Barack Infomercial

To start: I am registered to vote but those jerks spelled my name wrong - and I'm still pissed.

I only caught the tail end of this infamous infomercial, but I was surprised to see what exactly it was. I guess I shouldn't have really expected much, but it certainly wasn't what I expected, whatever that may have been, because I'm still not sure. I felt as though he simply restated everything he has already said. He talked about his Dad and that void in his life. He talked about his Mom raising a family on her own, he talked about his Mom's death and the health care system. He talked about education and reform (albeit he used an example of a very small school - not sure if that is relevant and workable in the rest of the country) and his wife talked about his strong family ties. It just seemed to me like one big sob story turned into heroic efforts. And this is coming from someone who plans to vote for Obama come next Tuesday. I was disappointed overall, but I know that the news coverage says that it worked for Obama because he didn't put on a huge display and wasn't extravagant in his delivery as he usually is.
I guess all the hype I had heard about it beforehand revved me up to hear something great, a life-changing, eye-opening speech, and when I didn't I was thoroughly underwhelmed. Again, not exactly sure what I wanted to hear from him, but whatever it was, I didn't hear it.

Campus Voter Registration - Legit?

So remember when I wrote about how I registered to vote on campus when the celebrity was coming - but I got there before hand blah blah blah. Yah. Well guess who STILL hasn't received their information on where to vote? ME. And I'm pissed. Why haven't I gotten it yet? My roommates have received their absentee ballots. What if I don't get mine? I wasn't given any sort of number to call, no time period when it should arrive. And the election is in what... like two weeks? What if I don't get to vote? This is the first time I will be allowed to vote in a presidential election and let's not be shy here - it's pretty damn important. This is something that I want to look back on and say that I was a part of it. And if some jackass college kid f****ed up my registration form so that I won't be able to - - I don't even want to go there.
Which makes me wonder if some sort of fraud is going on. Maybe they just threw out anyone who wasn't republican. Also, should they rethink who they allow to run registration? Or is any average joe allowed to be the expert for the day?
I guess I should start doing some research as to what happened to my registration form...

Sarah Palin

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Debate Number 2

I stayed up late the watch the second presidential debate. First I will make a couple observations: Both walked around, but McCain's seemed very calculated. It was three steps, stop, three steps, stop, three steps... you get the point. It was almost like he couldn't walk and talk at the same time. Obama would walk and stay in one spot, directing his answer mainly to the person who asked it, but McCain addressed his answer to the whole crowd. During McCain's questions, Obama sat listening, seated in the awkward chairs they provided for them. During Obama's questions, McCain was standing, moving around, walking and what seemed to me like talking to someone in the crowd at some points in time. It was to be honest, very distracting. Both went over their one minute time limit - but the one time McCain kept it under one minutes, he felt the need to point it out to everyone. He also made what I felt were childish comments throughout the night, whether they were applauding himself for staying within the time limit or using phrases like "that one" to refer to Obama. I'm not sure if these were attempts at jokes or laughs, but they failed miserably. I felt they just made him look immature. Obama as well cut in after questions and asked more than once if he could respond to questions McCain answered. He knew it was against the rules, but still felt the need to make a rebuttal. McCain at times completely talked over the mediator, which to me was just rude, and Obama at one point made the statement that he had to correct McCain "not surprisingly". All in all I thought it was a complete dog show and both parties made mistakes in the etiquette arena. Don't get me wrong, I listened intently to answers and their takes on issues, but these are the things that I pick up on during any sort of conversation. Maybe this is because of my psychology background, or just my extreme dislike for disrespect and childish behavior. Whatever the case, I think that these mistakes and actions were annoying to the rest of the United States and maybe made more than a few people very upset that they were so focused on putting one another down rather than building themselves up.

