i guess there's no better place to start than with, "i'm exhausted"...
notwithstanding my short blaze on the campaign trail, i can't remember a time in my professional life i've worked harder (so much so that i've recently (and frequently) been accused of being a baller - shocker, i know!). i'm putting in more hours than i even want to count, sleeping very little, traveling a bit too much, and really digging it all. the job's going well and i'm happy with the firm, my position, the level of work i'm doing, and the results i'm seeing. it feels like the right fit on an intellectual level, as well as a personal level, and it's nice to be challenged while knowing that i'm making an impact.
things are going well on the campaign trail too. after much internal wrangling, it seems as if i'm feeling some direction of my own as the campaign delivers its marching orders. i'm a phone girl. as much as that realization blows (because the phone annoys the shit out of me), i do well with persuasion and recruitment calls. and if i can crank out a few hundred calls each week, or recruit the people to crank out the hundreds of calls, i will be making a huge difference in the results of this election. and it's where i'm good. so onward i march into phone banking training and coordinating, for the next 80 days or so.
i spent today facilitating at camp obama (tomorrow too), working with, training, and guiding a new generation of volunteers. it was hell having to be downtown at 7:30 on a saturday morning (after a fairly late - but worth every second and then some - friday night), but it's beyond inspiring to see so many people signing up to get the right guy elected president. and i'm back at it tomorrow...
my personal life, what little time i have for one, is also in a good place. i'm happy and i look and feel good. i'm tired, but i'm taking care of me, and i feel empowered and in control of my destiny. i'm happy. even though i'm tired, i'm really, really happy...
16 August 2008
06 August 2008
iraq has how much of a surplus?
are you f'ing kidding me?
today’s ny times reports that the iraqi government has a surplus of $79 billion dollars, with another $50 billion expected to accumulate by the end of 2008, sitting in the bank, while the us has spent $23.2 billion of our taxpayers’ dollars in iraqi security, oil, electricity, and water since the 2003 invasion. further, $453.6 million is owed iraq by us banks in interest earned on that fat surplus sitting in the reserves. are you fucking kidding me?
look, i don’t need to get started again on my weekly rant about spending us dollars here in the us, as opposed to iraq or wherever else our government sees fit to abuse our money, but this little tiddy just fuels the fire i’ve been raging for months.
i don’t even know what else i can say that hasn’t been said in any number of the 71 blog entries sitting below this one. but i’m flabbergasted beyond what i was this even this morning, before i picked up today’s paper in the st. louis airport. now i’m sitting in a seat, en route to dallas, “on my way” to san francisco, a raging ball of fire. my already boundless fury with the ineptitude of our current administration grows every single day, my ability to comprehend why anyone in this country could even consider voting for another republican jumps by leaps and bounds, and my patience with the douchebag administration, already running on the shortest fuse of my adult life, just shrunk by yet another mile.
how is it even within the realm of possibility that we could allow the iraqi government to squelch american taxpayers’ “generosity” (i use this term very loosely as i have neither voted for nor supported any act related to our iraqi occupation) while squirreling its own billions at the expense of american interest dollars? hasn’t america suffered enough for the greater good of the iraqi people? hasn’t the american economy suffered enough for the loss of jobs, safety, security, infrastructure, and sanity for the sake of iraq’s development?
today’s ny times reports that the iraqi government has a surplus of $79 billion dollars, with another $50 billion expected to accumulate by the end of 2008, sitting in the bank, while the us has spent $23.2 billion of our taxpayers’ dollars in iraqi security, oil, electricity, and water since the 2003 invasion. further, $453.6 million is owed iraq by us banks in interest earned on that fat surplus sitting in the reserves. are you fucking kidding me?
look, i don’t need to get started again on my weekly rant about spending us dollars here in the us, as opposed to iraq or wherever else our government sees fit to abuse our money, but this little tiddy just fuels the fire i’ve been raging for months.
