Check it out. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is holding a march today to call for an end to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. (DETAILS  AT END OF POST.)

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell(DADT) was a policy introduced under the Clinton Administration. In short, it prohibits any gay or bisexual servicemember from discussing their sexual orientation.  That includes any casual mention of a relationship, a family, you get the picture. Apparently it creates an “unacceptable risk” to the morale, good order and discipline of our military.

One of President Obama’s campaign promises was to repeal DADT, a policy that has since made it difficult to retain qualified servicemembers. As stated by Dr. Larry Korb, a former national security advisor and Senior fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP) in Washington,

“…the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy continues to undermine their efforts to attract qualified men and women. Moreover, since its enactment, this outmoded law has cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of service men and women who were working to keep our country safe.”

For details on the March: Meet at Farragut Square at 2:00PM EST. You will then walk over to the White House and gather in Lafayette Park.

Good luck and have fun! I would be there on the group with my gear but your little sister only graduates from high school once. :)

Helen Thomas meets Twitter. Well, I’ve introduced them once before. But this time on camera – and this time, armed with questions from you. She was a good sport and full of laughs, but then quickly turned the tables and asked me to ask you: who wants single payer health care?

Check out her latest column, Obama Running Scared, to learn what she means.

Protest. Today. White House.

Hundreds of Iranians and supporters showed up with flags, signs, and shades of green to urge the White House to intervene in what has become a widespread uprising between Iranians for democracy and the government, lead by the Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei  and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

BBC reported from that 10 people have died so far in the Tehran protests. One woman I interviewed denounced that and said the real numbers are in the low hundreds. While all of this goes on, dozens of journalists have been jailed while others, like BBC’s John Leyne, have been removed from the country. Total chaos.

I came across this protest unexpectedly but luckily had my Flip Video on me. Check it out and be sure to get the take from the ground with my live tweets next time.

Obama’s global op-ed, “A Time for Global Action,” ran in over 30 newspapers and dozens of dialects yesterday. From the Sunday Times of South Africa to the Estado de Sau Paulo of Brazil, his 1,024 word essay asked the global community for help in “a new era of economic engagement to prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again.”

Another big moment for the international media came last night at Obama’s second live Prime Time press conference, when a dozen random outlets were called for questions. One of them was Agence France-Presse, (AFP).

CQ Politics reported:

The AFP correspondent might have been the only reporter to have squeezed any news out of Obama. He asked a basic question: what would Obama do to advance peace in the Middle East, when it’s likely the new Israeli government will soon be led by a prime minister not supportive of the two-state solution and a foreign minister who has insulted Arabs? Obama replied, “It’s not easier than it was, but I think it’s just as necessary.” No doubt, the first half of that reply will be splashed throughout the media in Israel and Arab countries, and be read as something of a no-confidence vote in Benjamin Netanyahu.

Who didn’t get called on? The New  York Times, USAToday and the Wall Street Journal to name a few.

Looks like bloggers aren’t the only ones edging their ways into the conversation. It appears international media, too, will give traditional outlets in America a run for their money.

I had some extra footage from my conversation with Helen Thomas on 2/19/09. In it, she talked tough to Republicans — “They drove us into the ground” — addressed the first credentialed blogger in the Press Corp, and shared her deepest concern for the crash of newspapers.

This is worth covering – just because, well, it’s never happened before. At least not in the same…so much is at stake, kind of way.

This week Obama will go on a Public Lobbying Campaign – in effort to create support for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus plan in short) which Congress is scheduled to vote on this Tuesday.

But there is a major wave of opposition to the stimulus plan from Republicans. After a 12-year run controlling Congress and eight years of the White House, they are, without doubt, adjusting to the reality of being in the minority.

Senator John McCain leads the GOP opposition to the stimulus plan, saying if and when this is passed it will be a “very bad day for America.” Just a few months ago, on November 4th after losing the election, McCain made a public pledge to help Obama.

“These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.”

The bill will be voted on this Tuesday.

But just what is in the $780 Billion plan?

First, there will be some “quick acting tax cuts” to get consumers and businesses to spend money – and ugh, stimulate the stagnant economy.

