“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!”
-Martin Luther King Jr. – delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.
Today is that day!
(For full text AND video of this wonderful speech click here)
I voted this afternoon, and it took me a couple of minutes after I filled out my ballot, before I could place it in the machine, not because there was a line, but because I wanted to take the time to breathe and realize the history of this vote. (There were police there making sure no riots broke out in this little town I live in that has 2 stop lights, so I didn’t want to take a picture of my ballot and get arrested!) So I just stood there looking at my ballot and thinking about how I would remember this moment and this day.
I’m now watching the news to see who is going to become our next President. I am so hopeful that Barack Obama is going to win. I’m also so proud of all of the kids that I’ve had the privilege of mentoring, babysitting, being their teacher, etc. that are now able to vote, that registered and then VOTED. This makes me so proud!!
It has also been really neat to hear the stories of the people who worked in the civil rights movement in the 60’s, who are both white and people of color, who are so excited that this time in America’s history has come. Not because we could have a man of color as our president, but because the issue of race in America is something that America is finally tackling. We’re making progress, slowly, but progress. Next, I hope we can begin the conversation on the equality for women!
All I’m hearing (I’m writing this as I watch the debate) is pretty much “blah blah blah blah” from both Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama.
If I’m really honest- If I were playing a drinking game (which I would never do because 1) excessive drinking is irresponsible and dangerous and 2) I’m allergic to alcohol) I’d be taking a swig every time John McCain said the words “My Friends.” I would be passed out by now. Does he even know how annoying that can get?
And Sen. Obama is about as inspiring as watching jello set.
The most interesting thing about the debate is watching Tom Brokaw get frustrated at the two men, because they’re not following the “rules of the debate.” Good ‘Ol Tom, trying to keep things under control.
But still— today was blah blah blah. With 4 weeks left, give me some excitement people. I want to hear HOW YOU’RE GOING TO RUN THIS COUNTRY!!!!!
Oh and don’t forget to register to vote and then VOTE to let yourself be heard. You can be sure I’M GOING TO VOTE!!!
All I can say after watching the Vice Presidential Debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin is that if she really wants to expand the powers of the Vice President (even beyond what Dick Cheney has done) we may end up with our first woman president after all in January.
Oh, and I have a huge headache.
The last day to register to vote in Massachusetts is October 14th. If you haven’t registered to vote, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do!! And then don’t forget to vote on November 4th!!!
I was watching 60 minutes this week and Leslie Stahl interviewed Justice Antonin Scalia (of the US Supreme Court.) Now I fundamentally disagree with Justice Scalia on just about everything, but I was really fascinated by his passion with which he really believes in the US Constitution and that he believes in his role in interpreting the Constitution. I hate to say it, but it was actually inspiring to see someone so passionate about the laws of our country. I think that’s what should be driving this upcoming election. Which candidate is passionate about the laws and policies of our country.
When Gov. Palin talks, that’s what I see is missing. I don’t see this passion for our COUNTRY. I hear her talk about firing the executive chef, putting the governor’s jet on ebay and being an advocate for special needs children. But she has no concept about what it means to represent our nation. I think that John McCain has this passion, but again, fundamentally I disagree with almost everything he stands for, which is why week after week, I get more and more excited about seeing what Barack Obama and Joe Biden are putting forth. I think that these two really care about America as a nation, the citizens of the country, the environment (locally and globally) and also how America is not just a lone nation, but also has an important role on the global stage.
No matter what you think of Hillary and Bill Clinton, in my opinion, Hillary Clinton’s speech ROCKED tonight!!! It was all about why if you have certain values and ideals that are similar to the Democratic Party ideals, you should vote for Barack Obama and support the Democratic party. When she asked the people at the convention and the people at home: “Were you in this campaign just for me?” I have to admit that at that moment the true Democrat in me came out and I will do all I can to elect Sen. Obama, and I was prouder than I have ever been to be a woman and to have had the chance to at least vote once in my life for a woman for president! Now on to campaigning for the issues!
I watched the Democratic National Convention last night (Monday) on MSNBC. I think this is probably the 10th convention that I’ve seen on tv. Actually, I’ll say that this is the 10th one, given that my dad has watched them all of my life, and I got hooked on politics this way. (And the convention in 1988 was especially memorable because George McGovern’s grandson was in my high school class, and George McGovern would pop into our Political Science classes all the time, which was really cool.)
Ok, back to last night… I was really moved by Sen. Kennedy’s speech. I think the fact that my parents AND my grandparents were active in the civil rights movementsin the 60’s and still today, had a huge impact on me. And we had a picture of Bobby Kennedy hanging in our home. So I guess I think of the Kennedys as still being a part of our nation’s center. (Plus he is one of my Senators, and I have voted for him, so that makes me extra interested in what he was saying.)
