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Brian, I know the comment passed by a couple of hours ago but I still wanted to respond. You said that people may ask "Why volunteer? Why service? Why isn't the government doing that?" Well, please: who IS the government? If the government is not US, that speaks discouragingly. We too much sit back and complain about how "they" are not doing the right thing (whatever we thank that may be). I say come on people, get off your chairs and do ANYTHING with your strength that looks outside yourself toward what you can give out vs. what you can get in. And now I'm off to Yes We Can! Yes We Are!

I like E.J. Dionne's "raise hopes/lower ezpectations" comment. I've been kind of worried by the stars in the eyes of many Obama supporters, as though as soon as he's sworn in, everything's going to be all right! In a way, one good effect of the economic collapse may be that it does lower expectations to a more realistic level. And speaking of realistic, I'm very glad we're going to have a reality-based administration starting tomorrow!

One thing I haven't heard anyone say (although it's entirely possible I missed it) is that because he spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, Obama will probably be the 1st US president who knew Muslims growing up. I hope this could mean he actually knows something about Islam & will give him a better understanding of the spectrum that Muslims represent than other presidents have had.

Obama's is a hopeful moment and I am excited, yet very cautious about it. I would truly welcome that Obama gets sincerely involved in an EQUAL, NON-IMPERIALISTIC partnership with the Western Hemisphere Latiamerican countries to create true global progress and justice, otherwise the world will inexorably continue to move on with or without the US.

Regarding Carol's post #12, I could not agree more. Hopefully, WNYC steps up to host Native American discussions on Thanksgiving Day instead of Shop talk.

We are a free after school skating and academic program in Prospect Park. Underserved children are doing figure skating 2 hours a week and alos getting academic inrichment.
www.Brooklynice.org

Brian, Thank you for reading my post. I'd like to add a reference to the 2008 voting results from American University’s Center for the Study of the American Electorate: "Despite lofty predictions by some academics,
pundits, and practitioners that voter turnout would reach levels not seen since the turn of the last century, the percentage of eligible citizens casting ballots in the 2008 presidential election stayed at virtually the same relatively high level as it reached in the polarized election of 2004.

I guess it's time to get involved. I respecfully request that WNYC make a committment to spend the Friday after Thanksgiving next year observing Native American Day instead of commenting on national spending habits.

I think it should be pointed out that Dr. King did not become the icon he is today by volunteering in a soup kitchen-- Dr. King was a radical, an activist, an organizer. His service to humanity was not through charitable volunteering, his work was to change the system, and not through political channels, not by trying to get the right candidate elected, but by organizing communities and engaging in non-violent direct action.

"Service": what claptrap! Obama is a social conservative, opposed to gay marriage, evasive on issues of race -- indeed, Cosbyesque, blaming blacks for their plight, urging them to improve themselves etc. The accent on "service" is one that both Bushes were at home with -- it puts the focus on individuals rather than government programs. Right now, there is no evidence that Obama will be doing anything in regard to race and poverty. The true test of "change" will be whether O will in fact do anything about such problems rather than offering platitudes about "service."

RJ #6,
that is a great point. I also think a longterm commitment to educating youth (volunteering in the schools) would work along the same lines, because it's also longterm change and future-based.

Today I am making a coat for a rescue dog at the Sean Casey Animal Shelter in Brooklyn where I volunteer as a dog walker for the rescue dogs. I AM ALSO A DISASTER MENTAL HEALTH VOLUNTEER FOR THE RED CROSS AND WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND EVERYONE OLDER 18 TO CONSIDER VOLUNTEERING FOR THE RED CROSS. I just volunteered on Friday at the Family Assistance Center in response to the plane crash on the Hudson. VOLUNTEERING IS INCREDIBLY REWARDING.

We did ours yesterday and it was a blast. I came home and called friends who weren't already signed up for today's events to try it. Our was specifically organized via the Obama campaign by neighborhood, so it was a great way to connect with neighbors, and we were surprisingly productive at a pretty tedious chore - maybe because the collective enthusiasm for the inauguration is so high. There were even some tourists with us, and they saw volunteering on this particular weekend as the "thing to do" while on vacation here.

Can we begin a discussion of what "service" means? The overwhelming amount of service projects that seem today's focus are what I'd call "charity" type--helping out at soup kitchens, picking up trash, etc., all of which is valuable. But I'd suggest there's a deeper kind of service commitment that connects to changing the way politics function--lobbying, supporting candidates, etc., on issues and in neighborhoods people care about. Which I think at minimum should be a combined commitment with food collection, because without fundamental political change the hunger and homelessness will continue.

I was moved by the Inaugural Concert broadcast by HBO and made "free" to any viewer with cable service.
The outdoor concert broadcast live was more than just a tribute - it was a celebration of the America Dream and our national hope that loudly spoke what Langston Hughes wrote in conclusion of his poem "Let America be America Again:"
O, yes,/ I say it plain,/ America never was America to me,/And yet I swear this oath-/America will be!

It is this hope thruout America's not-always- proud history that continues to make our country a "light onto the nations." Celebrating Martin Luther King COINCIDENT with the inauguration of Barack Obama in really no coincidence: It IS the evolutionary change by the American people, for the people where tens of thousands can congregate among our great monuments in our nation's capital in peace and safety.

I believe that the American Dream has passed from our founders into great men and woman who answer the call to service and set an example for all Americans to be Americans. Count me in!

Twelve Manhattan College students and I just got back yesterday from a week in New Orleans. We painted houses, delivered welcome baskets to seniors who are just moving back in after Katrina, and made a punch list for the plumbers working on another senior housing complex damaged in the storm.

So I'm spending MLK day recovering from a week of service, and thinking hard about HOW MUCH MORE HELP the people of New Orleans need -- from the new administration, and from all of us. I'm thinking about the next time I can organize a trip down to New Orleans.

I am working w/ CBID (Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats) to help organize the 65 non-profits (including NYCares) which are participating in our Volunteer Fair that we are holding in early February. This is one of our responses to Obama's call to service.

It will be a one stop place for anyone interested in volunteering. They can meet representatives from various organizations covering a wide range of issues and sign up for one time or ongoing volunteering.

I wanted to watch the inauguration and celebrate with friends, but my daughter's mother in law needs surgery so I'll spend tomorrow driving to Jersey to be with her and listening to the solemn and festive events on the radio. It's what we will all have to do--do what's right, what needs to be done, instead of partying on.
My new volunteer project: teaching English as a second language to new immigrants and refugees.

My joy in the great symbolism of this inauguration is diminished significantly by the elevation of Rick Warren to deliver the invocation. The pragmatic benefits of including evangelicals at this great moment omits the concerns of a group precluded from civil rights. Obama could have used some other occasion to demonstrate his inclusion of evangelicals. This high visibility moment is somewhat sullied. I am a little sad.