thankyoupatriot.com your input is needed!!! update & new thread

[frictionlessO]

heres the last thread on this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x267786

Please follow all the links to understand this cool lil grassrots thing thats happened in the last few days!

Okay fellow DUers, Chili has done a ton of work so please a round of thank yous!

Now we are getting down to the nitty gritty, we need input on the following items

The links on "why this site" and "why the orange ribbon" we need three to five paragraphs for each explanation/reason consider "why this site" as a mission statement. We'll most likely use a combination of different responses to these. Please try to sound official and no name calling, we want this to be open for defectors, not insulting. Okay?

Chili has asked me to clarify that the latin is just a place holder and temporary.

We also need help on figuring out if its acceptable to be linking to the webpages of these officials... any of you law types out there or just DUers with knowledge in this sort of thing please PM me!

Dont hestitate to ask questions of me here on this thread or PM me I dont mind and this labor of love makes it all the more pleasurable to answer your queries.

Thanks for your support DU!

site link: http://shadowbox.i8.com/patriot.htm

[marions ghost]

1. site is great!

Am happy to spread the word when you have it finalized...:toast:

On "why this site"? I wonder if you could have some visuals like the long lines of voters, crowded conditions. Any other photos that might show some of the issues. I realize voting is hard to portray.

Ditto on "why the orange ribbon?"--some pix of people in Ukraine, some pix of people at protests here wearing orange. Orange is also "orange alert"--our right to vote in a fair election is threatened.

[frictionlessO]

4. like maybe 3-6 pics? pics speak well for what we mean in this

regard. Not a bad idea at all! Maybe we can do a pic and a short paragraph description of the issue portrayed in the pic??

[SaveAmerica]

24. Having pictures is a great idea...

Maybe the short paragraph can have 3 or 4 highlighted words that will link to the corresponding picture?

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Dang, that's some nice web design! :^)

http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/electionreform.htm#why

[frictionlessO]

3. Heya greenparty Im hoping Chili will get the site links working tonight

or tomorrow... thanks again for that!

[frictionlessO]

5. oh geeze bad typo there! sorry all, no more grassrot only growth!

:hi:

[Rican1]

6. Great Site! - I hope it will contain links

to the film showing all the issues in Ohio

[Coexist]

7. After dinner kick

[frictionlessO]

8. do they have a single video of it yet?

[frictionlessO]

9. no seriously we need and want your input! badly!!

perdy please?

[Wilms]

10. That's is sooooooo AMERICAN!

That looks beautiful.

I hate to ask for you to do more while offering but a task, but I want to ask if the senators and House members (if they weren't among the yea group) who spoke could be entered.


Sen. Richard Durbin D-IL
Sen. Debbie Stabenow D-MI
Sen. Edward Kennedy D-MA
Sen. Ron Wyden D-OR
Sen. Frank Lautenberg D-NJ
Sen. Hillary Clinton D-NY
Sen. Harry Reid D-NV
Sen. Tom Harkin D-IA
Sen. Barack Obama D-IL
Sen. Christopher Dodd D-CT

[FreepFryer]

13. I'd like to second that.

[frictionlessO]

17. duly noted,

We'll see what we can do!

and Thank you!

[mzmolly]

22. Third that!

:hi:

[snot]

35. I totally agree--pls add all who spoke

I honestly believe that the group collaborated to try to make the biggest impact with the least political cost, and that their decision was the correct one. All who helped shd be recognized.

[Alizaryn]

48. Rev Jessie Jackson

[SharonRB]

50. I agree with that. n/t

[senegal1]

11. Wonderful!!!

[FreepFryer]

12. Some more quotes:

"If the United States of America or Britain is having elections, they don't ask for observers from Africa or from Asia. But when we have elections, they want observers."
-- Nelson Mandela


"The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principles on which it was founded."
-- Charles-Louis De Secondat (1689-1755), Baron de Montesquieu - Source: The Spirit of the Laws, 1748



"To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men."
-- Abraham Lincoln: 16th U.S. president, 1809-1865



"When I tell the truth, it is not for the sake of convincing those who do not know it, but for the sake of defending those that do." : William Blake

[Alizaryn]

16. The last 2 quotes are my favorite. Maybe this Gandhi quote too ..

we have CERTAINLY used it a lot this last month!

"First the Laugh at you, Then they Hate you, then they Fight you, Then you Win."

Mahatma Gandhi

[livvy]

14. A Few More Quotes

The site looks fantastic! Great idea!

