Tag: politics

Reaction to the Reaction to the Election

To all the people who say that the election of Barack Obama as the 44th president will lead to the end of the United States of America . . . Now you know how I’ve felt for the last eight years!

To all the people who say that this country has turned, is turning, or will turn into something that they don’t even recognize . . . Now you know how I have felt for the last eight years!

To all the people who say that they’re afraid that an Executive and Legislative branch both ruled by the Democrats will ruin their security and their future . . . . Now you know how I have felt for the last eight years!

To all the people that say that Barack Obama isn’t American enough to be president, because he’s not white, not a Christian, or has a funny sounding name. . . .Well you can just Fuck Right Off!

This is my country, too. I am not 100% Caucasian. I am not a Christian. I don’t live in “the heartland.” I am a Real American . . . so all of you who have insinuated or implied that you had to be all of those things to be an American or to represent and serve this country . . . . I want you to kiss my lily-white, mix-raced, agnostic, raised by a Buddhist and a feminist Methodist, female, mutha-fuckin’ ASS!!!!!!

Bitch all you want . . . it’s not going to change the fact that you are now THE MINORITY!

And if you don’t like it . . . well you have four years to try to figure out how you’re going to change it. And don’t even think that your pathetic, delusional Alaskan is the answer. She’s not. She may be an American, but she is not The American. Also, it’s time to re-think this whole strategy of telling the ruralites that they’re the only real Americans, and that those of us that live in the urban areas . . . you know, on the coasts . . . are out of touch and off base, because all you did was PISS OFF a lot of people who are making MOST OF the money for this country. You won’t get very far by biting the hand that feeds you.

I am so freaking happy with the election. This is America the way that i have always seen it, where I feel like it’s something that represents me, and that I can represent, as well. I am damn proud of my country. Damn proud.

So don’t you dare piss on my parade!

Growing Up with Strong Women

I think, if you’ve read my blog much, you probably realize that I’m an independent type of person. And by independent, I mean feminist. That’s how I was raised. Above and beyond the lessons my mother taught me, and the examples of my grandmothers, though, at a certain age I looked around at the world, and thought to myself, “Yeah, that makes the most sense.” Some of the other things parents and grandparents tried to teach didn’t make it through the filter.

Another influence on my young mind was Judy Blume. I *loved* her books Superfudge and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. So, when I saw a write up for the site YA for Obama on Salon:Broadsheet, I had to check it out.

Here’s a letter from Ms. Blume, posted on the site:

Why I Support Obama

The first time I was old enough to vote in a presidential election John Kennedy was running against Richard Nixon. I was 22, married, expecting my first child and living in suburban New Jersey. My husband, a lawyer, belonged to the Young Republicans club. He expected me to help his cause by making phone calls urging people to vote for Nixon.

I never made those calls. And on election day I was thrilled to pull the lever, casting my vote for Kennedy. I’ve never responded well to being told what to do. I prefer to make up my own mind.

Like so many others, I was inspired by John Kennedy and excited about the possibilities for our country. Coming out of the sleepy, complacent fifties, he made me believe that change was possible. I believed in him the way my parents believed in Roosevelt. I remember the night Roosevelt died in April, 1945. I was seven years old and just recovering from chicken pox. When my parents heard the news on the radio, they fell into each other’s arms, crying. I cried, too, although I didn’t have a clue.

My generation wept the same way when we lost John Kennedy. Then Martin Luther King. Then Bobby Kennedy. We mourned what might have been. In the dark days that followed, those of us who were young and idealistic were forced to grow up fast. I watched the Vietnam war unfold on TV as I played on the floor with my two small children. I became a skeptic about politics and politicians. Yet there was never an election when I didn’t vote. For me, voting was both obligation and privilege.

I’ve never spoken publicly about my politics. But I’m speaking out now because at last we have a candidate who makes me believe again. A candidate who I see as America’s best hope, a candidate who inspires not just my grandson’s generation, but my own, and my children’s.

