluck. I recognized the colorful potato dish from our last gathering, only now it was in little individual bites instead of one huge cake. The rolls were also served last time, but this time there was a from-scratch apple pie tart thing and from-scratch simits (Turkish bagels). Yum-my.

Of course the meal was closed with tea...beautiful, rich, dark Turkish tea.

One of the women just celebrated her first Valentine's Day and while admitting that she didn't understand all the candy and flowers, she liked the idea of "making a special time to express love to everyone in your life, not just to your darling." She gave us all a ceramic plaque, each with a different saying on it, and a card with a quotation about love written inside. She found sayings from religious leaders and secular scholars all over the world, everyone from Gandhi to Fethullah Gulen, Gordon Hinckley to the Pope, poetry, sonnets, and more. When she gave us each our card it was her way of "recognizing that everyone is similar and wants peace and love." Beautiful. This was the statement in my card:

Only those who overflow with love will build the happy and enlightened world of the future. Their lips smiling with love, their hearts brimming with love, their eyes radiating love and the most tender human feelings - such are the heroes of love who always receive messages of love from the rising and setting of the sun and from the flickering light of the stars.
(Fethullah Gulen)