545 People

I got an email this morning from my father. It was a simple email containing no words, but a simple attachment I was beckoned to read (you can read it at the bottom of this post).

As is normal with nearly every email my parents forward to me, I immediately hit snopes.com to investigate the email’s validity. To my surprise the email was true and in fact was written by Charlie Reese. To my further surprise, this was originally written 25 years ago. (To see two more versions other than the one above hit up this piece on snopes.com.)

After reading the three versions I’ve found (I’m sure there are more) I’ve come to the conclusion that good old Charlie was either a brilliant clairvoyant or a vitriolic idiot. I’m inclined to lean toward the latter. For twenty five years the conservatives in this country have been blaming Congress for every single woe we’ve faced. In fact, the conservatives have been blaming Congress for far longer than that (even way back when the Democrats were the conservatives).

So does this little missive, with its updated names and places, serve as the “I told you so” to the rest of America? I don’t think so. What it does show is the real problem: a lack of personal responsibility. The piece touches on it a few times, but lays that responsibility mostly in the hands of the infamous “545 people.” What about our responsibility as voters? (It’s mentioned once)

There certainly are more than 300 million people in this great nation, but good old Charlie neglects to mention voter turnout. There aren’t 300 million people voting in these elections, not even close. According to infoplease.com voter turnout was only 56.8% of registered voters.

And I bet some of you are saying “Oh wait, what’s this registered voters thing?”

Me: “That? It’s just the number of people in the country who are actually of age to vote; 18 or older.”

You: “Oh. So there aren’t actually 300 million people who could replace these 545 wicked sinners?”

Me: “Not even close, but I was just talking about the number of people who could vote. There’s an entirely different number of people who are eligible for any of these 545 positions.” (I’ll direct you to the Wikipedia page on the qualifications of a Senator and a Representative so this rather generous number shrinks even farther now.)

You: “Damn lazy reporters.”

Me: “Damn right.”

Then again, voter turnout is only really high every four years during a Presidential election. On the “off years,” as I call them, the voter turnout is closer to the high thirtieth percentile. (37.1% – roughly 80 million voters)

The only part of good old Charlie’s letter I agree with is the last few lines, which comes down to this: “Bitch, follow, or do it yourself.” The first two do no one any good, but the last is imperative to the health of any republic. The personal responsibility lays with us. Every registered voter in the United States has an obligation not just to bitch and whine, but to actually do something. Get out and vote your opinion. Don’t just scream it. Don’t just grouse behind a computer screen or newspaper. Support the representatives you support with your votes. But before you can even do that, they must be supported financially and physically. If you can’t donate $5, then donate a few hours of your time to help the people you believe in get to where they can do some good. And if you don’t find anyone out there who agrees with you then run yourself and find others who believe in you.

If you’re unwilling to do any of the previous, then the Common Sense Committee hereby revokes your right to bitch about this or any future situation the United States finds itself in.

Attachment follows the jump:

The Speech

On September 8, 2009 President Obama will give this speech to schools around the U. S. This speech is designed to:

Help get America’s students engaged! On Tuesday, September 8 — the first day of school for many students — the President will talk directly to students across the country on the importance of taking responsibility for their education, challenging them to set goals and do everything they can to succeed.

Ever since the announcement there have been people screaming about how it is illegal, immoral, and just propaganda. This, coupled with the Right’s attempt to paint President Obama’s health care initiative in a similar light, just goes to show how far they have actually fallen.

Let me assure you, it is not illegal. The President is not setting curriculum. To do that he would have to say something to the effect of “Today all science classes will now teach Intelligent Design.” This is not something he’s doing, nor will he ever. The President is not changing all schools over to the metric system. He is giving a speech. About personal responsibility. Something that I will agree should be taught by the children’s parents, but a concerned country and member of this society can only blame the parents for so long until action must be taken.

