November 28, 1967
To Draft Board #1, Selective Service, Hyannis, Mass.

Gentlemen:

My son Mark Vonnegut is registered with you. He is now in the process of requesting classification as a conscientious objector. I thoroughly approve of what he is doing. It is in keeping with the way I have raised him. All his life he has learned hatred for killing from me.

I was a volunteer in the Second World War. I was an infantry scout, saw plenty of action, was finally captured and served about six months as a prisoner of war in Germany. I have a Purple Heart. I was honorably discharged. I am entitled, it seems to me, to pass on to my son my opinion of killing. I don’t even hunt or fish any more. I have some guns which I inherited, but they are covered with rust.

This attitude toward killing is a matter between my God and me. I do not participate much in organized religion. I have read the Bible a lot. I preach, after a fashion. I write books which express my disgust for people who find it easy and reasonable to kill.

We say grace at meals, taking turns. Every member of my large family has been called upon often to thank God for blessings which have been ours. What Mark is doing now is in the service of God, Whose Son was exceedingly un-warlike. There isn’t a grain of cowardice in this. Mark is a strong, courageous young man. What he is doing requires more guts than I ever had—and more decency.

My family has been in this country for five generations now. My ancestors came here to escape the militaristic madness and tyranny of Europe, and to gain the freedom to answer the dictates of their own consciences. They and their descendents have been good citizens and proud to be Americans. Mark is proud to be an American, and, in his father’s opinion, he is being an absolutely first-rate citizen now.

He will not hate.

He will not kill.

There’s hope in that. There’s no hope in war.

Yours truly,
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

“The definition of hope is you still believe, even when it’s hard.”

An emotional president Obama at his last campaign rally in Iowa

President Obama’s Full Speech from His Final Rally – Des Moines, Iowa

Rachel Maddow – A presidency of historic consequence

Chris Matthews: Let Me Finish (Nov 5, 2012)

25 reasons from 25 people who are voting Obama:

1. “The Affordable Care Act is saving my daughter’s life.”
   —Stacey, Arizona
2. “Obama is for the vets. He helped us wind down in Iraq, he’s improved mental health policy with VA benefits.”
   —Joel, Minnesota
3. “Obama stuck his neck out for us, the auto industry. He wasn’t going to let it just die, and I’m driving in this morning because of that, because of him.”
   —Brian, Ohio
4. “Osama bin Laden is dead, and General Motors is alive.”
   —Joe Biden, Delaware
5. “Supreme Court Supreme Court Supreme Court.”
   —Andrew, California
6. “Arithmetic.”
   —Bill Clinton, New York
7. “He cares for the 100%.”
   —Shana, Texas
8. “When Obama came into office, he successfully renewed our country’s place in the community of nations, making cooperation in tackling the world’s challenges possible.”
   —Willis, North Carolina
9. “The actions he has taken with respect to protecting us from terrorism have been very, very solid.”
   —Colin Powell, Virginia
10. “I was really very grateful to him for standing up for those kids who are having a really rough time out there because of their orientation.”
    —Jane Lynch, California
11. “For me, President Obama is our best choice because he has a vision of the United States as a place where we are all in this together.”
    —Bruce Springsteen, New Jersey
12. “He has a real plan for rescuing the economy that passes the ‘math’ test.”
    —Teresa, Virginia
13. “Having someone in office who understands how powerful our voice can be is very important.”
    —Jay Z, New York
14. “I am voting for Barack Obama and Joe Biden because I can trust them to care for the middle class and restore the American dream.”
    —Steven, Florida
15. “The first measure he signed into law after becoming president was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act—so a female high school counselor or physical education teacher can fight for equal pay for equal work.”
    —Connie Britton, California
16. “I believe in the America he wants for my grandchildren.”
    —Nancy, Michigan
17. “We need four more years of repair, of helping the middle class achieve a sustainable economy.”
    —James Taylor, North Carolina
18. “I’ve watched him fight for our country, stand by the middle class, the working class, the military, the education of our children, universal health care, women, the environment, and matters of national and domestic security.”
    —Susan, Virginia
19. “The gifted 12-year-old I taught, whose parents were deported and left her here with her grandmother, will be allowed to stay and finish her education. She’s been in the U.S. since age one.”
    —Jamie, North Carolina
20. “I want our president to place scientific evidence and risk management above electoral politics.”
    —Michael Bloomberg, New York
21. “I have four children who are under 26 and able to stay on my health care plan. That’s been huge.”
    —Amy, Pennsylvania
22. “He’s fighting to defend and better Social Security and Medicare—because millions of Latino seniors rely on them.”
    —Cristina Saralegui, Florida
23. “Thanks to the President’s efforts to keep student loan rates low, I can expect to save nearly $1,000 as I work to repay my student loans. And I don’t have too many of those, thanks to the Federal Pell Grant program.”
    —Sam, Minnesota
24. “It’s been wonderful to have President Obama as a champion for access to health care for all women in this country.”
    —Cecile Richards, New York
25. “Re-electing Barack Obama would lead to a stronger economic recovery than would be the case were Mitt Romney to win on November 6th.”
    —Jared Bernstein, Washington, D.C.