Next there will be tons of public works projects and other programs (think building schools, roads and bridges) to create an estimated 3 million jobs. That’s probably good news to the young California Conservation Corps work crew – a youth work program that is about to be cut because of the tumbling economy.

So what’s next? Monday Obama will be in Indiana, Tuesday he will be in Florida and on Wednesday he will be in Virginia.

Who knew…that it seems the campaign has only just begun.

Check it out. With just my iPhone, I fed the MTV News headquarters in NYC a stream of blog posts and updates. During the concert, I was under orders to submit constant updates. My little fingers typed as fast as they could to get them immediate reactions from the people around me. It was awesome.

It is not the kind of scare tactic you might expect. But with more than 70,000 views in 24 hours just three days before the election, the Obama-Biden camp is yet again successful at marketing a message. This viral ad poses the question to viewers: “On November 5th, Will You Have Done All that You Could Have?”

Here is a particularly good example of a video that leverages amatuer footage to give a very clear call-to-action in under 3 minutes.

Last week I spoke to a Georgetown University class on the use of social media, video and blogs in the election. Alan Rosenblatt of Center for American Progress, also the Professor, invited me. I opened up with some stories about my experience blogging and reporting for MTV, and then listened as Netroots Rising authors, Lowell Feld and Nate Wilcox took it away. I love speaking at classes because I know I am bound to learn something. That night was no exception.

This morning I spoke for the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL). The organization works in tandem with the House Democracy Assistance Commission and is internationally recognized for introducing rising political and policy leaders to each other. I spoke alongside Arielle Fleisher of Campus Progress and Adrian Talbott of Generation Engage.

ACYPL had brought young political leaders from Jordan, Israel and Hungary for their Election Study Program. From the Hungarian Socialist Party to Israel’s Women’s Rights Movement, these intellectuals would be in the U.S. for a few weeks — starting in Washington and then moving to battleground states to observe U.S. democracy in action.

I wondered last week what I could discuss about the Youth Engagement in this election that would be original and of interest.  Then it dawned on me when I saw this video.

The impact of citizen journalism in this election.

I gave an overview of how user generated content on YouTube, THINK and Facebook have revolutionized the way my generation interacts socially and politically. But then I got a question.

“Will young people be to blame if Obama loses?”

The question was fair, and my answer simple.

Definitely not. With an age-old electoral college, state resources stretched to accomodate the record number of voters – we have bigger problems than pointing fingers at first-time voters. Yes? No?

Here is my latest MTV story.

Last weekend in DC, there was a sort of…”Last Call” party for Barack Obama.

It was a massive phone banking telethon – designed by Obama’s national headquarters, organized and put into action by the DC for Obama office.

Rachel, a full-time volunteer, was on hand to talk. She had two cell phones, numbers scratched in Sharpie on the back of each and a dazed but focused look.

“Our job in the DC Office is to mobilize DC Residents to turn out Virginia Voters.”

Neighborly…or nosy? Check out this video to see how the massive mobilization effort functions – and what it is like to witness the Obama grassroots grow.

Originally purposed for MTV.

This week’s piece is about seven young students. Not all Americans, but all in America.

Stan’s parents are French. Benedict has lived in the States since ’98. Eliza is half Swedish, half American and is Co-Editor of the school’s newspaper, the International Dateline.

Then there is Leena, who is a junior who has relatives in Lebanon – and Alex, the American, who calls himself the “least interesting kid in the school — culturally.” Yet somehow his presence is so rare it’s original.

Together, these kids make up the student body of the Washington International School (WIS). In a city with 170 Embassies and 10,000 core diplomats, the District transforms from a poor urban area to a Capitol city with international culture.

A few Saturday’s a year, the newspaper class meets to lay out the upcoming edition. They all write about different things – from the Hip Hop Appreciation Club to Google’s new browser – and offer their insight on DC gentrification and world conflicts. Some want to be journalists – others are there for fun. Something about it is so classic high school.

As for the America they live in, Benedict, the soft-spoken Brit, said, “I think (WIS) is the melting pot they claim America is.”

A Global Clique  

After the Show Info:       

for·eign pol·i·cy:
A set of goals outlining how the country will interact with other countries economically, politically, socially and military (Wikipedia).
 