i don’t even know what else i can say that hasn’t been said in any number of the 71 blog entries sitting below this one. but i’m flabbergasted beyond what i was this even this morning, before i picked up today’s paper in the st. louis airport. now i’m sitting in a seat, en route to dallas, “on my way” to san francisco, a raging ball of fire. my already boundless fury with the ineptitude of our current administration grows every single day, my ability to comprehend why anyone in this country could even consider voting for another republican jumps by leaps and bounds, and my patience with the douchebag administration, already running on the shortest fuse of my adult life, just shrunk by yet another mile.
how is it even within the realm of possibility that we could allow the iraqi government to squelch american taxpayers’ “generosity” (i use this term very loosely as i have neither voted for nor supported any act related to our iraqi occupation) while squirreling its own billions at the expense of american interest dollars? hasn’t america suffered enough for the greater good of the iraqi people? hasn’t the american economy suffered enough for the loss of jobs, safety, security, infrastructure, and sanity for the sake of iraq’s development?
05 August 2008
i'll tell you david, where the landslide is...
my response to david brooks' column in today's (or maybe yesterday's) ny times, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/05/opinion/05brooks.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
all this talk about polls this and polls that and the polls say this and why don't the polls say that. the polls said hillary was going to take the crown in iowa's caucus that kicked off the primary season, while obama was a shoe-in for the new hampshire primary a few weeks later. wrong, and wrong again. the polls said obama was closing in pennsylvania, and we lost by double digits, that hillary was going to kill us in indiana, and only won by .6 of a point.
and still, pollsters and the main stream media talk about polls as though they mean something, or anything at all. david brooks today asks why obama isn't killing mccain in the polls and then goes on to answer it (quite thoughtfully and with interesting thoughts on a matter that is as close to meaningless as anything else).
i've never been polled, never received a single call in all my years as a registered voter. i don't even know anyone who's ever been polled. i do know that pollsters don't call cell phones, and i don't know anyone born past 1974 who has anything but a cell phone. so, who exactly is getting polled and what exactly are the pollsters asking when they poll whoever it is they're calling?
my theories are as follows: landlines get the calls, only older and simply old people answer landlines. the questions pollsters ask are phrased in such a way that they get the answers they crave. those craved answers are whatever it is the main stream media needs to hear to keep whatever story it is they wish to keep telling.
in the case at hand, the story they wish to tell is that obama and mccain are in a dead heat. cuz it's a good story that, really, no one can believe. and the reason no one can believe it's true is because there's no way it's true. so david, i'll tell you where the landslide is. it's right under your nose, but you can't see it because you don't want to see it, because to see it would ruin your story and your column and your paper's sales. but regardless of your willingness to see the truth or write the truth, believe me when i write the truth that obama is going to kick mccain's ass this november, regardless of the predictions of your silly little pollster's games.
all this talk about polls this and polls that and the polls say this and why don't the polls say that. the polls said hillary was going to take the crown in iowa's caucus that kicked off the primary season, while obama was a shoe-in for the new hampshire primary a few weeks later. wrong, and wrong again. the polls said obama was closing in pennsylvania, and we lost by double digits, that hillary was going to kill us in indiana, and only won by .6 of a point.
and still, pollsters and the main stream media talk about polls as though they mean something, or anything at all. david brooks today asks why obama isn't killing mccain in the polls and then goes on to answer it (quite thoughtfully and with interesting thoughts on a matter that is as close to meaningless as anything else).
i've never been polled, never received a single call in all my years as a registered voter. i don't even know anyone who's ever been polled. i do know that pollsters don't call cell phones, and i don't know anyone born past 1974 who has anything but a cell phone. so, who exactly is getting polled and what exactly are the pollsters asking when they poll whoever it is they're calling?
my theories are as follows: landlines get the calls, only older and simply old people answer landlines. the questions pollsters ask are phrased in such a way that they get the answers they crave. those craved answers are whatever it is the main stream media needs to hear to keep whatever story it is they wish to keep telling.
in the case at hand, the story they wish to tell is that obama and mccain are in a dead heat. cuz it's a good story that, really, no one can believe. and the reason no one can believe it's true is because there's no way it's true. so david, i'll tell you where the landslide is. it's right under your nose, but you can't see it because you don't want to see it, because to see it would ruin your story and your column and your paper's sales. but regardless of your willingness to see the truth or write the truth, believe me when i write the truth that obama is going to kick mccain's ass this november, regardless of the predictions of your silly little pollster's games.
