Name Games

Looks like the GOP is ready to play name games with Senator Obama. They've started throwing out the terms they want their surrogates to use. "Arrogant" and "Opportunistic" are the ones they are using the most. These are code words to imply "uppity black man" to the American public. GOP surrogates are more than willing to get these phrases out there and try to paint a false picture.

However...let's look at the picture Americans are really seeing:

Gas...over $4.50 a gallon and climbing.

Milk...over $4.00 a gallon and climbing.

Iraq war casualties...over 4000 and climbing.

Iraq war injured...over 40,000 and climbing.

Americans without health care...over 40 million and climbing.

High School dropout rate in America's 50 largest cities...over 40 per cent and climbing.

And the GOP wants to play school yard games? This is all they can bring to the national discussion?

Time for a change!

Those We Leave Behind

Everyone doesn't want to vote.

This is a fact I have to accept after almost a year of trying to get people registered. Most of the people I have come in contact with...especially the young people...are gleeful at the opportunity to participate in the upcoming election. However, every now and then there is someone who just doesn't want to vote. Some would argue that there are certain people who 'shouldn't' vote....but that goes against everything we believe in and fight for in this country.

Of course, I want people to vote for my candidate, however....even if they vote for the other guy... at least they ARE voting and exercising their rights as Americans. Rights many died for....

Recently, at a community fair I attended, a middle-aged woman came over to the booth I was manning to register voters. "Are you registered to vote?" (I asked everyone who came near us this same question.) "No," she said. "I don't believe in voting. I haven't voted since my daughter was 3 months old and she's 30 now!" My first thought was "What the heck happened 30 years ago that turned this woman against voting?"

But, I tried again....since she was still standing there looking over the literature. "You can register right here and now, and vote in the November election," I told her.

"No, she said. "I'll never vote again. My vote won't make a difference....it's a waste of time."

I couldn't believe or understand her thought pattern. As an African-American woman surely she understood that people had given their lives so that SHE COULD VOTE!

I wanted to give her an oral dissertation on the civil rights movement and why she MUST vote....but,I don't think it would have made a difference. The people around me just shook their heads.

I guess as we move forward as a country, there will be those we will have to leave behind....not because we want to leave them...but, because they don't want to go.

oh happy day

I knew it was coming...I have worked as a volunteer for many months--me and millions of others--to make sure this would happen...and yet....when the cable news network officially declared him the winner, I sat there bawling like a baby! My son thought I had lost my mind..."but Mom, you've been saying for a long time that this would happen!" He doesn't quite get it....his whole life I've told him he could grow up to be anything he wanted...including President....and I always believed this....and yet I cried. I cried because I thought of my step-dad, my dad, my uncles who have passed on. I thought of how bright and talented they were...but they faced limitations in what they could accomplish.....not because they weren't capable...but because of the color of their skin.

For me, this election process has never been about race...I simply am inspired to work for the best candidate America has seen in a long time....but, in that brief instant...when I saw the 'official' status of his nomination....in that instant it hit me just how far we have come as a country....still have a long way to go...but a whole lot closer.

oh happy day!

Americans Will Rise

There is a sadness....or maybe it is shock....among friends and neighbors in my suburban Southern California neighborhood. I see it at the gas station, at the grocery store, at the schools, and at church. It's the unmistakable look of grief.....grief for a 'shop-til-you-drop' lifestyle that has come to an end. We are collectively 'going broke.'

Everywhere I go people speak of worry and anxiety about what the future holds for their families. Many are realizing that the value of their house may drop even more, and they no longer have the equity cushion they had counted on. Some lament their decision to move so far away from their job in search of affordable housing....gas eats up more and more of their monthly income. Others worry about taking care of older relatives, or paying for college tuition.

Yes, in my neighborhood, there is anxiety at every corner and not too many are resting comfortably at night. The truth is--American middle-class lifestyles are changing more rapidly than anyone could have predicted.

And yet, in spite of all we are facing...there is a glimmer of hope as we slowly adapt to our new circumstances. We are staying home more with family and friends--picnics at the park, or a day at the beach, are replacing lavish trips. We are eating in more and taking the time to cook wholesome meals including vegetables (to offset expensive meat.) Some are growing their own fruits and vegetables. More people are using public transportation and WALKING THEIR KIDS TO SCHOOL! Kids are taking lunches again instead of eating cafeteria pizza slices every day. Mom and Dad are moving in with the kids, or vice versa, to support each other financially and otherwise.

Yes--in spite of it all....there is good that will come from this...I know it! Americans will rise to the challenges like we always do!

Stay tuned.....