Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

You don’t need to look further than your internet browser to find the answer to whether the Confederate battle flag is a remnant of racism. The evidence points to it being a vile reminder of all the injustices of slavery. In 1863, William T. Thompson, the editor of the Savannah Morning News, proposed a design […]

Posted on July 16th, 2015 by Debby
Filed under: American Civil War, History, House of Representatives, House of Representatives, Obama, US Congress | No Comments »

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

The title of this essay is that of a song I remember from bygone days. Frank Sinatra used to sing it. Listening to Barack Obama and John Kerry give their rationale for attacking Syria, gave me an ear worm – the song keeps running around in my brain and I’m sick of hearing it. The […]

Posted on September 6th, 2013 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Foreign Policy, House of Representatives, National Security, Obama, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Posted with permission from Richard S. Gilbert, this lovely piece of writing sets the stage for what happened in 2008. The second Barn for Barack was a story we posted as a slide show in September, 2008. Thank you, Richard, for allowing us a glimpse into the family and the people behind the Second Barn […]

Posted on October 13th, 2012 by Debby
Filed under: Election 2008, Election 2012, Farms & Farmers, Obama, People, Rural Life | No Comments »

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson One of the recurring themes in “Peanuts,” Charles Schultz’s deliciously amusing cartoon, involved Lucy persuading Charlie Brown over and over again to kick a football she’d hold for him.  The hapless little boy would come at a run, give it his all, and at the last minute Lucy would pull the […]

Posted on November 17th, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: National Security, Obama, Republicans | No Comments »

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson Will you do me a favor, please? Go read Bill McKibben’s op-ed piece, “My Road Trip With a Solar Rock Star or Notes on the Enthusiasm Gap,” and then come back here and read my reaction to it. I’m asking you for this favor because I want you to tell me […]

Posted on September 16th, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Climate Change, Global warming, Obama, Office of Public Engagement | 4 Comments »

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. –William Butler Yeats, “The Second Coming” With the help of Democrats in the White House and the Senate “leadership,” Republicans have killed hope for legislation on climate change, or even meaningful energy efficiency, for this year and probably […]

Posted on July 26th, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Climate Change Legislation, Energy Crisis, EPA, Global Warming, Obama, Senate | 4 Comments »

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson Bipartisanship cannot mean simply that Democrats give up everything that they believe in, find the handful of things that Republicans have been advocating for and we do those things, and then we have bipartisanship. —Barack Obama, at a news conference Feb. 9, 2010 On Thursday, February 25, the President is hosting […]

Posted on February 24th, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Health Care, Healthcare Reform, House of Representatives, Obama, Public Option, Senate, US Congress | 2 Comments »

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson Every time I hear the bleating heads on cable news and NPR say the Massachusetts special election to fill Teddy Kennedy’s seat resulted in the Democrats losing their super majority in the Senate, I want to throw up. Or throw something. The Democrats never had a super majority, the 60 votes […]

Posted on February 16th, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Election 2010, Fiscal Crisis, Healthcare Reform, House of Representatives, Obama, Senate, Senate, US Congress | 2 Comments »

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

President Obama reflects on the Massachusetts election results and his vision for creating a better America.

Posted on January 25th, 2010 by Debby
Filed under: Obama, POTUS, Senate, Senate Races | No Comments »

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson The best thing, to my way of thinking, about Barack Obama’s having been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize is that the Democratic National Committee finally — finally — stood up on its hind legs and snapped back at the Republican Party, giving them a dose of their own medicine. The DNC’s […]

Posted on October 10th, 2009 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Obama | No Comments »