Rock the Vote (with clubs and brickbat too)

My favorite bulletin board has a board called Intelligent Expression of Clashing Viewpoints. What better place to discuss politics? Well, the 'intelligent' part not so much. I decided to subtly express my opinion (and stir the shit at the same time) so I posted a thread with a poll in it. Text below:

With all the bickering, snide comments, fights, name-calling (and that's just on WN, not to mention the campaigns) - Has anything someone has said here changed your mind about who you'll vote for?

And the choices are:

1. Yes, and thank you for opening my eyes.


2. No, and I never will, why should I, I'm right!!


3. Yes, someone presented excellent, intelligent points that I carefully pondered.


4. No, but 'the other side' has some valid ideas.


5. Yes, I flip-flop all the time about which side I'm on.


6. No, and it's been a tremendous waste of bandwidth to post all the propaganda each side is broadcasting.

So far #6 is the leader at 48%, with #4 a close second. Four percent have voted for some form of 'yes'.

My reasons for posting the poll were two-fold. First, I wanted to point out just how utterly ridiculous all the postings were....Quoting this article or that article, digging for whichever telecast best suited the opinion they wanted to push...The whole thing would be funny, if it weren't for how serious the subject matter is, to the whole world.

Secondly, I wanted people to be able to see in black & white, that with all the hot air, the names being called, the high blood pressure being suffered....They're not changing anyone's mind. It is all preaching to the choir, or talking to a brick wall (depending on the audience).

I had a conversation with my parents last weekend. Mom was telling me about her sister that lives near Seattle. Auntie said to mom (I don't know the context), "Everybody knows that Bush started this war because Saddam Hussein tried to kill his daddy." Mom the Republican said, "Oh M____, you've been around those damned Washington Democrats for too long!"

A little later, my step-dad was saying, "If Kerry gets into office, he'll take all our guns!"

Each of those statements is as ridiculous as the other. IF Bush had actually started a war with Hussein to avenge daddy, he'd likely have waited until his second term...I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to disappoint pops by also being a one-term president.

And as for Kerry taking 'all our guns' - I couldn't help but picture him walking through the neighborhoods, knocking on each door, pushing his way inside and carrying the household's guns to a waiting limo. But seriously. The President doesn't have the power to take the guns. He doesn't have the power to legislate. He would have the power to NOT take the guns, via veto. Truth to tell, Kerry had a much better chance of taking the guns while in the Senate, by voting to outlaw them. 'Take all our guns' indeed.

If anyone truly cared about who is President, I think we'd look at very different things than the ads on TV show. If we care about who they are personally then it seems to me that Kerry went to Viet Nam; Bush didn't. Who is he to criticize? Bush has (or has had) a drinking problem, and I suspect it's really alcoholism in the family, if you look at his girls. Kerry has been divorced, I think. OK, do those two 'personality flaws' balance each other out? Who knows more about how our country is run, a governor of a large state, or a U.S. Senator? Judgment call. I really think we need to see what they stand for professionally, and not personally. Look at Clinton; look at Nixon. I'm sure there were other cheaters and liars, but Nixon dug us out of Viet Nam, and I personally experienced the best economy of my working life while Clinton was in office.

So, where do I stand on all this? Glad you asked! I think I'm a centrist. I lean toward liberalism in things domestic (privacy, civil rights, etc.); I think I lean toward conservatism in foreign policy, if that means I want to take care of Americans before financing the rest of the world.

I've never understood why the Republicans -who want smaller government less centralized government, less regulation, fewer laws - why they suddenly change when it comes to who one sleeps with, or abortion, or gay marriage. It's wrong to have regulations on business, but it's OK to want a federal law against abortion or stem-cell research, or a Constitutional amendment to define marriage as only between a man and a woman. How the hell do they rationalize that? And on top of it, these people who are against abortion not only are generally in favor of capital punishment and war, but they are against Planned Parenthood and sex ed in the schools. Give me a break!

Then there are the Dems, who want 'the government' to pay for every perk in life, forgetting that 'the government' is...US! These programs aren't paid for by just printing more money, they're paid for by me, you, all the working taxpayers. Yes, I think schools need money - but for American students, not illegal aliens, and not to teach Spanish, or to subsidize sports. Yes, I think we need adequate healthcare for our citizens but I think some of that could be funded by the money we throw down the rat-hole in Africa and other third-world nations! Their people benefit little, but their bureaucrats sure have well-lined pockets. I cringe - no, I get damned angry - when I hear about all the billions we are giving Africa for AIDS assistance. The 'moral' restrictions our government puts on the money to begin with cuts down on its effectivness before it even arrives. The culture there won't allow the people to be 'preventive'. The rural nature of some of the continent, the backward nature of the people and how they live, simply is not conducive to AIDS drug therapy. (This assumes any of our aid even trickles down to the people.)

I had a hard enough time dispensing medication with the help of clocks, refrigeration, sanitation, and frequent doctor and hospital visits, not to mention all the self-education I did on the latest information. Do all these people who are sick have Internet access so as to remain current? Libraries? Can they read? Do all these people who are sick even have a watch? Timing, by the hour, by your meals, is so important in drug therapy. Sanitation is critical in food preparation, bathing and laundry, use of IV medication. Does it not make more sense to keep that money here, or in countries where there is scientific progress toward a vaccine? The countries whose people who are least able to prevent or treat AIDS, that are unlikely to be 'cured', are the very countries who's populations could be saved by a vaccine. Use private money, private enterprise, to work on the other very real issues there - to improve the sanitation, the water, the growing and harvesting methods, the education - work toward better treatment toward women to help stop the rapes that perpetuate the illness.

