I didn’t like the set up for a town hall debate and hope the last one is done differently. I saw the back of their (Obama & McCain) heads instead of the front of faces at least 70% of the time.I was able to wash dishes and paint my kitchen without missing a thing.
This debate did not cover any new ground. If you saw the first one, you know all there is to know. What I will focus on is debate sportsmanship.
I I expected some mud slinging and sure enough, the first dirt pellet thrown was from John McCain and it was within the first ten minutes. Logic and facts aren’t necessary when you’re slinging the mud. Even though John McCain isn’t perfect, I would have let him keep his good sportsmanship badge - if that was going to be the worst of his behavior. *holds up the torn badge for all to see* I had to rip this off of his lapel!Senator McCain referred to Senator Obama as ’that one’ instead of by his name. Should we demand his medical records right now?
When the debate was finished, I expected both men to shake hands. I had high hopes that Mr. McCain had been advised about his poor behavior after the first debate. My hopes were dashed. Senator Obama reached out to shake hands, and John McCain quickly turned away. Senator Obama finished his outreach by shaking hands with Cindy. Neither John nor Cindy shook Michelle’s hand. I don’t even think they looked at her - and she was standing right there.
CNN rated Senator Obama as having won the debate. He also (in my opinion) scored the highest in Presidential behavior.
Sarah Palin responded much better than expected. She had lots of memorized sound bites that went over well with the public. When she couldn’t answer questions about McCain, taxes or deregulation- she switched to talking about Energy. Doing this allowed her to keep talking -without the viewing audience actually realizing that she did not answer the question. It was a very good tactic. Palin has now been trained to stare at the camera and to repeat great sound bites. She must have had a speech coach as well because a lot of the twang in her voice has been removed. Her hair was down, her make up was perfect, her designer suit fit well and she knew how to work the camera. Republicans and Independents that would have abandoned the McCain/Palin party are now back on board. Sarah did well. Though she is still not qualified to be our next VP, I was happy to have a break from cringing.
Joe Biden answered all his questions with expertise. Joe had to correct Sarah when she said he didn’t know what it was like to be a single parent/mother to your children. He lost his wife and daughter in an accident and became a single parent to his boys. One of those boys is now being sent to Iraq. When he showed his sensitive side, I had to dab the mist out of my eyes. Joe Biden is the real deal. He is not a war mongering cyborg. He is exactly who this country needs.
My regret - Joe was not tough on Sarah. He did not correct her when she got the USA military General’s name wrong throughout the debate. He treated her with kid gloves, as many of us expected. My advice - It is time for the Democratic party to quit coddling her and treat her like they would any other VP candidate who has zilch knowledge.
My favorite part - The Gay Marriage/Civil Rights issue. I wanted more of a battle but was glad for the sparks.
Joe Biden won the debate per CNN’s panel. I agree with their assessment.
Why are McCain supporters resorting to terrorist acts and why is McCain not speaking against these acts? What are ourrules of decency?
John McCain has a moral obligation to publicly censure the Clarion Fund, the organization that produced Obsession and is distributing the DVDs; to denounce the inflammatory, anti-Muslim message of Obsession; and to do everything in his power to stop any further campaign activities by his supporters that have the potential to incite violence.
I am worried that terrorist acts by The Clarion Fund and their hooligans will increase unless McCain speaks against them. McCain, what exactly are your rules of decency?
I visited the Science Museum tonight with two English friends. I’ll call them Dennis and Susan. There we were, three writers, talking about the world, life, love and of course, science. When our conversation steered to politics, Susan said she had a white American friend who was angry that Hillary was not the Democratic nominee. This friend is now a pro-McCain blogger who is convincing people not to vote for Obama. Susan didn’t understand why her friend would be voting for McCain, who stands for everything she hates.She is a feminist and a lesbian. Susan also said “American white people think Obama will become President and become anti-white.” Please imagine the shocked look on my face when I heard this statement. Have they not listened to anything that Obama has been saying?
When I got home and tuned in to blog land and was greeted with more racist information about the good people of America. If you’d like to read more, take a look at Obama Hung In Effigy At Christian College
I have never seen a presidential nominee or his family treated in such a horrific way by the American public.As a matter of fact, it has never been allowed.Until now. Christians are selling racists pancakes with Obama’s (Aunt Jemina style) face on the cover. We have white feminists and lesbians who don’t care if the world suffers more wars, if women can’t have abortions, or that we will all die in the upcoming holocaust that will surely happen if we don’t choose the President who prefers diplomacy over murder of innocent women and children. They don’t care. I guess it will be all worth it in the end. To die knowing they stood for (white people) and not for the good of all people.As we die, I’ll especially try and remember to thank the liberals, feminists, lesbians, gays, transgenders who stood tall for the institution of whiteness over everything else.
Lets hope tomorrow that people will take this opportunity for growth and do what they need to do. Change.
