Tea “Party”

I think it’s a little unfair that the Tea Party gets to categorize themselves as a third party when all of their candidates are running as members of the Republican Party.  If they want to call themselves a party, the need to see if they can stand on their own and win on their own.  I don’t think they can, and I think they know it.  I wonder why the media has not called attantion to their differences from the GOP while mentioning that they are still running AS the GOP.

Violence

One of my students was shot and killed yesterday just standing on the corner with his friends.  He was dedicated to turning his life around after making some bad choices as a very young man. Violence is a real problem in America. I believe education is the solution, but I’m open to other suggestions.

The Audacity of Hope

I’ve been waiting years for this night and I’m absolutely terrified.  I really, really want to believe that Obama’s going to win, but I’m afraid that he won’t and I’ll be crushed.  A world in which McCain is President is scary for me.  I believe that he and his party want to control as much of my life as they possibly can including who I can marry and what I can do with my reproductive organs.  I believe that if he wins, people will die from a lack of healh care and young women who have been raped will be forced to endure back rooom procedures or deal with the possible cconsequences of being a victim. I believe that funding for alternative education will be cut, putting me out of a job and stem cell research will be stunted, putting me out of a sister.

I don’t believe things will be perfect under Obama.  I don’t even necessarily believe they’ll be all that better than they are now.  But they will be better.  If we’re lucky, we’ll get to keep the civil rights we have and gain a few more.  I don’t expect to see a revolution.  I just don’t want to feel like we’re in a hole that we’ll never climb out of.  I need hope, and McCain can’t give it to me.

Apathy

I don’t know if it’s depression, disgust, or anger, but I find myself avoiding politics.  I know where I stand, I know why, and I have a hard time accepting that anyone could really believe that another Republican President is the right way to go for the country, especially when his running mate is that awful woman.  Seriously, she’s making us look bad.  Really, really bad.  Every time I think of her, her running mate, or the election in general, I shake my head in dismay.  My kids say the won’t vote because there’s no point, even though they have the first black man running for President, and though I encourage them to vote, I agree with them.  I like Obama.  I’d like to think he means what he says, but to be honest, he’s a politician and I am cynical.  I’ll believe it when I see it.

And while we’re all wrapped up in Presidential politics and the economy, can we PLEASE remember why our country’s in so much debt in the first place?  Our idiot President started a war with two countries that did nothing to us, and as a result: 606 US Soldiers killed in Afghanistan, and 4,180 US soldiers killed in Iraq.

A-T-T-A-C-K

I’ve noticed that the McCain campaign doesn’t really have anything to say about itself, its policies, or how it will differ from the Bush Presidency.  As a result, they seem to wait for Obama to come out with a plan for the environment (remember the tire gauges), the economy, or some other issue and attack his idea as well as his character.  I wish the American people weren’t stupid enough to be bullied into voting for McCain, but since he continues to attack rather than discuss, it seems that they will have little substance on which to base an opinion.

If I weren’t already diametrically opposed to the McCain Campaign, the Bush Presidency, and everything they stand for, the fact tha he and Sarah Palin have been attacking Obama’s experience as a community organizer and calling it virtually worthless would have turned me off completely.  It’s a slap in the face to those who try to improve their communities by gathering their neighbors together and doing things like forming neighborhood watches (a VERY Republican thing to do, by the way), PTA’s, clean-up crews, truancy action committees, after school programs, and forming a hundred other groups that people like Barack Obamahave organized and created.  The Republicans and all those who give credence their tactics and anything they have to say disgust me completely. I feel the rift in our country growing by the second.  I hope we survive.

Oh, and in case you’ve forgotten: 4,168 US soldiers dead and 30,634 US soldiers wounded in a mission that was accomplished 5 years ago.  589 US soldiers dead in Afghanistan

Vice-President Mommy

I have a real problem with Sarah Palin, and it has a lot more to do with how she is taking care of her family than her warped view on the issues.  In the week since the convention I haven’t heard Ms. Palin say much, unless she was attacking someone, but her actions have been speaking for her.  She has been interviewed, she has been on the road, and she ha been extremely busy, as any vice-presidential candidate would be.  So my question is this: Who is taking care of her baby?

