I’ve come to expect that if something can go wrong with health insurance it will and it apparently has in the case of my COBRA plan.  I found out today when I was trying to refill my antidepressant prescriptions that it’ll be about two weeks till my coverage kicks in.  In the meantime I have to decide if I’m going to shell out around $800 for meds or go without. 

 

This situation is mainly my fault—I apparently misunderstood something in the 20 page COBRA starter packet—but still it seems like a really bad state of affairs that people have to face choices like this.  I’d like to see a world where you could get the medication you needed without going through huge bureaucratic hassles and/or spending a fortune.  I’m lucky of course.  Withdrawal from my cocktail of psycho-active drugs isn’t going to be pleasant and it’s certainly not medically advisable but I don’t know that anyone has ever died from going off Cymbalta, Prozac and Abilify.  I know there are people out there who face life and death choice with regards to medication.

 

I know there are many people who consider socialized medicine a terrible thing and are against President Obama’s proposed Healthcare reforms (my father is of this opinion as are several of my high school friends who I communicate with through Facebook).  I don’t want to belittle their views but However from my perspective, that of  an individual who doesn’t have a lot of money and suffers from a chronic medical condition, healthcare reform seems necessary and socialized medicine seems like a really great thing.

 

I’ve been more than a little depressed lately but Obama’s Inauguration on Tuesday also served to lift my mood. It’s hard to be down when the people around you are absolutely ELATED.  I was working during the actual Inauguration, so I only heard snippets of his speech from the speakers at the customer service desk but later I was able to listen to it in its entirety. 

 

A really incredible speech full of concisely voiced truths but more important than the speech is that Obama has already beginning to take action.

 

Just days after saying “We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals,” Obama is taking steps towards ending the use of torture and closing the Guantanamo Bay.  I believe this is a hugely important move.  To my eyes, the very existence of the Guantanamo Bay prison has turned America into a grotesque parody of what it was meant to be. 

 

Guantanamo Bay essentially sent the message that because of wealth and military power the United States was above the law, without peer and answerable to no one.  From the nation that had helped to create the Geneva Convention and the United Nations this was a horrible turnabout, an arrogant affirmation that might makes right. 

 

Maybe it is.  It certainly has been in the past but it’s my understanding that America is based upon principle beyond might makes right, principles like liberty, justice, and equality. 

 

The standard defense of Guantanamo Bay in particular and torture in general has been that it is a necessary evil needed to deal with forces that would “destroy our way of life.” What though is the American way of life-- an effort to lead by example and make the world a better place for everyone or the freedom to put your own interest first and to do whatever you want no matter who it hurts? 

 

If it is the former, Guantanamo Bay itself can be considered a threat to our way of life and I’m pleased that Obama recognizes this and is taking steps to undo the damage its already done to America’s reputation and it’s conscience. 

A few final thoughts on the election.

 

First, this is a huge deal for Chicago.  I talked to my father this morning and he said “It looks like Chicago’s taking over Washington.” I believe my response was “Hell yeah!”  I have a co-worker who’s sort of an old hippy and didn’t vote but even he was excited about the rally in Grant Park and the appointment of so many Chicago people to Obama’s Cabinet.  He was saying at work yesterday “I didn’t support Obama but I think it’s really great that the over night the eyes of the world were on Chicago.  Not New York, not L.A, but Chicago.” 

 

In my last post, I expressed some apprehension about Obama’s win.  I can always count of WBEZ to help me work through things. 

 

Yesterday on Morning Edition they had some really excellent pieces looking at Obama’s election, what it means, and what’s going to happen next. 

 

A segment titled “Obama Must Manage Great Expectations” took a hard look at the problems the Obama presidency is going to be facing (including the war and the economy) and realities like budget restrictions and political divisions across the aisle and within the Democratic Party.   A lot of people, including myself, have very high hopes for the Obama presidency but it’s important to keep in mind that there are going to be limitation to what he himself can do.