The VP Debate

I am sitting in bed on my boyfriends laptop as the debate is going on. All day there have been statistics on Palin that he approval ratings for ability as VP have gone down throughout the month of September. I have a feeling based off of conversations I have overheard that this decrease in her popularity has much to do with her speeches and interviews made within that month. It is a general feeling that the more she opens her mouth, the less faith people have in her abilities. So far in the debate, I have only made a few observations on differences between Palin and Biden. One is that rather than talking to Gwen, she speaks into the camera (or to the American people as she sees it). Biden however talks to Gwen and Palin making eye contact, not worrying about the cameras. Palin also seems somewhat robotic because of it. It seems that her answers are not coming out naturally, but more formulated and calculated. Biden on the other hand seems that he knows his position on the issues and personal issues that he can talk about them freely without worrying that he will trip up over his own words, as it seems Palin fears she may do if she isn't careful about her word choice.
Another point that blows my mind was the response by Palin on the issue of global warming. I have heard over and over from friends that Palin doesn't believe in global warming, so this was a question I particularly wanted to hear the answer from her own mouth. She went on to say that she doesn't believe global warming is man made, and that it is part of the earth's natural cycle. And while many people think it is a load of crud, if you have watched Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, you would know that yes, the world goes through cycles of warming and cooling, but this particular warm cycle is almost three times warmer than any other warming cycle before it due to a huge increase in carbon dioxide - a man made increase. She also said that we should come together to fix global warming, but if it is a natural cycle, how do you fix it? How do you battle something you "don't understand" or "don't know the source" of? You don't.

I want to talk about the importance of Pennsylvania's part in the upcoming election, and how much advertising plays into it. My faith in true motivation to register hit an all time low when in order to bribe students to register to vote, the university had a huge star (better known as Addison from Grey's Anatomy) come to campus. I agree that it was smart. First off, tons of college girls watch Grey's Anatomy and the chance to meet a former star of the show is priceless. But then how many students who showed up at our dining hall that day went with the true intention of registering to vote? And if they did register, how many of them simply registered as a chance to meet with her face to face instead of wanting to register because they want to have a say in how our country is run over the next four (or eight) years? And just because they are registered to vote, will they? I showed up before "Addison" did simply to register... as an Ohioan. But the kid walking me through registration refused to tell me how to do so. He just kept saying that as a student of Lehigh University, I was a Pennsylvania resident. But I have an address here in PA and in OH. I want to have a say in how local elections go in my hometown, and would have rather registered there and done an absentee ballot, but much to my dismay I was told that "it doesn't matter which state you vote in, as long as you vote." Because of time pressures, I registered as a PA resident because quite frankly I am too busy to take the time to attempt to register to vote twice. But it did upset me that this kid thought the state I voted in doesn't matter, because it does. Unfortunately we are not a one man one vote kind of system. We have one man one vote, which gets turned into 26 men standing in for thousands of voters opinions. What if it were my vote that made the majority in Ohio, and only makes the minority in PA? And if where I vote can make such a difference, why aren't we all allowed to choose where we vote? I can go on an on, but my head is already spinning with all the possibilities of "what if's".

Feminism Revisted

This post will ultimately be very short, for two reasons. One, the insert I am asking you to read and comment on is pretty long itself. Two, I would like to know what others think before I start to give my own opinions. But let me start off by saying that my first post about Sarah Palin stands corrected: apparently there are some feminists who are choosing to think before voting, and not just playing the gender card as I had originally anticipated. The following is an email I recieved through some friends of a friend.

Esther Eve Ensler, the American playwright, performer, feminist and activist wrote the following about Sarah Palin:

Drill, Drill, Drill
>I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of
> a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved
> polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for Polar Bears. Maybe
> it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the
> arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the
> fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar
> bears.
>
I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to
> build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is hard
> to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more
> insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and
> solidarity of Feminists.
>
> But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism
> which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending
> racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds,
> deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.
>
> I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of
> my lifetime, and should this country chose those candidates the fall-out may be
> so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never
> recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the
> rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have
> seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with
> regularity.
>
> Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her
> world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or
> evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the
> storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are
> all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the
> endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and
> plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil
> is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As
> she said herself of the Iraqi war, "It was a task from God."
>
> Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are
> raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a right to
> determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not.
>
> She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her
> daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes.
>
> Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried
> to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think
> independently. Sh e cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference.
> This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of the
> United States. She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the
> earth.
>
> Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has
> been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from
> the air.
>
> Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when
> God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's
> name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of
> separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America has ever
> tried to be.
>
> I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our
> hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S.,
> but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the
> earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we
> move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence
> through invasion, undermining and attack. It will determine whether we go for
> oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will
> free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine if money gets spent
> on education and healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of
> killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a
> closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.
>
> If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get
> Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at
> the RNC , "Drill Drill Drill." I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think
> of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military
> exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt,
> ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.
>
> Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the
> sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more
> holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?
>
> Eve Ensler
> September 5, 2008