Got some good changes,
but they came with some bad ones.
One fight's not over.
As I mentioned in a previous entry, I went ahead and voted for Obama. There might be some of you out there saying, "But you said that you wouldn't!" That's true. I did say that for quite some time, and I absolutely meant it when I said it. As I wrote in the aforementioned previous entry, my disgust at some of the Republican campaign techniques, and the sheer lunacy of having Palin as our Vice President, pushed me over the edge, and I had to give my vote to Obama.
So, the guy I voted for won. He doesn't represent everything that I stand for, but at least he has some good things going for him. More on him later though.
Regarding the other things that were important to me, Gary Eberhart and Sherry Whitmarsh won the Mt. Diablo School Board positions, and April Treece is out (which is exactly what I wanted). This one was an odd situation, as it's no doubt the one that affects me directly the most, but it's one that I was unable to have my vote, since I don't live within the district where I work. I figure that I did my part by blogging about it, letting some people know, and holding up a sign along a busy Concord street.
There are some other issues. I voted yes on the animal treatment one, mainly because I believe that if an animal is treated well, then it will taste better.
Oh, and then there's that Prop 8 thing. While there are some on my side who are still holding out hope while the results come in, it looks like I lost on this one. Two things make me feel better though. One is the knowledge that this isn't over, and it's only a matter of time when there'll be enough support to once again amend the Constitution. The other is that even though I may have acted somewhat immaturely and irresponsibly on the day of the No on 8 Demonstration (which I was suitably chastised for by a commenter on my Blogspot blog), at least I didn't have to resort to telling lies to make my case. In fact, nobody on the No on 8 side had to tell lies. All of the misinformation was coming from the Yes side, so the moral victory is ours.
As for Obama, my prediction is that amongst some right-wing pundits, he will never be able to do anything right - even if he parachutes into Pakistan and single-handidly takes out Osama bin Laden, they'll still find fault in it. Likewise, the true believers will find no fault with him and support every move he makes. I'll probably wind up supporting a lot but opposing other stuff. I'll try to keep and open mind.
The thing is though, I feel good when I hear him speak. While that's a stupid and ignorant reason to vote for a guy, I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't important at all. The President represents my country. I don't want some guy who can barely utter a sentence without a malopropism of some sort. I don't want somebody who doesn't seem to know what the hell the VP's job is. I want somebody who sounds like he's smarter than me.
Roger Ebert recently wrote an article where he said that when you don't bother to speak correctly, you are showing a lack of respect for your audience. That's exactly how I've always felt with Bush. He didn't speak well because he couldn't be bothered to speak well. There was an obvious contempt in his voice, and even when he was speaking decently, he would talk down to us with lines like, "Look, I'm the decider."
Like I already pointed out, it's hardly the most important thing. After all, Hitler was awfully good at making speeches, and from what I understand, he was a bit of an asshole. Still, I will be so bold as to say while it might not be the most important thing, it is an important thing.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
No on 8 Rally
As my Haiku indicated, I stood on a corner with some folks and waved some No on 8 signs. I got rained on, but it wasn't too bad, and it was well worth it. I had made a few signs, but the wet weather kinda ruined them. My personal favorite was, "Is this a free country or what? No on 8!" I actually watched a guy read it while he was stuck at the light. He smiled when he got to the end of it and nodded his head. I don't know if I changed his mind one way or the other, but it was nice to see that there's somebody else who sees it the way that I do.
I had a good time, and I saw some friends there and got to talk to a few people. I didn't ask people if they were gay or not, but one guy mentioned that he was. (I mean, if you can't feel comfortable talking about whether you're gay or not at an anti-8 demonstration, where can you?) He was a cool guy, and when I left I shook his hand and wished him luck, telling him that I knew that he had a lot more riding on this than I did. He was such a cool guy, and I had a lot of fun joking around with him. That's one more reason why I'll be sad if this stupid proposition passes.
On the way there, (I was giving my friend Scott a ride - I wonder how many folks thought we were a couple?) we drove past a lot of "Yes on 8" people. I flipped them off and yelled obscenities. Was that mature? Not really. Will it change any minds? Probably not. Did it make me feel better? Yup.