 

However as later segment beautifully illustrated, Obama isn’t in this alone.  His big accomplishment so far is that he’s motivated thousands of people, many of whom have felts powerless, voiceless and helpless for a long time.  Obama had been able to galvanize his supporters and inspire them to work for change.  He’s the face of a movement that contains boundless energy, potential and real power.

 

This collective energy and enthusiasm is what can get us through all the difficulties and problems.  It’s vitally important not to let it be dissipated by the disappointment of too high expectations.  Real change and reform will not come quickly or easily and it won’t come at all if the burden of bringing it is laid on a single man.  It’s up to all of us to keep the momentum going. 

 

And finally I’m so glad the campaign is over.  It was nasty and ugly and I lost a lot of respect for both McCain and Obama over the course of it.  I felt like McCain did show a great deal of the sort dignity that had been sorely missing on both sides in his concession speech and I wish him the best. 

 

I feel towards McCain rather like I felt towards Cesar, an assistant Team Leader at work who transferred to another store a few months ago.  Cesar and I had a bit of a rocky history.  I felt his supervising style was intrusive and bullying.  He put me through some pretty hard times and I in turn questioned him on certain issues.  I saw him again last week when he same back to the store for a conference and I gave him a hug and asked him about his baby and the new store he’s working at.   I think he was pretty surprised, but honestly, I always kind of liked him.  I just didn’t like his style of leadership.  I never had anything against him I just didn’t want him being the boss of me. 


Barak Obama Chicago Reader cover by Derek Erdman


Alternate cover in case John McCain had won.  

I’m really pleased that Obama won the election.

 

I have a tendency to confuse the personal and political, and during the past few months it’s seemed as though the country and I have both been spiraling downward together.   Obama winning the election actually makes me feel that there’s a chance, a hope that things can get better for both America and myself.    

 

Of course I’m very much aware that this is a beginning, not a happy end.  I like Obama but I’ve never had any messianic illusions about the man.  Everything isn’t going to magically get better because he’s in the White House.  He promised a lot of things that aren’t in his power to deliver and there’s bound to be a backlash because of this.  Also he’s facing some enormous problems such as the war in Iraq and the economy, that won’t be solved quickly or easily. 

 

There are also many issues that were pushed to the background by the turmoil in the financial sector.  For now, they’ve been largely forgotten but they’re not going to go away.  The same night as Obama’s historic election a ban on gay marriage was passed in California so Obama’s victory doesn’t mean that the ideals of full acceptance and equality for all have triumphed. 

 

Still, for all my misgiving this time-- right now, last night, today—it feels like things are finally going in a positive direction for both me and for America.  It feels like a turning point.  And even though continuing on this path is going to be hard for the first time in ages it seems like it might be worth it. 

Election Day is here and though things seem to be going well for my man Obama I’m still pretty nervous about the outcome. 

 

At work yesterday, there was a customer who was saying that the election is going to be stolen just like the last two elections had been and that there’s evidence if you look on the internet.  I don’t quite believe that.  I’m a staunch denier of conspiracy theories, especially those that involve the government, simple because I’ve seen ample evidence that the government just isn’t well organized.  I’m afraid that my concerns are rooted in a belief in the racism, stupidity and compliancy of the American public.    

 

However yesterday I heard something on the radio that has made me rethink this.

 

A few days ago the legendary an oral historian and activist Studs Terkel died at the age of 96.  In books like Working, Coming of Age, Chicago, The Good War, and Hard Times, Terkel interviewed and archived the stories of ordinary people who had lived through events like World War II, the Great Depression or who worked a job or lived in a city.  There people weren’t always well read or well educated, but Terkel recognized that they mattered and had stories that were worth preserved and that deserved to be told. 

 

Because of his death, the local radio station here in Chicago was replaying interviews with Terkel and driving to work yesterday I heard a snippet that really struck a chord with me.  He said that he had a great faith in the intelligence and decency of the American people. 

 

Over his long career Terkel interviewed hundreds, maybe thousands of people.  He must have seen his share of racism, stupidity and compliancy yet the net result of his experience was this belief in the good. 

