I am sorry if this offended anyone.

Debbie Neustadt wrote:
> Tom has started and its seems that every comment made keeps him going.
>
> Thomas Mathews wrote:
>> Spot-on metaphors there regarding the ideological pew and
>> Clintonitis, Bill.
>> 
>> So, how do we mobilize the amazing outpouring of grassroots support
>> for Obama that we saw during the campaign and put it to work to
>> vaccinate the Obama administration against Clintonitis? That's not a
>> rhetorical question.
>> 
>> As for Ken's complaint that my single issue has not registered with
>> the general public, well I do have to apologize for that. I am not a
>> very good activist. I'm too busy earning a living to have much time
>> or energy left when I get home from work to do much organizing or
>> educating. I'm on winter break now, so I can e-mail during the day.
>> (And by the way, I'm concerned with many issues, most of which
>> Vilsack is bad on. Let's hope Obama proves to be better on those
>> issues than he appears just now. He hasn't even been inaugurated,
>> after all.)
>> 
>> But the fact is, we as environmentalists should be concerned about
>> the release of genetically engineered organisms into the environment.
>> Life may not exist anywhere else in the Universe. If it does, it's
>> safe to say the life forms on Earth are unique and irreplaceable.
>> Genetic engineering mutilates life at the molecular level. And the
>> transgenes introduced into organisms by genetic engineering are
>> passed on to future generations.
>> 
>> (Genetically engineered organisms are now commonly referred to as
>> genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. Transgenes are sections of
>> DNA (genes) transplanted from one organism into another of a
>> different species. Genes from a fish have been engineered into a
>> strawberry plant, for example.)
>> 
>> If General Motors puts bad brake pads in some of its vehicles, those
>> products can be recalled and the mistakes corrected. No recalls are
>> possible for transgenes from GMOs released into the environment.
>> Transgenes from GMO corn have been found in native corn in Mexico in
>> the region of origin for maize. This could ultimately mean that the
>> entire species that we call corn (Zea mays) will be contaminated with
>> transgenes.  
>> This is a very serious health concern, as Gov. Vilsack and others
>> support using corn as a "pharm" crop, that is, to engineer genes into
>> corn plants that cause the plant to produce pharmaceutical
>> substances. If these pharm genes spread into corn grown for food
>> there could be toxic or allergenic effects on people eating that
>> corn. If the pharm genes spread widely, corn would no longer be
>> available as a food crop.
>> 
>> Corn is only one species, but the supporters of GMO agriculture see
>> no limits to the number of different crop species that could be
>> "improved" by genetic engineering.
>> 
>> It is simply wrong in a moral sense for humans to inflict this
>> genetic damage on other species. There is even an effort to produce
>> GMO trees. This must be stopped and it is Sierra Club that should
>> play a leading role-- THE leading role--in stopping it. (Current
>> national Sierra Club policy calls for a moratorium on the release of
>> GMOs into the environment.)
>> 
>> Genetic engineering, confined to a laboratory or factory, is being
>> used to do important research and to make useful substances for
>> medicine and other fields. All GMOs should be confined. Releasing
>> them into the environment is an action that has grave moral,
>> environmental, and safety implications. All pharm crops should be
>> confined in greenhouses.
>> 
>> For about the past two decades, the federal government, through the
>> EPA, USDA, and FDA, has taken the role of promoter of genetic
>> engineering in agriculture, when they should have been strictly
>> regulating it. We must convince the Obama administration to reverse
>> this pattern. Early indications are that this will be a daunting
>> task. After 100 days I hope to be proven wrong. That's as positive an
>> attitude as I can manage now, Ken.
>> 
>> Space does not permit my discussing in this note other issues of
>> concern to me.
>> 
>> Tom
>> 
>> 
>> In a message dated 12/19/2008 11:48:59 A.M. Central Standard Time,
>> [log in to unmask] writes:
>>
>>     I for one don't intend to apologize for voting for Obama, nor for
>> that
>>     matter am I sorry that my wife and I supported him financially (with
>>     more $$ by at least an order of magnitude than we've ever given
>>     another candidate); we also housed an Obama staffer, gratis, for 7
>>     months; and we volunteered many days of effort.  I am concerned,
>>     however, that Obama may be developing a more serious case of    
>> Clintonitis than I'd expected, and that it should be treated early.
>>
>>     I'm bothered by the Vilsack appointment--Tom Matthews is right
>> that     Vilsack panders to the corporate imperators,
>>     while paying loftysounding lip service to us non-rich,    
>> non-influential, plebeian
>>     types.  SC's concerns about his "truthiness" were conveyed in the
>>     tone     of the news release,
>>     which expressed "congratulations."  Compare that to the release
>> on the
>>     Solis appointment, in which Carl Pope uses the word "overjoyed".
>>
>>     I'm also bothered by the naming of Rick Warren to give the
>>     invocation     at the Inauguration.  This is a symbolic and
>> momentary appointment
>>     of     course, but it is also high-profile.  I have gay and
>> lesbian friends     who are thunderstruck that such a prominent
>> homophobe will be
>>     first on     the podium on the Capitol porch.  Obama may see this
>> as reaching     across the ideological aisle, but he can reach
>> without falling out
>>     of     the pew.
>>
>>     BW
>>
>>
>>
>>     Quoting KENNETH LARSON <[log in to unmask]>:
>>
>>     > Some need to get "real" and give the Obama administration a  
>>     > chance... Maybe a positive attitude would go a long way to
>>     success       > when advocating for your seemingly single issue
>> that has not       > registered with the general population...
>>     >