Whoever is elected in November is going to face a daunting challenge. No one person can clean up the mess it took 7 and ½ years to create. That’s why I want the calm, thoughtful candidate I believe will surround himself with the best and the brightest. I believe the decisions Obama makes will be made based on what’s best for this country.

I want a president who can make us proud as Americans. How great would it be after 7 and ½ years to have an articulate leader, an eloquent speaker, one who is not only willing to talk, but to listen? I believe Obama will be that kind of president. Plus, he has a sense of humor. He has two young daughters and a working wife. He’s smart. And let’s not forget the magic. Nothing wrong with having the ability to connect with people around the world –young, old, and in-between.

In some ways an election is like life – a lot of muck comes your way. It’s hard sometimes to slog through it. It’s exhausting. It can be scary. You can feel like you’re drowning in it. You’ve got to work hard to pull yourself up and out of it, then to rise above it. We need a leader who can help us do that. That’s why I’m supporting Barack Obama.

All I ask is that you make an informed decision. It’s about the issues. It’s about health care, the economy, education, the environment, a woman’s right to choose, equal pay for equal work — it’s about who will be appointed to the Supreme Court, and it’s about never rushing into war again – not without all the facts, not without trying everything we can to prevent war first. This election is too important for all of us to decide in any other way.

Tell your parents, tell your grandparents, it’s not just about them this time. It’s about you and your future. It’s about my grandson’s future. That’s why I’m speaking out.

Thanks,
Judy

“Are you there, Judy? It’s me, PeggyLuWho. I just wanted to say ‘thanks’.”

Yesterday I got my absentee ballot in the mail. I filled it out. I mailed it back today.

Go out and vote people.

If you’re in California, and you’re not registered, you have until the 20th.

Register To Vote

More political ranting

My latest gut spilling on my political views (some of them at least) in response to comments on that blog I was telling you about:

These are all very effective examples of the straw man fallacy, where you exaggerate my view point, and then you debate against your own exaggeration. I never said that I think that government should do everything for people. You argue against communism, which I never proposed. I proposed a socialistic democracy, not pure socialism. I never proposed that the government take control. I’d like to see them maintain balance, because I don’t see how Joe and Jane Average American can stand up to the big corporations that really are in control of our lives on our own.

You’ve also provided excellent examples of the slippery slope fallacy, where you insist that some event must inevitably follow from another without any argument for the inevitability of the event in question. “If the government assists citizens to get healthcare, then the next thing you know, they’re going to be controlling where I can buy food” or “Obama says he’s only going to raise taxes to the rich, but then there will be nothing to stop him from raising everyone’s taxes and then they’ll take 60% of your paycheck.”

I said that the government could lend a hand, but maybe I should have been more explicit.

Here are my personal thoughts and experiences with healthcare in the U.S. – I think that it’s ridiculous that in this country that you say is the strongest in the world economically that so many of it’s citizens cannot get healthcare. Is the answer a state run system? I don’t know. I do know that I don’t think caring for peoples health should be a for profit business. That isn’t the best way to insure the best care. I don’t really see it as a system where I have choice. I am covered by my employer’s insurance, and that insurance company designates which doctor I can go and see and what they will cover. I have chronic Tonsillitis, but I cannot have them removed because the insurance won’t cover it, and I can’t afford to pay for the operation out of pocket. I also can’t afford an individual plan. How is that any different from what you describe as your concerns about state run system? I mean, I guess it’s a discussion about what’s worse – being at the hands of a bureaucrat or some rich stock holding asshole. Also, the Republicans aren’t staying out of your health business, either. Ron Paul proposed legislation in the House that would make birth control illegal. WTF is that? That’s small government? And he’s not alone. You know what, my grandmother was English, and she would never go to an American doctor. She would just wait until she was going back to England for a visit to have her check ups. A lot of my family still lives there. My aunt who grew up in the U.S. (still a voting, tax paying citizen of the U.S.) has been living in England for 15 years, and I asked her what her thoughts were on the healthcare and how it compares to private insurance in the states. Her answer was basically that our system was part of the reason why she was living there, and why she won’t be moving back to the states. Personally, my closest experience with something resembling state run healthcare was with the Navy, and I have to say that it was the best care I ever got. If this problem with my tonsils had started while I was still under their care, they would have taken care of it. Private insurance is failing me, and I’m not even that bad off. I think that there should be some kind of compromise. Tax breaks for insurance companies that insure low-income folks or sick people and tax penalties for insurance companies that cancel the policies of sick people or deny them access to procedures and medicines. Or state run insurance that individuals can opt out of, and get a tax credit if you do. I’m not some great economist, and I’m not a politician. I just know that I don’t think healthcare is a privilege.