 

Since I heard this interview when I get anxious about the election I try to think of the people I know and have known instead of a nameless, faceless mass of generalized humanity and I can see this decency and intelligence.  It exists even in those I disagree with politically.

 

I think of my father can trace his conservatism ideology back to the writings of Thomas Jefferson.  He loves and cares about history and during his 35 years as a teacher taught hundred of students to think, question and to look at the buildings and land around them and know that there was something before worth knowing about and preserving. 

 

 Many of the people I work with are working class African-Americans and Latinos who haven’t had the same educational opportunities I take for granted as an upper middle-class Caucasian but that doesn’t make them stupid or ignorant any more than I can be called ignorant and stupid because I’m a supermarket cashier. 

 

Here on Livejournal, I have an intelligent and compassionate friend who supports McCain.  He has his reasons.  They’re legitimate, well thought out and might even be persuasive if I didn’t totally disagree.  Having a different take on these things than I do doesn’t automatically make him a bigot or an idiot.    

 

Essentially what the interview with Terkel made me realize is that there is no “us vs. them.”  We’re in this together, all of us. 

 

Whatever the outcome of the election, I’m going to try and remember that even though there were probably some people motivated by racism, complicacy and stupidity that most people probably voted, as I did, from their best and most noble intentions.

Voters waiting in line at two polling places in Chicago, IL. at
about 8:00 a.m. this morning.

A friend of mine from work, who’s an actor, is really excited to see Oliver Stone’s George W. Bush bio-pic W.  He’s a big fan of Josh Brolin (No County For Old Men) who plays the title role and says that based on the clips it seems like Brolin really becomes George W. Bush. 

 

From the standpoint of the actor’s craft I can understand my friend’s eagerness to see the film but I can’t say I share it.  First of all, after eight years of his presidency, spending three hours with a convincing George W. Bush is really the last thing I want to do.  Second, what’s the point of making a SERIOUS, IMPORTANT, HISTORICAL type film about a presidential administration that hasn’t even ended?  With comedy you can get away with presenting an of the moment take on things but how can you have any true insight on a situation that’s still unfolding?  Who knows how things will look in five or ten years and what new information will come out.

 

While I suppose it’s a testament to American freedom of speech that you can release a major film that paints an unfavorable, sensationalistic portrait of a national leader I really can’t imagine W having a whole lots of artistic merit.  I’ve seen enough Oliver Stone films to know that the man has no sense of humor and a taste for the lurid so I have a feeling that W is going heavy handed, polarizing  propaganda with cocaine orgies or scenes of  underwear clad fraternity hazing tossed in. 

 

Maybe I shouldn’t judge sight unseen but I really have no desire to see.

When I stopped by the library this morning to return a book I saw they were set up to do early voting.  I hadn’t even considered voting early but since I was there I decided to take advantage of the opportunity rather than dealing with the crowds on Election Day proper so as of today I have officially cast my ballot. 

 

I doubt it will surprise anyone to learn that I chose the Democatic ticket of Obama and Biden for President/Vice-President.  In some ways my voting is probably a mote point as it’s more or less a given that Obama will carry Illinois (he’d be in serious trouble if he couldn’t) still, I’m pleased to have done my civic duty and made my minimal contribution towards change and a (hopefully) better world. 

 

At the moment, my Presidential voting record is 2-2.  Two of the candidates I’ve voted for have become President, two have not.  The first Presidential election I was eligible to vote in was in 1992 (when I was a young girl of 20 years).  I voted for Bubba William Jefferson Clinton, who won the election.  Four years later I voted for Clinton again and he won again.  However my winning streak ended in 2000, when George W. Bush defeated my candidate, Ralph Nader (yes I voted for Nader).  In 2004, I supported John Kerry (who I still consider underrated) who lost to Bush.  We’ll have to see which direction this election tips the balance in. 

Hands down the individual who made best showing in the Vice-Presidential debate was moderator Gwen Ifill.  The term “straight talk” was frequently used in the debate but one of the only concrete examples of it I saw was when Ifill called both Palin and Biden for not answering the questions.  That woman is sharp.    

