So Very, Very Tired

It's been a while since I've delved into the political arena here. To be honest, the topic just seems to get stupider, (yes, I know but how else can I truly convey my feeling on the subject by using a real word.) I'm so sick of anti Obama this and anti McCain that. For cryin' out loud, neither has even been nominated yet.

I've never met either man, don't plan to. I am one of the huge majority who will have to make my decision this fall based on media fall out. As sad as this may sound, the more I read, the less I like either of them. To be honest, I'm tired. So very tired. What is sad is that by November, Americans will be raw with the pummeling they have taken over the last year and a half and won't be able work their new-fangled voting machines due to lack of intelligent debate. Seriously, can we as citizens boycott an election due to insufficient candidates? Could we somehow refuse to elect a new president until we find someone who the majority of us actually want to be president?

I sit here at my desk, shaking my weary head and ask myself; "why must I choose between 'not sure' and 'hell no'?" This is America, the best of the best ought to be clamoring at the door of the White House begging for an opportunity to do good. Not for themselves but for us all. I should be able to look at the group of men and women and say, "wow, it's so hard to choose just one."

Politics Alert!

Tomorrow is the Caucus/Mass meeting day! Check your county website to find out your precinct number and meeting location. We need knowledgeable, aware people to run for delegate positions. This is the grass roots, rubber-meets-the-road part of politics. The folks that get elected tomorrow will shape elections for the next two years. Be active, be involved!

The State of the Union!

All I can say is I wish he'd given this speech three years ago.

Pre-Ramble

When, in the course of election events, it becomes too evident that the candidates running for office are narcissistic and characteristically elusive it becomes the duty of the American people to search out for themselves the true leader for America! Leave not the selection of our president to the media and pundits, educate yourselves! Feast not upon the word of FOX News nor the report of The Wall Street Journal. You must seek for yourselves, in the far corners of the world, the true identity and intentions of those who would seek your vote. Be it known citizens, you have a difficult task. One that will require the best you have to give. Fear not, this mission is within your power and ability. We are looking to you to save the world!

Mr. Romney Take Note

Hey, for your next debate try saying this:

"I'm not the least bit ashamed of my faith, I'm certainly going to practice it unashamedly whether I'm a president or not a president."

oh, whoops, someone already did. This is just begging for a comment about intolerance but I won't go there.

The sad thing about the republican nominees is that they are so busy smacking each other on the back of their heads they don't realize that they are irritating their potential voters. Listening to the republican debates is like listening to my children argue. I spend all day refereeing squabbles, I don't want to turn on a debate and listen to another one. One sure way to lose an election; make your opponent look more mature than you.

New Party

I am now declaring my new political affiliation: Republicrat

My perfect candidate: 1/2 Barack Obama, 1/4 Mitt Romney, 1/8 John McCain and 1/8 John Edwards. Now that's one hell of a president!

Yeah Baby

Woo Hoo! Way to go Barack Obama, laying the smack down on Hillary Clinton!! Love that man.

Learning alot

I have to admit, since Mitt Romney has begun running for President, I've learned a lot about what other faiths think about Mormonism. I am surprised by how strongly some people feel against what I believe. I've always known that some find Mormonism questionable but I didn't realize that so many people truly feel that I and others of my faith are going to hell. After Mr. Odonnell's little outburst the other day I've been very uncomfortable with how my faith is perceived. I've thought quite a bit about how I feel living a religion that is considered evil and really, hated by many. First of all, I don't like anyone to have negative feelings about me. I want to be liked by everyone. Watching Lawrence Odonnell refer so heatedly to Mormonism as a racist, sexist, evil faith I really felt, for the first time in my life, personally hated. It's a very uncomfortable feeling.

However, as I cleaned my kitchen yesterday and worked on various projects I had some interesting thoughts.

I know all too well the blessings of God in my life and to deny that relationship would be wrong. I know that my relationship with God is what it is because of the doctrine of the LDS church. I'm grateful for the belief that I am a daughter of God and that I can return to live with Him someday. And even more so, I'm grateful for the knowledge that I can live with my children and my husband after this life is over, that those relationships continue even after death. I don't fault others for believing differently. I have no quarrel with those devout followers of other faiths or those who choose no faith at all. I can't make what I believe okay for anyone else but I sincerely hope that if nothing else, the people who live in this country can learn to respect each other for devotion to good things.

Liked the speech

I read the transcript of Mitt's speech and found it very well done. It caused me to want to be more aware of others.

Mitt Romney:

"Today's generations of Americans have always known religious liberty. Perhaps we forget the long and arduous path our nation's forebears took to achieve it. They came here from England to seek freedom of religion. But upon finding it for themselves, they at first denied it to others. Because of their diverse beliefs, Ann Hutchinson was exiled from Massachusetts Bay, Roger Williams founded Rhode Island, and two centuries later, Brigham Young set out for the West. Americans were unable to accommodate their commitment to their own faith with an appreciation for the convictions of others to different faiths. In this, they were very much like those of the European nations they had left."

Tolerance?

