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| | | From: juds (Original Message) | Sent: 9/24/2008 4:27 PM |
Thanks to Tony and Kel for starting this topic. I was thinking last evening, after my own, little, soap-y post that it would be nice to have a thread where we could talk about politics, no matter where you are in the world. Quite frankly, at my age, I finally get how significant the choices that we make are. Additionally, I am fascinated and greedy to hear the opinions, beliefs and standards that other people hold. I have a friend in the UK and I love hearing his view of my country's goings-on. The onlythings to keep in mind are MSN's rules and our very own standards for maintaining a family friendly site. Keep the language squeeky-clean, don't throw stones or rotten tomatoes or engage in name-calling of each other. The candidates, however, are fair game. I expect that this will get intense, spirited and a little sweaty, but as long as we follow these guidelines, no one should get hurt.  Oh, alright, you can toss the occasional tomato. Everyone is encouraged to join in the fun. I am especially interested in hearing the viewpoints of our members outside of the U.S. (where this site is based) about their own political issues, but most especially their view of what is going on these shores. So, I am going to drop-kick Kels soapbox thread into this one and let the games begin. Kel's soapbox thread Reply
| | Ok, it's early and my eyes are still fuzzy, but since juds mentioned sink, and tony mentioned a thread and since sink reminded me of soap, we should call it a soapbox thread (just my creative wheels turning at 0 dark 30 am. scary, huh?) As far as politics goes....touchy subject. I have no idea which one of these 2 should be president, so I think perhaps we should just pencil in Gov. Palin. Say what ye want, I like her...she's a real person. (And I have been told I look just like her...so Tina Fey, watch out!) The price of gas sucks, the economy sucks in general, and I hate insurance companies. My next subject is this horrendously long, never ending war. It's been so long, I forgot what we went there for, but that matters not. My son will be redeploying at some point, as will lots of other men and women, so I concentrate all my thoughts and good karma to them. It is a mixed bag of emotions for me, but he has a job to do and he does it well, so it makes me proud, yet I get scared, a fear that is not even describable. I don't even watch the news when he's "away"...I stand behind our troops, I support our son, but when Governor Palin gets to be president, I know she'll fix this stuff!  Start kickin but and takin names Sarah! (Is that her name?) | | Reply
| | Nice call Kel, I'm all for this concept. I reckon we might all dance around a little hoping not to offend. But I still feel strongly we should be able to respectfully express opinions that differ. However, when emotions and beliefs run strong, and opinions have developed over long periods of time, offense may legitimately be taken when none is intended. So if I offend anyone, I apologize in advance. My words are just a result of those opinions and the irrepressible emotions behind them.
So I've considered myself an issue based voter with relatively few major I use to decide. Issue 1: The war. I've been opposed to the War in Iraq from the beginning and McCain has been right beside Bush from the beginning on this topic. We were deceived, plain and simple on many levels. Sadam for sure was a bad guy but so are many others around the globe. I believe under it all, we went for the oil and because we foolishly thought we'd be welcomed by the whole country. Issue 2: The environment. Global warming is real. We should be spending the war money on investing in a new infrastructure of renewable wind and solar power generation. I've heard it said that solving the global warming problem should be our generation's Apollo program. It should be and it matters more to future generations than the Apollo program did. Issue 3: Clean government. I think our system is broken. We no longer have a real democracy. Big money, lobbyists, and the media (backed by big money) have gained so much influence under this administration (and they had too much influence before), that voters seldom get the real story they need if they are going to be active participants in our society. This argument could fill books (and has) but my personal bottom line is that the Bush Administration will go down in history as one of the worst ever. Issue 4: Public education. The promise of public education for every citizen is critical to our country's future. More books could be written on this but here I'll make one more criticism. The idea of "no child left behind," is so convoluted to me. It goes like this? "If students in a school are testing too low on the standardized tests, let's punish the school by taking resources from that school, and therefore the students will somehow magically do better?" How about we figure out how to motivate more of our best and brightest to be teachers by changing how we fund public schools (and again perhaps using some of that war money, or $700 billion financial bail out money) to pay teachers commensurately with the value they provide to society.
I realize I haven't presented bullet proof arguments here. And I realize many will disagree with me. But it may come as a surprise that I am an Obama supporter. And please Kel, don't get me going on Sarah Palin. The thought of President Palin petrifies me. Now President Tina Fey, that would be something to talk about. So that's it for now. I'd better get to work. Tony
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Perhaps I am just completely blinded by the decision I've already made, but are these last days of the campaign being made way more bitter than necessary by the McCain folks? It simply amazes me the things people will do and the lies they will tell in order to perhaps get what they want.
