Happy Election Day

It all started two years ago. Temperatures were below freezing and yet Bridge Man and I trekked our way through thousands of people to see this:

I am proud to be able to tell my great great grandchildren that I was there the very first time Obama announced his candidacy for president. I WAS THERE! Yes, it took my toes over an hour to thaw from standing outside on that February day in Illinois, but it was oh, SO worth it.
And now we have come full circle, dudes and dudettes. It's election day, and guess what I did.

I got a hair cut! Oh, yeah, and I voted. How fabulous is that?

Go out and do your American duties people. Al the cool kids are doing it.

To Vet or Not to Vet

I know, how crappy of me to stay away for so long and show back up out of the blue with nothing but a video. But.... come on, I'm trying. And how fun is a video all political and such. Enjoy.

Curiouser and Couriouser

I must admit I've been sucked into the vortex that is this political campaign, the ever controversial "Race for the White House". Last night I passed up the option of school, you know, that thing that will hopefully make me a living one day, to watch the debate. I missed the first one because of school and couldn't bear the idea of missing all three. Was it worth it? Well, there was much to be desired but I'm glad I trudged through.

As I've stated before I wouldn't have the passion for politics if it weren't for Bridge Man. The boy is passionate about his politics. Check out this letter he e-mailed to senator McCain just this last week.

"John McCain: Your recent attacks toward Barack Obama claiming he "pals around with terrorist" are completely untrue and you know it. Over the last 2 years you have become a George W. Bush and Karl Rove style politician. You are spewing the same kind of garbage that was spewed about you by those two despicable people in the 2000 campaign. I used to have respect for you because you were one of the few politicians who actually treated those with whom you disagreed respectfully. If you weren't such a sellout you could have easily won this election. Because of your dishonorable and unpatriotic behavior reminiscent of Bush and Rove you have lost all of my respect and I find you to be not only a disgraceful senator but a disgraceful human being. Your choice of Sarah Palin is also disgraceful simply for the reason that it is well known your first choice was Joe Leiberman and because the "base" didn't approve of a democrat, God forbid, you went with a choice to please their irrationalizations instead of a choice that was based on the question "who is best for the country?". You have disgraced yourself and become someone other than the person for whom I once had respect. You will lose this election and our country will benefit greatly."

What can I say, when I'm not there to supervise his political intake, he gets mad and foams at the mouth.

I've been trying to think about each candidate with an open mind although sometimes I feel as if my opinion is already made. At our house, we spend a lot of time watching MSNBC, CNN, and on Sunday mornings, Meet the Press. And with my open mind, I can't help but feel that maybe, just maybe (dare I say it?) the news is biased. There are certain stations that are blatantly right wing and some that are blatantly left. And the idea that the news I watch does more than simply inform makes my eye twitch.

I know that I could simply choose to watch a different station but the fact is, no matter how curious I am, there are only a few programs I can stand to watch. So my question to you is, where do you get your news? Do you tend to watch/read news based on your preferred candidate? Maybe I should forgo news, stick to a simple list of the issues, and vote for the candidate I agree with most. Maybe that's the key.

Give Peace A Chance

I've been getting a bit wordy lately and I thought I'd share something I found on another blog that I read in lurkers-ville. I watched it and loved it and immediately thought of you. I thought you might like to hear the irony of something created over three decades ago that still pertains today. Peace.



Feel free to discucss. I love a good conversation.

I read the news today, oh boy.

Since Bridge Man and I moved in together my news intake has greatly increased. Before that I couldn't tell you what the heck was going on in the world. It was not that I disliked the news. It was that it just did not take precedence over my obsessions with Friends and The Real World/Road Rules Challenge. I could tell you about the latest drama between Coral and Mike before I could begin to discuss the mounting issues with the war in Iraq.

As I bow my head in disgust I feel that I must remind you that this neglect of the news, nationally and globally, is all in the past. I now watch the news. So much so that there are some days when I want to beg Bridge Man to turn off the third showing of Meet the Press. There is only so much one woman can take. After all, there are only so many ways one can analyze the same issue.

