Warning: Politics
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So I couldn't sleep last night because I was busy making lists in my head of what groceries I'd buy and what food I could make out of said groceries: the things that occupy me late at night. (Protip: Don't do this. It makes you hungry. In the middle of the night.)
So I moved departments at work recently and my new position is all about broadcast news, which means as of last week and this week, it's all politics, all the time. I forgot how invested in politics I could be and how many goddamn feelings I could have - and do have - about everything. It totally counts as a fandom of sorts.
I don't talk politics too often here so forgive me if it picks up (here, on Twitter, on Tumblr, on FB - oops) a bit due to the job (or more likely just this week due to the DNC). Basically, I'm going to ramble a bit. I'm not going to preach to the choir (hopefully), but please, please feel free to scroll if you're just not in the mood for politics right now.
Michelle Obama's speech was the best, everyone agrees. :D I LOVE HER. Watch this entire thing; it's absolutely worth it. She's so inspirational, genuine, dignified, loving. It's amazing.
I have to go find Ann Romney's speech now - I want to listen to it too because everyone in media was talking about what a great speech it was last week after she gave it and how it personalized Mitt Romney (the Robot). Then there were inevitable comparisons after Michelle Obama's speech, of course, but the general consensus was that Michelle was incomparable in her delivery and speech. ♥ One specific thing I did hear was that Michelle used personal anecdotes where Ann didn't, and the American dream/we're in debt and struggling story Michelle told was about her and Barack, whereas for many of the RNC speakers it was more about when their grandparents came to America and their struggles. So, you know. One is more immediate in terms of resonating with the people who are currently struggling.
So far everyone, even Republicans, have agreed that Michelle gave a great speech. Their criticisms seem to be mostly that she is promoting reliance on the government (god forbid) and that her speech focused only on the personal and not the policies (which, WTF, Ann's did the same thing... also Michelle did connect her anecdotes to how the policies Obama was enacting were good, e.g., health care, student loans/financial aid).
EDIT: Two interesting op-eds on the speeches.
1. Ann Romney had to humanize Mitt as the husband and father she trusts and whom we can trust. In that, she was on steady ground in telling her "When Mitt Met Ann" story, positively beaming when she spoke of being a wife and mother. Women in the hall clapped their hands off for that.
But she was not in her element in her evocations of sighing mothers at the end of a hard day, in offering insights and empathy for women and families struggling to pay bills, to buy gas and food. That's too much for her to do. She has neither the personal nor the professional authority to talk about the difficulties of poor, working-class or even middle-class Americans. (source)
2. Michelle Obama and Ann Romney speeches: Agreement that moms are tired on both sides of the aisle. GOP equates parenting with mothering; Democrats seem to see parenting issues as family issues - with Dad just as tired as Mom. (source)
Anyway, a couple of other speeches I particularly enjoyed:
- Julian Castro (Mayor of San Antonio), which I felt like didn't pack the same punch Deval Patrick's did in terms of delivery but which had some brilliant moments, particularly in sharing his personal story and the engagement with the audience on "Romeny said no". (His bootstraps line made me facepalm though. No, the whole point is that you can't actually pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.)
In the end, the American dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon, but a relay. Our families don't always cross the finish line in the span of one generation. But each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor. My grandmother never owned a house. She cleaned other people's houses so she could afford to rent her own. But she saw her daughter become the first in her family to graduate from college. And my mother fought hard for civil rights so that instead of a mop, I could hold this microphone.
And while she may be proud of me tonight, I've got to tell you, Mom, I'm even more proud of you. Thank you, Mom.
Today, my beautiful wife Erica and I are the proud parents of a three-year-old little girl, Carina Victoria, named after my grandmother. [...] She's still young, and her dreams are far off yet, but I hope she'll reach them. As a dad, I'm going to do my part, and I know she'll do hers. But our responsibility as a nation is to come together and do our part, as one community, one United States of America, to ensure opportunity for all of our children.
- Deval Patrick (Governor of Massachusetts), which was a slow build to an incredible crescendo, powerfully delivered, on point for every major platform item, and just awesome.
My message is this - it is time for Democrats to grow a backbone and stand up for what we believe. Quit waiting for pundits or polls or Super PACs to tell us who the next President or senator or congressman will be. We are Americans. We shape our own future.