Before I got ready to leave, the Yes on 8 people started to show up at our intersection. I actually tried to talk to one of them. I expected a high concentration of stupid, but this guy was just unreal. He kept doing this really lame white-boy rap, and when I finally got him to just talk to me as a person, he said that he didn't want to argue. I asked, "Why not?" I then tried to get him to explain his sign. It read "Prop 8 = Free Speech" which is probably the dumbest thing that I've ever read. I can't even begin to understand that. Do we not have free speech now, but we will when 8 passes? Anyway, I tried to get him to explain it, but then he started to do his rap again, and his friends told him to get away from me and not talk to me. Yeah, heaven forbid you might hear something other than ridiculous pro-8 propaganda.
Oh, there was also some fella who dropped a bunch of videos about the "gay agenda" on the lawn behind us and told us (quite ironically) that "knowledge is power". While part of me wanted to check it out, for a Triumph of the Will sort of curiosity about it, I just proceeded to toss them all in the trash.
Oh, and they were VHS. What the hell? I mean, I wasn't expecting Blu-Ray, but come on - who the hell watches VHS anymore? Just goes to show that they're living in the past.
I had a good time, and I saw some friends there and got to talk to a few people. I didn't ask people if they were gay or not, but one guy mentioned that he was. (I mean, if you can't feel comfortable talking about whether you're gay or not at an anti-8 demonstration, where can you?) He was a cool guy, and when I left I shook his hand and wished him luck, telling him that I knew that he had a lot more riding on this than I did. He was such a cool guy, and I had a lot of fun joking around with him. That's one more reason why I'll be sad if this stupid proposition passes.
On the way there, (I was giving my friend Scott a ride - I wonder how many folks thought we were a couple?) we drove past a lot of "Yes on 8" people. I flipped them off and yelled obscenities. Was that mature? Not really. Will it change any minds? Probably not. Did it make me feel better? Yup.
Before I got ready to leave, the Yes on 8 people started to show up at our intersection. I actually tried to talk to one of them. I expected a high concentration of stupid, but this guy was just unreal. He kept doing this really lame white-boy rap, and when I finally got him to just talk to me as a person, he said that he didn't want to argue. I asked, "Why not?" I then tried to get him to explain his sign. It read "Prop 8 = Free Speech" which is probably the dumbest thing that I've ever read. I can't even begin to understand that. Do we not have free speech now, but we will when 8 passes? Anyway, I tried to get him to explain it, but then he started to do his rap again, and his friends told him to get away from me and not talk to me. Yeah, heaven forbid you might hear something other than ridiculous pro-8 propaganda.
Oh, there was also some fella who dropped a bunch of videos about the "gay agenda" on the lawn behind us and told us (quite ironically) that "knowledge is power". While part of me wanted to check it out, for a Triumph of the Will sort of curiosity about it, I just proceeded to toss them all in the trash.
Oh, and they were VHS. What the hell? I mean, I wasn't expecting Blu-Ray, but come on - who the hell watches VHS anymore? Just goes to show that they're living in the past.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Sarah Palin has inspired me
Well, if you read my last Haiku, you know how I'm going going to be voting on Tuesday. I realize that there will be a lot of you out there who will be pleased to hear that I'm voting for Obama. There are a few of you who will be disappointed. Still, I've been on the fence for a while now, and something has finally pushed me over the edge to vote for Obama.
Sarah Palin - she's the reason. For the love of all that's good in this world, we can not have this woman a heartbeat away from being the President. The thing is, all of the criticism from the left about why McCain picked her is correct - it was a cynical ploy to win over the Hillary supporters. Of course, every woman with a brain who originally wanted Hillary realized that Palin was a poor substitute. Of course, there are some women out there without brains who are now voting for McCain/Palin, but what can you do? (And for the record, I voted for Obama in the primary because I can't stand Hillary Clinton. However, I think that even if she won the Democratic nomination, I'd still be choosing her as the lesser of two evils. I may think that she's a pandering centrist in liberal clothing, but at least she's not the one thing that Sarah Palin is - an idiot.)