I am really getting worn out by having discussions/arguments with others about what is really driving people to want Sarah Palin in the White House. I tend to think that many things are based on racism. I’m usually right. Nevertheless, I’m tired of being right. I would like to be able to not get so worked up. I would like eloquent words to flow that explain our current situation without people getting all cross eyed because a sensitive nerve has been touched. I would like to not have to soak my head in ice after talking with intelligent idiots.
I found the way. I found the words. Someone else said them and did so, beautifully.
I’d like to thank Move On for their tireless support of communities in need. Hurricane Gustav has struck the Gulf Coast, damaging fragile communities still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.Help out by clicking Donate
And now, I’d like to talk about two of the gazillion of things that have crossed my mind today.
1.In 1998, televangelist and erstwhile politician Pat Robertson warned the city of Orlando, Fla., that a gay celebration the city hosted would bring the wrath of God–in the form of a hurricane or other disaster–upon the entire city. Celebrating homosexuality “will bring about terrorist bombs, it’ll bring earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor,” he predicted.
2.In 2001, Jerry Falwell blamed gays and lesbians (along with other such “sinners” as feminists, “abortionists,” and the American Civil Liberties Union) for the terrorist attacks in New York City. “I point the finger in their face and say, ‘You helped this happen,” he said on Robertson’s television show, The 700 Club. Falwell later attempted to clarify his remarks, but he never withdrew them or apologized for making them.
3.Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, senior church of England bishops, Saudi professor, Israeli MP, etc. think that disasters are caused by God punishing gays and people that support gays.
If we follow this logic, then senator John McCain must be a lesbian.You know the type.Closeted, so therefore more dangerous than an addicted mass murderer who needs a moonshine fix.Yep.I support Senator McCain in coming out of the closet and becoming a better person.Then and only then can we all breathe a collective sigh of relief.
McCain’s VP Pick
Today, I received a congressional email today that urged me to send a message to John McCain’s camp about his choice for VP.I wrote this message.
I think your picking Palin as VP is a very bad choice.The pick should have been a woman but not one who is basically Andy Taylor (played by Andy Griffith), the Sheriff of a small town called Mayberry. Though Sheriff Andy Taylor is great for television, he is not a great choice for Vice President.
Seriously though, I am betting that you really don’t intend for Palin to actually be your Vice President. She is going to become very ill or seriously injured in some freak accident. (you know the type of accident) and have to resign.Her replacement will be your actual choice for VP.If this goes the way I think it will, what looks like a con could earn me loads of money. *just joking*
The environment was electric! I have been inspired like never before. I believed in a change for all and so did the people at the Democratic Convention. I believe in becoming a better citizen and doing my part. I believe in being kinder to everyone annd everything. President elect Obama spoke with style and grace. He said positive things about Senator Clinton. Uplifting things. Wonderful things. And when he talked about John McCain, he did not speak evil about the man, he spoke about his policies. A refreshing change. From this day, I hope politicians take note of a new way of campaigning. We are all sick of the ugliness. President elect, soon to be President, Barack Obama is going to help us all achieve a more perfect union. I have never been so proud as I am now of the political process. Thank you, our soon to be President, Barack Obama. (I hope will.i.am writes a song about this. I hope children talk about it in school. I hope old ladies feel safer…) Ok, I need to stop it. *wipes tears from eyes*
Michele Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention made me feel safe in the knowledge that America could become a more perfect union. Her speech made me proud to be a black woman and proud to be a feminist.The former Democrats -who turned their backs on their Party, had been doing damage to my feelings of safety.Ok, I admit that I should have stopped reading their blogs.
I grew up during the era when whites barred blacks from using public toilets, restaurants, schools and everything else.The ugliness of the blogs of the former Democrats reminded me of white people standing in front of schools snarling at innocent black children.They reminded me of white people barring the doors when I tried to use a bathroom in a public facility.They reminded me of an elderly white woman who beat me with her cane when I was just a tiny child because I didn’t understand what she wanted and couldn’t tell her where the coke machine was.The former Democrats - who now support the Republican Party, were looking and behaving just like the mean spirited people of my past.
In thinking of reasons why people would give up principles they claimed to hold dear, I asked myself these questions.Was it just because the candidate they wanted did not win the election? Does that mean they never believed in the core principles of the Democratic Party?If they didn’t, why did they pretend for all these years?Then I got it.I came to this conclusion. They were supporting Senator Clinton because she was a White woman and not just because she was a woman. Once she was taken out of the equation, democratic principles no longer mattered.Only principles of skin color were of any importance.People will show you who they are when pushed into a corner.Flowery words will not hide the reality of what is being shown.
Many people wondered what Senator Clinton would say at the convention.I was afraid that she would not support her party’s nominee - Barack Obama.I am happy to say that I was wrong.Her speech was very moving.It reminded me of why I initially supported her in her bid to become our next President.Her speech made me feel proud of her and for her. My only regret is that she didn’t do it sooner. But can she undo the damage?Yes she can.Yes we can.
I fully support Senator Clinton and President elect Barack Obama in working together for the common good. I am proud to be an American.
