Looks like our next president will not be a woman.

Oh wow, she went with a pantsuit. Way to think outside the box.
(I didn’t know pantsuit was one word until I looked it up, pretty cool.)


Hillary Clinton has officially ‘suspended’ her campaign and supported Obama as the nominee. I have to admit, if I had approached this topic a few weeks ago I probably would have written a much different article. I would have spent every word ripping Hillary apart. I do not have an unfounded disdain of Mrs. Clinton because I was raised in conservative private schools since I was four years old. I have come out of that upbringing as a registered independent and someone that is tired of partisan politics. With that, watching her campaign unravel has been pathetic. The last few months she’d continually pushed her campaign forward when becoming the nominee was a mathematic impossibility. She invested millions of dollars of her own money to keep the dream alive when it was clearly alive.

For the last few weeks I’d grown frustrated with this prideful display. It seemed to me that she just couldn’t fathom that she’d lost. A year ago most expected Hillary and Giuliani would be choosing running mates at this point. Needless to say, we are in a much different spot. It was frustrating to see Hillary hurt her party because it wasn’t agreeing with her. She should have bowed out a long time ago and hopefully she’s learned her 20 million dollar lesson. But I’m not going to just talk about her pride and idiocy. Watching her concession speech with my Nana this last weekend changed my perspective.

This was the closest a woman has ever been to holding the highest office in America. 90 years ago woman didn’t even have the right to vote, let alone hold the highest office in the land. My Nana was disappointed that she wouldn’t get to see a woman beat the gender gap. When she expressed her opinion it was rooted in a firm belief that women in this country had made huge steps forward in her lifetime. Upon graduating with her bachelors degree she joined a small club called the UWA, the University Women’s Association because she believed in a Woman’s right to get an education and pursue any career they desired. This was a revolutionary thought in 1946, but it was one she held firmly.

When Nana speaks of her middle years she loves her career choice; full-time mother. She loves her family and speaks with admiration of those years. I’m reminded of her balance. For her the issue isn’t every woman following the same path, but women having the opportunity to choose their path. She speaks of opportunity with affection and longs for women to take advantage of what they have today. While I’m not a fan of Hillary, I am a fan of opportunity. Mrs. Clinton came close, closer than any woman before her. I look forward to a future where a woman president is more than likely. I am anticipating a very specific interaction with my daughter when she’s studying social studies and asks me a question about the 2008 election. I may not recall my annoyance with the media coverage and the unending primaries, but I will remember my Nana’s dream of opportunity being realized.


I leave you with something to think about from a no-name actor.

I don’t care who you’re going to vote for, that is funny. If you can’t laugh at that, then you need to relax.

Here’s your chance to vote!

VOTE

I was once assured that Uncle Sam was a U.S. president.
he wasn’t in case you’re wondering.



Yesterday’s Obama blog sparked a conversation with a friend. We were commenting about the majority of people do not frequent cable news and do not vote. He said that it is sad that those who vote are influenced by the cable news networks and how their bias is hurting America, not helping. We continued to discuss what we wanted to see from America.

He went on to admit that he was in the minority; people who follow the news, develop opinions and yet don’t vote. I threw my hands up. We had discussed his need to register a few times. It was silly for him to pontificate, to complain, yet to not exercise his freedom and fulfill his responsibility.

So, I am calling him out, in fact I am calling out anyone that reads this but doesn’t vote. Here are some reasons you should vote.

1.People died so you can vote.
2.It is your responsibility to make your country better by choosing the leaders you believe are best.
3.You will not be able to share your opinion with any integrity if the candidate you prefer looses.

I know there are more, but these are what came to my mind. Now, registering to vote gives you the opportunity to participate. This doesn’t mean you have to tune in to cable news from now until November. In fact, I would avoid doing that completely. Take 45 minutes a few weeks before the election. Look at a chttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifomparison of the candidate’s opinions and plans on the issues and cast your vote. Hey, you can even vote by mail if you don’t want to go to a polling location. You will miss out on the cool “I voted” sticker, but it’s an option.

So, I would love to have some comments on this post about registering new voters. It would not only make my day, but make you a better citizen. I made it so easy, all you have to do is click here.
(If you just happen to live in, let’s say, Oklahoma…Click Here.)

Go register and comment. God Bless America.

In Politics, it takes an elitist to know an elitist.

This video is the comments in their entirety,
feel free to listen at your leisure.



These words from Senator Obama have had the media in a frenzy the last few days…
You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them...And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

People are not discussing the first paragraph and its accusations against republicans and democrats...no no no… that would involve a debate of the issues. Instead they take comments in the second paragraph to attack Obama. There are two things that bother me about this situation. First of all, let’s take a look at what his comments are really saying. People are devastated when jobs leave their communities by the thousands and many of these people are bitter. Their bitterness finds solace in unhealthy passions. Do I think Obama is saying that all guns and religion are always unhealthy? Absolutely not. Look at his other comments about faith and how he has personally embraced religion.

I think that Obama is saying that at there are people who don’t allow faith to be a healing and positive transformation in their hearts and lives. They use it as a way to gain social acceptance and identity. Rather then allowing God to change their hearts, they take on a judgmental spirit. He is not saying that this is the case of everyone who goes to a church, or owns a gun.

People who have been devastated economically are hurting people, and rather than pursuing healing they often pursue hate. Instead of hearing this message the sound bite media and other ‘down to earth’ candidates are taking it as a chance to slam Obama. Is Hilary Clinton really going to try to give off the impression that she isn’t an elitist? Is she really going to call out Obama?

This woman epitomizes what she is criticizing. Is she really going to present herself as a pro-gun, pro-religion candidate? Her comments in the last few days are evidence of how out of touch she is with her own history. Now I am not a Hilary-Hater. I will not allow a simple distaste to cause me to spew venom when her name is uttered. But, it makes me sad that she is playing the game and trying to come across as if she loves Smith-Wesson & Jesus.

Here is an idea, let’s stop trying to vilify people based on a few words. Let’s take a look at their past and their plan. Let’s make judgments based on positions not parties. Let’s take the economic situation in Pennsylvania and give a plan for change rather than a justification of their hate. Stop kissing voters butts and validating their unhealthy response to circumstances. Start to tell them why you are the candidate that will create opportunity for new circumstances and prosperity. This is just an idea.