The diplomatic policy of a nation in its interactions with other nations (Free Dictionary).

Senator John McCain (R-AZ)

Senator McCain’s web site does not have a specific place for the complete policy of the U.S.’s interaction with other sovereign nations. For that reason, I pulled some of the positions that speak to the American presence economically, politically, socially and military abroad.

JohnMcCain.com
· Strategy Victory for Iraq http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/fdeb03a7-30b0-4ece-8e34-4c7ea83f11d8.htm

· Climate Change http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/da151a1c-733a-4dc1-9cd3-f9ca5caba1de.htm

·Border Security and Immigration http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/68db8157-d301-4e22-baf7-a70dd8416efa.htm

·Technology http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/cbcd3a48-4b0e-4864-8be1-d04561c132ea.htm

·National Security http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/054184f4-6b51-40dd-8964-54fcf66a1e68.htm

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL)
BarackObama.com

·Foreign Policy: http://origin.barackobama.com/issues/foreign_policy/

This last week in the race to the White House was unheard of. First, lawmakers scrammbled to save our economy from collapse, McCain asked to cancel the first Presidential Debate – and Bill O’Reilly flipped out not just on Dems but all “ideological kool aid drinkers.” Hmm. Could we are all be getting somewhere?

Here is the week in review.

Wednesday, September 24
Joint Statement Released from McCain, Obama on Financial Crisis

Both Senators urged Member of Congress to work together and compromise on an economic bail out package. The package is controversial on both sides, particularly to very conservative Republicans and very liberal Dems.

As a side note, I also found this press release from Senator Obama’s campaign. Along with the statement, he outlined five “principals” for John McCain to follow. I wonder if that actually happened….

Wednesday, September 25
McCain Calls Press Conference to Try to Suspend Debate

Thursday, September 26
McCain’s Request to Delay Debate Falls Flat

“It’s going to be part of the president’s job to be able to deal with more than one thing at once,” Senator Obama said at a press conference.

“What I’m planning to do is debate on Friday.”

Friday, September 27
Congress Nears Agreement, Debate Goes Live

Both campaign jets arrived in Oxford, Mississippi for the first of three Presidential Debates. This one focused on Foreign Policy – but in light of the looming financial crisis, 35 minutes was spent on the economy.

You can watch the different portions of the debate at CSPAN’s Debate Hub. I just discovered this resource. You can also follow Debate Hub on Twitter and YouTube for constant updates.

To see the individual responses on the following topics (from solving the crisis to lessons of Iraq), visit the Debate Hub homepage and select which one you like. You can also see the breakdown of how long each candidate spoke on each topic in relation to the rest of the debate.

And to check out Chris Cizzilla, Washington Post blogger (The Fix) wrap up the key points from the debate, visit his blog. I had tried to post a video here but the WaPo embed isn’t working. I’ll get on that. Until next time.

Check this out. I was home on Thursday night with a couchful of friends and we just so happened to stop on Comedy Central. I swear, it was total fate — and would have been complete disaster to have missed this airing of Colbert. Just four days before the Pennsylvania Primary, and on Prime time television for Gen Y, Colbert got the line up other shows might be half as ambitious to even shoot for.

First, Clinton appears in lieu of Colbert’s technical problems. The ever-eager Senator would make a great addition to anyone’s team with this priceless enthusiasm.

Next, Edwards shows up to remind viewers everyoneis still after his vote. He hits on the point that media continues to pigeon demographics as having control of the final tally. This second, they’re saying it might be the “white male vote,” to which Colbert responds, “finally, white men will be heard!”

And finally, Obama shows up on the projector from somewhere in heartland America. He appears more rested than the lame primary the night before where both candidates made me yawn for different reasons. Colbert offers a strong opener about how happy HIllary must be pleased that she”fixed our projector screen.” (To which Obama plastered a whopping grin all over it.)

Here’s my first official MTV video assignment!!

On Monday, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), the younger brother of JFK, endorsedBarackObama for President. Thousands showed up to American University in Washington, DC for a chance to hearObama and be a part of the movement for change. Like hundred of others, I couldn’t get inside. But the story I got on the outside is just as rich. Check it out.