Backyard Politics: Benches for Barack
Here’s one way for Democrats to make a campaign contribution that promises immediate payback. For 40 bucks, Benches for Barack — a grassroots fundraiser advertised on lampposts and on Craigslist — will build you a garden bench. $25 goes toward building supplies and the remaining $15 gets donated to the Obama campaign. A pair of…
Here’s one way for Democrats to make a campaign contribution that promises immediate payback. For 40 bucks, Benches for Barack — a grassroots fundraiser advertised on lampposts and on Craigslist — will build you a garden bench. $25 goes toward building supplies and the remaining $15 gets donated to the Obama campaign.
A pair of bright neighborhood kids, 18-year-old high school grads Harry Fishbein and Emma Dillon, build these sturdy benches in the basement of Harry’s Cobble Hill home and cheerfully deliver them to doorsteps around Brooklyn, free of charge. The benches are 18 inches tall, 4 feet long, and about 10 inches wide, and turnaround is quick. We received ours, which is painted a muted sage green, within hours of sending an email to Benches for Barack.
Harry and Emma made their first sale on Friday June 20 and by time tomorrow’s deliveries are done, they’ll have sold 38 benches — enough to donate $570 to the campaign. They don’t have any furniture-making background, but during Harry’s high school career, he built “a suspension bridge out of cardboard and fishing line that could hold 800 pounds and was 25 feet long,” and “a 7 foot tall geodesic dome out of electrical conduit.” We’re not entirely sure what that means, but one can safely assume that the kid’s benches are gonna hold up.
They’ll be buidling benches and other custom carpentry projects — like wooden trash can containers, sheds, picnic tables, and kids’ bathroom stools — throughout the summer, but in the fall, Harry’s going to Lafayette for engineering and Emma’s heading to Tufts for international relations.
Good to have you back solider dude! You and your brothers in arms did the damn thing!
-PH resident
bxgrl I did two tours in Iraq, one pre-surge and one during it.
You have NO idea what you are talking about. The media has done a horrible job presenting the complex issues on the ground and their inherent bias has been to focus on negatives. News coverage of the conflict has plunged since the surge because there aren’t as many bad things occurring. The war no longer fits the narrative the editors and news directors want to portray, so they don’t cover it anymore. Dolts like you continue to parrot a narrative as some sort of perverted truth that doesn’t whatsoever mirror reality.
We were attacked by Iraq via proxies in international terrorist incidents and direct fire in the no fly zone. Saddam wasn’t involved in 9/11, but he sure as hell had a lot of other bad people, including one of the first WTC bombers on the payroll.
I am highly offended that believe the army ripped apart Iraq, decades of tyranny and a thieving police state tore the country apart. Saddam broke the country and we, with some VERY brave Iraqis are putting it back together.
You have you be deaf, dumb, and blind to believe the country is worse shape than under Hussein.
I don’t call the conduct of Jack Murtha, Nancy Pelosi, Dick Durbin, many others very caring and support of the troops. I see more political grandstanding and backstabbing of our efforts from the Donks then anyone.
Osama is still loose, in Afghanistan/Pakistan, no shit that’s a different theater of operations against the same type of assholes. Al Quaeda isn’t a growing threat, they are a laughing stock of the terrorist world right now.
The whole region isn’t more destabilized than ever, Iran and Syria are crapping themselves as the rest of the Gulf States are taking a stand. Osama can’t even make a videotape anymore he is so busy hiding in a cave hugging a mule.
What we will get is a timeline for a pullout- the Iraqis want their country back, and we need to be out? Iraqis ARE running their own country you idiot, our troops are their at their request and permission.
100,000 Iraqis weren’t killed by the war, around 40k have been. Saddam used to kill an average of 100K of his people A YEAR. So guess what, MORE PEOPLE ARE STILL ALIVE AS A RESULT OF THE WAR.
“Don’t demean our troops by trying to cover our mistakes up by waving the flag- that’s the most disrespectful thing.” Look in the MIRROR you little twit, wanting millions to live under a dictator is a morally superior position? What are you a useful idiot of a fascist along the lines of Philip Johnson? You wouldn’t know respect if it knocked you over the head. In the end it’s all about YOU YOU YOU, who cares about anyone else.
Why don’t you go to Iraq and do something productive with your life, bxgrl?
agreed, 11:23 and 22- absolutely.
And before 9:55 can try to claim I don’t care about the troops- I have a nephew in Iraq and think he is an incredible American patriot.
The fear was just to (effectively, it appears) manipulate the rest of us.
Not fear, control of, and profit from, oil.
There is no victory in Iraq. We walked into a country that we were not attacked by, were not fighting and literally ripped it apart. And now it’s in worse shape than under Hussein. It certainly is not the fault of our troops. It is the fault of the republican fear machine that doesn’t give a hoot about them.
It’s cost us over 4000 young, courageous men and women, and sent home tens of thousands wounded in body and soul. For what? Osama is still loose, Al Quaeda still a growing threat and the whole region is more destabilized than ever. Osama is practically thanking us for the stupidity of our moron of a president.
What we will get is a timeline for a pullout- the Iraqis want their country back, and we need to be out. So again- what victory? Over 100,000 Iraqis killed, the destruction of their infrastructure, an unstable government that can barely sustain goodwill amongst themselves, let alone democracy. What victory?
Don’t demean our troops by trying to cover our mistakes up by waving the flag- that’s the most disrespectful thing.
Well, he would be like about 95% of the country. I have no problem with him being religious just so long as he- or any other politician – doesn’t push their religion on anyone else. Being religious and being fundamentalist are very different. And Obama does not push religion- he’s no fundamentalist.
I don’t even have a problem with faith-based initiatives, but the current loon loosened the rules and that is a problem.
“war hero = zero” “DINGBAT”, you represent everything that is wrong today with our society in general. Maybe McCain is not the right person, maybe he is. You belittle his service to this country for the sake of making Obama look like he has some credentials when he has no record whatsoever to speak too. You want to actually speak to policy, then please do so. Otherwise, you are the ZERO and everyone else that agrees with that sentiment. The next president will be handed a victory in Iraq, whomever he is, and he had better thank the service men and women of this country. You can now go back and hide in your cave with Osama.