How Did I Become The Conservative In The Room?

Since I live in the heart of liberal Washington, most classes were cancelled so everyone could watch the inauguration. If you didn't get a chance to watch it, I highly recommend you follow this link to watch it at hulu.com. I was on campus at the Center for Education, Equity, and Diversity watching it with quite a few people from the Education department. After President Obama took the Oath of Office, half the people in the room breathed an audible sigh of relief and someone even said "We got our country back." This made me a little angry. We never 'lost' our country. We weren't invaded; our government wasn't overthrown. Yes, we had a government that overstepped its bounds, that pushed, if not exceeded, the limits of their power and mandate, that took a lot of actions with which a lot of people disagreed. It wasn't the place or time, but I was tempted to ask what exactly this person did to express their displeasure with the decision-making over the past 8 years. Did they contact their Congressional representatives? Did they write to the White House to make themselves heard? Did they get involved with movements or organizations to join their voices with others? I am guessing that they, like me, did nothing more than complain to like-minded individuals. I was against going into Iraq from the beginning, but all I did was complain loudly to people who would listen about why I thought it was a bad idea. I didn't write to my Congressional representatives, I didn't get involved with any movements or groups, I just sat around complaining. Which means I am just as culpable for the mess that we are in as those who supported the invasion. We didn't 'lose' our country to some enemy, we sat by and let a few people mold the country to fit their idea of what it should be. We haven't 'got our country back' either. We simply have an opportunity to learn from our mistakes and become actively involved in the shaping of our nation's future. I think that was what President Obama was saying today - we have to work to realize America's potential. We can't afford not to be actively involved in building the future of our nation. We are already paying the price of too many years of inactivity, self-involvement, and insularity. We can't sit back and expect anything to change if we aren't willing to work to make that change. President Obama can't change anything if we aren't willing to make our wishes, our ideas, our opinions known and aren't willing to work hard to make sure the best ideas and plans come to fruition. We have a willing President, now we need to be willing.

Hail To The Chief

I don't know how many of you took the opportunity to listen to President-Elect Obama's acceptance speech tonight. I know several of my regular readers are not fans, but I think his speech, purportedly written by him and not a speech writer, was impressive. He is a charismatic and eloquent speaker and tonight I think he managed to do what he does best, focus on the future and focus on possibility. Regardless of your political leanings or opinions about the man himself, it is awe-inspiring that the United States of America elected an African-American President. If he had been born fifty years earlier he would most likely have been denied the right to vote, but today he is the future President of the United States of America. That is amazing. It renews my faith in the American people. My faith that we can move past the darkest parts of our history, that we can uphold and build on and expand the ideals of equality, justice, and liberty on which our nation is founded, that we can look to the future and build a better future for our nation, our children, and our world. It will take sacrifice and hard work; it might be painful. But it is possible. And so I say, like the crowd in Chicago, "Yes We Can!" 

For Those Few Of You Still Following The Democratic Primaries

 I was going to post this earlier in the week, but I got busy and forgot. This had me laughing out loud when I saw it on Saturday Night Live last weekend. Enjoy!

McCain Can't Be That Bad

He wants Dwight K. Schrute for his running mate.  All he needs to do is get the man a flamethrower.



I want that t-shirt.

In Which I Discuss Something Very Controversial.

A week ago I was reading Eric Snider's post on Mike Huckabee and a couple of commentors mentioned that the only issue they cared about was a candidate's stand on abortion and that they wouldn't support "baby-killers." That made me see red, as there are so many more pressing issues, like the economy, the exploding deficit, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan etc. If the only issue a voter cares about is abortion, what are they willing to compromise on? How good of a president could an individual whose main issue is overturning Roe v. Wade? The issue of abortion has always been a prickly one, as I am morally opposed to abortion, with a few exceptions in the case of rape, incest, or life-threatening complications. But as opposed as I am to it generally, I don't think it should be illegal. I don't think Roe v. Wade should be overturned. That is not to say I think there should be no restrictions or regulations regarding abortion, as it is an extremely serious act and should not be done hastily or without serious consideration. But I'm still adamant that it should be legal.