 

I do feel that Biden made a strong showing and came across as knowledgeable and competent.  As for Palin… what can I say about a candidate who denies homosexuals marriage then declares minutes later that other countries “hate our tolerance.” 

 

I haven’t really heard or read any reactions to the VP debate yet but if last week’s Presidential debate is any indicator people will interpret things based on their preconceptions and see what they want to see. 

 

I know I do it myself.  In my eyes Palin’s use of words like “folks” and “betcha” and her constant droppin’ of the “g” on words endin’ in “ing” was just annoyin’.  Yet to other people I’m sure it made her seem warm, trustworthy and down to earth.  Similarly I found Palin’s little tirade about how “They hate our freedom” to be hysterical fear-mongerin’ but I realize there are a lot of people (including my father) who do feel that there are dark forces out there set on destroying the American way of life. 

 

Part of the reason that politics frustrate me so much is that I want to understand and empathize with others.  I don’t want to dismiss their fears and values out of hand and yet there’s a part of me that believes I’m right, that my views are the truth and if I could explain them clearly enough they would be embraced. 

 

This of course is never going to happen because in almost every case the other person has reasons for believing what they do that are every bit as deeply engrained as my own and an equal conviction that they are in the right. 

I was rather disappointed by last week’s Presidential debates—the number of sound bites and catch-phrases on both sides was absurd.   If anyone was playing a drinking game where they took a shot every time a candidate talked about “Main Street and Wall Street” they would have gotten trashed.  Both men seemed motivated by making a good impression and overall the whole affair stuck me as highly stilted.  Given the magnitude of the issues facing America right now what I want is confident, competent leadership, stirring speeches, goose bumps, passion and compassion.  I didn’t see a lot of that last Thursday.

 

I’m hoping tonight’s Vice-Presidential debate will provide a little more spark.  Biden has very much been in the background thus far and I’d like to see him distinguish himself and maybe deflate Palin’s (groundless) popularity a bit.  

 

Sarah Palin’s campanign.  Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series. 

 

What do they have in common other than the fact that they’re both wildly popular cultural phenomena’s that sort of make skin crawl?  Quite a lot it turns out...  

Pacific NorthWest Setting

Palin Campaign: Alaska

Twilight: The Forks, Washington

 

Big, pretty, sparkly family that goes hunting together

Palin Campaign: The Palins (mom, dad and 5 kids)!

Twilight: The Cullens (mom, dad and 5 kids)!

 

Teen Pregnancy

Palin Campaign: Bristol and Levi.  Don’t worry; they’re getting married even though she’s only 17.

Twilight: Bella and Edward.  Don’t worry; they’re married even though she’s only 18.

 

Affiliation with not exactly progressive religious groups

Palin Campaign: Assembly of God (Joel’s Army)

Twilight: The Mormon’s—Church of Later day Saints

 

Seriously disturbing messages lurking beneath the banal surface

Palin Campaign: Laws don’t apply to me. 

Choice?  What choice? 

"how would one go about banning some books?"

Gun toting.

Twilight:  Abusive relationships are romantic.

Little girls (we're talking infants and toddlers) "destined" for grown men is romantic. 

Pre-marital sex is wrong so get married ASAP.

(a disclaimer of sorts.  Please keep in mind that this is wholly subjective and based on my opinions-- I'm sure there are many people who have no problem with pro-gunsm anti-choice views--  I do.   Additionally Meyer and Palin both have a right to their religious beliefs.  I do not disparage these beliefs however they are not my own.)

Since Sarah Palin was named the Republican vice-presidential candidate I’ve seen more than a few remarks in the media about her looks and many such as “she’s a babe” and “I’d like to see her naked”, that explicitly sexualize her.

 

As a feminist, my normal reaction would be to be outraged and offended on her behalf but since Palin herself denies that sexism exists that hardly seems appropriate.  Instead I thought I would take advantage of the equality that allows any woman to walk through any door and cross the threshold into that state of mind that where political candidates exist as fodder for my personal lascivious fantasies. 

