Archive for the ‘politics’ Category

It’s taken me awhile, but I have figured out politics. I think.

See, I’ve been giving the political system and politicians to darn much credit.

That’s why I was honestly completely and absolutely shocked when the Republican party thought Sarah Palin was a valid candidate for vice president back in 2008. Her gosh-dark-oh-shucks attitude had me stumped. Yes, she is attractive, but has our nation gotten to the point that the political arena has morphed into a beauty contest? For god’s sake, she referred to her husband as the “First Dude.”

I want politicians who are more intelligent than me. Better public speakers than me. Sarah does that tongue click thing that so annoying. That’s why in junior high we made fun of our school librarian! We were young teens and recognized that was not a good thing. I can’t see how it’s OK for a politician.

I kept waiting for the Republican party to laugh and tell us it was a joke and produce a viable candidate for vice president. You know, the person who will step into the President’s shoes should something happen. Yeah, that person.

But they never did. They kept her till the end and then acted all surprised when President Obama was elected. I imagine the head Republican honchos waking up the next morning, muttering over their coffee, pulling at their hair, determined to never make the same mistake again.

The scary thing about all of this: if Sarah Palin was a viable candidate then so am I, my neighbors, you, your neighbors. She set the bar really really low for Republicans.

I was willing to give them some wiggle room, though. I thought Sarah was an anomaly.  But she isn’t. She’s actually a clear representative of today’s politicians. Yes, she might actually be the cream of the crop which is why the Republican party ended up choosing her to run in the first place.

In the day of instant news, a camera and video camera in every phone, nothing is secret any more. So we have had quite a show lately listening to actual elected officials vocalizing their complete miseducation about the female body (remember raped women don’t get pregnant…) and offering relief for poor children (make them work, even if they miss class…). Those stories were drawn from the mouths of actual political people.

States are utilizing misinformation to educate our children about sex (birth control causes cancer, abortions cause cancer…) and science (creationism, anyone?). All under the tutelage of politicians. I thought pronouncing ketchup a vegetable (wouldn’t it really be a fruit?!) was a stretch for Ronald Reagan. But since it is actually made from a real food, I’ll give him that one. But fake science being taught to our children? That’s just plain ignorance…especially since the information is so easily refuted by one Google session.

There’s media battles when politicians get all angry when tapes of their conversations get released. I mean, would you want the world to know you’re willing to go after an opponent’s past mental illness? Or that it’s news that some Republicans don’t think Rush Limbaugh is a good ally?

The stories are endless about the idiocy of Congress. Ninety per cent of the people wanted gun control so Congress refused to pass it. They’ve made it very clear that they no longer represent the American people, but the National Rifle Association (aka NRA). How do we know this? Recent donations from the NRA to congressman was well-documented. So not only are the politicians unintelligent, they are also greedy liars.

Does it scare you as much as it scares me that we have given political control to complete imbeciles? I’m sorry, that might be harsh, but it’s true for many of them. Maybe it’s time some of you regular people start thinking about running for office.

Because something has to give in Washington and the solution might be you!

Recent political angst has Senator Mitch McConnell and some of his people up in arms because of a meeting discussing a possible campaign involving actress Ashley Judd. Someone taped said meeting. And a reporter got the tape. And now McConnell’s all whiny and conspiracy-spewing against the people who have told the truth about the meeting.

Apparently McConnell doesn’t want anyone to know what a vile human being he is. He and his people were discussing ways to beat Judd. Mostly, they planned on attacking her battles with mental illness and her religion.

Who’s the best candidate for the people of Kentucky? I have no idea. But I am sick to death of all politicians being idiots and then crying foul when they get caught.

Let’s look back at Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal. Which happened in 1973. Then President Nixon’s own secret recordings implicated him and his staff in a break-in of Democratic headquarters. What is the lesson to be learned here? Do not secretly tape anything! Wait, let’s make that do not tape anything. Ever. No recordings allowed.

But will the politicians learn their lesson? Probably not. As is evidenced by political behavior day in and day out, you do not need to be a person of high intelligence to be an elected official. So the next person will go on to tape meetings and then get all playground-whiny when they get caught. It probably wouldn’t be so bad if they were recording themselves being helpful and insightful. Inevitably, it will be another nitwit plotting dirty politics or waxing poetic as she observes Russia from her patio in Alaska.

