Thanks Obama

Tote Bag I got from the DSCC

We’ve been pretty spoiled these past eight years. I mean, Barack Obama hasn’t been perfect; who is? But having his intelligent self in the White House has been a pleasant shift from the Reign of Dumb that appears to have started with Ronald Reagan and Dan Quayle and has only been getting worse. Despite unprecedented obstruction from Congress, Mr. Obama managed to get a lot done these past eight years, undoing some of the mess made by George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Sure I’m biased. Voted for Mr. Obama both times, and I seem to get more liberal with every year I continue educating myself about the way the world works.

So I’m not sure what else I wanted to say, except Thanks, Obama. And no matter what anyone says, you are not a cactus.

 

Why I’m not voting for a third party presidential candidate this election

In 1980 I was in 7th grade. My social studies class took a poll of hands to see who we would choose for President. I believe I was the only one who raised my hand for John Anderson, the Independent candidate. More the half the kids raised their hands for Ronald Reagan, and the rest for Jimmy Carter. I didn’t like Reagan because I believed the rumors that he was a warmonger who would get us in a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. I liked Jimmy Carter, but believed the rumors that he was a weak President. I can’t honestly remember a thing about John Anderson — what he believed or stood for — all I knew is that he wasn’t one of the other guys. And I really didn’t want Reagan or Carter to win.

Hopefully, you are versed enough in history to know what happened. Looking at the popular vote numbers, Carter wouldn’t have won the majority even if all of Anderson’s votes had gone him. It’s like the hostage crisis did him in. But some people, Carter included, believe that he could have won had it not been for Anderson. And in hindsight, I would have much rather had four more years of Jimmy Carter than any years of Ronald Reagan.

So now it’s 2016. I adore Bernie Sanders, admire Hillary Clinton, and dislike Donald Trump with the fire of a thousand suns. I believe if Bernie Sanders had switched and run as a third party candidate, he would have done pretty well in the election. But like me, he’s been around long enough to believe that third party candidates at this stage in US history tend to just split the parties. So now he’s campaigning for Hillary Clinton, which doesn’t surprise me frankly, because you could see even during their first debate that he respected Hillary.

These are the other candidates for President who I cannot take seriously:

Jill Stein, Green Party candidate, is not even on the ballot in all states, has nearly lost every election she’s ever been in, including those at lower levels of government, and she has a history of backpedaling on her views when they prove unpopular.

Gary Johnson, Libertarian candidate, is pro-Citizens United, pro-fracking, and doesn’t support paid medical and family leave, for starters.

There are dozens of other people running as well who have no chance of winning.

I do hope I see the end of the two party system in my lifetime, but I don’t think it’s going to happen until we get campaign finance reform, as well as a groundswell of seriously charismatic, accomplished third party candidates running and winning seats more seats in Congress.

President Female…does it even matter?

Cartoon by Chris Cillizza

There’s a woman running for President, and she has a decent chance of becoming the first female President of the USA.

I am also, technically, female. So there are some people trying to tell me that as a female, I am obligated to support this woman.

However, I do not relate to being female.

You know how in dreams, you float around from place to place and are rarely aware of having a body? That’s how I am in “real life.” Even when I’m doing “female” things like giving birth or breastfeeding, I do not feel female. It’s just irrelevant to me. And so, I really don’t care that Hillary Clinton is female. I vote with my brain, not my vagina.

But let’s compare this to something else: race and ethnicity. I have very little sense of connection to my white, European background. So I get a little confused when people make a big deal out of these things. But in recent years, I’ve learned how much these things matter to some people. For example, thanks to experiences teaching me how black people in America are often unfairly targeted by the police, I understand better how the color of your skin can accord with privilege or a lack thereof.

I’ve also seen how little some of our lawmakers care about legislation that will help female-bodied individuals, and in fact, would be happy to approve legislation that could be downright deadly to women. It reminds me of the old saying that if men could get pregnant, they wouldn’t be so cavalier about trying to prevent abortion.

So, sure, things like sex, race and ethnicity do matter in society. I can understand that intellectually. But in my heart I’m just a soul/mindstream floating around, wondering why we feel the need to label and categorize ourselves. Still, I recognize the privilege I have in being able to see my sex, color and ethnic background as irrelevant. Not everyone can.

What makes females appreciated as lawmakers anyway?  I would argue it because they are more likely to grok the importance of kindness and equality, and they are more likely to understand that we are all in the same boat together. I have seen Bernie Sanders express those things with both words and actions. While Hillary Clinton has a different sort of reputation. So I tend to agree with this author, that the best feminist for president isn’t necessarily a woman.

I’ll leave you with this awesome video:

Is Donald Trump just pretending to run for President?

Lately it has come to my attention that some people suspect that Donald Trump is not really a serious Presidential candidate, that he’s really just in it for the attention, just pretending to be a bigot, and possibly even trying to destroy the GOP. Despite the media attention and Facebook trending, Trump may well have very few average people actually rooting for him. Since at least as far back as February 2014, people have been suspecting he’s just running for office for the entertainment value of it.

Whether you believe that conspiracy theory or not, you might find this satire article or video amusing.

What do you think?