 

Since I am bi-sexual, I could include Palin in this but I really don’t get any kind of a lesbolicous vibe off of her.  Between the husband and five children and the Assembly of God I really can’t see her being up for any hot girl on girl action.

 

In fact, for me one of the big barriers to thinking naughty thoughts about any of the candidates is that they’re all so straight and straight-laced.  Even the liberal candidates are pretty conservative.  You don’t need to have full body tattoos and multiple facial piercings to catch my eye but most of the people I’m attracted to have a little seem a little more artistic, imaginative and edgy than the candidates. 

 

Let’s start with Joe Biden.  He does nothing for me.  In all honestly he’s been sort of a nonentity in the campaign thus far.  He hasn’t really displayed any personality much less erotic heat. 

 

Obama on the other hand has definite appeal.  He’s a good-looking man, very handsome.  Nicely formed as well, tall and slender.  And yet I find it almost impossible to think dirty things about him.  He’s earnest, sincere and high-minded.  He loves his wife and children.  These are good things in a candidate but they’re sort of sexual buzz kills.  Obama’s my candidate, but he’s not wet dream. 

 

Which brings of to John McCain.  He’s a tricky one.  He’s several years older than my Dad.  I’m 36 years old, definitely not a kid, but McCain is still close to twice my age.  I’ve dated older guys before but it was generally more of a ten to fifteen year age difference.  Yet in all honesty I find McCain the sexiest of the candidates. 

 

McCain is known for his explosive temper and independence and God help me I’m drawn to that.   Anyone who’s read my erotic fiction knows that I have lot of my fantasies that involve angry, strong-willed, often arrogant men losing control, being opened up, and made vulnerable.  McCain’s famous pugnaciousness and his personal history of trauma as a P.O.W. make him totally perfectly for my hurt/comfort fem dom fantasies.  Except that I’d feel like it was completely wrong to objectify someone who’d been through something like that and to eroticize it for my own gratification. 

 

There you have it.  Bitterfig sexualizes the candidates. 

 

It’s not exactly the equivalent of “I want to see her naked” but I guess my sexuality doesn’t work that way. 


Young McCain.  I'd totally hit that.

I didn’t post anything 09/11/08 but I feel that I need to acknowledge to seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

 

It’s difficult for me to write about these events.  Although it’s been years they continue to overwhelm me, perhaps because the tragedy of 9/11 has grown with time.  It seems to me that the events of September 11, 2001 were not complete onto themselves but the start of a cycle of violence, war, paranoia, hatred and intolerance that continues to this day and seems to gain more and more momentum. 

 

It seems to me that the memory of 9/11 is being constantly exploited, by left and right alike, to consolidate power and lend validity to their position.  I have a liberal bias so I really felt this last week when Rudy Giuliani spoke of “Islamic terrorism” at the Republican National Convention but was that really so different than Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11?  Both of them were evoking 9/11 to their own ends.  I’m probably doing the same by writing this.  That’s why it frightens me, because it’s so understandable.  It seems like human nature to want retaliation, to want to be right, to say “it’s us versus them”.  The “them” in this equation might be Americans or it might be “Arabs”, it might be Christians or Muslims, Republicans or Democrats.  It all seems to come from the same impulse. 

 

Thinking about 9/11 makes me wish I was still a practicing Christian.  Because that’s what got me through the actual event and also because there are times when you really need to believe that there is something more, something higher than human nature. 

When I was in Junior High I read a Science Fiction story where as a pre-requisite to getting a drivers license the narrator was put through a highly realistic simulation of a horrific car accident.  At the stories end, after having experienced all the terror and pain of the crash the narrator signed up for their license only to be taken away in a strait-jacket because after going through what they just did any sane person wouldn’t want to go near a car for a month. 

 

Whenever I pay attention to politics I always find myself thinking of this story because it seems to me that no sane person would want to run for much less hold public office particularly if they or a family member has gone through it before.