For that reason alone, it is not immoral either. The right wing, and many others, in this country want the government out of their lives. I can understand that and can even sympathize with that. I want corporate control out of my life and feel that’s a much bigger issue than government, but that’s an issue for another time. However, personal responsibility, a skill that very few members of my generation learned and thus, were not able to pass on to their children, is something that must be taught. If we did not learn it from our parents and we did not learn it from school, where were we supposed to learn it? So as a concerned citizen and leader of a society President Obama is stepping up to address the challenge of that very question. He’s not trying to supplant parents, nor is he trying to supplant schools, he is merely challenging the youth and future of our nation to do better than the generation before them. What loftier goal is there?

As far as propaganda is concerned, yes it is a bit of propaganda, but so is education. In fact, every educational system on the planet is designed to lay out the propaganda of that society. “U.S.A. is #1!” The pledge of allegiance and all that jazz. Yet President Obama is not putting a left spin or a right spin on the speech. He is trying to use his own experiences and the experiences of others like him to motivate our children to do better. Not because they’re failing and not because they’re lazy, but because as a parent he knows, just like every parent out there knows, that our children can do better.

It is a speech to our kids about something important that the vast majority of you never would have even hinted at to you own children, but because someone else is doing it, you have to scream and whine and moan about “parent’s rights” and “government influence.” Get real and wake up. There are far worse influences than the government speaking to our children every day.

As a final note, I would like to challenge everyone out there who is a member of the “screaming me-me’s” to tell everyone else where they were when President Bush did the same thing? Where were you when any President addressed the nation like this? I’ll tell you where you were. You were safe at home, or at your jobs, or at your bars not worrying once about it because that time it was “no big deal.” That President was just “one of the boys” what harm could he do?

Poetry

I took a poetry class in the fall semester of 2008 and here is the outcome of that endeavor. I wrote several free-verse poems; Hate, I Run, and Splash. My favorites though were the ones with form. Hubris, a villanelle was the hardest of the bunch to draft. Reality, an Italian sonnet was a challenge because of the subject material, but still fun. Lastly, Skyline is the one I wanted to write from the very beginning of the class, but took the longest to write and was by far the most difficult. It is a series of haiku written about this picture. I don’t know the story behind it, nor do I know anything about him, but I hope the poem did the event justice.

• Hate
• Hubris
• I Run
• Reality
• Skyline
• Splash

Yes we did

As the world well knows, on November 4, 2008, the United States voted to elect Barack Hussein Obama to be it’s 44th president.

I volunteered for the Obama campaign that day. I was asked to drive out to Republic, a short 15 miles from Springfield, because they needed more help than any of the Springfield offices did. It was a small office in the corner of a shopping center; decorated with every bit of campaign paraphernalia they could find. We were going out to canvass neighborhoods to ensure Obama supporters knew where their polling place was and that they actually got out to vote.

I was astounded to learn that I would be one of three team “captains” because I could drive and I knew the area. They needed people like that because, unbeknown to me, the Obama campaign had bussed almost 50 volunteers from Texas to Missouri. Not just for the 4th either; they had been in Missouri since Saturday. I was amazed, touched, and embarrassed all at the same time and all for the same reason; these people spent their time and energy to volunteer in a place they had never been before, to help people they had never seen before, to help a candidate they believed in, but I only had time for a single day.

I have always said that the faith most important to me is the faith I have in human potential. I will always remember November 4, 2008 as the day that faith was proven to be fact. There is no limit to what humans can do when we work together.

And did we work. I drove and we walked and the hours just slipped through our fingers as we knocked on door after door. After six very long hours the whole of Republic was finally canvassed. Then they sent me and six other out-of-town volunteers to a southern district in Springfield where a very large section of democrat-friendly voters had not been canvassed. Out we went again at 4:30. For the next two hours we rushed to talk to as many people as we could.

We were given two packets consisting of 8 streets each. I had been given two people. I gave them a street to walk and I took a street to drive. Thankfully the alignment in my car is still spot on. As I approached one of the houses on the list I would hop out of my car, let it continue rolling, talk to the person at the house, and then jump back in the car before it rolled away from their property. Dangerous, yes, but it allowed me to cover the same amount of ground as two people on foot.

