Well, CNN just called it. Barack Obama is the next president of the United States of America. And all I can do is cry.
This is historic.
As a nation, we have taken one step closer to becoming color blind. As demographics are changing across the nation, this is only the first step.
GO OBAMA!!
Two things that is:
On November 3rd, my phone will be safe to answer again. I won’t have to worry about picking up the phone and being accosted by some robotic voice telling me who to vote for and how awful the other guy is.
I’ll also be able to watch TV without having to fast forward through a zillion political commercials. I’m starting to like seeing them in double time. It’s TV for cats. Lots of photos that really don’t have anything to do with each other.
The doorbell won’t randomly ring and scare the cats to death. Although, with Saki having to spend time in the basement, when the doorbell rings, it finally shuts him up for a few minutes. I’ve shaken hands with more politicians this season than I ever have in my life.
The mailbox will be safe from the thousand or so political flyers that I get every day:
Project 365 – No. 72 (November 1, 2008)
This was the haul from Saturday. I have no clue who these people are or what they are pushing. I guess I should be a better voter and read them, but I prefer to get my information from a neutral source like www.ihatepolitics.com or www.bobalexanderrules.com. Every time we get something from Bob Alexander, I think of the movie Dave.
With this next photo, I am officially up to date with Project 365 photos.
Project 365 – No. 73 (November 2, 2008)
It’s official, winter is here. Our first fire of the season! Fuzz is definitely enjoying it.
Stay warm, light a fire (in the appropriate place!), grab a cat and a glass of wine and enjoy the madness of the last 48 hours of the election season. No matter what happens, we’re going to make history!
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A student sent me this the other day:
Memo to Palin: Fruit Fly Research Has Led To Advances in Understanding Autism
Sometimes, projects that seem absolutely ridiculous can lead to important advances and insights, and sometimes not. Research is important not just for the information that it leads to, but also for the training in problem solving and project development that students receive. Don’t take away our funding!
Warning: This post may contain themes (skin color and politics) that are offensive to you. It may also include ideas and thoughts that are only half thought out. But these things have been bugging my for awhile and what else is a blog good for if to be an open diary and a place to formulate opinions and ideas?
I was talking to someone awhile ago, back in the time when it still wasn’t clear if one of the major parties would nominate a woman or a man for the big spot on the ticket when they mentioned this:
“You know, I’m just not ready for a woman [president] or for a ….. well, you know.”
And what made me sad is that this person expected me to know exactly what they were talking about.
I tried to engage the person in a conversation to figure out what bothered them so much about Obama being in the White House, but to no avail. They are pretty staunchly Red State, and their opinion seemed to me to be a rationalization of the reasons to support the “other guy”.
But it wasn’t until today when Husband read me the results of a poll by the AP-Yahoo News that I realized how important and pervasive the issue of skin color issue is to some people.
I’ll admit; I’ve lived in a bubble for the past 10 years. Being a member of academia has meant that I’ve lived in college towns and worked with some pretty liberal people. Their attitudes must have rubbed off on me because I find myself classifying student by labels like “Male or Female” and “Bio Major or Chem Major”.
So when I read the article I was surprised and distressed. It boggles my mind that someone wouldn’t vote for a candidate simply based on skin color. I understand disliking a candidate because of his stance on the issues, or how he conducts his campaign, but on the color of his skin? Because, really, how important is it? Do you think that you are so different than he is? I can barely convince myself to vacuum, much less run the country. I am amazed when students make the effort to come to office hours, much less criss-cross the country giving speeches everyday. I have only admiration for anyone who puts themselves through the wringer campaigning for President.
It also bothers me that there is no accountability for a choice based on this. If you were at work and didn’t chose to promote someone because of skin color, you could be held liable. If you are a police officer, discriminating based on skin color will cost you your job. But when it comes to the polls and voting booths, there are no consequences if you choose based on little more than skin color and deeply held “racial” issues.
Remember, this is the 21st century. Didn’t we leave our prejudices behind on the back seat of an Alabama bus? We can cheer for an athlete as she wins the gold medal in Beijing without resorting to sniggering about skin color. We watch 24 and see David Palmer as the president, and no one cares. It’s time to realize that to survive in a global economy, we need to be color blind.
If campaigns were held over the radio or from the back of train cars, would you even care what a candidate looked like? Franklin D. Roosevelt was confined to a wheelchair after contracting polio and still he is ranked as one of the top three presidents in history. If he were forced to run for president in the electronic age, he would have no chance at the White House because of the wheel chair.
So the point of this? Close your eyes and LISTEN to what the candidates are saying while on the campaign trail. Take the time to do a little research (and quit reading this blog!!) on the issues that are important to you.
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Added later: And the same holds true for people who won’t vote for the McCain/Palin ticket because of gender issues. Quit thinking this is the 1940’s!
Use your vote to vote FOR something you believe in, and not AGAINST a certain person/ideology/whatever.
It’s no secret what’s happening in the America right now. Elections. You can’t turn on the TV or radio or open a magazine without seeing something about the elections. Obama, McCain. McCain, Obama. One way or another, we will have a history making administration in the White House.
I have my opinions about who I want in the big seat. But I’m much more excited about the VP choices. Biden is amazing when it come to foreign policy and his know-how in Washington and choosing Palin is a stroke of political genius by the Republican party. I guess it all depends on what you want out of the VP.
Hubby had a great quote:
Obama picked Biden to help him govern; McCain picked Palin to help him win.
Being a scientist, I’m interested in what the candidates plan to do with the National Science Foundation and how they plan on increasing both mathematical and scientific literacy in the country. That’s why I think you should look at this site:
http://www.sciencedebate2008.com/www/index.php?id=40
A group of science and engineering nerds got together and came up with a list of questions they’d like to ask the candidates. It was narrowed down to a mere 14 questions. They submitted the questions to the candidates and sat back and waited. As of yet, only Obama has returned any answers. And to tell you the truth, I’m pretty impressed with his answers. Especially the fact that either he or his advisors actually know what STEM is!
But wait you might say. Technically McCain isn’t the Republican nominee yet! He still has a few days before he has to do this. Ok, ok. You have a point. Obama was “nominated” on 8/28 and the website published answers on 8/31. McCain, you have 3 days!!
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Project 365 – No. 10 (August 31, 2008)
Our friends Gavin and Claire. They came over for dinner on Sunday night. I bored them for about an hour with photos from the Italy trip.
Project 365 – No. 11 (September 1, 2008)
Labor Day was a day of labor for me. Husband and Indi spent the day non-laboring. She was very happy to have him all to herself.
Project 365 – No. 12 (September 2, 2008)
I grew the coolest crystals, all by accident. i did a reaction and set one of the extractions aside, hoping that more product would precipitate out. I forgot about it and the whole beaker evaporated. I was cleaning up my hood (well, actually my student’s hood. I was just making a mess in there.) and found the beaker. These are the coolest crystals I have ever seen. No clue what they are, but I’m saving it because they are pretty.
Project 365 – No. 13 (September 3, 2008)
Guess that instrument! The spectroscopy lab took apart one of the instruments today to see it’s innerds. Hint: the black tube on the left is a HeNe laser.