04 August 2008
but i'm not the only one...
all this thinking time has probably been more than good for me. until this short reprieve from the world of insanity from whence i've longed for rescue, i've been so wrapped up in the simultaneous whirlwinds of starting a new job and starting over within the obama campaign in los angeles (and flailing about trying to figure out where i fit into the grand scheme), that i haven't really been able to give much thought to me, where i am in my personal life, and where i want to be after november 5th.
sadly, the first thing that has to be on my mind is my age. i'm going to be 34 in a few months, i'm as single as a girl can get, and i want to have a family. for a girl with no real romantic prospects, that's a humdinger of a realization (and one that would've sent me to the kleenex box if my tear ducts wouldn't've stopped working of late). add to that tiddy the fact that i'm working 80-100 hours a week, half of that to the day job, the other half to my volunteer efforts, and it starts getting a little bit more than scary that my suitable match may be out there somewhere and i might not even notice him. even more complicated than that is the fact that a suitable match for me is a 1 in a million guy, and i'd rather be alone than settle for #2 or #3...
you see, i don't want to spend my life in a 9-5 corporate gig, working for "the man". i want a life of adventure and extraordinary non-conformism (did i just make up that word?). i want a life partner who wants to _share_ his life with me and be a father to our children. i don't want a burden or a ginormous pain in my ass. i don't want to be with someone who tells me what i want to hear because he thinks i'm the closest thing to the right girl he's ever met. i want to share my life with the guy who madly loves and wants to be married to this flight-fancy writer whose goal as a parent is giving, teaching, and sharing an epic amount of love. i want to raise culturally superior children who speak five languages and always strive to be better people and make the world a better place. i want travel and cultural experiences to be as big a part of my children's lives as it is mine, and i want to write my best sellers sitting in a cabana on the beaches of thailand one year and the south of france the next.
tell me where i can find the guy who wants to share that kind of life...
yeah, in an ideal world where we can all sit around and fantasize about living our dream life, that guy is around every corner. but in my world, where i believe anything we can imagine is possible, because i make the shit i dream happen, it's a different story. i'm a doer, as much as i am a dreamer, i_make_my_dreams_come_true, and i want to share my life with that other rare but enlightened and hard-working soul who does what he says, who is what he says, who does what he dreams. does such a boy exist? and is he out there waiting for me too? i can't possibly be the only dreamer who does, can i?
sadly, the first thing that has to be on my mind is my age. i'm going to be 34 in a few months, i'm as single as a girl can get, and i want to have a family. for a girl with no real romantic prospects, that's a humdinger of a realization (and one that would've sent me to the kleenex box if my tear ducts wouldn't've stopped working of late). add to that tiddy the fact that i'm working 80-100 hours a week, half of that to the day job, the other half to my volunteer efforts, and it starts getting a little bit more than scary that my suitable match may be out there somewhere and i might not even notice him. even more complicated than that is the fact that a suitable match for me is a 1 in a million guy, and i'd rather be alone than settle for #2 or #3...
you see, i don't want to spend my life in a 9-5 corporate gig, working for "the man". i want a life of adventure and extraordinary non-conformism (did i just make up that word?). i want a life partner who wants to _share_ his life with me and be a father to our children. i don't want a burden or a ginormous pain in my ass. i don't want to be with someone who tells me what i want to hear because he thinks i'm the closest thing to the right girl he's ever met. i want to share my life with the guy who madly loves and wants to be married to this flight-fancy writer whose goal as a parent is giving, teaching, and sharing an epic amount of love. i want to raise culturally superior children who speak five languages and always strive to be better people and make the world a better place. i want travel and cultural experiences to be as big a part of my children's lives as it is mine, and i want to write my best sellers sitting in a cabana on the beaches of thailand one year and the south of france the next.
tell me where i can find the guy who wants to share that kind of life...