It was 6:20, the sun had gone down, and the street lights were of no help in finding the addresses on our list, but I was able to talk to one last person. His garage door was open and I found him sitting outside enjoying a cigarette. I introduced myself, told him I was with the Obama campaign, and asked if he had voted yet. He told me he hadn’t and that he wasn’t sure if he was registered. I was kind of stunned. I said “sir, you’re registered to vote. And if you’re sure you are registered to vote, but your polling place doesn’t have your name on the rolls, they have to give you something called a provisional ballot. It’s only 6:25, your polling place is not that far from here, and if you are in line by 7pm they have to let you vote. This is possibly the most important election you will ever have the change to take part in. Don’t pass this up.”

He looked at me for a second, glanced at the ground, and then looked at the clock hanging on the wall in his garage. “You know what? Fuck it” he exclaimed as he dashed over the get the helmet for his scooter. “I’ve still got time right? And they have to let me vote right?”

“Yes sir they do. Thank you sir!” My heart was pounding as he drove his scooter off into the night.

I don’t know whether he was able to vote or not, but I am so excited he tried.

It was projected that Greene county only needed to have 42% of the vote for Obama to take the state. We capped out at 41%. Our efforts made this state undecided even three days after the fact. 5859 votes separate the two candidates.

That night, as I sat with a few friends watching the results at a downtown restaurant, I was speechless as I watched Senator McCain stroll out onto that stage and concede the race. The place erupted in deafening applause. A hard-fought campaign season was finally over. We could all rest, if only for a moment, and enjoy our victory. Now the hard work begins.

Yes we did.

Two weeks and counting

Dear Voter,

I have been watching with intense scrutiny the presidential political cycle since last year. I watched, I listened, and occasionally I commented on the theatrics. At first I was a Clinton supporter, but as time passed and the politics became thicker than year-old engine oil my fealty changed. Barack Obama has been doing everything possible to stick to the issues of the campaign at every stop. Talking at length with anyone who would listen about his plans for the economy, education, immigration, the war in Iraq, and how to get this country back on track.

Please click here to read the rest of my letter:

A letter to the undecided

While roaming around on the internet reading various stories I found the following letter on the blog My 2 buck$. Originally sent out to 40 people, it has been re-emailed and posted to forms on the Washington Post’s website as well as other sites. It’s even been verified in full by the hoax busting site Snopes.com. I’ve read it several times. It is very well written and appears to be a very balanced view of a political figure by a member of her constituency. Take a look at Gov. Palin’s story from an Alaskan voter:

Vice President Pitbull

Last night Gov. Sarah Palin brought the Republican National Convention to its feet with a very well-delivered speech.

This was not a surprise. In fact, if this was a legitimate surprise to anyone they haven’t been following American politics for long.

I will begrudgingly admit her ability to deliver a prepared speech is good. But, like so many other bloggers and journalists, I am waiting to see what happens over the next nine weeks. Will she be as cool as she was last night? How will the pitbull handle herself when she’s out of training school and off the leash?

Now that the pleasantries are out of the way. Continue on to read some of my thoughts on the pitbull…

Within reach

We are close.

Can you believe how close we are?

It was not until I watched Senator Hillary Clinton Tuesday evening at the Democratic National Convention that I realized how close we were to actually electing a minority to the White House. She gave the good of the party speech I pleaded with Al Gore to give months ago.

At approximately 8:45pm August 26th, 2008, Senator Clinton took the stage. Introduced by her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, to a montage highlighting the matriarchal line from Chelsea, through Hillary, Hillary’s mother, and her grandmother; Senator Clinton came out to raucous applause.

Thoughts on a campaign

For a candidate who’s platform for the last year has been one of Change and Hope, I have seen neither of late. Between Senator Obama’s run of attack ads on Senator McCain and the most recent pouncing on McCain, I find myself questioning exactly what change Obama is going to bring about when he resorts to the same old political game? What hope is Obama going to bring about when it seems he is doing his level best to sink to the level of every other politician?

And where was the campaign of change, who has been largely running on the “lifting up the middle class” rhetoric, when the middle class workers of Wal-Mart were being lied to about pending labor law reforms and being led to believe a Democratic win would be bad for business? The perfect opportunity presented itself to cement his place as the candidate for change, and he may have missed it. Hopefully, Senator Obama’s VP pick will be able to attack where he can not.