I certainly agree we should support the men and women who serve in our military, and treat them extremely well when they do come home, but please let's bring them home. What will it take for what is happening over there to affect the rest of us here in our mostly safe country to understand how we are not solving the problems over there?
I'll stop, I voted yesterday so no more convincing for me...
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| | | From: juds | Sent: 10/31/2008 3:15 AM |
It's not just you. But, we're seeing what happens when you haven't any substance even belief in your own policies. I don't know if it is even possible to find it online, but Frontline on Tuesday is worth the effort to find it. |
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Hello to all my American neighbours, Good luck in the next couple of days. Certainly know who I would vote for if I was a U.S. Citizen. Anyways, thoughts are with you all. It can only get better - really. Right? |
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| | | From: juds | Sent: 11/2/2008 2:49 PM |
Kel, must be a poser, not enough hair. Kerry, thanks, we're going to need it. Someone, some uber creepoid, put up a very nasty a-frame sign at the intersection of two highways near to where I live. It is unrepeatable here but is a clear indication that all the fear-mongering is having an effect. I truly worry about the people that I actually know and my country at large. It's an old platitude or saying or something that if you tell a lie often enough that someone will believe it. And, yes, I am going to play the race card, heck I'm throwing in the entire deck, since most of the rabid responses to all of that mongering is feeding on the uninformed biases that many people still hold, deep in the recesses of their racist little hearts. It is disgusting to even use heart and racist in the same sentence. All the distance that we have come as a nation, all the experiences and opportunities that have been afforded to us and prejudice is part of a normal belief system and response for way too many people. Just heartbreaking. It sickens me to know that so many of us choose to continue to be so narrow minded. I'm just plain old disgusted. I don't care who you vote for, well, I do care, a lot, but the most important thing is to haul your sorry behind to the polls on Tuesday and just vote. My behind is especially sorry and I'm making the effort and so can you, whomever you are. I'm wearing comfortable shoes, taking a bag of almonds, my cane, a bottle of water, a small bottle of bubbles and my library book and am going to be ready, willing and able to stand in line as long as it takes. Grab your bubbles and do the same, hey? No excuses, no regrets. Just do it, dammit. |
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juds....yes, it's a poser...it's my costume! doh....but I won best costume! |
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Even though I'm confident that the right guy will indeed be elected this time, I'm still nervous because we've been bamboozled by our country's choices before. So if you're thinking that this nation that we love, needs to go a new direction, please remember to vote on Tuesday. But if you think things are good the way they are, perhaps you should stay home and read a book.
Just kidding!!! Everyone should vote. This country works the best when we all participate. I heard today that in Australia, voting is mandatory and you can get fined if you don't vote. Perhaps...... |
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| | | From: juds | Sent: 11/4/2008 4:35 AM |
Haul your sorry behind to the polls tomorrow. Whilst I do care who you vote for, I care more that you just get out and vote. So. Vote tomorrow. Then. Go about your day. Later. Go home and keep track of what the likely outcome is going to be, given the (grrrrrrrrrr) occasional conflict between the popular vote and the electoral college. I was hoping that my McCain and Obama paper dolls would have gotten here before the election so that I could have them slug it out in case the vote was close, but it was not to be. Only the McCain dolls came in...oooooooh, I wonder what portent lies there. Is it because John has given up or because he is supremely confident? Has Barack decided that he needs to make a last-minute push or has he gone home to rest up for tomorrow? I know that I'm a fool, but I'm already feeling badly for whomever loses the race tomorrow. First of all, I cannot imagine who would be foolhardy enough to run for any political office much less the presidency of the US, or any other high office in the world for that matter. Do you need to be crazy or inspired or some strange alchemy of the two. Next, how squeeky clean does your past have to be? Clearly, both Obama and McCain are pretty darn clean, given some of the piddly, nonsensical crapola that has been pressed by both sides against their opponents. The truly and significantly 'clean', people like me (timid creatures who were afraid to stray from the approved path for all of their lives) have one, clear deficit...we're simply not qualified to serve, unless it's coffee at the local java joint. Do you want fries with that? What a nightmare to be under such intense and critical scrutiny. I noticed that Palin was cleared of all culpability in her trooper-gate, which I have to be honest and tell you that I never really understood that whole thing. I'm a recovered Catholic and, boy, do I know about feeling guilty, and so can sympathize with Palin. By the way, I hope that she takes one of the recent offers to host some kind of talk forum on television. Quite frankly, I think that it would deal the final blow to her political aspirations, which would be just fine with me. I don't think that I've shared my twisted theory about exactly why she was chosen to be the Republican running mate, but it all ties in, believe me. Oh, I have to go. A dear friend is spending the evening and is telling me to get off of that damn machine. He's poured me a small glass of Dr. McGillicuddy's cherry schnapps (who even knew there was such a thing) nicely chilled with icy cubes made from cherries and juice from his cherry trees. Mmmmmm...it's really good. I really think that I need a larger glass. You should go and have your own lovely beverage. But, don't drink too much because you have to get up in the morning to VOTE!!!!!!! |
