Like I have said before in previous posts, in the past I have tried to keep my mouth shut about politics and religion, something that I have very firm opinions and I know inspires extreme reactions from different people. I have found that it is generally safer to keep your political opinions to your self for fear of offending someone and igniting a firestorm of objections and arguments.
Having said that, I have always been something of an activist deep down in my heart of hearts. I found an outlet for that in College by attending a Women's College that focused on and fostered awareness of women's issues and minority issues. Several times during my college career there were events that reminded me that not all is right with the world. Social injustice, bigotry, hatred and violence were still hard at work. I attended the rallies and colloquiums but it never transferred over into the sphere of politics and political activism....until this current election.
There is something about what is happening with this election cycle that is, to me, extremely exciting. Some people may say that it is because of who is running. To start with we had the potential to break 3 very big milestones: first Mormon President, first woman President and the first African American President. And yes, these are all very exciting achievements but I don't think that is the source of my excitement and interest in this election.
Our country is at a very serious crossroads and we are balancing on the edge of a very uncertain future. I'm a self proclaimed history buff and were we are as a country reminds me of every great civilization and world power in history when they fell into second or even third place on the world stage. England rose to power after defeating the Spanish Armada, the old world power. Great Britain was the leading world power from the late 14th century and Queen Elizabeth I until the end of WWII when the US came to the rescue, fighting the Nazi's and Japan. Russia collapsed after the Cold War to the mighty US.
Look where we are now. We're outsourcing jobs to Asia, we're borrowing billions of dollars from China, our military is weak. We're a joke to the International Community. We're alarmingly close to giving way to a more powerful country. I don't think that by electing McCain or Obama or Clinton we are forever dooming our nation to second place status to China and India and I don't think that any one candidate has all of the answers and will never make any mistakes but I do think we have become complaisant as a country and we are ignoring the issues and changes (good and bad) that are occurring within our borders.
We have a wonderful opportunity here to make a change. We have the chance to rebuild the American Dream and American character. To rebuild our international reputation. It's no secret that the rest of the world thinks that we are arrogant, self-assured (not in the good way), condescending and self righteous, among other things. We need to go back to what made us great. It wasn't the widening gap between the social classes and it wasn't the skyrocketing interest rates and price of college tuition and it wasn't the sad state of our public school education system. Our country has changed and I don't think it has changed for the better. But the glorious, wonderful thing about our country is that every four years we have the chance to change it. To reinvent ourselves. We have a chance to make this country great.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Run for the hills....a Democrat!!!!!
Posted by Kelly at 1:35 PM
Labels: random thoughts, rants
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
i think part of the problem is career politicians who are so deep in the Washington game that they forget who they represent. Harry Reid srpings instantly to mind. I don't know very many Nevadans who approve of the job he's doing as our senator. So why does he continue to win? In addition to the fact that he has major money behind him, he's the most recognizable name. Thousands of people a month move here and when the election comes around, they say, "Harry Reid. I've heard of him." And that's who they vote for. He was almost unseated a few years back, but i think anyone running against someone like him has an uphill battle because of the almighty dollar.
When the founding fathers created the system, the idea was not to have people spend their entire career in pursuit of the presidency. I believe they hoped that the plumber next door could become president if he had strong ideas and good character. Now the little guy doesn't stand a chance, and it's a shame. There are probably a couple hundred people better suited for the presidency who will never have a fighting chance because they didn't decide to pursue at 23.
Did that even make sense?
That makes complete sense. We have a state legislator, Sen. Buttars. The man is hateful, close minded, racist and bigoted and yet he continues to be reelected year after year. Sen. Orrin Hatch has been in Washington for as long as I have been alive. I think we need to have a limit to the number of terms people can serve in public office. We have the 2 term limit for the Oval Office, I think it should apply to Congress and the Senate and all the state legislatures.
One of the biggest criticisms people have of Obama is his lack of experience. I think it's a good thing. I think it's good that he hasn't had the chance to experience Washington for as long as some of the other candidates. He hasn't become embroiled in the intrigues and back door deals.
And unfortunately it has become a money game. You have to have the money in order to survive the campaign. I was reading in the paper the other day the amount of money candidates have spent in the past month on the campaign. It's more than 85% of the country make in a year. The plumber next door doesn't stand a chance!
We really missed the boat this year. We could have had a black, woman, and Mormon all in one candidate by nominating Gladys Knight! (Actually, she might be better than any of those currently running.)
Post a Comment