The next question should be asked, do we blame Senator Obama for these gaffes, or David Plouffe, his campaign manager?

Then we all get the text message at 2:30 in the morning telling us that Senator Job Biden has been chosen as Obama’s running mate. Within minutes of taking the podium in Illinois, Obama changed his message to accomodate the newest addition saying “”Joe Biden is that rare mix. For decades, he has brought change to Washington, but Washington hasn’t changed him.”

Not to be outdone, Senator McCain released two ads attempting to capitalize on Senator Biden’s verbal vomit early in the primary season and the angst of Hilary supporters everywhere.

Nothing short of finding out Obama has flat-out lied to us for the last year will keep me from voting for him in November. For now, though, I’m dissappointed. Anyone else who is should email him and say so too.

I was wrong

Obama is right. And I should have supported him from the beginning.

And bravo to him for finally putting it out there. We are bitter and resentful. Now he may not be on the mark 100% for where those emotions get displaced to, but its a good start to being honest with us. Which is a whole hell of a lot better than McCain and Clinton have been. At the end of this post you will find the full text of what was supposed to be a closed fundraiser dinner.

My father, who is neither a democrat nor an Obama or Clinton supporter, has put it more eloquently than I have been able to. We talk often about the political state of the country we both cherish so much, and even his hardcore conservative republican roots whither before what is represented by these three opponents; you are either for change, or not. With Clinton and McCain, a vote for either of them is a vote for old money and an established way of doing things. In this modern era the average American understands this as merely giving lip service to those you want votes from. That is the Clinton and McCain legacy; we’ve done it like this for so long, why change? Obama on the other hand, represents change and a new way of doing and thinking within this republic for which he wants to stand.

Clinton and McCain both (with a surprising amount of similarity in their responses) said that Obama is out of touch with the average American. Are these two stoned? Are they so wrapped up in their own elitist dogma that they actually think they know what an average american goes through? Clinton paid her own brand of lip service to Pennsylvanians when she said she met “people who are resilient, optimist positive who are rolling up their sleeves.” This reeks of Republican pull yourself up by your own bootstraps rhetoric, and makes me sick to hear it from a Democrat I once supported. McCain called his comments elitist condescension, or rather an aide did, because it seems like McCain wants to be able to distance himself from sounding like the Republican hypocrite he really is.

We have to admit there is a problem before we can even begin to fix it. It’s time to talk and I think the Obama camp said it best in their press release regarding Clinton’s and McCain’s statements.

Senator Obama has said many times in this campaign that Americans are understandably upset with their leaders in Washington for saying anything to win elections while failing to stand up to the special interests and fight for an economic agenda that will bring jobs and opportunity back to struggling communities,” said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor.

“And if John McCain wants a debate about who’s out of touch with the American people, we can start by talking about the tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans that he once said offended his conscience but now wants to make permanent.” (taken from this post)

What follows is the full text of the speech Senator Obama gave that started this. You can listen to it at this website.

“So, it depends on where you are, but I think it’s fair to say that the places where we are going to have to do the most work are the places where people feel most cynical about government. The people are mis-appre…I think they’re misunderstanding why the demographics in our, in this contest have broken out as they are. Because everybody just ascribes it to ‘white working-class don’t wanna work — don’t wanna vote for the black guy.’ That’s…there were intimations of that in an article in the Sunday New York Times today – kind of implies that it’s sort of a race thing.

Here’s how it is: in a lot of these communities in big industrial states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, people have been beaten down so long, and they feel so betrayed by government, and when they hear a pitch that is premised on not being cynical about government, then a part of them just doesn’t buy it. And when it’s delivered by — it’s true that when it’s delivered by a 46-year-old black man named Barack Obama (laugher), then that adds another layer of skepticism (laughter).

But — so the questions you’re most likely to get about me, ‘Well, what is this guy going to do for me? What’s the concrete thing?’ What they wanna hear is — so, we’ll give you talking points about what we’re proposing — close tax loopholes, roll back, you know, the tax cuts for the top 1 percent. Obama’s gonna give tax breaks to middle-class folks and we’re gonna provide health care for every American. So we’ll go down a series of talking points.

