9 posts tagged “politics”
I have this one class that is officially an honors social studies/history class, but is actually focused on the portrayal of family in the media and how that affects society. Today in this class we were having a heated-but-civil conversation that kind of meandered around a lot, but two things jumped out at me from that discussion: 1) The fact that it seems like nobody can just agree to disagree anymore, and 2) the way the reality-TV trend is making people think that success is just a shenanigan away.
One of the big topics that came up during the discussion of #1 was the recent uproar about President Obama's address to schoolchildren. Everyone in the class seemed pretty much in agreement that it was stupid for people to object to this; after all, there was nothing political about the speech itself. He was simply encouraging kids to stay in school and do their best. Hardly anything new, and certainly not controversial. (I could start a whole new line of questioning as to why it is that people are so viciously opposed to Obama when we've clearly had Democratic presidents in the past whose policies were similar and yet were received more easily, but that's not the point of this entry.)
So just now, I was reading the transcript of that speech, because I was curious and couldn't seem to find an actual video of it. It was a good speech; maybe a little corny for older students, but it go the point across. What I found funny was this line:
"I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things. "
Because, y'know, that was just what we were talking about today.
SEE, GUYS? EVEN THE PRESIDENT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT SUCCESS TAKES WORK.
Possible written responses to the SUV driver who first flipped us off for no apparent reason, then when we passed him half an hour later, held a written sign up to his window that said "OBAMA SUCKS":
"Too bad."
"Did you vote or are you just whining?"
"Have a nice day!"
"You're stuck with him."
"Anger issues much?"
"Get a life."
"Hot today, isn't it?"
"Vacuum cleaners suck; presidents rule."
"Care to elaborate?"
"So does your mother."
"He's your president too."
"JELLYBEANS!"
"Gas guzzler."
"I'm sorry you feel that way."
"God bless you."
"Go back to Alaska."
"Anyone tell you your headlight is out?"
"So does that hand signal mean left or right?"
"Jesus does not approve of your asshattery."
"Is he a black hole?"
"EPIC FAIL."
"Can't hear you, I'm busy spending my bailout check."
Needless to say, none of these were actually used, for fear that this strangely angry man might ram us off the road, but Mom and I discussed them all the way home.
One of my Facebook friends posted a link to this article. I had to read it several times. My commentary is in brackets.
Contact: Robert Peters, President, Morality in Media, [Thank you, sir; you have once again given fellow Christians a bad name.]
NEW YORK, April 9 /Christian Newswire/ -- On April 4 the NY Times ran adjacent front-page articles on the Iowa Supreme Court decision legalizing 'gay marriage' and the gunman who murdered 13 people in New York. That day the Times also ran an op ed article by Charles M. Blow who expressed concern about the negative impact that conservative media's "talk of revolution" could have on "weak minds." [What's wrong with talk of revolution? I like the idea of a revolution, personally. Bring it on.]
Commenting on this is Morality in Media President Bob Peters:
"Having lived in New York City for more than 30 years, I am all too aware of the harm that firearms in the hands of criminals can cause. Having grown up in a small town in Illinois, where citizens owned guns without misusing them[I highly doubt that everyone did], I am also aware that guns aren't the underlying problem. I am not an opponent of gun regulation; I am an opponent of making guns the scapegoat for mass murder. [Why does everyone think we have to blame crime on either people themselves or regular access to weapons? You kind of have to have both to make crime easy.]"The underlying problem is that increasingly we live in a 'post-Christian' society, where Judeo-Christian faith and values have less and less influence. Among other things, Judaism and Christianity taught that murder was wrong and that included murder motivated by anger, hatred and revenge. Both religions also taught that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves and to forgive others. [Hmm, that's interesting; this part tends to be conveniently ignored when it comes to treatment of "sinful" people. I don't see much love in GodHatesFags.com, do you?]
"For many citizens, what has replaced Judeo-Christian faith and values is the secular value system that is reflected in films, rap/music lyrics, and videogames and on TV and now the Internet, where the taking of human life for just about any reason is commonplace and is often portrayed in an appealing manner and in realistic detail [So, are you suggesting that no person who goes to church and believes in God ever watches action movies, listens to music or plays Grand Theft Auto? What rock have you been living under?]. Murder motivated by hatred and revenge is also justified. [Okay, yes, we get it. Murder is bad. Doesn't change the fact that Boondock Saints is an awesome movie.]"This secular value system is also reflected in the 'sexual revolution,' which is the driving force behind the push for 'gay marriage;' and the Iowa Supreme Court decision is another indication that despite all the damage this revolution has caused to children, adults, family life and society (think abortion, divorce, pornography, rape, sexual abuse of children, sexually transmitted diseases, trafficking in women and children, unwed teen mothers and more), it continues to advance relentlessly. [Um, pardon me, but none of these things are new. Most of them have been happening for centuries, and therefore have nothing to do with the "sexual revolution". Also, I wouldn't call gay-marriage rights in three states out of 50 "advancing relentlessly".]
