Doing It for the Sisterhood

It's been a while since I wrote here. My poor blog looks and feels sadly neglected. Sorry about that, life has been crazy lately and with all that has been going on with the Democratic primary, I have been at a loss for words honestly. That in itself is something of an anomoly for me.
So, if you read my blog, you know that I am NOT a Hillary Clinton fan. As I watched the days drag on, even I dispaired at Obama's inability to put her away. The Clintons, like a cat with 9x9 lives, they always find a way to land on their feet. (I'm desperately hoping that Hillary's next landing space is NOT next to Obama on the Democratic ticket! Don't do it Obama....)

All that said though, even I will admit that I found Hillary's "exit" speech to be powerful and stirring. In my minds eye, I was taken back to the days of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, when a woman was considered chattel - the property of her husband - and didn't even have the right to vote. I listened to Hillary talk about the glass ceilings that have been broken, and I realized that TODAY, I can tell my daughters that truly anything is possible. Where once their best hope was to be a teacher, now my daughters truly can dream as big as their abilities and imaginations will let them.

I was proud, as a woman, of her accomplishment and of her fortitude. How many had called for Hillary to quit? Many really... myself included. Now, looking back, I'm glad she stayed in the race as long as she did. I'm glad that she didn't just quit when the road was long and hard. What kind of message would that have sent to the men in our country?

I listened to Geraldine Ferraro and Gloria Steinem - neither of whom I hold in great regard - talk about the culture of misogyny in our country and I began to wonder if there wasn't something to what they were saying. Sure, some men came out and supported HIllary, but how many "good ole boys" are there still today? How many men out there truly believe that a woman is incapable of being President just because of her sex? A lack of a penis does not indicate lack of intelligence or lack of judgement. In fact, I would suggest that as mothers, WE understand the cost of life. We know what it is to want peace and strive for peace. I think those traits would make for an excellent President.

Yes, Hillary was not my choice for President, but I am grateful to her for lighting the way for all of our daughters - YES IT CAN BE DONE!

Why I'll NEVER Eat Ground Meat Again!

So, I know that on Super Tuesday Two, today's blog content is not my usual fair. The purpose of this blog was never intended to be about political commentary though, but instead about all the things that make me, as an American angry! Today's topic certainly makes me, well angry isn't even the word.

Most of you heard about the beef recall a week or so ago. It was the largest beef recall in history. Most of the beef that may have been tainted - headed for school cafeteria's around the country and into our children. Here's the problem, the issue is what is called "downer" cattle. You may not be familiar with that term. I wasn't until this news story broke. "Downer" cattle is a phrase used to refer to sick and dying cattle that usually can not stand on their own. They are hung in cargo trucks from their necks and transported to slaughter houses around the country. Usually when they arrive, they are covered in their own feces, thereby increases the risks of E.Coli, mad cow disease, and untold amounts of other serious infectious diseases.

The Humane Society released an undercover video, which is just too shocking to show here, but if you are interested in viewing the evil that some men are capable of, you can find it on youtube by searching for "downed" cattle. In this video, workers at the slaughter house were shown using cattle prods on animals that couldn't walk, pulling or dragging the animals with fork lifts and spraying their noses and faces with high pressure water hoses. To what purpose would a human being do this, I ask you?

The only answer that I could come up with is that those individuals who did this are not human, but MONSTERS. Their hearts are so full of greed, corruption and hate, that they have no pity or compassion for a totally helpless animal. I for one will NEVER be party to this again. For health and for moral purposes, I will never eat ground meat, hot dogs, or other byproducts like this ever again.

Do you want your children to be party to cruelty? Do you want your children eating meat from animals that are so unhealthy that they can't stand? Don't want to take my word for it? Investigate it for yourself.

There is a way to be humane - what these animals had to experience wasn't it.

He's a Dreamer.....

As my father and I sat and listened to Barrack Obama speak tonight, my 84 year old father turned to me, and with flat eyes said, "He's a dreamer...." Right away in my mind, I heard the words of one of my favorite songs, you know it, sing along with me..." You may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will live as one." Those are stirring words, and as always, they were stirring words that Barrack Obama spoke to supporters in Houston tonight.

You see, I agree with Obama that change works from the bottom up. I agree that the people are the power behind the change, and I agree that the time for change has come. It is time for our country to once again fulfill it's promise, to all it's citizens. I want to hold my head up high and say that I'm proud to be an American. I'm tired of the status quo in Washington, interest groups mattering more than the will of the people, and most of all, I'm tired of the nuances which divide us.

