I truly cannot believe the political and media circus surrounding the proposed economic bailout.
I've had a lot of time on my hands during the past few days, and I've watched a lot of CNN and MSNBC. Not to mention CSPAN. On Monday I got the second series of cortisone shots in my lower back, and I was on bedrest for several days. I thought I'd be napping and watching a few Netflix films, but the circus on the news stations was just too compelling to turn off.
I need to mention: I usually don't sit and watch the news.
I thought that Lou Dobbs and Jack Cafferty were going to burst some blood vessels, expressing their respective outrage. I'm glad that someone in the public eye is outraged.
When I heard that John McCain suspended his campaign, my first thought was: WHAT A CAMPAIGN PLOY! He's starting to lag in the polls, so this will give him some momentum. Oh, doesn't he look "Presidential" dropping his "unimportant" election campaign, cancelling Friday's debate, and rushing back to to Washington -- to do what -- totally screw up the proceedings! Then he blows off David Letterman, opting instead to take an interview with Katie Couric. Oh, how I enjoyed watching Letterman rip him last night! I really hope that McCain's kneejerk reaction will cost him votes.
And yes, why doesn't he just send Sarah Palin to debate in his place? Or better yet, change around the debate schedule, so that the VICE PRESIDENTIAL debate takes place tomorrow night! Oh, what a fun night of TV viewing that would be. Personally, I believe that McCain is trying to make it impossible for Palin to debate. I think he's afraid of what she would say. If Friday's Presidential debate is cancelled (a travesty IMO), then they will have less time to hold 3 Presidential debates (necessary to declare a winner of 2-out-of-3), so the next logical decison would be to cancel the Vice Presidential debate, which is much less important. Well...it's less important unless you were looking forward to Sarah Palin making a fool of herself on international TV.
Speaking of Sarah Palin....didn't you just LOVE the way that the President of Pakistan practically jumped out of his pants, gushing that Sarah Palin was "more gorgeous in person" and wanting to hug her? Hell, let's just nominate the next Penthouse Pet to be Vice President! Then all the male world leaders can be pussy whipped into submission, and world dominance would be ours!
But, I digress...
The bailiout. Or as George W calls it, "the rescue." I don't totally agree with this bailout stuff, but frankly -- like many Americans -- I'm not an economics expert. I'm perplexed that Obama is agreeing that some sort of plan must be drafted. I would like to hear more objections from him, or at least a sentence beginning with "I do not agree that the Federal Government should get involved with private business failures, but...."
I have a plan: let the greedy unethical corporations go down. Save the corporations and programs that will affect the little guy. Of course, there's no easy way to do that, so I suppose some sort of blanket plan must be drafted. I kept hoping to hear Obama say something along the lines of "This is bullshit," but I suppose he walks a slippery slope on this huge issue.
What really bothers me about this whole thing is that it is predicated on fear. I haven't heard one single economics expert explain EXACTLY what could LOGICALLY happen if no plan were enacted. Surely, among all the highly educated experts in this country, SOMEONE can draw up a flow chart that is more specific than "...many banks will fail, perhaps some in your town." Don't you just love the way that George W dumbed down his speech? Now children, Daddy knows best, so I'll put it in a way you're going to understand....
Yes, I understand. Nobody was watching the store. George W, can you please explain WHY nobody was watching the store, instead of merely telling us that now we're really in a pickle? I swear, it's like a Paddy Chafesky story!
Did you see the footage of Paulson from March 2008, stating that the economy was sound? How about the footage George W stating the same thing in July 2008? Are these guys total morons, or are they just backpeddling? How could they have not known that a crisis like this could be looming? When Bear Stearns, AIG, Lehman Brothers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac got into trouble, you think they'd have said, somwhere along the line MONTHS ago, "Gee, this really has potential for trouble, maybe we should do something about this now?" Instead they waited until they could whip Wall Street into a frenzy.
My husband has joked, on many occassions, that George W Bush is really working for Al Qaeda to ruin this country. I always chuckled at his comment, but lately I'm beginning to think he may be right.
Taking a cue from Paddy Chafesky, let's all open our windows, and yell at the top of our lungs, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
On second thought, instead of yelling it from our windows, let's yell it from the voting booths on November 4th. Let's elect Barack Obama in a landslide victory.
Tonight I came across an interesting phenomenon. Apparently in YouTube there is a challenge going on amongst younger people -- get 5 total strangers to register to vote, document it on video, and upload it to YouTube. When you get 5 people to vote, you hand the last person 5 voter registration forms (in other words, "tag, now you're it,") and tell them to find 5 people to register.
I'm really touched by this YouTube "game" because it helps get kids involved in democracy. It gets them excited about helping to ensure that as many US citizens are registered as possible. And it's fun. Not to mention, it is really making a difference!
Here's a link to the report, which I found on CNN.com:
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-89335
You can see more voter vlogs here on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22voter+vlog%22&search_type=&aq=f
If this inspires you, then make your own Voter Vlog and sign up some total strangers to vote!
I keep telling people that my time lately is "fragmeneted" and that is indeed an understatement.
Like most "soccer moms" in this town I do a lot of driving -- a lot of constant errands.
I run an internet business from home, so in the mornings after I see my kids off to school, I take care of customers, order inventory, and generally make sure that things are running smoothly. Sometimes it takes up more of my day than I had planned.