First of all I am “spirit” in a body that we call human. I am spirit before anything else. I am here to learn, to change, and to develop. Everything that we humans do is directly as a result of spirit evolving or spirit refusing to evolve.
As a child I was very aware that I heard and saw things that others around me could not. I was very clear to me that we were all spirit. Nothing different about us except the ways we expressed ourselves….in looks, language, food, etc. What I also learned as a child is that others forced their identity entrapments on me and treated me accordingly. I wasn’t allowed to eat in restaurants, use public facilities or to be exposed to a system of quality education. I was limited in my entire environment by being labeled/identified as a skin color. No matter what I did or said, I could not escape the identity and what it meant to those that used this identity to hurt people. No matter how I look, I have never stopped being spirit in a body. I am forced to wear the mantle of what skin color means to others because of their non-acceptance of who we all are - and how we are all connected. By the same token, I gladly accept the mantle of goodness and all things given me under the mantle of being a spirit in the body that is identified as black. It is a part of who I am. And its good.
Moving on to being a female:
I grew up in a chauvinistic household, a chauvinistic society, and a chauvinistic world. Even though I knew I was spirit in a body…the divinity of who I am was being ripped from me daily. Having to deal with color issues was only one mantle of my identity. Having to deal with gender issues became another. It did not matter what I said or did, people were only able to see me through their prism of what being female meant to them. Its hard being a child that is meant for so much more and being constantly reminded that you’re actually nothing to the world at large. I was forced to wear their oppressive mantle/identity of being female, even though what their eyes saw was wrong. On the other hand the body I chose to be born in is that of a female. Everything good underneath the mantle/identity of female is what I hold dear. It too is a part of who I am. And its good.
More on being a lesbian:
As my spirit reached out to learn new things and experience what brings me closer to being whole; I again was trapped behind a brick wall. I’ve always thought women were extra special. Most humans do if they have loving/safe mothers. As my love for women grew to include the sexual, I was forced yet again to wear someone else’s mantle/identity of what that word means. I was put in a horrible little perverse box that rendered any self-respect impossible. It didn’t matter what I said or did, people only saw me as that ugly little box. Who I was as a lesbian never matched who they said I was. I was again forced to wear their little mantle because that’s all they can see. As a woman who identifies with all the good things about being a lesbian, i.e. I love women; I accept the mantle/identity of being a lesbian. It is a part of who I am. And its good.
My real identity has never changed. I still view myself as spirit in a body. Even though I have been tremendously scarred by all the negative mantles. I still manage to hold on to the one thing that is true. I am spirit. This spirit in a body is no different from any of the other spirits that chose to be born in human bodies. We are all expressions of that. Everything is an expression of spirit. Our mantles are our colorings but are not our entirety.
The first time I got that strange feeling, I was ten years old and enrolled in a typical elementary school in small town USA.I was sitting in a class full of noisy boys and girls. I turned around to talk to my friend Sandy who had on the shortest mini dress I had ever seen.Sandy had yet to acquire the skills of sitting with her legs closed and probably should not have been allowed to wear such a short dress.Every time I turned to talk to her I could see her bare legs, her inner thighs, her underwear, and I dared not look any further.I would turn away quickly and feel this unbearable ache.
For several months I looked in encyclopedias and dictionaries for an explanation of what I was feeling. Everything I read was about unnatural acts of perversion. Going to hell was often mentioned. Library books and adults said that women turned into lesbians because men had hurt them. They all agreed that lesbians were not normal.
I didn’t think about lesbians again until I was fifteen.While the family was sleeping, I would sneak out of bed and watch Tom Snyder’s Tomorrow Show. It was broadcast from New York City in the late 70s and showed everything my innocent eyes should never see.I saw women that looked like they’d just stepped out of a horror movie. They were rough, half naked and weird looking. They said they had sex with each other.The unbearable ache returned.A few months later I told a friend about the weirdness of the Tom Snyder Show. She invited me to sleep over the following Friday so we could talk more.We drank her mom’s wine and discussed the fact that neither one of us could figure out what those women do to each other. Later, we drunkenly tried a few dismal maneuvers.The next morning I was sure I was a lesbian.The next night she went out with her boyfriend.
What we learn as children helps to form our ideas of what it means to be a lesbian. Negation of women and of lesbianism is often accepted as factual, natural and scientifically proven. I no longer accept the negations as facts. I no longer accept lesbians repeating the negations.
Being a lesbian is about loving women. It is not about how one may or may not connect with men. It is not necessary to announce that you don’t hate men. It is only necessary to say that you love women. Being a lesbian has nothing to do with being hurt by men, and not being able to trust them because men have failed you. Being a lesbian is because you think women are wonderful. Being a lesbian is not about mere sex. Being a lesbian is about loving all aspects of female energy. Being a lesbian is not about your inability to have emotional attachments to men. Being a lesbian is about your ability to have emotional, physical, sexual, spiritual, and mental attachments to women.
There is something divinely beautiful about women and I accept that lesbians are women that love women. How we speak of our lesbianism should always be a reflection of that love.