If abortion were to be made illegal, it would be out of the jurisdiction of the AMA nor would there be any way to ensure any sort of medical or health standard. A recent study suggested that a comparable number of women seek abortions in countries regardless of legality and that, while there are still multiple risks with the procedure, countries in which abortion is legal have lower fatality rates. Additionally, if abortion is made illegal, would those who oppose it so vehemently stop there? Or would contraception be the next target? There is already a glaring double standard regarding health care and sex in the United States. Viagra was almost universally covered by insurance companies when it was released, while some insurance companies still balk at covering prescriptions for birth control. This is particularily egregious when, of the women I know using the birth control pill, only a fraction of them actually use it as a contraceptive. In the cases I know of, it is used to control irregular or painful cycles, migraines, and acne. At what point does it stop being a moral argument and one in which women are allowed to make choices over their own bodies, right or wrong? And what if all the time, effort, and money spent fighting abortion was spent educating? What if, instead of picketing clinics and sending out inflammatory literature and denying funding to organizations that include abortion as an option, an intelligent, calm discussion took place about the costs of abortion? What if women could get real information about the experience, about the physical risks and the psychological impact?

I was still mulling this over when Thursday's Fresh Air on NPR came on. I have to drive a half-hour to the County Courthouse every day for work, so I usually listen to the program while I drive there. Thursday's interview was with Cristian Mungiu, the director of a film from Romania 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days that won the Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year(you can read reviews here and here). The film follows two college roommates in 1980's Romania under the dictator Nicolai Ceausescu as they try to procure an illegal abortion for one the women.

The interview (which I recommend listening to) discuses why Ceausescu declared abortion to be illegal, which had nothing to do with morality. The film is based on some collective experiences the director and writer heard from friends. He relates some of these and some that he heard after the film was released and they are harrowing. Do we really want to create a world where their nightmare becomes our reality?

Should We Really Honor This Man?

I have been sitting on this story for a couple of days, considering if my enraged response was just my left-leaning political bias, but I have decided there is more to it than that and thus, this entry. Vice-President Cheney is to be the keynote speaker at the upcoming Brigham Young University commencement. It is no secret to those who know me that I have no patience for this administration and that I think they have done more to jeopardize the stability and liberty of this country than any administration has done in a very long time. However, this is not my main concern with who my alma mater has chosen. My main concern is that this administration, of which Mr. Cheney is a powerful and active part, has proven through one scandal after another that they operate without regard to the values of honesty, integrity, or even courtesy which BYU endorses. Mr. Cheney's former Chief-of-Staff was just indicted in relation to a scandal in which the identity of a CIA operative was leaked to the press. It is only the very naive or very apolitical who believe that Mr. Cheney had no knowledge of the actions of his Chief-of-Staff. Additionally, Mr. Cheney has, at various times, been on record being rude, using profanity, and generally demeaning people with whom he disagrees. Is this behavior with which Brigham Young University, its representatives, and its students wish to be associated? Even if I agreed with his politics, I would not approve of Mr. Cheney's behavior. One can disagree without being disagreeable. And so I must protest, even if it is in an obscure blog entry, BYU's decision to invite Mr. Cheney to speak at the upcoming commencement.

Hero Worship

I admit that when it comes to people -- especially people in politics -- I am a skeptic, if not a full-blown cynic. I have been burned before by those who showed promise but failed to follow through. I was the ten year-old who begged her parents to let her stay up to hear the 1988 presidential election results and danced in her pajamas in the kitchen when it was announced that George H.W. Bush had won. I don’t remember following the election closely, but I do remember hearing about it from my parents, so I think I was glad that “our” team had won. I did vote for George W. Bush in 2000, a decision that haunts me to this day. So my relationship with people in politics usually involves my being disappointed or becoming disillusioned. Perhaps this is because I expect too much, or see politics as a dirty business in which power more often than not corrupts those who have been given it. Either way, I don’t like to get my hopes up around election times.

Which brings me to Barack Obama. I was very impressed with his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and further articles I read about him did little change my initial impression. I haven’t followed his career in the Senate vote-by-vote, but I have kept track of him and his ideas and views. I liked what I heard. Finally, after seeing him on several shows promoting his book The Audacity of Hope, and with the persistent possibility of his candidacy for president, I decided to pick it up and read it. I wanted to see what he had to say for his time in the Senate and for his hopes for the United States. What I found was a lot of common sense. I find his writing to be very honest and polite. He registers dislike, sometimes hearty dislike, for the current Administration’s policies and for major tenets of the Republican platform without being rude or launching personal attacks against the major players. He is not above complimenting them on doing something right. He admits to problems in the Democratic Party’s platform and policies, as well. I don’t always agree with his prescriptions for issues, but I find his arguments well thought out and logical. And a majority of the time, I do agree with him.

What I like most is his ability to engender hope and possibility. Far too often, from either side of the U.S. political spectrum, we hear gloom and doom, either/or thinking that, for at least the past decade, has not helped this country in the slightest. Regardless of what side of the aisle you are on, what party (if any) you adhere to, or what direction you think the nation should go in, read his book The Audacity of Hope. I don’t care if you end up disliking the man more than when you started the book, but the odds of him being a presidential candidate are high and you, as a citizen, need to know what the candidates are saying. This is what Senator Obama is saying about himself and about where he thinks the country needs to be going. And I like what he is saying.