Okay, Mitt Romney will give his big speech tomorrow which I'm sure will be met with mixed reviews. Do I think that he will be able to assuage people's fears of a Mormon president, no. (For the record, I'm an Obama girl.)
I think it's funny that so many people think they are well informed about Mormons. There is more to the religion than the Osmonds and Steve Young. Yeah, I know that there are huge differences in the ideology of the LDS church and other Christian sects but that's Okay. We're not murdering people, we're not enslaving people heck, we're not even supposed to swear at people. We believe in basic human rights and moral government. In fact, we believe in being subject to government. How scary can we really be?

Folks, religious intolerance is alive and well and unfortunately, this applies to some Mormons as well.

Frustrating.

Economic downturn

Is anyone else feeling a little fear about our economy? I think I've read five articles in the last few weeks about what may or may not lie ahead. Seems like America's credit habit has us headed for rehab.

Election day!!

I love election day! I believe Americans act more like Americans today than on the Fourth of July. Happy voting!

No Vouchers

Anyone living in Utah, please vote no on Referendum 1. I know there has been a big push by a major machine in the voucher war but this is really not a good idea. I'll write what I tell everyone, it's not that I'm against the idea of a voucher but this program is full of flaws and questions. Yes, we need to change the educational system in our state but adding a third tier to an already thin system is not a good answer. For unbiased, third party research on the subject go to uepc.ed.utah.edu. It's a great source of emotion free knowledge.

Don't forget to vote!!

What's in a Name?

If your town is anything like mine you have a bumper crop of political signs on each street corner. To be honest, one seems the same as any other and since I am not motivated by the sign to vote for the candidate, I pretty much dismiss them all. However,I thought this candidate made the most of it:

"Michael Whimpey: A Strong Voice for Our Community."


Go Whimpey!!

Save Darfur

I just finished watching the trailer for "Darfur Now", a docudrama coming out next month. While I realize that this is an emotionally charged snippet I can't help but ask myself why are we fighting a questionable war in a country that hates us when we could be fighting to save lives in a country that needs us?

How did politics get in the way of people helping other people? Really, isn't that what it comes down to? It's not the US conquering/saving Iraq/Sudan it should be the people on this continent with so much to give helping people on another continent with so little to hope for.

Yes, I'm an idealistic optimist. Someone's gotta be.

So Mature

I found a good one today! It's an article from MSNBC written by Alex Johnson about the growing push to lower the legal drinking age. Apparently the National Youth's Rights association is backing a drive to put lowering the drinking age (to 18) front and center in the political arena. I don't even know where to begin with this. First, who are the National Youth's Rights Association? Are they seventeen year old high school students with a lot of mojo? Seriously, if they are, I'm impressed with the diligent hard work on getting such an important topic so widely noticed. That takes commitment! My question would be why would such obviously talented youths feel that this topic is a worthy cause? Seriously, if you can get something like this noticed, think about what you could do for poverty in America. Teaching inner city kids about why they shouldn't drink and do drugs. Heck, teaching suburban kids about why they shouldn't drink or do drugs. The list of alternate topics, better topics is endless:

Teen pregnancy awareness
Aids/STD prevention
College admittance
Tutoring
Adopt a country
Violence in Darfur
Violence in America
Why to stay out of gangs
Community involvement

Need I say more?


Yes! I know I'm ranting here but it's really kind of fun on such a no brainer. I'm not even getting into the issues about safety and addiction, that's a whole other post! C'mon parents, what are we teaching our kids? That it's ok to drink as long as you do it in the open? Folks, there was just a big push to raise the driving age because we don't think teenage drivers are ready to be behind the wheel alone so early! Let's make up our minds, do we think they're ready or not?
And to those who say "well they can vote and they can fight for our country" I say raise the voting a draft ages.

One Sided

I've been reading about the letters being exchanged between Senator Clinton's office and the Pentagon recently. The latest is a letter from Def. Sec. Gates trying to convince Sen. Clinton that his undersecretary Eric Edelman didn't mean to impugn her patriotic honor.

In Mr. Edelman's letter (his response to her suggestion for congressional oversight of the pentagon's war policies) he scolded Sen. Clinton saying "that public discussion of withdrawal 'reinforces enemy propaganda that the U.S. will abandon its allies in Iraq' and exacerbates sectarian tensions there." (MSNBC, July 26) (I happen to agree with Mr. Edelman) Unfortunately the partisan monster has reared it's ugly head and now we are having a debate between a woman who got her had slapped and is miffed and a guy who got a little hot under the collar and fired a round into the air to prove his strength. What we have is a classic case of two children fighting over who's fault it was. If I were Secretary Gates, I'd have just put them both in time out.

Presidential Justice

Once again, I was reading MSNBC and the article about the new Supreme Court Justices and their role on the court really stood out to me. I'm sure in what was meant to be a concession to President Bush, the author makes the comments that Justice Alito and Chief Justice Roberts have ".....rejoined the Reagan judicial philosophy."
While I am a moderate conservative and am grateful that the court "swings that way" I can't help but be concerned by the fact that the highest court in our land follows any one presidents philosophy. Why do we have to categorize such things? Why can't we look at one branch and say, they act in a conservative manner or they follow a conservative rule of law. Why does everything have to be partisan? Wasn't it the point of the organization of our government for each branch to check and balance the others? I'm sick of the "Republicans did this or the Democrats did that" tantrum. It's time to stop being so concerned with who holds the power and use the power (whomever holds it) for the benefit of this country and the world.