Ultimately, whose fault is it that these people continue to serve us politically? We, the voters. We need to hold them to higher standards. We need to stop making excuses. We need to stop letting them get away with behavior we wouldn’t accept from our toddlers. Once we show them that we have standards that we expect them to meet, maybe they’ll change.

For now, maybe all electricity should be turned off around politicians. It would save them from secret recordings, titillating tweets, and Facebook frou frou. 

 

What do you think of labeling politicians? Making them wear labels–proportionate in size–to make their sponsors known to all? It sounds like a great idea to me. You can sign a petition here. And check out the Coffee Party on Facebook. They’ve got it all over the frikkin tea party (aka tea baggers…).

It’s another International Women’s Day and there’s a lot we can all do. According to the email I received from CARE–”a leading humanitarian organization fighting the root causes of poverty”–it’s a day to:

…celebrate the potential of women and girls. To do amazing things. To change the world.

They are asking that we share this photo on Facebook. They are encouraging people to contact Secretary of State John Kerry to ensure safety for women throughout the world is a priority. Won’t you join in?

We were all saddened and shocked by what happened at the Sandy Hook elementary school late last year. Whenever children die, it hits us deeply because children are our hope and our future. People are driven to do something major. Speeches demanding gun control and gun limits soar. There are heated debates and ideas being tossed around in the media, in the government, and in homes.

But what about the children who aren’t part of a massive gun tragedy, but are being picked off one by one by the same gun violence? For instance, a young girl who performed at the recent inauguration festivities with her school band was recently killed. Fortunately, her death is garnering some attention because of her recent activities.

Another case of gun violence is media attention because it is the fourth sibling from a single family ravaged by gun violence. Ronnie Chambers was an adult when he was killed, yet his mother is burying her fourth child.

Every day I read the headlines for Chicago and see how many children are being killed. Toddlers caught in the crossfire of gang fights. Teenagers shot walking home from high school. Middle school children killed while playing outside.

This is not how we are supposed to live in America. We are supposed to be protecting our children and grooming them for great things. That’s difficult to do when you have to make your kids sleep in the bathtub because of the gun shots raging in your neighborhood throughout the night.

There has to be a reasonable solution. Because our children cannot keep dying. We cannot forget that it’s not just nice suburban children being shot by a crazed gunman. There are inner city children who also need our help. They deserve it just as much–if not more–because gun violence impacts every minute of every day of their lives.

It is time for mothers everywhere to become champions of gun control. We have to stress that weapons are dangerous in the wrong hands and potentially dangerous in any hands. We’ll hear arguments about the second amendment. We’ll hear arguments about citizens’ rights. We’ll hear arguments about government interference.

And we will just have to look them right in the eye and say, “But what about the rights of the children to live? That’s all we want…safe, protected children…”

 

In case you missed it, some time during the Inauguration festivities over the past weekend…wait for it…Michelle Obama rolled her eyes during a meal. There’s plenty of speculation about the source of the eye roll, with many wondering if it was John Boehner.

I’m a fan of Michelle Obama (except for her childhood obesity campaign that I think hurts more than helps). She seems very real to me. More real than some plastic first ladies of the past.

Michelle smiles and talks and walks and apparently works out. I know about the working out part because when the media isn’t speculating about her eye rolling, they are talking about her powerful arms. Oh, and now she’s made bangs official!

But right now we’re talking about the eye rolling.

Let’s give the woman a break. She’s a mother with teenaged daughters. She has a powerful, important husband and is constantly on stage. Some times she is going to slip.

I don’t think the eye roll had anything directly to do with John Boehner.* I know the political pundits are hoping Boehner said something like, “my guns are bigger than your guns” to taunt President Obama during lunch. Some are hoping he said something about his political action committee being bigger or that women can’t get pregnant during rape because their stress hormones prevent it. Of course they want something this licentious! Imagine the scandal! Imagine the headlines! Stop the presses!

I offer this, however: The Boys were talking about Boy Stuff and Michelle had had enough. I think any of these topics, eventually, garner an eye roll from even the most doting wife:

• Cars
• Boobs
• Football
• Basketball
• Baseball
• Hockey

Or maybe one of The Boys is a member of the bad joke club. I know this is the source of most of my eye rolling when it comes to Jim. Sure the jokes were funny the first one hundred times, but after that I would roll my eyes even in front of President Obama if Jim told one of his punny jokes or offered his much-repeated wisdom on horse’s asses.