Lucky Seven

So, Walking Fine Art tagged me and I decided, for once in my life, to participate. So here are 49 things you may or may not know about me:

7 Things I Want to Do Before I Die
1. Travel the world
2. Build my dream house
3. Write a novel and have it published
4. Live in a foreign country
5. Get out of debt – and stay out
6. Be able to write with my left hand as well as I do with my right.
7. Get LASIK surgery

7 Things I Cannot Do
1. Eat anything that came from a cow
2. Handle spiders
3. Visit a Holocaust museum
4. Play an instrument
5. Wear orange
6. Give up dark chocolate
7. Tell my right from my left

7 Things That Attracted Me to George Clooney*
*I know it is supposed to be ‘My Spouse’ but I’m single and George is practically perfect in my book.
1. Um, have you seen him?
2. The mischeivious twinkle in his eyes that never disappears.
3. He spearheaded the Sept. 11th charity telethon and was also active with those put on for the 2005 Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina victims.
4. He refused to let Bill O’Reilly bully him and forced O’Reilly to put his money and his fame where his mouth was.
5. Really, check out Ocean’s 11. Yum.
6. He puts his money where his mouth is and finances/produces/directs etc. projects he believes in.
7. He and his father recently toured the Sudan on a fact-finding trip without Hollywood trappings in order to educate people on the horrors happening there of which America seems largely unaware.

7 Things I Often Say
1. S_______ S______, this is Scully. (Telephone greeting at work, I say it so often, I occasionally slip and say it when I’m at home)
2. That’s just crazy talk. (Usually said in my head in response to someone’s idea/request/demand at work. When I’m in a good mood. What I say when I’m in a bad mood would totally lower your opinion of me)
3. I need a nap.
4. Where’s my Secret Trust Fund!?! (One long-held fantasy, second only to George Clooney, involves some heretofore unknown relative leaving me a magnificently large inheritance)
5. Idiot! (Usually shouted at one of the many wretched drivers on the freeway, any time I see anyone on Fox News, and any time I hear someone from the Bush Administration speak about the war, the environment, the economy, national security, the global community, themselves, etc.)
6. No cheese.
7. What? (Because I have drifted off into FantasyLand and missed whatever just happened)

7 Books I Love
1. A Room With A View by E.M. Forster
2. Persuasion by Jane Austen (Well, pretty much anything by JA, but this is my fave)
3. Possession: A Romance by A.S. Byatt
4. About A Boy by Nick Hornby
5. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
6. Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger
7. The Thursday Next Series by Jasper Fforde

7 Movies I Could Watch Over and Over
1. Charade
2. Rat Race
3. What’s Up Doc
4. Pride & Prejudice (with the caveat that I fast forward through any scene involving Mrs. Bennett.)
5. The Sting (Yummy Paul Newman, plus I always forget who knows what so it is always an adventure)
6. To Catch A Thief
7. Singin’ In The Rain

7 People I Would Like to Hear From
1. Esperanza
2. Miss Parker
3. CherBear
4. Katie
5. SJ
6. Panini (I know you have left the blogging world for a bit, but I’d still like to hear your answers)
7. My Mom (who doesn’t technically have a blog, but I’d still like to see her answers)

Make 'Em Laugh

This week has been a long one. In fact, the last few weeks have been longs ones. Various issues at home and at work have made life overly serious and me overly critical. I’m at the apogee of my job-hate cycle and am completely unsatisfied and completely petulant and sulky. To the point that my co-workers seemed to have noticed. I can’t turn on the television without hearing about some government conspiracy or scandal and the weather is tormenting me by being on the cusp of spring, although I’m sure there will be at least one or two snowstorms between now and May. All in all, not the best of times. So when I got back from the gym last night, I was in a funk. The kind of funk that inspires me to eat seven chocolate covered cookies in a row. So I turned on the television in an attempt to turn off my mind.

Low and behold, I was only one short half hour away from The Office, my new television obsession. I liked the British version, but haven’t been able to religiously watch the American version due to changing time slots that are invariably up against some other obsession. But now it is on Thursdays. It was a Valentine’s Day episode and it was hilarious. My two favorite moments involved the temp tearing out his hair because he had inadvertantly 'hooked up' with a co-worker on February 13th and didn't know how to handle the V-Day situation and the ‘financial presentation’ given by the branch manager to the CFO at corporate that involved a montage of all the branch employees set in slow motion to U2’s With or Without You. I couldn’t stop giggling.

