Waterloo and Biden (too)
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I attended an event with Senator Biden was at Jamison’s Irish restaurant in downtown Waterloo, IA, this week. The room was filled with supporters as they sat around tables eating lunch. The senator walked around greeting people before taking the podium. He talked about how America has the potential to change the world, and his foreign policy experience. “We do not have to make up crisis, because they are already there,” the senator said.
When it was time to ask questions, I raised my hand and he handed me the microphone. It was my first encounter since he went on “On The Record”
He told me that he has traveled abroad more than any other candidate has, including Chad and Sudan, and that he has seen the suffering first hand. He told the story how he was able to get women together in Chad to hear their stories. “When I asked if they knew anyone who had been raped, the answer was shocking, they all raised hands,” the senator said. He told the audience that he wrote the International Violence Against Women Act to protect abused women who cannot defend themselves.
Before leaving for an interview, he posed for a picture and said that he is always happy to see ONE members in the audience because “you represent the reality.”
-Natalie Sugira
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The ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, with frequent contributions from volunteers, members and partner organizations.
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December 13, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Wow. When I joined One, I thought it meant that I would meet people that believed we could, one-by-one, take small local acts to end poverty. What I’ve found is that I’ve joined a Move-On wearing white, with its endless big-scene political emails and “effect change by affecting big government.” That’s One? Really? That’s not what I imagined. I believe that as long as we empower governments, we will not solve problems. We will only chase elections cycles.
What I envisioned from the powerful idea that captured my imagination: that folks would collect food and take it to food banks, that those same folks would call local businesses and folks and raise money to help Katrina victims, that truck drivers might donate a little room for care packages, that churches might help with distribution, etc and all along the way, folks might take a personal belief in their ability to effect change because they met and worked with like-minded caring folks. Why are you so fascinated with elections One? Why government, the least efficient mechanism on the planet, and not with people? Why the internet and web2.0? Why not old fashioned food drives and face-to-face? Why nonpartisan and not apolitical? Why do you have to have an agenda One? Why does One, barely able to walk, feel like the same-old same-old to me? Seriously, like I need more emails and political statements - I, this country, the world, needs community and that community does not occur online brother.
I’m sorry I can’t be the earnestly hopeful pollyanna follower but you did, for a moment, have my hopes.
Kevin