We are told that eye rolling is one of the worst things for your marriage. Especially if you sigh and spin while doing it. OK, I made some of that up. But seriously, eye rolling is a big no-no.

Unless it’s for a serious offense like the ones listed above. Married people cannot be perfect all the time. And eye rolling seems pretty tame compared to some of the things human beings can do to one another.

Poor Michelle Obama. Let down your guard and all the world begins to comment. I bet she can’t wait for the next four years to be over.

*For the record, I think John Boeher probably excels at the “I’m not touching you game” and wouldn’t hesitate to play it at a political dinner.

Here we are again, hovering at the edge of the fiscal cliff. News reports, tweets, articles, blogs, and the world ponder, predict, and await the outcome. Who will go over the fiscal cliff? The American people? How about the congress people who have us quivering and trembling in fear at the great chasm before us?

It’s not like this came as any surprise to our elected officials. Remember those people who have sworn to serve us, the voting public? But they are acting like they had no idea that this would really happen. Like high school juniors surprised that the ACTs are this weekend and they haven’t even cracked the study guide a well-meaning parent bought to improve their slim chances of getting into a decent college.

Instead of doing their job and solving this political crisis, the current members of congress have spent their time waging a war on women, fighting with President Obama at every turn, and genuinely contemplating the nomination of Michele Bachman for president. In other words, they’ve been skipping class and sleeping during study hall instead of prepping for anything.

So let’s make the members of Congress the ones who suffer. I’ve read suggestions about cutting salaries, healthcare coverage, expenses, etc. Let’s do it!

And in the meantime, let’s pull troops home. If we can’t balance the budget, we can’t fight wars. Stop sending things into space immediately. Stop all social services. Tell the states dependent on federal money that it’s cut off for now.

My goal is to make life so uncomfortable for the people who elect these members of Congress that they make sure to never ever ever re-elect them. It will serve them right. Hopefully, it will also send a message to anyone else considering a run for public office.

The American people are tired of elected officials phoning it in while living quite well on donations from the few wealthy people who want to control politics. We enter the voting booths and we demand to be served!

 

Honestly, I thought Illinois was going to be sane in this insane rush by “concerned citizens”  to petition for secession from the United States of America. Alas, I was wrong. Unfortunately, Illinois wasn’t even one of the last of the 50 states to petition either. Sigh.

Shouldn’t the citizens of Illinois recognize that one thing our state isn’t great at is governing? I mean, we have two former governors in the big house for irregularities. Chicago is the butt of all election jokes with the dead-people-voting schtick. We are at the bottom of the list in offering education to our state’s children. So I don’t know what the qualifications are of these people who are willing to secede to bring upon us a new government.

Hopefully, if this goes forward, we will get a chance to vote on it. By that I mean, only the living Illinois residents will get to vote on it.

Illinois is known for being a Democratic state. This year’s election found 57.3% of the voters casting ballots for President Barack Obama and 41.1% for Mitt Romney. Assuming the secessionists are anything other than Democrats, their petition probably won’t get much juice.

I figure the people behind this are the ones also supporting the people trying to get President Obama impeached for the past two years. Although they don’t seem to have gotten much accomplished standing on the corners of Army Trail and County Farm Roads waving a handwritten sign and a clipboard.

Borrowing the words of Tina Fey, America is no longer being held in the hands of gray-faced men with $2 haircuts. It’s a new world being made up of different voters with different expectations.

We’ll just remain part of the United States of America under President Barack Obama, thank you, supporting women’s rights, marriage equality rights, and responsible taxation of all citizens. Looks like things will be getting better. Enjoy the ride.

Throughout this election season, my Facebook feed has been full of “Christian” people calling the women who get abortions “whores,” people in favor of same-sex marriage “queers,” anyone needing public assistance “thieves,” and anyone who supported President Obama as a “dumbocrat.” How do I know they are Christian? Because they said so repeatedly while spouting hate and lies.

What were the lies? That President Obama was born in Kenya–seriously hasn’t this one been done to death? The man was born in Hawaii. I think the state of Hawaii refuses to answer questions about the birth certificate because it was eating up resources. That he’s a Muslim. Big deal? So what? I don’t think he is, but does the President of the United States have to be Christian? What happened to our country being built on religious freedom?