But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there’s not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Um, now these are in some communities, you know. I think what you’ll find is, is that people of every background — there are gonna be a mix of people, you can go in the toughest neighborhoods, you know working-class lunch-pail folks, you’ll find Obama enthusiasts. And you can go into places where you think I’d be very strong and people will just be skeptical. The important thing is that you show up and you’re doing what you’re doing.”

Surprise! Republican hypocrites

Not wanting to turn my blog into soapbox from which to spout anti-republican rhetoric, I refrained from talking about politics too much. I announced the candidate I was going to vote for and while it appears the rest of the country does not feel the same way I do, I am glad my fellow Democrats across the nation have someone in whom to finally believe. IN the attempt to keep a politically rhetoric free blog I have kept silent about some of the goings on in the party and the race.

Not after today. And damn me for not speaking up sooner.

With the race being so close, no matter who wins the next few primaries and caucuses, the deciding factor will be the super delegates awarded at the Democratic National Convention. However, a new wrinkle in the fight has been added as Florida Republican Governor Charlie Crist and Michigan Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm have come out demanding the DNC seat the delegates of their banned primaries.

I am outraged. Not only have these states selfishly violated party rules to get their primaries out in front of everyone else’s, now they come back months later to whine about the consequences. Both Florida and Michigan violated Democratic Party rules by holding their primaries before February 5th. Because of this, their delegates will not be seated at the DNC, which means their delegates will be up for grabs only at the convention. What is even more outrageous is that the Republican Governor is being so vocal about it. This is some of the worst dirty politics I have seen in a long time.

Gov. Crist had the audacity to tell the nation that not only should those primaries be allowed to count, but that their results should be untampered with and that he would only be willing to hold another primary if the Democratic Party is willing to foot the bill. Personally, I hope Howard Dean, current chair of the Democratic party, sticks to his guns and tells both states to stuff it. They both knew the rules ahead of time and Dean even promised them back long before their primaries were held that the party would help pay to move the primary dates, but both states refused.

I want to see democracy work, and I want to see people’s voices heard, but this is a society that only works because of rules. We have the most peacefully held exchange of governments in the world and it is due to the fact that everyone involved knows the rules and commits to following them before pen is ever put to paper. Now, because the Republicans want to pit McCain against Clinton rather than Obama, they are crying about how the democratic process is being mucked with. Now these two Governors have the arrogance to stand up in front of the nation and wag their little finger at the Democratic Party for following the rules when they obviously couldn’t brings out a rage in me I haven’t felt since 9/11.

Shut up Crist, you sanctimonious hypocrite, and keep your politically fueled, partisan whining about rules you broke to yourself.

I have been saying the following to friends and family for months; someone within the Democratic Party needs to stand up and give the “for the good of the party” speech. Someone from the party needs to stand up and tell these candidates they are fighting the wrong fight and wasting resources on nitpicking character attacks. Someone from the party needs to stand up and scold these two candidates for not combining forces to stand against the Republican Party. That someone isn’t me, nor is it Howard Dean, nor is it Senator Kennedy. That someone needs to be Al Gore.

Please Mr. Gore stand up for your party and do something. Stop sitting on the sidelines like the rest of the super delegates. Help your party when it needs it the most. I strongly believe that only Mr. Gore has the political clout within the party for this to succeed. It would be a bold move, but it needs to be done. McCain is getting a free ride out there because our forces are too preoccupied with this stupid character race. I am a true card-carrying Democrat and because of the platforms of BOTH candidates I will be proudly voting for a Democrat President regardless of who it is that wins the nomination. So lets stop this redundant character debate before it ruins our chances to regain the White House.

If you are a Democrat and you are also tired of the current shenanigans we find ourselves in, please go to the DNC website, the Hillary Clinton website, and the Barack Obama website to tell them.

Vote Hillary/Obama or Obama/Hillary in 08!

The day of Saint Valentine

How I despise this holiday. Just to be clear, this feeling does not stem from the lack of a significant other. I have hated this holiday from the first time I celebrated it in Kindergarten. The western tradition of St. Valentine’s day is nothing more than a celebration of corporate exploitative greed designed to line their own pockets.