Now that I've gone WAY off-topic, let me work my way back. In the scheme of things, one election, one candidate, one President, really makes very little difference. The President has very little real power. He can appoint Supreme Court justices (who are much more influential than any president, and have MUCH longer terms), but only upon Senate confirmation. The same with federal judges. He can suggest and cajole new legislation, but can't make it happen, and as I said, can only prevent it happening by veto, which Congress can override.

So, why all the fussing and fighting? I think it is people's way of justifying the decisions they make. If their candidate wins then they backed a winner and will make every excuse for him if he is a dud. If their candidate loses, they can spend four to eight years looking for every flaw and shortcoming. People want to be right, not governed well. When it comes down to it, one man is as good (or bad) as the next. Our best bet is to find one that won't embarrass us in front of the rest of the world. Their opinion counts more than ours when it comes to foreign policy; and they can't do a damn thing about our domestic woes.

He's gone on to a better place...

Joy of joys - my first funeral since my DH's over three years ago (one blessing of coming from a smaller family). It's my dad's cousin, Jack. Jack was diagnosed with terminal cancer one week, then he up & dies from a heart attack the next. My kinda guy - don't let's fuck around with chemo and radiation and being in horrific pain for a year, let's get this done now.

As funerals go, it was fine.

The two grown grandsons seemed to be taking it really hard. Scuttlebutt has it that their dad was a drunken bastard and a total waste of air space, and that their grandpa pretty much raised them along with their mom. Said drunken son...got drunk the night before the funeral home calling, so the family historians (aka 'gossips') have a new tale to add to their repertoire.

The daughter was trying to out-widow the widow - all during the calling hours, she never stepped away from the head of the casket; for the funeral she had on a black suit, with a little black hat with black netting pulled down over her face. Now, this doesn't sound too bad until you realize that these are NOT 'hat-wearing' people, and it really DID make her look more like the wife than the daughter (but, I hear she and her dad were 'sickeningly' close - this, from P, who's Christian ways would NEVER let her speak poorly of anyone. Oh PLEASE catch my eyes before they fall out) She did find the disadvantage of being an inexperienced hat-wearer - when people hug you (as they are wont to do at a funeral), your hat will tilt - maybe fall off - so, you essentially lose one hand, as it's now needed for holding onto said hat, and/or adjusting veil after each hug.

Anyway, the service was fine. They played a couple of tear-jerker songs to "soften the heart to prepare it to hear the word of the Lord" (cross my heart, that is what the man said). There was also a sort of free-association play going on with the word 'heart'... You have to put your 'heart and soul' into it....she is 'near to my heart'....let's get to 'the heart of the matter'. Maybe the minister didn't realize he had just died from a heart attack?? It could have just been me, but I found myself wincing each time he said one of these. But, the service was nice, the minister did know Jack, which helps, and no one became melodramatic (although a not-well-liked SIL would NOT quit stage-whispering, and P had to audibly agree with every statement the minister made).

Jack was in the Navy, so there were miltary grave-side services, and that was very nice. (There were some men with guns at my grandfather's funeral, from the State Police, but I don't remember the details - they were there because HE had been with the State Police, he hadn't been the object of a man-hunt.) There was a color guard and 7 armed men from the VFW to do a 21-gun salute, and they had an older naval officer-type and a young (and very hot, btw) basic sailor-type who did a little saluting routine, then folded the flag & gave it to Marilyn - that was nice, it was quiet & dignified, all I could hear when he gave her the flag was "May I present this on behalf of the President of the United States, and a grateful nation", the rest was inaudible from where I stood. (Now, if Jack thought he meant on behalf of THIS president...omg, let's not even go there). This was certainly my 'favorite' part.

This was at the cemetery where my grandmother is. (Also a grandfather I never knew, and various great-aunts, uncles etc.), and where Dad & P will be. Oh, and there are 2 'lots' on the other side of my grandparents, that are for sale. Thank you P & Century 21, for this commercial announcement. (I should add that Jenny will NOT discuss dying, death, funerals, wills, pre-planning, etc.....Honey, it's not just a river in Egypt any longer...) So I think, since I'm alone (and will never amount to anything is somehow the unspoken part of that), I'm supposed to buy these - I am not sure why I need 2, Jenny will go wherever Clint's people go, and if Luke goes out there, it will be over where Lowell's family is (yes, o lord, our families have a town cemetery in common).

The church had a dinner afterward, and that was nice. I got to play with/hold a baby, I was thinking about R the whole time! I like those smart, alert babies, who are generally content, and who watch what's going on around them & react accordingly (as opposed to the noisy nervous ones that cry all the time no matter what). This was 'the doctor's' baby (everyone, and I'm ashamed to say, including Dad, are all very impressed with Mark's son, the doctor.) OH, and excuse me, he's not just a doctor, he's a SURGEON. On top of that, his wife is...well, I heard variously 'Hawaiian', 'Polynesian', and 'from Georgia'. (this cracked me up SOOO bad, I was silently PMSL - as if being from Georgia might explain the slanted eyes...do we hear banjos in the background, people?)

It was just so funny watching these people watch them - admiring the Doctor, and trying to fawn on him, the wife and the baby, while acting like they were just regular white people. And the part that really tells the story is that the wife is so cultured, so gracious, so much classier than these people - that she allows them to feel superior to her, she's just the picture of poise, and appreciation. I know I'm not conveying this well, but it was THE little drama that defined those people for me. Oh, and on top of all that, she's an anesthesiologist, 'almost a doctor' too. But she's staying home with the baby at least until they 'get home' (to Georgia, he's working in Philly for the time being), so at least she does 'subservient female' well. OUCH!! Eye sprain!

I'm sure glad it's Sunday now.