 

Is it possible for someone to want to be president or vice-president without being dangerously in love with power?

 

I’ve never been able to support Hillary Clinton for this reason.  President Clinton’s impeachment hearings were the single most painful public event I’ve ever witnessed.  It was horrible, watching a marriage and a family be torn to pieces before your eyes.  The fact that Mrs. Clinton willingly stepped back into that arena tells me she has a desire for power that overrides all else. 

 

George W. Bush is another case.  His father was a shell when he left the White House.  I never supported George Bush Sr. but I honestly pitied him at the end of his term.  He seemed exhausted, worn down by the burdens of responsibility and by all the ridicule and scrutiny he’d been subjected to in the election.  If I watched my Dad go through something like that I really don’t think I’d decide to give it a go myself.  I don’t want power that badly. 

 

This brings us to Governor and Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. 

 

I listened to Palin’s Republican National Convention speech last night.  During this speech, she seemed to go to great length to present herself as a “mom” first and foremost.  She placed a great emphasis on her role as a mother, repeatedly speaking of her children and family, and described herself as a “hockey mom”.    

 

Maybe being a hockey mom is all about standing by and watching your children get their teeth knocked in. 

 

And yet at the same time it seems to me that by the very act of running for Vice-President she is doing a disservice to at least one member of her family, her 17-year-old daughter Bristol who is five months pregnant. 

 

Maybe I’m wrong about this, I’ve never been pregnant myself much less as a teenager, but it seems to me that it has to be very difficult to be in that position at so young an age.  Even with a supportive partner and family the future must seem very uncertain and frightening. 

 

It just seems wrong to me to subject this young woman to the scrutiny of a national election especially given the violent passions aroused by issues like abortion, unplanned pregnancy, and “family values”. 

 

It feels to me like Palin is sacrificing her daughter, allowing Bristol to be judged and ridiculed in the national media for the sake of her own ambition and to me that seems like it shows a dangerous degree of devotion to power.    

 

This is just my opinion and I have a lot of problems and moral failing myself.  I feel like I’m being judgmental here but that’s what happens when you run for national office—people have opinions on you and feel they have a right to air them. 

 

 

I have a television that exists solely to play DVD’s, however on Thursday night I actually tuned in to PBS to catch (hopefully future president) Barack Obama’s speech to the Democratic National Convention. 

 

Obama is known for his oratory skills and no surprise, it was a powerful and deeply moving speech but to me what stood out the most was the call for cooperation, for people to look at the big picture, find what really matters and work for it instead of allowing themselves to be divided over ideological particulars--

 

“The challenges we face require tough choices,” Obama said.  “And Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past.  For part of what has been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits.  What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose - our sense of higher purpose.  And that's what we have to restore.

 

“We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country.  The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals.  I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination.  Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers.  This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.”

 

At moments like this in his speech I found myself honestly believing that America can and will pull out of the hole it’s in both economically and spiritually. Yet at the same time I remain pragmatic.  The problem I have with speeches by Presidential Candidates is that they all act like the President is a sovereign entity who can do anything he wants.  It’s always “If elected I’ll pass this tax reform and a bill that does this and change this and abolish this.”  They never say “If elected I’ll introduce legislation to reform taxes, change this and abolish that the House and Senate where it will be debated at length, pondered over, and revised then either voted down or maybe approved in a much altered form.”  It seems like every candidate sets themselves up to disappoint. 

 

During the speakers leading up to Obama on Thursday night I noticed there was a lot of talk about faith.  It seemed like great efforts were being made to reassure everyone that that Obama was a good, devote Christian.  I admit, I found this rather irksome for two reasons.  First, it seems that the unspoken part of this equation is that “because Barack Obama is a good Christian Barack Obama is not a bad Moslem”.  I’m sorry but there is nothing wrong with being a Moslem.  It is not illegal.  It is not immoral.  It does not mean you support jihad, oppress women or against are insane, dangerous or fanatical.  America is not at war with Moslems.  In fact it numbers a great many Moslems among its citizens. 