yeah, in an ideal world where we can all sit around and fantasize about living our dream life, that guy is around every corner. but in my world, where i believe anything we can imagine is possible, because i make the shit i dream happen, it's a different story. i'm a doer, as much as i am a dreamer, i_make_my_dreams_come_true, and i want to share my life with that other rare but enlightened and hard-working soul who does what he says, who is what he says, who does what he dreams. does such a boy exist? and is he out there waiting for me too? i can't possibly be the only dreamer who does, can i?
thicker skin
i used to be the biggest crybaby i knew. i used to burst into tears anytime the going got tough, at home, at work, at play, and everywhere in between. i used to feel guilty when i couldn't help people and when i had to put myself ahead of others. not sure if it's a single bitty or a combination of all the complications that've planted themselves in the path that is my life these past coupla years, but something is keeping my tear ducts dry and my heart pangs dull and distant.
i'm at "home" this weekend, in a sleepy town in the middle of nowhere (seriously, the closest city is well over a hundred miles away), chillin' with my family, catching up with my indiana obama team, swimming my body into soreness in places i didn't know muscles existed, and catching up on a few z's i've deprived myself these past several months on the campaign trail. my first night in town, i went out with a gal who'd once been one of my dearest friends, someone i considered a sister (and still do, deep down where my heart still beats for others). and have since been contemplating the different roads our lives have traveled...
we were both super smart girls in high school, though i pulled off better grades (i had a parent at home whose expectations included honor roll grade cards while neither of her parents ever thought to ask after that progress report or probably even knew what grade she was in). her grandmother (the only person who ever really gave a shit about her) thought i hung the moon, while my mom begged the stars to keep the girl out of my life (i can't really blame her for being a bad influence as i was a willing participant in the obstreperous conduct). but i loved her (i still love her). she was beautiful, funny, and fun, and had a heart as big as anything i'd ever seen. her troubled childhood didn't affect my adoration for her... nor does it now, but today adds an element of perspective i couldn't see then.
i went to college, while she went into labor (a few times). i went to law school and she went to jail. i got a job, she took her place in the social welfare line. so many times, i tried to empower her. i knew she wanted more and better, i tried to get her to believe in herself (i'm a hopeless optimist after all). i tried to get her to go to community college, to just try taking a class or two (she really is as sharp as a tack). she told me, over and over and over, all the things i wanted to hear, about how she was going to start school in the fall, or get this job or that, all the things she needed to say because she believed i wouldn't love her unless she lived up to my success. but she never followed through, and i never stopped believing in her or loving her...
and i never will. but i cannot and will not rescue her. i won't be her savior, not until she's willing to step up the plate, accept responsibility, and make better choices. that's why i told her "no" tonight when she texted me to bail her out of jail tomorrow morning. could i? sure. i could go to the bank, pull $500 out, and bail her out. i could listen to her tell me all the way home that this time she's going to do things differently, this time she's going to regain custody of her scattered children, this time she's going to get a job, start taking classes, and be a grown up. but i know, deep in the parts of my heart that will never stop loving her, that it's all lip service for my sake. that once i step onto that plane bound for the shores of the western sea, she'll forget that moment she wanted to believe in her ability to make great changes in her life, and she'll go right back into her own ways. and i'll be disappointed but not surprised, and i'll still love her as much as i did the very first time she wanted to believe... but not this time.
though i love her as dearly today as i did two decades ago, this time i shed no tears, i feel no guilt, and i say no because for me it's right to walk away from the calamitous woe she invites into her life...
i'm at "home" this weekend, in a sleepy town in the middle of nowhere (seriously, the closest city is well over a hundred miles away), chillin' with my family, catching up with my indiana obama team, swimming my body into soreness in places i didn't know muscles existed, and catching up on a few z's i've deprived myself these past several months on the campaign trail. my first night in town, i went out with a gal who'd once been one of my dearest friends, someone i considered a sister (and still do, deep down where my heart still beats for others). and have since been contemplating the different roads our lives have traveled...