"The single most impressive fact about the attempt by American women to obtain the right to vote is how long it took"
Alice Rossi
"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost."
John Quincy Adams
"Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country."
--Franklin D. Roosevelt

"The future of this republic is in the hands of the American voter."
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

"In a world that might say one vote doesn't matter..., it does matter because each person is of infinite worth and value to God... Your vote is a declaration of importance as a person and a citizen."
--Billy Graham

[mzmolly]

19. I like that Billy Graham quote.

That's like a double whammy! ;)

[Wilms]

15. Please remember Bernie Sanders, (I-VT) n/t

[saracat]

20. Sanders voted no.

[saracat]

21. We have no Rep. Davis in AZ!

Our only other Dem. Rep.,Ed Pastor, voted No!

[frictionlessO]

23. thats weird, because this the one Chili was having trouble finding.

I wonder if theres been a mistake in the list she was using... Thank you very much for letting us know!

[frictionlessO]

25. this might be where we run into a bit of controversy and we might

poll it over a few days during the week. The senators that still "nayed" but voiced support strongly behind Boxer, at least deserve to be voted yes or no in regards to being put up on the site I think.

What do you think saracat?

[Wilms]

28. Taking care is a good idea.

If you are doing thank you's, it's usually pretty important NOT to forget anyone that you would have on the list.

[saracat]

32. Well. I can't say about the House because I don't know, other than

Sanders what other Reps spoke but then voted nay. I think in the house we have a task to distinguish those that merely spoke to the issue as opposed to those who did both. The Senate is a bit easier as only Boxer voted yea. She certainly deserves a special catogory.. House members who voted yea should be given more credit than those who merely spoke.

[Wilms]

26. I indicated Sanders relative to his speech. n/t

[SueZhope]

18. Lets keep this kicked

Bravo Chili for your great work on the site :)

[FreepFryer]

27. The perfect quote, imho:

"We must have our freedom now. We must have the right to vote. We must have equal protection of the law."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965, after march on Alabama state capital

[SueZhope]

29. That is such a perfect quote

its amazing how many years latter this is!!

[frictionlessO]

30. an excellent quote to be sure!

Hell all of your quotes are right on the mark!

[Wilms]

31. Somewhere on DU...

Someone is trying to compile quotes from the Repugnant rants given by a few of the republicreants. Naw. Your site is too dignified for that.

[marions ghost]

33. once more for good measure

:kick:

[sepia_steel]

34. Gorgeous!

But why is it in Latin?

[snot]

36. Add link to http://www.voterr.org/boxertubbs.html?

Add link to http://www.voterr.org/boxertubbs.html ?

[senegal1]

37. Why This Site? A suggestion on wording...

On January 6, 2005 a historic event took place in the Congress. A number of patriotic heroes stood up to ask America to pause for one moment. These heroic people asked us all to take two hours to reflect on our basic system for fulfilling our fundamental responsibility as Americans. They asked us to seriously consider our voting system -- its strengths and its weaknesses. They asked "Did all Americans have equal protection of their voting rights in every state, in every city, in every precinct?". Looking through the voting record of many states, they concluded that voters did not. This site pays homage and seeks to highlight and support the efforts of these Heroes of Democracy in their fight to guarantee you the right to vote and to have your vote counted.

Voting however is not just a right, it is the duty of every American. It can not be taken for granted. This site also exists to connect you -- the average voter -- to the information you need to support the work of these patriots in fixing the substantial weaknesses of our current voting system.


(Finally I personally don't think we should put the supporters who gave good speeches but voted nay. I think we really need to push our elected folk to meaningful action not just words.) Thank you again for the wonderful site.

[snot]

38. At yr request, re-posting here

This is a great idea, and the site looks fantastic.

My only comments are re- color, which perhaps I overreact to. On my screens, which are pretty well color-adjusted (one for "avg" Mac and one for "avg" PC), the overall look comes across as red, white & blue. I think we shd stay w/ red-white-blue as predominant colors but perhaps make the red a bit less orangey and make the RIBBON a bit MORE orangey . . . if that was the intent.

Also, I like the stars in the borders not being pure white, so they're not too distracting, but I think I'd like them a hair whiter than they are.

But color's v. subjective, so pls excuse if you don't agree. Overall, the site looks terrific!

THANK YOU AGAIN!

[snot]

39. Posting this--cd be GREAT idea

In similar vein but more comprehensive:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2923295

[Chili]

40. Okay, took notes, bookmarked links...!

I'll start working on these sometime tomorrow (great ideas about the pics and vids, I'll certainly add those). Also, I've added Danny K. Davis (thanks to whoever answered that question on another thread, I didn't know which Davis it was, there are 5 I think) and moved the quote .gif closer to the top (somebody requested that, and I think they're right, it does look better up there). Also made the "tribute to great Americans" clearer, easier to read. I didn't like the antique "Poor Richard" type font I thought would look better in the banner, so sticking with the Edwardian Script.

(blah blah blah, forgive me, I'm a geek)

Again, the Latin is only a placeholder for the text we want to add, standard for publishers / designers. Ordinarily, only a client would see that on a test site, but we can't do that here, the only way for you all to see it is to upload it, LOL!