In the afternoon it's time to pick up the kids, help with homework, do other errands, and catch up with whatever else is going on. Evening is time to make dinner and sit down for a few minutes.
Enter into this equation my back pain. I've been battling an episode of back pain for the past 18 months. The pain comes and goes, depending on what I'm doing. I have a herniated disc. I have tried all sorts of treatments to no avail. The one thing I hadn't tried was cortisone shots. So now I'm getting epidural cortisone shots and starting at a new physical therapy place. I got my first shot in mid-August on one side of my back. That side has stopped hurting, but now the other side is painful. Which means....another shot, this time on the opposite side.
The cortisone shot is given at a "surgery center" and I must lie flat on my back for 24 hours afterward. For the rest of that week, I must take it extremely easy -- don't drive, don't lift anything, don't sit too long....you get the picture....couch potato for days on end. Thankfully my husband can work his flexible schedule around this to "pick up the slack" at home and for my business. After one week of being a couch potato, I go to physical therapy. Physical therapy takes up 2 hours of my day twice a week. Typically I am in some level of pain or discomfort afterwards, so again I need to take it easy for a day or two. It's no fun. I have to re-arrange my life around pain or potential pain.
Have I mentioned yet how much I hate this entire scenario? I'm an active person and I hate being "laid up." But for the past 18 months I've had to slow down and learn to be patient.
As if that isn't enough, I learned recently that I have a sinus condition that requires surgery. So I'm scheduled for sinus surgery on October 24th. When I realized that this would interfere with helping the Obama campaign in its final hours, I decided that I am going to do as much as I can before that date.
Anyway, that's my tale of woe. That's why I'm mainly making phone calls from home, and signing up for voter registraitons when I know I have time AND will probably not be in pain for whatever reason.
Truthfully, volunteering for this campaign has really been a bright spot for me in the past few months. I look forward to it, and it makes me feel good.
This week I'm calling the balance of my internet-assigned voters in California. Then I'll resume calling Nevada.
The most interesting call I took was from the widow of country singer Warren Purcell. She told me about the book she's writing about their years on the road, opening for acts like Johnny Cash. That was a fun conversation. She lives in Nevada and is "definitely" voting for Obama.
I don't have to tell you why it's important that Obama win this election. If you're here on this website, you already know, and you probably feel the same way I do.
I've never been a political person. I've always been a Democrat, but until recently I've never been interested in getting involved in politics, and I certainly didn't want to spend any of my free time being involved in any sort of campaign. I'm a busy person. I always thought that volunteering for a campaign was best left to people more zealous and informed than I. After all, I don't know all the issues. I only graze the headlines. I don't like to debate people and I certainly don't want to get into arguments.
But a few months ago, my perspective changed. I wasn't paying attention when Obama spoke at the last Democratic convention four years ago -- I didn't even watch that convention. Until this year, I'd never heard of Barack Obama.
As the weeks went on, I voted for Obama in the primary. After he won the nomination, I came to realize that it was absolutely crucial that he win this election (especially after McCain announced his running mate). I was in a depressed funk for weeks after Gore lost 8 years ago. It occurred to me that this time I could help make it happen. Little me, doing my part a few hours per week -- I could help bring about this change that we so desperately need.
So in the middle of all my family commitments, my recurring back pain, my sinus problems, and running my internet business, I signed up to volunteer for the Democratic Party. Seeing that the county HQ was located on El Camino in my town helped, too! You have to understand -- I usually don't volunteer for ANYTHING, so this is a big deal for me.
So far, volunteering for Obama's campaign has been a lot of fun. I've met a lot of nice people who have a tremendous amount of energy and dedication. They need a lot of help, but nobody is pressuring me to do more than I can manage (which I really appreciate -- I don't have time to be a team leader or anything). I learned how to register voters, and have done that a few times, and will continue to help with registration into October.
I also learned how to do canvas calling to voters in Nevada...and then learned that I can do it from home via my computer....which is what I've been doing for the past couple of weeks! Calling from home works out great, because I can give more of my time making the calls when I have a free 30 minutes or hour throughout the day and evening. I have gotten into some very interesting conversations with people, and only a few of them have been rude or have hung up on me.
I've also called potential volunteer candidates in California who are on the Obama list. I tell them how to get involved locally. Many of them have been thinking about getting involved but don't know how to start. Like me, they say that they don't have time to commit to anything. I tell them that even if they have an hour per week, they can help make a difference. When they get off the phone with me, they have the number of their local Obama HQ and the information about the website. All it takes is one phone call to turn someone from "stalled" to "excited and involved."
I figure that if I can give a few hours of my time each week from now until Nov. 4th, I'll sleep better at night knowing that I've done all I can to help make this happen. I feel that I'm setting a great example for my kids (they say that they're proud of my efforts), and I'm trying to convince my husband (another busy non-joiner) to make some phone calls with me.
I think the thing that energizes me the most is that I know there are people just like me throughout the country doing their small part to help get Barack elected this November. This is what sets us apart from McCain's campaign. McCain's people would like to win, but we feel that we need to win.
To me, this election is about more than just making sure that my vote is counted. This time, I want to make sure that my candidate actually takes power in the White House next year.