Our government is whatever we vote for it to be. We’ve consistently been voting for more involvement from the government. So . . . if you don’t like that, try to convince your fellow citizens otherwise. I personally don’t think you’re very convincing. Especially when you say that our country is the strongest economically and yet the pound and the euro are kicking the dollar’s butt. And the reason why the colonies broke from England was for democracy and freedom from taxes, yes, but at that time, England was not a socialist country, and still isn’t. The way you worded that point made it seem like we were running from socialism.

And right now, we’re pumping trillions of dollars into occupying Iraq, while the Iraqi government has built up a surplus. I mean, if we’re going to spend money, why not spend it on ourselves?

As for William Ayers, et al, and as to why haven’t spoken to those . . . I don’t like to run my mouth on topics that I’m ignorant of. So, while I am still researching those assertions, I won’t respond. Sorry. I honestly wasn’t sure that Obama was going to get the Dem’s nomination. I sure didn’t vote for him in the primaries. But I just found this article about their connection – http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/02/obamas_weatherman_connection.html Seems like the guy had a tenuous connection to Obama at best. Oh, and here’s another, from Fox News of all places, http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/04/17/fact-check-obamas-relationship-with-william-ayers/ That makes it seem like they knew each other a little better, but not like they were best chums. If anyone was going to make the most of a tawdry relation, it would be Fox, I would think. Oh and no where do I see any support that this man was a murderer, and the things I’ve now read say that no one was harmed in his groups bombings. I’m not abdicating bombing anything. That wouldn’t be the right way. But, I would like to know what your source is.

Here’s my thoughts on your ticket this week: McCain can’t answer a straight question with a straight answer (see today’s episode of The View); now you’re going to say that Obama can’t either, but I don’t think that’s a valid retort, because we’re not talking about him right now. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen McCain duck a question. There’s the reporter who asked him about his views and voting record on a birth control bill, and he told her he couldn’t answer her question without checking first. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2y8dYwq01g I’m sorry, but I know what my opinions are. I don’t have to check with my employees and get back to you on any of that. And Palin is taking a note from his book, as you can see in her interview last night with Charles Gibson. Once again, she doesn’t sound that smart when she clearly doesn’t know what the man is asking about and she tries to answer it anyway. If that were me, I’d flat out say, I don’t know what the Bush Doctrine that you’re talking about is. Just like I’ll say, I don’t know anything about this William Ayers guy, except now I guess I do know a little.

What I know without a doubt is that on the issue I consider to be most important in this election, the occupation of Iraq, I am with Obama on that issue, as is the rest of my very military family. Get us out of there.

Oh and don’t be messing with my pills, man.

I have all kinds of crazy ideas, though, and the ones that are the most ridiculous, I keep to myself.

Seriously, though, this is a learning experience.

So, Here’s What I Don’t Get

I’m watching a little bit of the Republican National Convention.  I know, I know, I know.  You’re asking why I would want to torture myself like that.   I just want to see what they have to say.

And what they have to say is pretty exasperating.  I’ve yet to hear any one suggestion about why anyone should vote for McCain.   All they have to say is what’s supposedly wrong with Obama.  All they do is bash and bash and bash.  The only reason to vote for McCain is to vote against Obama.