we were both super smart girls in high school, though i pulled off better grades (i had a parent at home whose expectations included honor roll grade cards while neither of her parents ever thought to ask after that progress report or probably even knew what grade she was in). her grandmother (the only person who ever really gave a shit about her) thought i hung the moon, while my mom begged the stars to keep the girl out of my life (i can't really blame her for being a bad influence as i was a willing participant in the obstreperous conduct). but i loved her (i still love her). she was beautiful, funny, and fun, and had a heart as big as anything i'd ever seen. her troubled childhood didn't affect my adoration for her... nor does it now, but today adds an element of perspective i couldn't see then.
i went to college, while she went into labor (a few times). i went to law school and she went to jail. i got a job, she took her place in the social welfare line. so many times, i tried to empower her. i knew she wanted more and better, i tried to get her to believe in herself (i'm a hopeless optimist after all). i tried to get her to go to community college, to just try taking a class or two (she really is as sharp as a tack). she told me, over and over and over, all the things i wanted to hear, about how she was going to start school in the fall, or get this job or that, all the things she needed to say because she believed i wouldn't love her unless she lived up to my success. but she never followed through, and i never stopped believing in her or loving her...
and i never will. but i cannot and will not rescue her. i won't be her savior, not until she's willing to step up the plate, accept responsibility, and make better choices. that's why i told her "no" tonight when she texted me to bail her out of jail tomorrow morning. could i? sure. i could go to the bank, pull $500 out, and bail her out. i could listen to her tell me all the way home that this time she's going to do things differently, this time she's going to regain custody of her scattered children, this time she's going to get a job, start taking classes, and be a grown up. but i know, deep in the parts of my heart that will never stop loving her, that it's all lip service for my sake. that once i step onto that plane bound for the shores of the western sea, she'll forget that moment she wanted to believe in her ability to make great changes in her life, and she'll go right back into her own ways. and i'll be disappointed but not surprised, and i'll still love her as much as i did the very first time she wanted to believe... but not this time.
though i love her as dearly today as i did two decades ago, this time i shed no tears, i feel no guilt, and i say no because for me it's right to walk away from the calamitous woe she invites into her life...
02 August 2008
imagine...
man, if mccain wins this election, i am done with this country. if the enlightened of us have not been able to reach out far and wide enough to open people's fucking eyes enough to see through the bullshit, this can't be my home. we don't have to reach everyone, we just have to be the majority for this country to be worthy of my life and heart.
if the majority of this country says to america and the world, "we are simple-minded people, we make our decisions out of fear, we choose to go with what's old and failing because we're too scared of what _could_ happen if we try something new and different," i'm done with this fucking place.
i am NOT a pussy. i bravely march into the unknown (and shit myself a little on the way, but shhh, don't tell anyone) because i am always seeking something better. the status quo is for pussies, george bush is for pussies, john mccain is for pussies. if this is a nation of pussies, i'm outta here.
i hear the conservative bull-speak, "but what about our taxes? what about destroying everything in the middle east because they're fucked up and want to kill us? what about all those lazy americans who sit around shooting each other or shooting each other up, bringing baby after baby into an unloving world? i don't want my tax dollars going to them. i went to college, i did it on my own, they should too." i hear all that selfish, ignorant, close-minded bullshit flowing from the tongues of conservatives. judgy mcjudger fuck-wits who have no interest in going out of their way to lead the unfortunate out of poverty, enlightening the impoverished with education, giving them the gift of empowerment. they're too worried about losing a couple more grand a year in taxes. i mean, god forbid we liberals get anywhere near the reigns. we might actually make america better by working from the bottom up.
instead, they foolishly support a system they perceive to thrive by furthering the economic divide, furthering the enslavement of the powerless into the clutches of poverty. but it doesn't help anyone but the nation's wealthiest and the upper-end of the middle class digging on status quo. it also helps keep crime rates higher, health costs soaring, and productivity stumbling.