"It most certainly is not my intention to blame the epidemic of mass murders on the gay rights movement! [You might want to change the title of your article, then. Just a thought.] It is my intention to point out that the success of the sexual revolution is inversely proportional to the decline in morality; and it is the decline of morality (and the faith that so often under girds it) that is the underlying cause of our modern day epidemic of mass murders. [Once again, I wouldn't call mass murder a "modern epidemic". Ever heard of the Crusades?]
"I would add that if conservative media's irresponsible talk of revolution can 'poison weak minds,' the liberal entertainment media's irresponsible portrayal of mayhem can also poison weak minds." [Technically, any kind of biased media can "poison weak minds"; that is why we need to THINK FOR OURSELVES and not parrot back what the media wants us to believe. Also, what irresponsible portrayal of mayhem are we talking about here? That's a very vague term.]
It's past the point where this article makes me angry; now I'm just laughing at it, because this guy really seems to be grasping at straws to make a case and isn't very coherent with his general argument. i just love taking these things apart.
I just saw an article on AOL News talking about how some people are getting very upset that Obama gave shout-outs to non-Christians in his inauguration speech. (I didn't scroll down to read the entertaining comments like I usually do, because I knew they were just going to piss me off.)
While I can understand why some Christians might be slightly unsettled by this, since traditionally it is assumed that the U.S. is a Christian nation (which, funnily enough, kind of fights with the notion of the separation of church and state, but I'm not going to get into that), it bothers me that people are getting so up in arms about it.
Maybe the U.S. was founded on so-called Christian principles, but the truth is that these values - life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, etc - can and should be applied and utilized by people of any faith. Ignoring all non-Christians in governmental procedures and speeches alienates a large chunk of the population - who, by the way, are also registered voters - and yet it's been done time and time again.
The fact that Obama specifically mentioned Jews, Muslims, Hindus and "nonbelievers" in his speech gives these usually ignored groups of people cause to celebrate that they are finally being recognized by the government. It should not be taken as a sign that Obama is going to favor these people, or that he is not a Christian man himself.
I can foresee many such events in the future of this presidency, and if the instances that people get up in arms about continue to be in this same vein, they will only strengthen my support for the man who's given me faith in the government for the first time in years and years.
I can only hope he doesn't disappoint me.
I'm finding myself thinking of some Les Mis lyrics right about now...
"Tomorrow we'll be far away
Tomorrow is the judgment day
Tomorrow we'll discover
What our God in heaven has in store
One more dawn
One more day
One day more!"
I'm excited to be at this point in history, having voted in this incredibly important election.
I'm somewhat worried that my hope for the future is hinging on what happens tomorrow.
I'm scared shitless of what will happen if McCain wins, and I'm also scared shitless of what Obama might face if he wins.
And, I'm wearing a paper hat made from an Obama ad, because I'm just that cool.
Okay, normally I don't make politics a big topic for blogging, since I realize that not everyone in my neighborhood shares my views on the subject. This post isn't meant to impinge on anyone's political stance or influence anyone's vote.
But I am getting so sick of the ignorant bullshit that is being spouted on the Internet about Barack Obama. Let me clear up a few things for the people who are making these claims.
1) Barack Obama is not a terrorist, nor did he have a Muslim upbringing. I saw this last bit of information on the jacket of a book that was being sold in Books-A-Million and couldn't believe it. The recent controversy about his association with pastor Jeremiah Wright should be proof enough that yes, he is a Christian man. (My second question, of course, would be, why should this matter?) Furthermore, the people who are calling Obama a terrorist are probably the same people who supported the Homegrown Terrorism Act - you know, the one that would allow anyone who protested any aspect of the country or government to be labeled un-American and a terrorist? Since when did wanting to effect positive change become a terrorist act? (And if it's not his politics you're talking about, then you are just doing a bit of [incorrect] racial profiling and should think before you speak.)