In Kindergarten we exchanged valentines. Those little mass-produced cards featuring the faces of our favorite sesame street muppet or cartoon star with their oh too cute messages of friendship and infantile love. I got none. As we went through school it became a popularity contest. There were those who received so many their decorated shoe box was almost overflowing. Then there were those, like myself, who got a few token valentines from people who felt bad knowing we did not get any. Part of me is glad our schools don’t let this kind of thing happen anymore. Everyone knows the sting when you did not get the valentine from someone you liked. And I would be willing to wager we equally know the horror of getting the valentine from someone we did not like. Somewhere along the line I decided not to participate in the ritual parade of my social ineptitudes.

The first time since school I felt the need to give a valentine I decided to do something wholly unexpected: I made my girlfriend a valentine. I spent days working on the design and coming up with the right words. Along with the card I gave her a single purple tulip I found from a garden several blocks away. I thought since I made it and went to the effort to find her favorite flower in her favorite color, she would at least be appreciative, but no. After receiving these things she asked where her real present was. Up from the devastation in my heart through the bubbling rage in my voice I told her she was not getting one. Ever. Again. And then promptly I left the room.

I swore valentine’s day off at that point. Even with my last girlfriend who I loved dearly and very passionately; I flatly refused to participate in the holiday.

Every year decorations and cards for valentine’s day go up earlier and earlier. Christmas had not even come and Wal-Mart already began lining their shelves with Cupid’s merchandise. The really sad thing is, once you start buying valentine’s day gifts, you have to keep buying them. And you can’t keep buying the same one. You have to buy something different, unique, just like all the other stuff there is to buy, or you have to continuously outdo your previous purchases.

Give me someone: who would be grateful to have a significant other in their life who takes time out of their day to think of nothing and no one but them, who does not have to have every little thing the corporate conglomerate says you have to have in order to feel loved, and who is not so jealous of what others have they can not appreciate what is right in front of them.

I spit on what the corporate giants have done to this holiday. A holiday with no ties to the people it is named after. A holiday only recognized by the entities who stand to make the most off of its plundering: Corporate America.

Goodbye, Mr. Ledger

Actor Heath Ledger, who stared in: A Knight’s Tale, The Patriot, won critical acclaim for his role in Brokeback Mountain, and stars in The Dark Knight as the Joker, was found dead in his New York apartment earlier today. The family maintains it was not a death by suicide, and the police concur. Until an autopsy is performed, the tentative cause of death is accidental overdose.

He was an excellent actor on his way to being one of our generation’s brightest. He would have been 29 this year.

My thoughts and best wishes go to his family and the daughter he left behind.

You will be missed, Mr. Ledger.

FCC Follies

Earlier this week, the Federal Communications Commission voted to relax a 32 year old ban on media ownership. Under the new ruling, newspapers will now be able to own broadcast media. In a country where 3% of the population owns over 90% of the media outlets already, this is something that can not be tolerated.

Over the years, I continue to watch as the diverse chorus that was once our nation’s news slowly fades into a single voice: conglomerate consumer media. The message is being churned out from news factories. Where once my local newspaper was littered with actual local news, now I can scarcely find an article that wasn’t written by the Associated Press or some other wire service. The media giants would have you believe that in the midst of waning newspaper sales other sources of revenue should be allowed, and their solution: even more concentrated media ownership.

The American newspaper system was founded on the principle of being the watchdog of government. The media’s primary job is supposed to be to keep the American public informed of what their government is doing. Rather than this often difficult job, because of the ever increasing media conglomerates, we have seen the media be nothing but the government’s willing cheerleader.

We can start by going here: stopbigmedia.com where you can sign a petition to Congress to nullify the FCC’s actions.

Following that, call your representative, and then your senator.

To find your representative by state, go here: http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml.

To find your senator follow this link: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

The FCC follies have gone on long enough. We must stop this travesty from continuing. Not every one of us has to step forward, but if enough of us do, then we will ensure “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.^[1]“