we send our tax dollars to bully other countries while americans lie starving, uneducated, unemployed, and diseased. we've shut down hospitals, eliminated the benefits and educational opportunities of those we send off to fight our wars. we've allowed schools to fall into a caste system set up so only those with high iq's can succeed. people are losing their homes because they've already lost their jobs to cheaper outsourced labor, while the cost of a _finite resource we will run out of_ skyrockets because demand for it has gone through the roof. with each passing year, we let rich white guys continue getting richer and climbing higher atop the backs of their servant class, while they beat us down with wars in furtherance of more gold, both at home and abroad. or they make up stories about america's next great leader (because they know he could be the one with the army to upset the rich man's cart of golden apples) being like paris hilton, so they can keep on a keeping people scared, but without having to sound like racists or bigots. it's fucked up and i don't like it.
i don't want to live in a country i can't be proud of. i want to be able to wave american flags and beam with pride when someone in another country says, "oh, america is so great". that ain't happenin' now. we're a laughingstock. we're bullies, assholes, run by a bunch of _elected_ rich white guys, taking care of their oil buddies (i didn't vote for the king of douchebags either time, but the one time the majority of america did vote for his ass, they knew what a moron he is!). i'm ashamed when i see that _president_ making an ass of himself in front of the entire world. i burn with shame when i see offshore drilling proposed (are people really stupid enough to think that will help or do they really just not care, cuz who cares what happens to the world after they die?), global warming mocked, and unjust wars waged. i don't want to be a part of a country that doesn't see that, that allows itself to be manipulated by fear, and carries on handing over their lives, savings, and homes to the ceo's who earn 250 times more than them.
so i do what i can. i call people, walk their neighborhoods, reach out to the community, to speak the truth, to show them that they don't have to be afraid anymore. because the next generation of power in this country is us, the enlightened, those who want a cleaner, safer, more cooperative world, and who want to work together to make all of these things happen, through outreach and education. that's the "we" in the obama campaign. it's not just him, but all of the soldiers of enlightenment who support not just barack obama, but the better world, with better opportunity he believes we can have, because he knows that when people believe in themselves and realize great power we possess, nothing can stop the spread of enlightment. i believe this too.
but i get why people don't. i see that it seems pretty cheesy, and i get why people think it's nonsensical. but those people also see a half empty glass where mine stands half full, and i'd rather put trust in someone like barack obama, who has achieved greatness by believing in himself and working hard. a guy whose greatest message now is to empower others to do the same. not my words, but just close your eyes and "imagine... nothing to kill or die for". that's the world i want to live in, and i believe it's within our reach if it's within our imagination...
if the majority of this country says to america and the world, "we are simple-minded people, we make our decisions out of fear, we choose to go with what's old and failing because we're too scared of what _could_ happen if we try something new and different," i'm done with this fucking place.
i am NOT a pussy. i bravely march into the unknown (and shit myself a little on the way, but shhh, don't tell anyone) because i am always seeking something better. the status quo is for pussies, george bush is for pussies, john mccain is for pussies. if this is a nation of pussies, i'm outta here.
i hear the conservative bull-speak, "but what about our taxes? what about destroying everything in the middle east because they're fucked up and want to kill us? what about all those lazy americans who sit around shooting each other or shooting each other up, bringing baby after baby into an unloving world? i don't want my tax dollars going to them. i went to college, i did it on my own, they should too." i hear all that selfish, ignorant, close-minded bullshit flowing from the tongues of conservatives. judgy mcjudger fuck-wits who have no interest in going out of their way to lead the unfortunate out of poverty, enlightening the impoverished with education, giving them the gift of empowerment. they're too worried about losing a couple more grand a year in taxes. i mean, god forbid we liberals get anywhere near the reigns. we might actually make america better by working from the bottom up.
instead, they foolishly support a system they perceive to thrive by furthering the economic divide, furthering the enslavement of the powerless into the clutches of poverty. but it doesn't help anyone but the nation's wealthiest and the upper-end of the middle class digging on status quo. it also helps keep crime rates higher, health costs soaring, and productivity stumbling.