She has five children, the youngest with Downs Syndrome.  Taking care of a child with special needs is difficult.  I should know, my parents have been doing it for 27 years now.  It’s incredibly time consuming.  The other children can get lost in the mix because their parents are stressed, distracted, and often dealing with doctors and other care professionals.  If Ms. Palin becomes vice-president, who will be taking care of this child?  Will it be the same person who was looking after Bristol when she was having sex at 16 (or younger)?

Despite all of the reasons I would not consider voting for Sarah Palin and John McCain, the strongest is that she has a young child, and though it may be biased, it is a reality.  Babies need their mothers at home.  They need their fathers, too, but you cannot run on a “family values” platform and leave your young children in the care of someone else.  If you want to be in politics, wait until your children are at least five years old.  Anyone with small children should be putting their family above themselves, regardless of the job description.

Humanizing the Right

So, McCain’s Vice Presidential pick (what’s her name again?) has a teen daughter who’s pregnant.  I think the campaign leaked this to the press so that Republicans can be seen as caring, compassionate people who accept young people who make mistakes.  She’s 17, but she’s going to keep the baby and marry the father.  Vote for us.  We’ll raise your child in a nice, Christian church and teach her that she only has one option when it comes to pregnancy, but neglect to mention that because we only teach abstinance, she’ll be afraid to discuss birth control with her parents and this might happen to her, too. I feel bad for the girl.  Not bad enough not to be cynical about the reasons why her pregnancy is being discussed, but  that’s usually something people want to keep quiet, and her mother’s political choices made her youthful indiscretions fodder for the media frenzy.

They’re Gonna Kill ‘Em

I was watching the Democratic National Convention(which isn’t quite Democratic, or national) on Monday night and they cut to a picture of where the Democratic Nominee will be speaking from on Thursday.  That’s when it dawned me.  They’re going to kill him.  It may not be on Thursday night, though a “plot” has already been disrupted, but I think there’s a reasonable chance that they’re going to kill him.  Don’t ask me who “they” is.  There are so many people who feel they have a reason to take his life that I’m sure the list is days long, but my guess it that we’ll never really know and the idea will have originated in the highest levels of the government.  I’m going to guess that the attempt will be blamed on a “lone nut” racist who works in the stadium (noticed that the stage lends itself to triangulated crossfire) and has recently talked to someone about how much they hate the man.  Blaming a national disaster on a terrorist has already been done.

Obama Choses Biden

I think Mr. Biden is an excellent choice for Vice President.  I liked him a lot when he was runing for President, and I feel that they various ways in which the media tried to discount and discredit him shows a lack of integrity and respect in a field that has been overvalued for too long.  In addition, it’s obvious that the media is going to pull out everything negative that Biden’s ever said about Obama (but they will conveniently overlook that in the Republican nominee), but fortunately Joe’s addition to the ticket makes up for anything that Barack could lack.  I still have little hope for this election season, mostly because the media lacks objectivity.  I think they’ll publically crucify both of the Democratic Candidates at every opportunity.

Home Invasion

I’ve railed against the paparazzi in the past, especially when they’ve taken some deeply personal incidents in a person’s life and made them incredibly public.  There’s no reason why Dick Cheney’s and George W. Bush’s crimes, deceits, and missteps should be largely ignored while actors and singers whose lives have no impact on our own should have everything they do broadcast for all to see.  Deciding to make a movie, TV show, or album is not the same as choosing to run for public office, and yet one career is scrutinized a every step with personal attacks and public failures and the other is left alone to fester until real damage is done.  Even if you believe that a career in film or TV opens you up to public criticism, hopefully you agree that there are limits.  Halle Berry should have been able to play with her infant in her own backyard without being photographed* (and as a mother, if someone had done that to me I would have ripped their head off).  Politicians should be transparent in most aspect, but Barack Obama should have been able to place a prayer* in the Wailing Wall without it being taken out and made public.  This country has some seriously screwed-up priorities and a better America is a pipe dream until the media stops bombarding us with useless information that only harms us.

 

*Out of respect for both individuals, I will not post the pictures or the prayer.