Obama Wins! Wednesday, Nov 5 2008 

politics Valerie 10:01 am

I stayed up until I could watch President Elect Barack Obama’s speech last night.  I was thrilled, happy, I wanted to call my mom back Florida and scream the good news.  His speech was wonderful, impactful, and most of all hopeful.

You can watch the speech from YouTube below:

I have to say that Biden’s mom is just way too cute.  It made me wish that Obama’s grandmother could have been there to see this moment.

I was blown away by footage of people celebrating in Downtown Seattle.  I hear there were celebrations all over the country and all over the world.  I was moved by the Reverend Jesse Jackson’s tears.  My husband welled up at the realization that the Bush era had finally come to an end, or rather close enough (darn Stephen Colbert for remind us that we still have two more months of Bush in the White House!).

 

Election Anxiety Wednesday, Oct 29 2008 

politics Valerie 1:05 pm

Whether you are rooting for Obama or McCain, we all have to admit to some level of anxiety about this election.  I get a quesy feeling in my stomach every time I think that my candidate may still not win.  I read an article on MSNBC recently where a woman was quoted as saying if her candidate did not win, it would be like “a death.”  My initial reaction was one of shock and then “oh come on!”  Then I started thinking about it more in the last few days, and I think I understand.

That is exactly how I would feel!  I have invested so much of myself into this race emotionally, keeping track of the news online, on radio shows like The Rachel Maddow Show and The Ron Reagan Show on Air America, on TV with the Today Show on NBC, Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN, The Rachel Maddow Show and Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, reading the news online on MSNBC.com, Huffington Post and Newsweek.  I am surrounding and immersing myself in the news right now.  I have had to suspend political conversations with close friends because they disagree with me, just to preserve that friendship!

I am confounded by the other side’s position and the dehuminizing or more like alienating of Obama. I am scared of the schism such tactics are creating in our nation, or perhaps not creating but more truthfully, revealing.

I have to admit to a certain level of anxiety here.  Obama is ahead in polls, but that does not translate to an automatic win.  McCain could still pull this out at the last minute.  If you are in any of the heavily contested states, VOTE!  Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada, all the rest of you get out there and vote for your candidate.  Do not rest on your laurels here.

That there was my way of dealing with my anxiety.  Did it help? A little, but I cannot be calm until I know it is all over.  I pray that there will not be another repeat of the 2000 and 2004 elections, not just because those elections gave us a Republican President but because they ushered in the beginning of a very terrible time in our history.

 

Voter Suppression: The snag pulling at the fabric of democracy Friday, Oct 24 2008 

politics , , Valerie 6:30 pm

I had promised to myself that this blog would never be a political one for several reasons.  One, I do not like how quickly some of those blogs with a political bent quickly degenerate into troll and flame wars in the comments; and two, because I am no expert. I feel that if one is to expound on something as serious as politics one should at least know what he/she is talking about. However, I have been in the last few months absorbed in listening to and reading about politics and the presidential race which has shaped my views and current interests in such a way that to not talk about it in this blog would be to deny myself something important.

Having said that, I want to talk about something I have hearing a great deal of lately in the liberal media shows, like The Rachel Maddow Show, Countdown with Keith Olberman on MSNBC, and The Ron Reagan Show on Air America radio, voter suppression.  I have generally believed, perhaps naively, that Republicans were very much Patriots, lovers of all things American at the top of the list being Democracy, and above all the in love with the Constitution (not to say that I believed Democrats to not also love America, Democracy, the Constitution, or are unpatriotic).

I feel now that I was fooled by the party line.  The RNC’s attempts to suppress minority, poor, or primarily Democratic voting districts is a suppression of democracy.  Is it not the central tenet of democracy especially in the American model that the people have a vote and therefore a voice in the running of government.  By keeping people from voting, no matter their political preference, is wrong.  Voting is the essence of America and American democracy, and by suppressing a person’s right to vote by whatever means, that is the only thing that is “unraveling the very fabric of American democracy,” to paraphrase John McCain’s statements at the third presidential debate regarding [registration] fraud allegedly perpetuated by ACORN.

Registration fraud is indeed a problem, but there is very little evidence that it actually leads to voter fraud.  This is not the big terrible problem the RNC has made it out to be.  It is only an excuse, a distraction in order to continue perpetuating their terrible un-American vote suppression.

I think we can all agree who love democracy that there needs to be an easier way for every US citizen over the age of 18 to cast their vote and through that vote their voice.