we send our tax dollars to bully other countries while americans lie starving, uneducated, unemployed, and diseased. we've shut down hospitals, eliminated the benefits and educational opportunities of those we send off to fight our wars. we've allowed schools to fall into a caste system set up so only those with high iq's can succeed. people are losing their homes because they've already lost their jobs to cheaper outsourced labor, while the cost of a _finite resource we will run out of_ skyrockets because demand for it has gone through the roof. with each passing year, we let rich white guys continue getting richer and climbing higher atop the backs of their servant class, while they beat us down with wars in furtherance of more gold, both at home and abroad. or they make up stories about america's next great leader (because they know he could be the one with the army to upset the rich man's cart of golden apples) being like paris hilton, so they can keep on a keeping people scared, but without having to sound like racists or bigots. it's fucked up and i don't like it.
i don't want to live in a country i can't be proud of. i want to be able to wave american flags and beam with pride when someone in another country says, "oh, america is so great". that ain't happenin' now. we're a laughingstock. we're bullies, assholes, run by a bunch of _elected_ rich white guys, taking care of their oil buddies (i didn't vote for the king of douchebags either time, but the one time the majority of america did vote for his ass, they knew what a moron he is!). i'm ashamed when i see that _president_ making an ass of himself in front of the entire world. i burn with shame when i see offshore drilling proposed (are people really stupid enough to think that will help or do they really just not care, cuz who cares what happens to the world after they die?), global warming mocked, and unjust wars waged. i don't want to be a part of a country that doesn't see that, that allows itself to be manipulated by fear, and carries on handing over their lives, savings, and homes to the ceo's who earn 250 times more than them.
so i do what i can. i call people, walk their neighborhoods, reach out to the community, to speak the truth, to show them that they don't have to be afraid anymore. because the next generation of power in this country is us, the enlightened, those who want a cleaner, safer, more cooperative world, and who want to work together to make all of these things happen, through outreach and education. that's the "we" in the obama campaign. it's not just him, but all of the soldiers of enlightenment who support not just barack obama, but the better world, with better opportunity he believes we can have, because he knows that when people believe in themselves and realize great power we possess, nothing can stop the spread of enlightment. i believe this too.
but i get why people don't. i see that it seems pretty cheesy, and i get why people think it's nonsensical. but those people also see a half empty glass where mine stands half full, and i'd rather put trust in someone like barack obama, who has achieved greatness by believing in himself and working hard. a guy whose greatest message now is to empower others to do the same. not my words, but just close your eyes and "imagine... nothing to kill or die for". that's the world i want to live in, and i believe it's within our reach if it's within our imagination...
26 July 2008
david brooks is a lame old geezer
in his column, "playing innocent abroad", david brooks does what he typically does and missed the boat for the sake of trying to find something cleverly dismissive in obama's berlin speech,
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/opinion/25brooks.html?em&ex=1217217600&en=70e2de9d51522df0&ei=5070
and my letter to david:
"lame, really lame column... i guess it's easy to sit at the front of the crowd, hear the same speech over and over for a year and a half, and forget how much that american pride stirred in you the first time you heard it. or how much it might mean to those hearing it for the first time. to hear an american presidential _candidate_, not an american president, give a speech talking about uniting, as opposed to dividing, is pretty f'ing amazing. and for a foot soldier on the ground, i can tell you that the power of his speeches and the gift of empowerment obama's message gives goes a whole lot further in to downtrodden communities than your baby-boomer naysaying in the new york times. you just sound like a bitter old geezer, with low expectations for a brighter future. so lame..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/opinion/25brooks.html?em&ex=1217217600&en=70e2de9d51522df0&ei=5070
and my letter to david:
"lame, really lame column... i guess it's easy to sit at the front of the crowd, hear the same speech over and over for a year and a half, and forget how much that american pride stirred in you the first time you heard it. or how much it might mean to those hearing it for the first time. to hear an american presidential _candidate_, not an american president, give a speech talking about uniting, as opposed to dividing, is pretty f'ing amazing. and for a foot soldier on the ground, i can tell you that the power of his speeches and the gift of empowerment obama's message gives goes a whole lot further in to downtrodden communities than your baby-boomer naysaying in the new york times. you just sound like a bitter old geezer, with low expectations for a brighter future. so lame..."
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