 

Second, I hate that George W. Bush has succeeded in making fanatical devotion to Jesus H. Christ a prerequisite for leading the nation, establishing a sort of holier-than-thou litmus test. 

 

I was raised Christian and for many years was active in a church, attended services weekly and prayed and read the Bible on a daily basis.  I’ve helped teach Sunday School, at one point I even become a lay-speaker and preached.  While I am not currently a practicing Christian, what I perceive to be the principles of Christianity are still very much engrained in me. 

 

In his speech on Thursday night Obama said “America, we are better than these last eight years.  We are a better country than this.”  He then went on to list the essential values that made America better.  These were not military power, not superior wealth or moral righteousness but decency, generosity and compassion. 

 

To me, these are essential Christian values which, (current and soon to be former President) George W. Bush’s much vaulted faith the eight years of his administration have been sorely lacking what the Methodists call “good works”.  For me the fact that Obama places these values at the heart of his vision for America matter more than all the endlessly repeated assurances that he is “a man of faith”.

 

To me, the best of America is the Statue of Liberty welcoming “the huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”  It is FDR putting the country back to work after the dark days of the depression.   It is Civil Rights activists and abolitionist and suffragettes and Quakers and Union Workers fighting to make America a place where every human being has dignity and choices and freedom. 

 

For the coming election, I feel like Obama is the most in line with what I see as America at its best.  I don’t know if I really believe he can win, but I really want to believe he can. 

I must admit I’m feeling rather smugly satisfied about Al Gore winning the Noble Prize,   I always thought he was dismissed and denigrated in a very nasty way after the 2000 Election with so many people laughing at him and saying he’d become a crazy mountain man just because he grew a beard, put on a few pounds and continued to work for environmental awareness.  I think he’s quite vindicated now.  And you’ll notice no one is giving George W. Bush laurels for making the world a better place so maybe winning the 2000 Election wasn’t the be all and end all.  In fact it seems more and more like getting out of politics is the beginning rather than the end of making a contribution to positive change in the world.  Look at what Jimmy Carter has accomplished since his presidency.

 

Gore’s cause- environmentalism- is something that’s been of concern to me for a long time.  Even though I’m generally pretty down on my upbringing, I did grow up with an acute awareness of the beauty of the natural world and the ways in which it was threatened by human carelessness.  My parents, who are basically conservative, were always interested in history and the past and this brought them into uneasy contact with more liberal, sophisticated people who had moved to our rural area as part of the “back to the land” movement of the 1970’s.  I grew up knowing people who lived without electricity, had solar houses and lived in isometric domes.  Most of them eventually mainstreamed in the years to come but it made an impression to see people living a conservationist lifestyle.  I remember having “no electricity” days when I was little and being upset by the use of pesticides on roadside plants.  Things like that get into your character and combined with my general pessimism and apocalyptic imagination have resulted in me taking environmental issues very seriously.  I really never doubted the significance of the ozone hole or the reality of global warming even though these things are still denied by a lot of people. 

 

I’m not an activist, I do a few things.  I’ve been a vegetarian since 1994, motivated in part by moral issues- not wanting to kill or eat animals- in part by eating disorder neurosis and in part by environmental concerns.  You can produce much more food per acre by raising crops than by raising meat.  Vegetarian food sources are a much wiser use of land resources.  I recycle to the best of my ability given that Chicago’s recycling program is slipshod at best (the “blue bag” program was reveled as something of an unmitigated disaster and the new “blue bin” program is still being tested and isn’t available in my neighborhood yet.).  Working at Whole Foods has done a lot to rekindle my consciousness of environmental issues.  For the last year I’ve been bringing my own shopping bags to the grocery store and I consider it an accomplishment when I can get through a day without taking my car out.   

 

 I know I could do more, but the things I am doing have become firmly entrenched in my daily life, which is positive.  I think that positive change can come about from people incorporating environmentally sound habits into their lifestyles.  If it’s just something you do on a daily basis it’s not disruptive to you or your family and over time it can make a difference.