Obama won the popular vote in State A but Clinton received the most delegates because the super delegates out voted the regular voters.

Clinton is projected to win the popular vote in State B. But you never know what those darned superdelegates are going to do.

This is what I don't get. Who the heck are these superdelegates and why does their vote count more than the votes of the citizens? I understand the idea of the superdelegate; they are current or former elected officeholders and party officials who get the opportunity to put in their thirty cents (You know, inflation) when the race becomes too close to determine a front runner for the party. In the event that Obama wins the popular vote in a state but inevitably loses due to overzealous superdelegates, where is the democracy in that? Why would we want political insiders making such decisions for us? Are they not the guys on the inside? You know the ones that have led this country down the frazzled path we are on.

I repeat: These superdelegates don't HAVE to vote. They vote ONLY in the event that a race is too close to call. So what are they doing finagling with the popular vote? It takes me back to that fateful night in November of 2000, you know the whole Florida thing. It's just too awful to discuss. I shudder at the thought.

I took a class in college, Social Issues. The main goal of the class was to discuss the construction and study of social problems, to understand how and why things are defined and treated as social problems, and to gain the ability to asses the claims made about social problems. This was, hands down, the most interesting class I took during my college career. It was everything people look for in a continuing education course; intellectucal discussions, polar view points, and new ideas that make you say: Ooohhh, I never thought of it like that. Anyway...

In my opinion, this whole superdelegate thing has become what my professor would have categorized as a social issue. People question who these superdelegates are and what their purpose may be. Unfortunately once they receive their highly political explanation they move on and are apathetic to give it a second thought. But no matter what asinine rationalization is given for this matter I NEVER think: Oh, that makes sense. I see what you're saying. The superdelegates are doing a good job. They are not abusing their power at all. Their vote should totally count for more than anyone elses.

And what does this whole thing do for the incentive to vote? I don't want to vote in a political election when there is the possibility that my ballot may not even be considered? Why waste my time? I'm not saying you shouldn't vote. Please do. But the point of an election is to be heard. These superdelegates are snuffing out the voice of the American citizens. It seems to me that this whole issue is just another misapplication of the Consitiution brought to you, America, by the people "we" placed in the White House.

Why in the ...

Disclaimer: For the regular readers of Spotless Mind. The following blog is not from the mind of Xteener. It is from the mind of Bridge Man.

A few days ago I was asked to write a blog for Xteener. I agreed and said I would need to think of something good about which to blog. I guess today is the day and the subject.....politics. However, I almost chose not to write after reading the last few blogs by Xteener. Having been touched, affected, involved (I don't know the appropriate word to describe my place in such an event) by the "life changing event" of which Xteener wrote and obviously being emotionally affected, some political whining by me didn't seem to matter. But, I was wrong; it does matter; it doesn't compare in importance but it does matter.

In a few hours some citizens of Iowa will go to their designated polling place to caucus for the presidential candidate whom they think will best represent the Democratic Party in the run for President of the United States. I'm sure some of you who pay little or no attention to politics could care less about the first primary election or the second or third. I know, it's not very exciting and it's not even the big November election so who cares, right? You don't have to care or pay attention or even give it a second thought but it is fairly important.

Each state chooses when to hold its primary election and Iowa is always first so naturally the candidates spend a lot of time in Iowa prior to the primary elections. When was the last time a candidate visited Alaska or North Dakota? I don't know and you probably don't either because they don't go there because those states don't matter. By the time these primaries are held the candidates are pretty well chosen. If a candidate doesn't win the first 3 or 4 they have no momentum to win in the following states and they drop out. So, basically Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina decide the 2 choices we get (usually they both suck) when electing a president. Why in the F should the choices of Iowans have so much more weight than mine and yours? It shouldn't; not that those citizens are incompetent to make the choice but they don't deserve more influence. My point is this...every primary election in the country should be held on the same day similar to that of the general election. Write your Senators and Representatives; every state should be just as influential as the other.

I hope you enjoyed the blog. Tune in next time for another Xteener blog.
Thank you, Bridge Man.