Then I found my way to Comedy Central, which isn’t a channel I usually frequent, except for The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Where else can you find laughs in such things as the Cartoon Riots, the illegal wire-tap hearings, Bush’s budgetary machinations, and the war in Iraq? The most giggle-inducing moment came when The Colbert Report aired a clip of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales saying (and I paraphrase, of course): “Senator, I believe in my opening remarks I discussed President Washington, President Lincoln, President Wilson, and President Roosevelt’s electronic surveillance programs under their administrations.” I have never laughed so hard at the sheer inanity of our government.

So what was shaping up to be a night spent whining that it wasn’t Friday, turned out to be a night of hilarity. Perhaps I was primed, through sheer exhaustion, to find everything funny. But that hour and a half of television strangely made it all bearable.

I'm Too Old For This

Last night I had a breakthrough. I realized I’m too old, too mature, too tired, too something to be really embarrassed. It all began with an unreturned phone call. When I got home from work on Monday, there was a voicemail message from my previously unknown home teacher introducing himself, saying he lived a few floors above my roommate and I, and asking that we call him back to schedule a visit, preferably before Tuesday night. Well, Monday and Tuesday were filled with things to do and crises to deal with and the call never got returned.

Last night I had an appointment to get my car serviced and I decided I should keep my momentum going and headed to the gym. I got back just in time to shower before my favorite guilty pleasure, Supernatural, came on. I attempted to watch the State of the Union address, but the President’s overly-smug attempts at humor and his shifty little eyes made me realize I was making a face similar to Senator Clinton’s and that really isn’t a good thing. So I watched Supernatural with a towel wrapped around my head like a turban, wearing my flannel pajama pants and an old t-shirt. Halfway through the show, there was a knock on the door.

Not thinking, I went, in all my post-shower glory, to answer the door. Well, it was my new home teacher who seemed very uncomfortable for reasons I didn’t grasp at that moment. He stuttered something about catching me at a bad time and made his escape after I told him Sunday afternoons were really the best times to catch my roommate and I. After I shut the door and went back to the television, I realized why he was uncomfortable. I had a good laugh at the vision I must have been with the towel-turban headdress, the cumulus cloud pajama pants and bare feet. I do wonder if he will ever have the courage to approach me again. Which is sad, because he seemed like a nice guy.

So is it Patriotism, Paranoia, or Partisanship?

There is a debate going on in the U.S. Congress about proposed legislation to outlaw the use of torture to gain information. This legislation is vociferously opposed by the Bush administration, despite their equally vociferous protestations that no such methods are authorized in any front of their War on Terrorism. This comes on the heels of the outing by the Washington Post of secret prisons operated by arms of the U.S. government in Eastern Europe. Previously there had been complaints from detainees held at Guantanamo Bay of mistreatment (the most blatant being the authorities' desecration of the Quran) and the Abu Gharib prisoner abuse scandal. Taken separately these issues can be seen as unfortunate discrepancies in the United States’ support of democracy and freedom. Strung together as a working narrative, they illustrate something far more disturbing.

The current Bush administration appears to have little or no concern for basic human rights. They speak of spreading freedom and democracy to the oppressed nations of the world, but their actions undermine every higher aspiration. Yes, I realize that individuals impacted by my examples in the previous paragraph are criminals. They are individuals on the other side on the ideological and geographical battlefield who would do, and have done, the same or worse to citizens of our nation and our supporters in the War on Terrorism. But is that any excuse? Are we content, as a nation, to stoop to those levels? Shouldn’t we, in our Western ideology of human rights, democracy, freedom, and even to some extent Christianity; choose a higher path? Have we so lost our way, become so focused on revenge and retaliation for the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and all that occurred after our invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq that we forget to implement the ideals for which we claim to be fighting? And if we forget them on foreign soil, how long will it be before we forget them on our own?

We already have the Patriot Act, which, among other things, allows for the monitoring of your library activity. Under John Ashcroft we were encouraged to watch our friends and neighbors for suspicious behavior and to report them if we found anything amiss. John Ashcroft's replacement has Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, authored memoranda arguing the pros of torture before being nominated for the position. Members of the Bush administration revealed the identity of a CIA operative in what appeared to be an act of retaliation against her husband’s politics. An individual’s – and her family’s – well-being was put in jeopardy because of the administration displeasure about someone’s opinion about its actions. What happened to the understood guarantee of a United States citizen’s freedom of expression? Perhaps you think I’m paranoid or a conspiracy theorist. I don’t think I am. What I am is worried about how far an administration more concerned with ultimate loyalty to its head (and by head I mean the unholy trinity of Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld), its agenda, and its party will go. When did partisan loyalty (on both sides of the aisle) become more important than what is in the best interest for this nation and the individuals of which it is built?