Red or blue, Republican or Democrat - each one of us is more alike than we are different. We all love our families. We all want our children to lead a better life. We all want security for ourselves and to have our basic needs met. If we work together, we can achieve our dreams. Imagine what that would be like. Imagine the kind of world that we could then pass on to our children.

Yes, Obama is a dreamer, but I say that in order to acheive great things, you have to first dream great things. I like the vision of my country that I see through Obama's eyes. I think it's time for that vision to be more than a dream.

Right now, I know what those in the Clinton camp are saying as their candidate talks to a high school crowd while Obama speaks in front of thousands...." Houston, we have a problem."

My Message on Super Tuesday - YES WE CAN!

As Super Tuesday descends upon us, my heart is filled with hope, for the first time in years - real hope. Today, I believe that the American people can, and more importantly, WILL, send a message to the world. Today, we stand for change. REAL CHANGE. Today, we stand for Hope. Today, we stand for a better future and a better world for our children. Today, as my state casts it's ballots, I'm proud to say that I will tell the world, "YES WE CAN!" What will your vote say?

For a little inspiration as you head out to the polls, I encourage you all to check out my new video bar... It's a new song by the leader of the Black Eyed Peas, and I think it says it all.

What I Learned About Politics from my Third Grader

Many years ago, I excitedly cast my first vote in my Presidential election. . I was in the fourth grade and my school was conduting a straw poll. Now, 26 years later, my daughter is going to cast her first vote - also in a straw poll.
My daughter brought a paper home from school today showing all the candidates and a basic outline on their various positions. As I reviewed it with my daughter, I asked her who she was going to vote for. She told me that she was going to vote for Hillary Clinton, so naturally, my next question was why she chose her candidate? Her answer - "She's a girl and if she wins the election, she will be the first female president>" I explained to her that voting for a candidate simply because they look like you - same race, same gender, etc... - probably isn't the best criteria for choosing a candidate.
"Ok then," she says, " I'll guess I'll vote for John Edwards". This, of course, happened before Edwards had withdrawn from the race. Again, I ask her the reasons behind her choice. "He has a nice smile. He looks like a nice person adn I think that whoever is President should be a nice person." I explain to her that having a nice smile, good hair, and looking like a nice person aren't quite the best factors to be looking for in a candidate either. After all, Jimmy Carter had a megawatt smile and was a very nice person. What did four years of Carter get our country? Inflation through the roof, staglation, the highest unemployment in decades and 52 American hostages who spent over a year in Iranian custody. Thanks but no thanks.
So she asked me what factors she should consider when choosing a candidate. I told her that she should think a candidates views on the issues that were important to her, and then, based on that, decide which she thought would be best for the country. I showed her how to use the internet to look into the Candidates and their positions - where they were similar and more importantly, where they differed. After doing her own investigation, she came to remarkably similiar results to my own- torn between 3 different candidates.
As I talked to my daughter, I was amazed at how many adults never move beyond third grade. Some people really will vote for Hillary or Obama, simply because she is a woman, or he is an African American, he/she looks like me....
Some people really will cast their vote for the candidate with the nicest smile, or the candidate with the "likability" factor. Isn't it strange how little some of us change?

As for me, I was proud to cast my very first vote for Ronald Reagan. He is and will always be, my President. Right or wrong, he made me proud to be an American again, something that I think our whole country so desperately needed after Jimmy Carter. As for my daughter, I'm not sure who her first candidate will be, but after today, I hope she has a better understanding about what to consider and why voting is so important.

The End of the Two Party System?

This election cycle just keeps getting more and more interesting. Both parties seem at war with themselves and appear to be crumbling from within. Personally, I abhor the two party system. It perpetuates the problem in every election year of giving me the choice of voting for dumb or dumber.