Why so defensive, Republicans?

Because you ought to be.   Because I think that you know that McCain is a hard sell to the American public.  And so is Palin.  

Side note – I can’t believe that Giuliani just tried to bring up the Republicans’ role in ending slavery, while earlier in this speech, he said something that sounded exceptionally racist (thanks Jay Smooth) about “Islamic Terrorists.”   What about the Catholic Terrorists?   What about the just plain psychotic terrorists?   What about the Neo-Nazi White Supremacist Terrorists?   Not a problem?   Don’t need to protect Americans from those?   Just the Muslims, huh?

Anyway, where was I?  Oh yeah, the hard sell.  Here’s the thing, the Republicans have got to know that the American public is tired of their shit.  Tired of their national debt, which is the lead cause of our faltering economy.   The reason our young people are being sent to die in a war that does not have a damn thing to do with the terrorists who have attacked Americans in our land.   

McCain would rather lose the election than lose a war, and that’s just what he’s going to do.   Because to “stay the course” is to ignore the will of the American people, who have spoken, and who have said, “Enough is enough!”   He’s disrespectful of democracy, just like Bush, and for that reason he should not, and FSM willing, will not be elected.

Just Sayin’.

HELL YEAH!!!!

I have to send some appreciation to my Rep. from Oakland, Ms. Barbara Lee.

The House yesterday passed the Paycheck Fairness Act, H.R. 1338, by a vote of 247-178, strengthening the Equal Pay Act, to help women earn the same wage as their male counterparts.

Thank you!   Thank you!  It’s not often that I get to feel like the person I voted for is actually doing something that directly effects my life.

The only thing is, there’s no effing way that Bush is gonna sign it.

For more information, check out Feministing, as well as The Gavel.

Thank you Feministing for posting the YouTube that I so lazily lifted.

Mind Your Own

I work in a very nosy office. People here think nothing of asking some very personal questions. Of course, I’m not the most guarded of people (if I were, would I have this blog), and I’m not exactly offended. I just don’t see why they ask these questions in the first place. In the last week I’ve been grilled on what my living arrangements are, questioned on my future plans (or lack there of) to wed, and been interrogated in detail on my family planning objectives and methods. These people are all up in my uterus.

I blame our baby-centric society. If you doubt that our society is baby-centric, look no further than the celebrity blogs. A solid majority of the “news” they cover involves who may be pregnant, and once the celebs do have children, they post the latest paparazzi shot of the most mundane family outing.

There are no less than three expecting parents in my office of about 15, and 2 brand new moms. Congratulations to them. Mazel Tov, even. But seriously, stay out of my womb.

As I found myself at a loss for how to respond to these questions, I found myself being sucked further into the conversation. Again, I wasn’t offended, so I wasn’t sure how to respond. I also didn’t want my co-workers to feel guilty or like I was angry with them. I didn’t want to reprimand or berate them. I just wanted to change the subject.

It wasn’t until later, when I was rehashing the details with M, that I came upon the perfect response to any sort of questions pertaining to my intentions of child-rearing. I’m just going to say, “I don’t have any children,” regardless of the question. Armed with this, I felt that I had everything under control.

But then, this morning, one of my co-workers found something new to harp on. Apparently my being a vegetarian is very unhealthy for me. Who knew? Also, I’m going to die a terrible death from cancer because yesterday I microwaved my lunch in a plastic container. And this wasn’t just a single statement. He went on and on.

I should have just told him that I don’t have any children.

Awesome Quote

Jessica on Feministing posted a brief response today to MSNBC’s post debate coverage, in which Chris Matthews asked Sen. Chris Dodd, “Do you find it difficult to debate a woman?”

Jessica’s response – “You know, because vaginas have special debate-blocking powers.”

I nearly shot iced tea out of my nose. Seriously, do people really think that way? I guess they do. It never ceases to amaze me.