He’ll dance, he’ll cook—Will Ferrell will do anything to get you to vote in this election. Confirm where you vote here:
http://OFA.BO/qF51sn

Cher and Kathy Griffin on Mitt’s efforts to turn back time on women in the latest video from the Actually… series. When lies go unchecked, we all lose. Actually.org spreads the truth, because the truth matters—even in politics. Our team calls ‘em like they see ‘em, and we hope you’ll support the truth by sharing Actually.org videos before Election Day.

Actually… is a partnership between American Bridge and JCER. Schlep Labs is a project of JCER. Actually… was produced by Amy Rubin at Barnacle Studios

David and Christine Poulin from New Smyrna, Florida share why they’re Republicans and voting for President Obama. A few years ago their son Matthew was diagnosed with a rare condition attacking the heart. He survived after receiving a transplant and continues treatment with daily medications. Without the Affordable Care Act, the Poulins would be burdened with higher prescription drug costs and the threat of Matthew losing his health insurance.

As Christine and David share:

“If the Affordable Care Act were repealed there’s no way that we could afford the medical bills and prescriptions that come along with the heart transplant. The pre-existing condition clause was a big relief to us. When I heard Mitt Romney say that if he’s elected President he will repeal the Affordable Care Act on day one, it makes me angry.”

“The next president can decide the quality of my son’s life and the length of my son’s life. So if I vote for Governor Romney I’m voting for limiting my healthcare options for my son.”

Campaign Manager Jim Messina breaks down how we’re doing in this election with less than a week to go.

Four years ago, I left the Republican Party of which I was a lifelong member and became an independent. Not long after, I supported Barack Obama in the 2008 election for president. I made this decision determined to look at the issues not as a Republican or a Democrat, but as an American.

It is through that lens that I consider my choice in the 2012 election. Like many other voters who crossed party lines to vote for Barack Obama in the last election, I have watched the 2012 campaign carefully and listened closely to what the candidates have said. I believe that President Obama should be re-elected.

Very few American presidents have been truly prepared to assume that job. Four years ago, Obama, a relatively inexperienced public servant, became the 44th President of the United States during one of the most difficult times our country has faced. The nation’s economy was on the brink of collapse. Our image overseas was tarnished, and our military was bogged down in two unpopular wars. I supported Obama then because I thought that he was unflappable. I saw him as a man with a keen intellect and a cool analytical head. I believed he would also be able to inspire those who had suffered most from a recession unparalleled since the Great Depression. In doing so, I reasoned, he would go a long way towards reuniting a nation deeply divided.

Obama was elected and took office, building on a number of stabilization programs initiated by the Bush administration. He took many other vital steps that reestablished our economic footing, including saving America’s automobile industry.

In the last four years, and despite the global downturn, America has come back from the brink. While pain is still being felt in far too many sectors of the economy, from a macroeconomic standpoint the situation in the United States is better than it is among our allies. According to the International Monetary Fund, today the United States is poised for 3 percent growth, which would make our economy the strongest of the other richest economies, including Canada and Germany. Other influential studies, cited in a recent column by Fareed Zakaria, show that debt in the U.S. financial sector, relative to GDP, has declined to levels not seen since before the 2000 bubble. And consumer confidence is now at its highest levels since September 2007. The housing market is also slowly coming back. While there is still an enormous amount to do to assure a recovery, the president deserves credit for a steady hand during this dangerous and unpredictable time.

In the last four years, President Obama has also had to contend with a rapidly changing international environment. He ended the war in Iraq, was the first Democratic president to ratify an arms control treaty with the Russian Federation, and rallied global leaders to put nuclear security at the top of the international agenda. The Obama Administration has also been responsible for decimating the top leadership of al-Qaeda and introducing biting sanctions on Iran. Today the president has significant experience in managing foreign relations, experience that GOP candidate Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, do not have.

As a result of this campaign I am more confused than ever about what Mitt Romney stands for. I know little of his core beliefs, if he even has any. No one seems to agree on what they are, and that’s why I do not want to take a chance on finding out.

Given Romney’s shifting positions, he can only be judged by the people with whom he surrounds himself. Many of them espouse yesterday’s thinking on national defense and security, female/family reproductive rights, and the interplay of government and independent private enterprise. In this context, Barack Obama represents the future, not that past. His emphasis on education is an example of the importance he places on preparing rising generations to assume their places as innovators and entrepreneurs, workers and doers, and responsible citizens and leaders. He recognizes, as many of us do, that access to opportunities must be open to every American, regardless of race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. This is not an entitlement, but a sound investment in the future.

Barack Obama’s record as president has not been perfect, and there have been frustrations for all of us during this time. Nevertheless, I believe that he deserves four more years in the White House. If the voters on November 6 give him that chance, we should expect and demand, if necessary, that members of both parties work closely with him to find a way to avert the “fiscal cliff” and other pressing and possibly destabilizing problems.

As I said in 2008 and will say again: “Unless we squarely face our challenges as Americans—together– we risk losing the priceless heritage bestowed on us by the sweat and the sacrifice of our forbearers. If we do not pull together, we could lose the America that has been an inspiration to the world.”

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