After watching Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton indulge in a nasty spat like two little kids in a school yard, I am completely turned off of both of them. The Clintons are playing "two against one", and I sympathized with Obama when he said to Hillary, "Sometimes I'm not sure who I'm running against." I wonder if others besides myself felt the unfairness of the situation, disgust with Hillary, and disappointment with Obama because he wasn't mature enough to avoid taking the bait. Once you do that, you lose control. Neither Obama nor Ms. Clinton came off looking anything but petty.
John Edwards, on the other hand, seemed like the only grown-up in the crowd. He made excellent points, even though he was overshadowed by the ridiculous barbs and accusations of Obama and Clinton, due to the moderator's lack of fairness . Why did Wolf Blitzer let them go on so long with their spat? Was that fair to Edwards? Or to the listeners who wanted to hear what all of them had to say? I am disgusted, because this sort of unfairness deprives us of the opportunity to hear enough from everyone to be able to choose the best person to be the democratic nominee, and thus (we hope) the president.
Just because the media is obsessed with the idea that the nominee will be either Obama or Clinton does not mean the voters agree. In fact, this obsession continues to make it more and more difficult for us to hear what Edwards has to say. Why is there not more fairness in handling the debates? Why should the media be telling us who we can listen to, and who we get to pick from in choosing our nominee or our president?
I'd like to be able to get the media to stop making up our minds for us, and to cover news about the candidates in an unbiased way. The media is supposed to be reporting what happens, not trying to make things happen.
If anyone has any answers to these questions, I'd love to hear them.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
About Voting
When I was born, women did not have the vote. At the time, this was not a matter of great concern to me, I was mainly interested in being fed, dry, and warm. I still like to be fed, dry, and warm but, as soon as I was old enough to vote, voting became even more important than mere physical comfort. It's mind-boggling, now, to realize that once women couldn't vote, or own property, or have control over their money. "What if I couldn't vote?" I asked myself. Politics, candidates, unfairness, laws, ideas for change--all those things I found so fascinating to think about and discuss--all would be beyond my power to affect with a vote, or even a conversation.
I recently heard some young people discussing voting, and opining that it wasn't worth it to vote because "it doesn't make any difference anyway." I wasn't part of the conversation, but would love to have been able to tell them how precious a right it is, the right to vote. I wanted to tell them it's the only way to make their voices heard. And if they don't vote, they have no right to complain about the results, They have to live with them whether they like them or not. If everyone gave up on voting, there would be no democracy. We would be ruled by those who's main interest is to get in power and stay in power.
Sometimes elections are won by very small margins, and those cases demonstrate how important every vote can be. We are lucky to live in a democracy where the voice of the people really counts. Or it does unless we become so apathetic that we don't take any interest. Whoever reads this, whether you are young or old, and whether or not we agree or disagree, please vote. Think about what you want for your city, your state, or for the whole country, and speak up with your vote. Take a serious look at the candidates and ask yourself which ones you would like to have making decisions about your life. Vote!
I recently heard some young people discussing voting, and opining that it wasn't worth it to vote because "it doesn't make any difference anyway." I wasn't part of the conversation, but would love to have been able to tell them how precious a right it is, the right to vote. I wanted to tell them it's the only way to make their voices heard. And if they don't vote, they have no right to complain about the results, They have to live with them whether they like them or not. If everyone gave up on voting, there would be no democracy. We would be ruled by those who's main interest is to get in power and stay in power.
Sometimes elections are won by very small margins, and those cases demonstrate how important every vote can be. We are lucky to live in a democracy where the voice of the people really counts. Or it does unless we become so apathetic that we don't take any interest. Whoever reads this, whether you are young or old, and whether or not we agree or disagree, please vote. Think about what you want for your city, your state, or for the whole country, and speak up with your vote. Take a serious look at the candidates and ask yourself which ones you would like to have making decisions about your life. Vote!
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
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