Just my 2 cents about adding those who voted nay, but made speeches: we should probably go with the consensus on this, but I wanted to speak up for Jerrold Nadler of NY and Mel Watt of SC, both of whom signed the letters to the GAO and Blackwell, etc. (in fact, Nadler is one of the original sponsors, along with Conyers and Wexler). And Wexler didn't even vote. I know that many think of those who didn't vote as spineless, or ambivalent at best, and that is true for many of them (in my opinion, LOL), but Watt and Nadler and Wexler can't by any means ever be called spineless. So, I guess we don't know why they voted nay, but they can't be placed in the same category as, say, Byrd, who said nothing (and even his statement, added to the record, was significant). Lots of controversy here and gray areas... but just wanted to add that to the mix!

Glad to do this, and thanks again for the encouragement! (good job, FrictionlessO!)

PS: forgot to add - I got a great email tonight that made me very happy: the Ohio/Cuy. Cty. recount group is meeting next week to discuss taking the next step towards fighting for election reform. I can't wait to meet again, very positive and hopeful - I'm in this for the long haul, God willing!


:bounce:

(oh, one last thing, forgot to say... yes, I do plan to optomize the graphics - thanks for the reminder, I do tend to go for the high crispt resolutions, but can't afford to do that with this, might be too much traffic; also, I did brighten the stars; also, the photos for each member of congress links to their webpage, so that we're not worrying about actually posting their contact info. I'm not sure we have to worry about linking to their sites, there are webpages all over the net linking to their official sites, so we should be okay (anyone who has a different opinion, please speak up, I'd rather just not do it if it's an issue, but I don't think it will be).

Okay, going to bed now!

[frictionlessO]

47. Thanks for the update Chili!

Please post again when you have more!

You are doing an incredible fantastic job... at elast thats whateveryone keeps saying!:bounce: :bounce: :toast:

[SharonRB]

51. Glad to hear you're going to optimize the graphics, Chili,

per my comments yesterday. It still comes up pretty slowly on dial-up.

I think anyone who either voted yea and/or spoke and/or was part of the original GAO filing should be recognized. That's my 2 cents!

[SharonRB]

52. One other thing I just noticed

Chili, I think you need just a tad more space between the "A" and "tribute" in the header of the side. It looks almost like one word the way it is now.

Great job! Thanks for doing this.

Another suggestion re: the yeas and those who just spoke. Maybe do photos only for those who voted yea, but have contact info for the others. They should be recognized in some way on the site. Having fewer photos will help with load time as well.

[joevoter]

41. Maybe a "no sign but pro speach" link to sites like this

www.votewyden.org and others. I am waiting for the revised transcript of his jan 6th statement to put on the site.

[frictionlessO]

46. I was confused a bit there, but now I understand what youre saying

This might be the best compromise Ive seen so far... but I still think we're gonna poll the question of the supportive but nay senators. maybe a seperate page with names and links for them should be an option in the poll.??

[SueZhope]

42. Kick for the morning n/t

[KaryninMiami]

43. This is wonderful! Thank you for your hard work!

[frictionlessO]

44. breakfast kick! just need a wee bit more input people!

we need words for "why the orange ribbon".

Im sure I could just write it, but we really wanted to make this as much of a community project as possible and your involvement is important.

[frictionlessO]

45. what does everyone think of this for "why this site"??

submitted by senegal1 (post 37 above):



On January 6, 2005 a historic event took place in the Congress. A number of patriotic heroes stood up to ask America to pause for one moment. These heroic people asked us all to take two hours to reflect on our basic system for fulfilling our fundamental responsibility as Americans. They asked us to seriously consider our voting system -- its strengths and its weaknesses. They asked "Did all Americans have equal protection of their voting rights in every state, in every city, in every precinct?". Looking through the voting record of many states, they concluded that voters did not. This site pays homage and seeks to highlight and support the efforts of these Heroes of Democracy in their fight to guarantee you the right to vote and to have your vote counted.

Voting however is not just a right, it is the duty of every American. It can not be taken for granted. This site also exists to connect you -- the average voter -- to the information you need to support the work of these patriots in fixing the substantial weaknesses of our current voting system.



Does that jibe with everyone? So far this is the only full entry we've gotten, would anyone like to edit, add or subtract?

again the site: http://shadowbox.i8.com/patriot.htm

[Chili]

49. bumping this so I don't lose the thread...

:)

[Farmgirl]

53. I don't know if this has already been brought up -

and I don't know if it's the best forum, so please bear with me on this. A thought just crossed my brain. With all the threads with tributes for Khephra at DU, could an expression of thanks for his patriotism and a tribute to his incredible work be expressed somewhere at this website?