 

Why do we enjoy tearing down Sarah Palin? Tuesday, Oct 21 2008 

politics , , , , , Valerie 9:09 am

I was listening to The Rachel Maddow Show on Air America last night on my iPod, and noticed how much Maddow enjoyed talking about Troopergate, the scandal Sarah Palin is involved in in Alaska.  Even after realizing that she talks about this issue too much, she could not help spouting out a few quick updates on the issue.  I realized then that I and many other liberal women in the media or in politics enjoy watching Palin make a fool of herself.

I asked myself why.  My first thought was that as a powerful and influential woman other women feel intimidated and want to bring her down.  After thinking that through, though, I did not find that to be true, at least not in my case and I find it hard to believe in her Maddow’s case.  I came to the conclusion, that as an educated woman with a left of center point of view, I find Palin’s disdain for the educated and the well prepared/informed, the “elite” if you will distasteful.  Distaste, actually, does not begin to describe how that makes me feel.  I feel disgusted and offended by the assertion that because someone is well educated with a healthy intellectual curiousity they are somehow elitist.

I enjoy seeing her make a fool of herself and to ridicule her for it, frankly, because it reinforces an integral belief.  Those who lack intellectual curiousity, who refuse to explore the entirety of an issue or policy including the view points of those who hold an opposite opinion, are not prepared nor should they be allowed to serve the public good.

We are a nation of many colors, creeds, and opinions.  We all hold political views and opinions that do not fall comfortably on the Right or the Left but somewhere in between.  Palin’s and by extension the McCain campaign’s racist and divisive vitriol will not heal this nation.  Palin’s ideas of otherness, of parts of the country who are anti-American is disgusting, and a huge step back in healing the rift that has appeared since George W. Bush assumed the presidency.

Enough is enough; we as women do not want to represented to the world through Sarah Palin as intellectually incurious, a puppet, or as a mouthpiece for racist and divisive rhetoric.  I welcome Tina Fay’s portrayal and Rachel Maddow’s and other media pundits’ continued scrutiny of this person regardless of her gender.

 

Al Smith Dinner Friday, Oct 17 2008 

politics , , , , Valerie 8:58 am

I honestly have never heard of the Al Smith Dinner until last night while watching The Rachel Maddow Show (heart!).  Apparently it is tradition to invite both candidates for the presidency to this charity event with the caveat that the speeches made be funny.  Both candidates had me and my husband rolling in our chairs.  McCain played it straight with deadpan deliveries while Obama was laughed at his own jokes.  McCain was both hilarious and warm, praising Obama’s history making career.  Obama’s moments of seriousness really could not match McCain’s, but then I feel he had less to work with.  Below are clips with (I hope) the entire speech from each candidate in order of appearance.

McCain:

Obama:

 

Presidential Debate: First Impressions Tuesday, Oct 7 2008 

politics , , , Valerie 9:18 pm

Did any of you get a chance to watch the debate?  My husband and I are cracking up trying to figure out the level of condescension McCain was showing when he referred to Obama as “that one.”

I also noticed how he refused to shake hands with Obama at the end when they were both shaking hands with the audience.  Obama was left trying to shake hands with Cindy McCain who had an expression of distaste as she offered her hand.  See the video below for the Obama McCain “handshake.”

I thought Cindy was very cold keeping her hands behind her back while, Michelle Obama was very warm and open, shaking hands and conversing openly with the audience members.

Aside from the impressions regarding demeanor, one thing that terrified me was McCain’s health plan.  Right now my company has introduced an HSA (health savings account?) health plan.  Right now one of the benefits is that it is non-taxable money, a tax shelter if you will, which under McCain’s health plan would now be taxable?  That is absolutely insane!  Obama made a great point when he said that if we allow shopping of health plans across state lines, the insurance companies would just move to states whose laws would not be as stringent as others just like credit card companies have done now moving to Delaware.

Frankly, I cannot understand how taxing my company provided health benefits and forcing me to wait for a $5000 refund from the US government in April is supposed to help me.  A tax refund?! Really?!  The way I understand it, I would not see a dime of that money until I filed my tax returns in April.  What if I make too much money that year or made a mistake on my W4?  That “refund” would go straight to my income taxes instead of my pocket to repay me for the money I ended up spending to buy a lesser value health plan the year before.

Again a reminder, this is not normally a political blog, so I do not welcome debate or flames.  Any such comments will never be seen by anyone other than myself because I moderate my comments.

 

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