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Dr. McG's? Honestly, I had forgotten all about that stuff. It's soothing--like cough syrup with extra alcohol. Now, how would I know all about that? Voted early--first time I ever did that. Hopefully, I can be of some help again at election headquarters. I know everybody is tired of phone calls, and I do NOT like calling, but if it gets one additional person to the polls or finds one person who needs a ride, it's worth it. A bonus is that periodically, you do get to share some facts and have interesting conversations. This campaign surely has me energized like none I can remember since I was too young to vote for Kennedy but just old enough to campaign. Lots of water under that bridge--and now I must remember to bring a cushion to protect my aging behind from those battered metal folding chairs. Campagin offices are not luxuriously furnished. Whatever happens, may it be the beginning of a new day for our country and may good waves made by our choice wash up on the shores of our neighbor nations. |
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| | | From: juds | Sent: 11/4/2008 4:42 PM |
I just re-read this post, and while I think that I will still send it (not certain at this moment), it is a high-energy rant about telephone calls and political practices. Oh, and a bit of something about cough syrup, I think. Anyway. It clearly holds a lot of energy for me, rambles all over the place and is redundant. A lot. However, it is not directed at anyone in particular, except the the pinheads in my town that keep sending me those obnoxious recoreded messages, so don't get all offended or anything. Sorry, but those political telephone calls should be banned, or at least have some way to opt out of them. If I had received one more of those ridiculous, annoying and faceless recorded messages, I really believe that I would have hauled my butt down to their headquarters and lopped off a few of those heads. Or, at least given them a sound verbal lashing. A phone call from an actual person? Still anonymous and uber irresponsible for the caller, no matter what political discipline. The hapless and inconvenienced recipient of such calls has no opportunity for knowing the agenda of the person calling. Non-partisan? Hardly. I suppose that if you receive a call from someone with your beliefs, or tendencies similar to your own, that there could be some kind of interesting dialogue. I guess. As far as having the opportunity for sharing new, viewpoint-changing information or convincing someone, otherwise so disinclined, to actually get out and vote, well, I'm simply not buying it. I understand that political parties and their supporters and volunteers believe it with all their hearts, but there isn't any data or statistics that support those beliefs. Sorry, but there aren't. There are the occasional reports that seem to support this practice, but they are not statistically significant. Often it is just a feel-good exercise for the civically inclined. I am most certainly not saying that that alone is a bad thing, but, for the rest of us, it can be pointless and inconvenient. Clearly we are stuck with these disgusting telephone calls, since there isn't any likelihood of safely sending representatives door to door as they were in the past. It just corks my interior that any jerk with a political viewpoint, agenda or platform is free from the restraints of the no-call lists prohibitions and is equally free and clear to violate the privacy of my home any old time he or she feels like it. If political parties and their minions really and truly want to get out the vote, then there are many more ways that involve a personal investment on the part of everyone involved. Oh, whatever, I'm never going to influence any of this every-four-year-baloney. I'll just keep working in my community helping to insure that everyone is fed properly, safely housed and decently educated. Small peanuts, in the larger picture, but it is where my heart lies. Alright, just one more thing. No, never mind, it won't convince anyone. As for what we enjoyed last night, my friend and little, old me (emphasis on the old), I sort of wish that I'd had a cough, just to see if it would have worked. I'd never heard of the McGillicuddy stuff and it was very, very sweet. However, the icy cubes of cherry juice with pitted cherries imbeded in them were most delicious, tart and refreshing. I had my small glass of the schnapps and cubes, and then had a whole bunch of just cubes. I'm sorry that they are all gone because I bet that they would have been wonderful in lemonade, which I usually make with lots of fresh lemons (and sometimes a few limes), Splenda and rosewater. I wonder if you can combine lemons, limes, cherries and rosewater. Sounds interesting, but I'll bet that it might be a bit much (actually kind of gross). I apologize for the ranting because, even though you didn't come out and say so, you imply that you are one of those who work at some political campaign office. No so apologetic for the content, though. In case no one has mentioned it, please do your civic duty and go vote for someone. Please? |