If it had been one person making a comment, I could have ignored it. But when a single comment garnered many responses, it was frightening. Who are these people who sit in judgment of everyone around them.

Thinking back, I think I’ve known two women who have gotten abortions. Neither used it as birth control. They had an accident and knew they were in no position to care for a child. What if there are women who use abortion as birth control? Isn’t there a more Christian way of helping them? Is calling them “whores” the best you can come up with? Access to birth control could help them. So could some social services to keep them off the streets, out of danger, and healthy? Oh, right. That’s socialism and that’s bad.

I don’t know what gay people have done to these Christian people to make them so hateful. All they want to do is be able to publicly acknowledge their love for another person. Who happens to be of the same sex. Finding someone to love enough to marry is a gift I am certain God never intended only for straight, Christian people.

Calling people on public assistance “thieves” is particularly heinous. Having worked with this population, I can tell you that the people defrauding the system are outnumbered by the people who need it. Like anything, there are people who fudge things and try to get things for free. But you have to worry about the people who really need public assistance. You can judge what they buy with their food stamps. You can judge what they drive. But you will never know the kind of life they led before they needed assistance. Or who they might be helping out by doing their shopping. You have to trust that the people in charge of these programs have standards all applicants need to meet before they get assistance.

I actually think “dumbocrats” is kind of clever and funny. Still, when people have to resort to name-calling to argue their case, it belittles them. Don’t think they limited it to Democrats in general. There were also some names for President Obama. You shouldn’t call another person a disparaging name ever, much less the President of the United States who should be respected.

Unfortunately, these are the kinds of people the Republican party has been catering to. By adopting such polarizing viewpoints and being so vocal with them, they were convinced that more than half the country agreed with them, ensuring a landslide win for Mitt Romney. A lesson to be learned here: just because someone doesn’t respond to your comments doesn’t mean they agree with you. Maybe they realize a commonsense conversation is not going to happen, and they aren’t up to a fight. They chose to speak out in the voting booth instead.

 

 

The last full week before the election, I decided I was going to count the number of emails I got each day asking me for money or support. I started Monday, October 29. By 3pm that afternoon, I was at 47 just for one email address (they come to two for some reason) and, frankly, I was done counting.

It was the same every day. Email after email came, asking me to pitch in $3, $7, and more. Email came from candidates from other states. From the President. From local politicians.

Supporters came to the door repeatedly. I really really need to hang that new “No Solicitors” sign on the door. I thought the Republican visitors were cute for leaving me the literature asking me to vote straight Republican when my lawn was full of Democratic candidate signage.

My mail was full of oversized postcards letting me know about the people running for office. Some of it was very helpful, so I shouldn’t complain about it. But some of it was just inane–like the piece with red type on the outside: “Thanks for your donation to Mitt Romney.” I laughed and expressed embarrassment that someone might think I donated to him. Then I opened the envelope (only because I couldn’t stick the whole thing into the shredder without clogging the shredder again and I didn’t have time for the two-hour surgery required to unclog it) and saw it was actually from someone asking for money for President Obama. The message: not giving Obama a donation was giving one to Mitt Romney. I’m counting that as a fundraising failure. If I hadn’t been worried about my shredder, I would never have opened it.

Robocalls started at 8:15 every morning and continued until almost 9:30 at night. We have caller ID. We know who’s calling and who’s getting their calls answered. Who am I kidding? We never answer the landline. Everyone knows to call our cell phones.

A lot of money was poured into the campaign this year. Imagine if this money was used for actual good; like paying off the national debt that people seem so concerned about or providing healthy food in poor communities. What about Linda McMahon who spent $100 million dollars on two failed bids at a political seat? I can’t even comprehend that amount of money. My family is worried about our grocery bill every week.

I understand that politicians need money to compete in the current political climate. With people like the Koch brothers (I always think of it as “cock”), Karl Rove, and other political interest groups pouring their millions into races, someone without money will lose.

This is why we need some serious political reform in our country. We need to stop this insanity of pouring millions and millions of dollars into politics. There are so many better things to spend your money on.

I don’t have any solutions. I have no ideas. Maybe if we all brainstorm we can come up with something. Because campaigning for the 2014 elections will start soon. I won’t even have time to recover from this one…