I have to say that I was particularly surprised to see how acutely acrimonious this nominating process has been for the Democratic party. I guess I really shouldn't have been though with a Clinton in the race. Talk about dirty politics- we've seen it all - and the majority of the states haven't even had their primaries yet. It started with Hillary getting "teary" and playing the gender card. How many times can she mention she's a woman and making history in one sentence? I've lost count.
Then the democrats moved to quibbling over who did more for the Civil Rights movement in getting legislation passed - Lyndon Johnson or Martin Luther King, Jr? It is almost impossible to believe that this is even a legitmate conversation in the year 2008 - let alone even a question in the mind of any American.
We have had debates on unions ~ should culinary workers be able to vote at their place of work, which just happens to be a casino? Some citizens don't think so, and filed a class action lawsuit to stop the said culinary workers and others from doing so. (Strangely, no law suit was filed when the legislation was passed... only after the culinary workers union endorsed Barack Obama for President...)
Just the other night I watched Barck Obama and Hillary Clinton circle one another like two rabid dogs, both going for the oratory jugular. Can a party this divided against itself survive the primary season? Well... the answer is that it remains to be seen.

While the Republicans aren't as vicious in the personal attacks, they actually have much more to worry about, as far as the survival of their party. The Republican vote seems to be split into fours - McCain, Romney, Huckabee and Guiliani. You have political pundits like Rush Limbaugh on the attack against more moderate candidates like McCain and Huckabee 3 hours a day - 5 days a week. You have Tom Delay, a convicted criminal, claiming that if John McCain, a decorated war hero is nominated then Delay can not, in good conscience support him or the Republican party. I wasn't aware that Delay had a conscience. The rabid right simply refuses to acknowledge the fact that the American people may be ready to embrace a more moderate stance on so many issues that face our country. Apparently Rush Limbaugh and others have all forgotten the most important governing factor in our country:" All legitimate power comes from the consent of the governed."

You see, it is the AMERICAN PEOPLE who have influence, not Rush Limbaugh, not Bill Clinton or any other political pundit. In the end, we will decide what We the People really want for our country. In the end, we the people will decide what type of governing bodies we want and what our political parties will look like. We will determine whether the republican and democrat parties survive this nominating process. (I'm pretty sure that at least the Democrats will - anything but a Republican seems to be their primary mantra...)

This flawed two-party system is further sustained by the winner take all mentality in the majority of the states when alloting delegates for nominating conventions. More on that in my next entry.

Reaching Across the Aisle - Why Rush Limbaugh is Just Flat Out WRONG!

Have you ever had those moments of temporary insanity? Well, I had one yesterday as I was driving in my car and turned on Limbaugh's program. Honestly, I used to be an avid - almost rabid - dittohead; however, as I have grown older, and I hope wiser, things have changed. I no longer view most issues that affect our country in the same immutable terms.

Yesterday was an example of Rush at his most vitriolic. There he was explaining why the "republican base" would never accept a candidate who embraces the "issues of the left". What exactly were those "issues of the left" in the world according to Rush? Well, global climate change, health care and legislation promoting greater fuel economy - to name a few.

Our country is just too polarized for any candidate of any party to speak only their base. Whatever candidate finally is elected in this cycle will need to have a broad appeal in order to start healing our country. We need to come together and decide that we are Americans first and whatever party affiliations any of us may have can only come in a distant second to the love and loyalty that our country should and MUST command.

Rush says that if any Republican candidate works too hard to appeal to the independents or moderates, that they simply will not get the support of the base. The same, in his opinion, can be said of Democrats. I disagree. I believe that whatever the case, both parties will support their candidates and this election will be decided by the chimeras - the undecided voters.

These so-called "liberal issues" of global climate change, health care and greater fuel economy ( and eventually independence from foreign oil) aren't just liberal issues. They are issues that face every single person in this country. Global climate change is happening. Whether mankind is contributing to the change or not is irrelevant. We are stewards - not owners - of this planet. It's up to us to care for it, and all the other creatures that call this planet home. Now, I'm not a tree hugger that embraces irresponsible environmental policies that are detrimental to our country. I am, however, a responsible American who believes that I should leave this world a better place, not the worse for wear.

As for health care, shouldn't the richest country on the Earth have some viable options to provide health care for all it's citizens? I am not suggesting, nor do I advocate a universal health care system. However, I do support making health care affordable for every American, and I think that we can do that, and further, that we should.

As for fuel economy and independence on foreign oil, if any American doesn't understand why this is of vital importance for our national security, then that is just beyond me. A portion of every dollar we spend at the pump, lines our enemies pockets and enables them to challenge us on the world stage. We simply must, for the security of our nation, get to a point where we can finally say, "We don't care if you drink the oil, we don't need it!" That's a dream for a day that this American looks forward to longingly....

So what do you think? Did Rush get it right? Will each party only embrace those that embrace the most rabid in their party? Or do you think that it's time for our country to finally try to come together?