But I was really motivated by Michelle Obama’s speech. I guess I’d never really paid attention to her speeches before, but she really is inspiring! And I did like the way that she incorporated the 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling that represented Hillary Clinton’s votes into her speech (Check out minute 9:08 of the video). That made me feel special (since I voted for Hillary, and have been feeling a little bummed with the choice of Joe Biden as the VP choice.)
So Hillary gives her speech tonight. Can’t wait to see what she has to say!!!
Part of learning how to blog is realizing that once I post something, it stays on the Internet forever. I’d like to comment on my last post. In all of the excitement of Senator Obama getting the required number of delegates to get the Democratic nomination, I was bummin’ about Senator Clinton not getting the nomination. But now I’ve had a chance to think. (Plus I watched all three speeches given first by McCain then Clinton and finally by Obama.) McCain came off as arrogant to me, so I really have written him off (not that he had much chance, but I really do want to see the positions that the candidates are taking on the issues.) And I was totally fired up and excited after Obama’s speech, but I have to say that I was really ticked off at Senator Clinton.
I know that going into the closed voting booth (or the semi closed in cubicle as it is here in Massachusetts) to vote for our representatives and leaders is one of the privileges of being an American. And a friend of mine is adamant about not sharing who we votes for, but honestly, anyone who’s talked to me for about 5 minutes lately would know that I voted for Senator Clinton in the Massachusetts primary on “Super Tuesday.” I feel that she represented my interests and issues the best. But after Senator Clinton’s speech on Tuesday, I was really ticked off at her.
When Hillary said that the 18 million of the people who voted for her deserved respect and to be heard, I was like, “What?????” I wasn’t feeling disrespected, nor was I feeling like I and my views weren’t going to be heard. I thought that was arrogant of her and at that moment it no longer became what was best for the country, but what was best for Hillary. This saddened me. I did resist the urge though to go on her web site and give her my thoughts, because they were not pretty.
I think that if Senator Clinton wants to continue to fight for universal health care, for children to do better in schools (and not necessarily through No Child Left Behind,) to bring home our military, etc. That maybe her best decision is to stay in the Senate and push for the legislation. Look at all Teddy Kennedy has been able to do during his tenure. (My prayers are with Senator Kennedy and his family, after Kennedys’ cancer diagnosis.) Back to Hillary. Staying in the Senate would give her power, the longer she’s there.
So where can we put Hillary? The most creative idea I’ve heard is to put her on the United States Supreme Court when the first seat becomes available. The person who relayed this idea to me said “Wouldn’t that shake things up?” Whoa! I’ve also heard about giving her a cabinet post like Secretary of Defense or Secretary of State. If Hillary is on the cabinet, I still think that Bush 41 and Bill Clinton should become Ambassadors at Large, wandering the world tyring to make it a better place.
I think that a new cabinet post should be created called Secretary of Keeping the Earth Sustaiable and that should go to Al Gore. With that title should go to ratifying the Kyoto treaty already. Plus he can get more resources to convince people that global warming is REAL! I think Jim Webb or Bill Richardson would be great VP choices, but I’m hoping that it’ll be someone we haven’t thought of yet. Someone totally new and exciting!
All day today I’ve been channel surfing (and calling my dad- the biggest influence in my political ideas and my love of all things political) because within 15 minutes from now, Senator Barack Obama is going to be the official Democratic nominee to be President of the United States of America. I’m getting goose bumps just thinking about it.
I’ll admit that I’ve been a Hillary fan for many years, but due to to an e-mail to the Obama campaign that ran amock and didn’t quite turn out the way I had hoped, I got on the daily Obama e-mail list and it’s actually been really cool hearing about Obama’s ideas as he campaigned state to state. (Plus there were always links to videos to his speeches, which was really great to watch and see when I wanted to see them.)
I also just read an article between Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama, and let me tell you, Ms. Obama is such a strong woman and a positive role model, she’ll be an a** kicker in whatever role she decides to play in the White House. As for Senator Hillary Clinton. I really do hope that she becomes the Vice President. I really rooted for her universal health care plan of the 90’s, which unfortunately failed. (But now Massachusetts, is trying the very same thing. As of Jan. 1st of this year, everyone in Massachusetts is required to have health care.) An Obama/Clinton ticket would balance out ideologically, geographically, ethnically, etc. It really would be the dream ticket. I think the only ticket from the Republicans that could beat an Obama/Clinton would be a John McCain/Gen. Colin Powell ticket. I don’t think there’s anyone else out there at this time who could get 100,000 at a rally other than Powell, but an Obama/Clinton could!
The only problem I see is President Bill Clinton. It’s the same story as when he was President. He never knew when to keep his mouth shut. I think the best thing to do is to keep sending President George HW Bush (41) and President Bill Clinton off to try and raise money for disasters, or maybe they could go to Israel and the Holy Lands and try and broker (with President Jimmy Carter) a Middle East Peace. Let them go off and make their legacies be what they’ve done after being president.
CNN—9PM CNN projected Barack Obama earns enough delegates to win the Democratic Nomination!!!!
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