2) Obama is also not a Communist. Taking money away from extremely rich people by raising their tax percentage is not communism or socialism; it's just common sense, and the only people who could reasonably disagree with this move are - surprise! - the very rich. Nobody else should care. In addition, the fact that "Communist President" is in itself an oxymoron going by the basic idea of Communism itself makes me wonder if the people making these accusations even know what the word means.
3) Another thing - everyone is focused way too much on the fact that Obama is black. Newsflash: If we are the enlightened country we like to say we are, it shouldn't matter. I'm sick and tired of hearing people wonder aloud if the country is "ready" for a black President. We shouldn't have to be "ready", and we shouldn't have had to be "ready" for a female President, either.
4) Now, this really has nothing to do with candidate politics, but just something I noticed while surfing Facebook's "Pieces of Flair" application. I noticed that most of the anti-Obama buttons are very vicious (one compared Obama to Hitler - where the fuck did anyone get that comparison? I don't get it) and often false, while the anti-McCain buttons are at least clever and witty in their protests, and go on statement McCain himself has made. Why is this? Is it because most users of that application are young and therefore less informed about politics, which I would rather not believe because I want to have faith in my generation, or are people just ignorant and I'll have to get used to that?
I hate feeling so helpless. I voted for Obama, you can bet, but what more can I do? I can't stop the ignorance.
A girl who was in a singing class with me last semester had the bad sense to send me an invitation to a pro-McCain Facebook group.
It's not like that offended me or anything (well, okay, the name of the group bothered me a little - "We can't even handle the new Facebook; how are we supposed to deal with Obama?") I mean, everyone has the right to their political views.
The thing I find somewhat amusing about the situation is that in my opinion, politics - especially recent politics - are a sticky enough subject that I wouldn't even think of inviting anyone to a political group if I was not 150% sure that they would want to join it.
Is that a little overcautious? Somehow I don't think it is.
P.S. For the record, Hillary Clinton is still my unofficial candidate.
I was on the shuttle this morning, and the driver had the radio tuned to a news station for a change. I heard two things that led me to temporarily hate humanity.
1) Our wonderfully informed president is still claiming that our economy is soaring and we are not in a recession. Somebody please go to Washington and bang his head against his own desk to knock some sense into that man. He is also still trying to implement a plan to drill for oil in Alaska, as well as making is tax cuts for the wealthy permanent.
Has Dubya done a single thing right during this presidency? I'd be happy to hear about it, since it would instill a little bit of optimism into me to know that we did not elect a complete dimwit for two terms.
2) An organization called Concerned Women For America is urging parents to keep their children home from school on the Day of Silence, in protest of the protest. (That first link leads to CWFA's article about the event. Read it; it's completely absurd. If I didn't know better I would think it was an article from The Onion.)
The reason for their doing so isn't even the issue here.
First of all, what is this going to accomplish? Absolutely nothing.
Second of all, you've got two possibilities here. If your kids are in elementary school, the students there probably aren't going to be participating, since kids that age haven't really started to care that much about politics and social issues. (I know I sure didn't.) If they're in middle or high school, they should be able to make their own decision as to whether they want to be at school on that day. Parents should not be able to control whether their kids go to school or not, no matter what their personal beliefs about a certain protest are. It's the law, ladies.
Why are people such idiots?
Arguments welcome.
This is the cutest thing you will ever see. Watch it now.
I found it on CuteOverload while looking for LOLcat-worthy pictures. I think I melted at least three times while watching it.
Of course, it doesn't hurt that I am completely enamoured with Scottish Folds to begin with. I think they are the world's cutest mutation, because they always look so sad and pathetic.
I have here for you some more Folds to feast your eyes on. Feel the cuteness waves emanating from their eyeballs:
<< This one belongs to my friend Kimby. His name is Skimble.
And, on a completely different note, I took a "presidential candidate matching survey" just for fun. In case anyone's interested, this is who I should support, according to the survey:
b>85% Hillary Clinton
85% Barack Obama
83% Chris Dodd
82% John Edwards
80% Joe Biden
76% Dennis Kucinich
74% Mike Gravel
72% Bill Richardson
52% Rudy Giuliani
35% John McCain
30% Mike Huckabee
28% Tom Tancredo
27% Mitt Romney
18% Fred Thompson
15% Ron Paul
http://www.gotoquiz.com/candidates/2008-quiz.html">2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz
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