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You got that right about the robo calls. They are faceless and stupid. I got some that were highly offensive. Also a couple that were actually very nice--brief--positive. Still, I am not moved much by a recording and am angered by a negative one from anybody about anyone. The in-person calls, I also really don't much like, either. Thus my ambivalence to make them. Happily, if people don't want to answer them they just don't or hang up. What surprised me was the number of people who wanted to talk about their decision or really did want some information. A fair number of folks needed to know how to vote early--non partisan stuff like that, and that was good to be able to help. So, I guess maybe my prejucice against anybody phoning me unless I WANT them to is a little less strong right now . For me, it was doing something--anything. Being retired, I was feeling like a useless stump in this whole election process--and this really put me back with eager young folks and people of all ages who cared a lot about something. It was good for me to do something--though I did it for limited hours--that was part of a well-designed ground plan. A teeny piece--but still part of a movement. Actually, I am kind of surprised that I liked doing it. There was a canvassing option but I can't do that. I think I draw the line at people coming to my door and interrupting my day. I don't answer the door for my candidate or actually any candidate. My front porch is sacred territory and I do not wish it to be transversed. My doorbell has been broken for 30 years and that's fine with me. Now to settle down and watch the returns. I got a nice bottle of Pinot Grigio and stuck it in the refrigerator, and charged up my cell so I can be in contact with my kids. Two have called about the election and one has called about how to make pea soup with smoked pork hocks. I guess we will discuss the election post-soup making. Let all of us hope that America benefits by the decisions made today. Our freedom to make them and to vocalize what we want to (within some boundaries) is sacred. Annie |
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| | | From: juds | Sent: 11/5/2008 4:58 AM |
Franklin Roosevelt Lyndon Johnson And, now, Barack Obama has won the U.S. Presidency by the third largest mandate by a Democrat in our history. As of 11:00 p.m., US Central Time, Obama had 338 electoral votes to McCain's 156. Only 270 electoral votes were needed to win. It appears that results are still forthcoming from Alaska, North Carolina, Missouri, Indiana and Montana, with a total of 43 votes still to be determined, if my math is right, which it probably isn't. Interesting that the vote is extraordinarily close in all of those states, virtually equal. I was hoping that we would have a Democratic winner, but I am stunned. The Democrats also have won a majority of seats in both the Senate, 17, and House, 260. So, it comes as no surprise that I'm pleased with the outcome, but my favorite guy better manifest as a president who brings both sides together. I'm just saying. |
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Ok so the whole political thread has lost some energy. But your collective silence is making me very lonely.
And I don't want to say it out loud but I think I'm actually in remission. shhhhhh.....don't tell the monkey..... |
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| | | From: juds | Sent: 11/16/2008 5:20 AM |
Foolish boy, the monkey knows all. What were you thinking? My political energy is fine, thank you anyway. I still have my Obama signs stuck in the front lawn, just to rub it in to the loser neighbors, and I'm wearing my Obama Mama button to work every day. Now that the election is over I would really like to see someone stop me. Yeah, c'mon, give it your best shot, bigshot, I'm wearin' this button whether you like it or not. Not that I have any issues. |
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Tony, if you are in remission (yes, we will shhhhh) just enjoy every flipping moment of it. It doesn't matter how long it will "last" since SOM is SOM, and I honestly do think once I got it through my head that it was in control and not me, the tension decreased and the better days were more fun. So, whispered yippee. I have not lost my political energy either. In fact, I just feel so damned empowered now--though as a social worker, I got so I couldn't stand that word because it was overused. But now it makes sense. There is plenty of fodder for my favorite pundits, lots on my most used websites, big smiles on so many faces (you sort of know how voted how if you look) and many interesting appointments to be made. I'm particularly fond of looking up reactions from around the world to see that many countries are seeing us as citizens of the world now--at least potentially so. My greatest hope is that the chasms among us will heal and that the bitterness can fade. We all need to use that energy toward helping this administration to make the changes that we need so much. I want the two party system to become strong--provide checks and balances--not to be an entrenched bunch of mortal enemies shooting wads of you-know-what at eachother. Cleaning a closet the other day--found a fantastic piece of memorabilia. It's a large, slightly yellowed and slightly frayed- around- the- edges poster of The cover of Rolling Stone Magazine featuring a sketch of George McGovern. I was living up in Park Falls, WI., at that time with two teeny kids, and no job--but I ran the McGovern campaign headquarters there. We had probably 25 visitors during the entire campaign, but it was fun--and I guess I rolled up my favorite poster and tucked into the back of a shelf. It seems to have moved four or five times since then with us. We had it on our wall for years--till we got too cool to have old posters up. Now we will get it framed. As you age, you can become un-cool again. Or coolness takes on a different persona. Maybe it's time to start some new threads on Yuku to get used to unloading our moving van into our new dwelling. Seems we could keep some for folks who just want SOM information ASAP, and some for people who like connecting on non- SOM stuff as well. I think Tony ought to offer up that brownie recipe he talked about for our Xmas present. Annie |
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