I was concerned when I heard her response to the question about teaching creationism in science classes. I got more concerned when I heard that she believes that dinosaurs lived at the same time as human beings. These feelings grew when she was unable to name a Supreme Court decision other than Roe versus Wade. My fear began to grow to mild terror when she said that we don't need to know the cause of global warming in order to fix it. It went from mild to severe terror when she said that the job of the Vice President was to "be in charge of the Senate". It ramped up a few notches when she was dismissive of fruit fly studies (which can lead to not only preventing infestations but to genetic research that can have practical medical benefits for humanity). Finally, her quote regarding the First Amendment, where she doesn't even seem to understand what it is, has pushed me over the edge.
We can not let this woman be this close to the highest office in the land. All of that alone should be enough, but on top of it you have her politics of division (comments about "real America") and her tactics of fear ("palling around with terrorists") to make her the prime example of everything that a President should not be - divisive and stupid.
She also says "maverick" too much.
Anyway, does Obama represent everything that I want in a President? No, of course not. Is he going to fix all of our problems? Nope. Does he frighten me? Nope. Do I like at least some of the things he says? Yeah. In fact, I like quite a lot of what he says. I like the fact that he's willing to talk to us like we're adults, along with his willingness to give thoughtful, nuanced answers. In other words, I can live with him as our President.
If McCain/Palin wins, I think I just might cry. I'm not even kidding.
Sarah Palin - she's the reason. For the love of all that's good in this world, we can not have this woman a heartbeat away from being the President. The thing is, all of the criticism from the left about why McCain picked her is correct - it was a cynical ploy to win over the Hillary supporters. Of course, every woman with a brain who originally wanted Hillary realized that Palin was a poor substitute. Of course, there are some women out there without brains who are now voting for McCain/Palin, but what can you do? (And for the record, I voted for Obama in the primary because I can't stand Hillary Clinton. However, I think that even if she won the Democratic nomination, I'd still be choosing her as the lesser of two evils. I may think that she's a pandering centrist in liberal clothing, but at least she's not the one thing that Sarah Palin is - an idiot.)
I was concerned when I heard her response to the question about teaching creationism in science classes. I got more concerned when I heard that she believes that dinosaurs lived at the same time as human beings. These feelings grew when she was unable to name a Supreme Court decision other than Roe versus Wade. My fear began to grow to mild terror when she said that we don't need to know the cause of global warming in order to fix it. It went from mild to severe terror when she said that the job of the Vice President was to "be in charge of the Senate". It ramped up a few notches when she was dismissive of fruit fly studies (which can lead to not only preventing infestations but to genetic research that can have practical medical benefits for humanity). Finally, her quote regarding the First Amendment, where she doesn't even seem to understand what it is, has pushed me over the edge.
We can not let this woman be this close to the highest office in the land. All of that alone should be enough, but on top of it you have her politics of division (comments about "real America") and her tactics of fear ("palling around with terrorists") to make her the prime example of everything that a President should not be - divisive and stupid.
She also says "maverick" too much.
Anyway, does Obama represent everything that I want in a President? No, of course not. Is he going to fix all of our problems? Nope. Does he frighten me? Nope. Do I like at least some of the things he says? Yeah. In fact, I like quite a lot of what he says. I like the fact that he's willing to talk to us like we're adults, along with his willingness to give thoughtful, nuanced answers. In other words, I can live with him as our President.
If McCain/Palin wins, I think I just might cry. I'm not even kidding.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Victory Haiku
Before I begin with the first Haiku, I'd like to point something out. Scott, over on his blog, declared victory for Blog a Day month, pointing out (correctly) that the winner of Blog a Day month was whoever declared victory first.
I don't want him to beat me to the punch this month, so I am declaring victory for Haiku a Day month right now. That's right. The first day. So here it is, Victory Haiku:
Suck on it, bastards!
I am the King of Haiku
Five, seven, five, bitch!
I don't want him to beat me to the punch this month, so I am declaring victory for Haiku a Day month right now. That's right. The first day. So here it is, Victory Haiku:
Suck on it, bastards!
I am the King of Haiku
Five, seven, five, bitch!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)