Yesterday I had this sinking feeling about the election. Not that it wouldn’t go the way I wanted it to, necessarily, but that it would be decided by people whose only source of information about candidates will be the (often untrue and misleading) television ads that they run or mean speculation by talking heads. And what really irritated me about this was that there wasn’t much I could do about it. Sure I could go door to door trying to provide more accurate information about the candidates I support and their positions. But if people willfully choose to be ignorant on the issues, there is nothing I can do to combat that.
This morning I am again trying to build hope by issuing a challenge to everyone, hopefully a challenge that will be passed on by my friends and family to their friends and family and colleagues. Do your own research for this election, and do it thoroughly. Get beyond “hope” and “lipstick” and “POW” to look at the candidate’s histories, records, and the policies they’ve outline for the future. Find out what a community organizer is. And beyond the candidates, research your ballot initiatives and what they mean for your community. And as a final request – when you’re researching these things, try to think beyond how they would affect your personal bottom line. Remember to show love for one another, even with your vote. "There is enough in the world for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed." –Frank Buchman
When you go to the polls, feel confident in your decisions, knowing you’ve done your best to bring about brighter future for our country.
I know we’ve been putting up a lot of political posts lately, but it’s because it is personal and does affect our lives and the major life decisions that we make (jobs, kids, buying a house, whether living in another country is a good option for us).
So in conclusion, research, learn, debate, discuss, and then, hopefully…
VOTE OBAMA ‘08
Friday, September 19, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Guggenheim Hall @ CSU
Starting Oct. 6, 2008, this will be my new 8-5 home.
Hopefully I won't have to be there too late after dark because the place looks haunted.
Hopefully I won't have to be there too late after dark because the place looks haunted.
Friday, September 12, 2008
[Fighting the lack of] HOPE
This morning I wish I could agree with my dad that it will be some neo-conservative conspiracy that will keep a right-wing, fundamentalist government in power that only benefits the wealthiest and greediest Americans. But after some of the things I’ve heard in the past few days, I think it is racist and fearful American voters who will stop progress and prevent an era of hope, quality of life, and compassion.
The first blow to my naiveté came from a story from my mom about a volunteer she knows, who despite agreeing with all of Obama’s policies, just can’t bring herself to vote for a black man. She said it’s just the way she was raised – she never interacted much with “them.” Following that came a story on NPR about race as a factor in the election. At first everyone said they had no racial biases, but through the discussion it became clear that they did.
I’m not voting for Barack Obama because of his race. I would not vote against someone because of their race. I’m voting for the candidate that I think could create the kind of future I want to see in this country – a future where everyone has equal opportunities.
In the same vein, I would not vote for the McCain/Palin ticket because Palin is a woman. Any candidate who hunts animals from airplanes, fights to get polar bears off the endangered species list, has an agenda that includes banning books and replacing comprehensive sex education with abstinence-only education (even with a pregnant teenage daughter at home), left a town of 7500 with a $22 million debt after coming into office with a balanced budget, and considers our occupation of Iraq as a mission from God is not the candidate I want representing me. And McCain picking this governor for his running mate has made it clear once and for all that he is not a maverick – he is another Republican candidate pandering to the far-right, Evangelical Christian, single-issue voters.
One more note on Governor Palin: May I remind you that the last time we voted for a likable yokel from a big oil state we got 8 years of W?
Vote Obama.
The first blow to my naiveté came from a story from my mom about a volunteer she knows, who despite agreeing with all of Obama’s policies, just can’t bring herself to vote for a black man. She said it’s just the way she was raised – she never interacted much with “them.” Following that came a story on NPR about race as a factor in the election. At first everyone said they had no racial biases, but through the discussion it became clear that they did.
I’m not voting for Barack Obama because of his race. I would not vote against someone because of their race. I’m voting for the candidate that I think could create the kind of future I want to see in this country – a future where everyone has equal opportunities.
In the same vein, I would not vote for the McCain/Palin ticket because Palin is a woman. Any candidate who hunts animals from airplanes, fights to get polar bears off the endangered species list, has an agenda that includes banning books and replacing comprehensive sex education with abstinence-only education (even with a pregnant teenage daughter at home), left a town of 7500 with a $22 million debt after coming into office with a balanced budget, and considers our occupation of Iraq as a mission from God is not the candidate I want representing me. And McCain picking this governor for his running mate has made it clear once and for all that he is not a maverick – he is another Republican candidate pandering to the far-right, Evangelical Christian, single-issue voters.
One more note on Governor Palin: May I remind you that the last time we voted for a likable yokel from a big oil state we got 8 years of W?
Vote Obama.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Hold me!
Since we moved to FoCo, I think we had this unspoken bond that we would not drop the F-bomb (Flagstaff, of course, for those of you with dirty minds). We refused to miss it, we would not talk about it, we would continue to list all of the reasons why our new city was infinitely better than the one we had left.
And for the most part it’s really true – we sat on this big grassy hill overlooking a lake filled with Canadian geese which is just a couple of miles from our apartment and couldn’t believe how excited we had gotten about a 20x100 yard expanse of flat grass behind our apartments in Flag. We have great shopping, great restaurants, great parks, close mountains, and the actual realistic prospect of someday buying a house.
But it was silly to think that we wouldn’t miss our little Arizona mountain city – the city where we met, the city where we first lived together, the city where we had our first fajita/margarita night, the city where we made such good friends who we could sit around talking with in coffee shops or at the Wine Loft or playing Frisbee.
This is not my big, “We’re moving back to Flagstaff” post, in case that’s what you were wondering. We’re happy here, I like my job, I like the college, being an hour from RMNP is pretty sweet, and our -4 year old loves the parks and good schools. But there are still the Thursday nights where I dream about going to Barnes & Noble with Bryan and Colleen, wish we could go play pool with Becca and Kevin, or meet for drinks at the Wine Loft with people from Steve’s work.
So I guess what I’m saying is sometimes I’m a little homesick. And I wish everyone I knew was independently wealthy so we could just spend all of our time visiting each other.
And for the most part it’s really true – we sat on this big grassy hill overlooking a lake filled with Canadian geese which is just a couple of miles from our apartment and couldn’t believe how excited we had gotten about a 20x100 yard expanse of flat grass behind our apartments in Flag. We have great shopping, great restaurants, great parks, close mountains, and the actual realistic prospect of someday buying a house.
But it was silly to think that we wouldn’t miss our little Arizona mountain city – the city where we met, the city where we first lived together, the city where we had our first fajita/margarita night, the city where we made such good friends who we could sit around talking with in coffee shops or at the Wine Loft or playing Frisbee.
This is not my big, “We’re moving back to Flagstaff” post, in case that’s what you were wondering. We’re happy here, I like my job, I like the college, being an hour from RMNP is pretty sweet, and our -4 year old loves the parks and good schools. But there are still the Thursday nights where I dream about going to Barnes & Noble with Bryan and Colleen, wish we could go play pool with Becca and Kevin, or meet for drinks at the Wine Loft with people from Steve’s work.
So I guess what I’m saying is sometimes I’m a little homesick. And I wish everyone I knew was independently wealthy so we could just spend all of our time visiting each other.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
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