- Lilly Ledbetter (plaintiff in employment discrimination case, namesake of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009), which was particularly amazing on women's rights, equality, and what Obama has done for us. An added bonus is how very, very Southern she sounds. :)
The President signed the bill for his grandmother, whose dreams hit the glass ceiling, and for his daughters, so that theirs never will. Because of his leadership, women who faced pay discrimination like I did will now get their day in court.
That was the first step but it can't be the last. Because women still earn just 77 cents for every dollar men make. [...] Maybe 23 cents doesn't sound like a lot to someone with a Swiss bank account, Cayman Island Investments and an IRA worth tens of millions of dollars. But Governor Romney, when we lose 23 cents every hour, every day, every paycheck, every job, over our entire lives, what we lose can't just be measured in dollars.
- Also, this woman floors me with how amazing she is: Tammy Duckworth, Asian-American woman, veteran, amputee, and Congressional candidate. Now that is an American hero.
Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat, is the first Thai and Chinese-American, mounting a challenge as a Democrat in Illinois. [Representative Judy] Chu (D-California) describes Duckworth's story as "so compelling" that voters will find her easy to remember.
Duckworth, a captain in the National Guard who piloted Blackhawk helicopters, became one of the first women to fly combat missions in Iraq. On Nov. 12, 2004, a rocket-propelled grenade hit her aircraft. She lost both legs and part of the use of her right arm in the explosion and was awarded the Purple Heart. (source)
Now, one thing that really stood out to me today in all the pundit commentary was that the Democrats' official platform for 2012 does not have the word "God", does not state that Jerusalem is Israel's capital,¹ and does include LGBT rights. Well, the last point is one more touted by the Dems as a good thing; the first two have been raised by pundits as questionable moves by the Dems and may cost them support, particularly from, obviously, the Jewish-Americans. AIPAC (pro-Israel lobbying group) apparently did not approve the platform and its lack of "Jerusalem is the rightful capital" message so... Some politicking may be necessary, say commentators. Catering and/or backpedaling, say I.
And in the time it took me to write up this post at work in an email draft and coming home and reading the headlines - yep, the Dems are putting "God" and "Jerusalem" back into their platform.
¹ For the record, Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel. I feel the need to state that in self-defense, because there are seriously people out there asking what Obama's last name is.
Yeah, so that was a lot of thoughts, sorry. Here is a picture of cute animals to make up for it:
x
Please, please, please remember to vote this November if you can. And specifically, since specificity is great, vote for Obama. (Also remember: Barack Obama supports the correct college basketball team, and that team is UNC. ♥)
So I couldn't sleep last night because I was busy making lists in my head of what groceries I'd buy and what food I could make out of said groceries: the things that occupy me late at night. (Protip: Don't do this. It makes you hungry. In the middle of the night.)
So I moved departments at work recently and my new position is all about broadcast news, which means as of last week and this week, it's all politics, all the time. I forgot how invested in politics I could be and how many goddamn feelings I could have - and do have - about everything. It totally counts as a fandom of sorts.
I don't talk politics too often here so forgive me if it picks up (here, on Twitter, on Tumblr, on FB - oops) a bit due to the job (or more likely just this week due to the DNC). Basically, I'm going to ramble a bit. I'm not going to preach to the choir (hopefully), but please, please feel free to scroll if you're just not in the mood for politics right now.
Michelle Obama's speech was the best, everyone agrees. :D I LOVE HER. Watch this entire thing; it's absolutely worth it. She's so inspirational, genuine, dignified, loving. It's amazing.
Click to viewI have to go find Ann Romney's speech now - I want to listen to it too because everyone in media was talking about what a great speech it was last week after she gave it and how it personalized Mitt Romney (the Robot). Then there were inevitable comparisons after Michelle Obama's speech, of course, but the general consensus was that Michelle was incomparable in her delivery and speech. ♥ One specific thing I did hear was that Michelle used personal anecdotes where Ann didn't, and the American dream/we're in debt and struggling story Michelle told was about her and Barack, whereas for many of the RNC speakers it was more about when their grandparents came to America and their struggles. So, you know. One is more immediate in terms of resonating with the people who are currently struggling.
So far everyone, even Republicans, have agreed that Michelle gave a great speech. Their criticisms seem to be mostly that she is promoting reliance on the government (god forbid) and that her speech focused only on the personal and not the policies (which, WTF, Ann's did the same thing... also Michelle did connect her anecdotes to how the policies Obama was enacting were good, e.g., health care, student loans/financial aid).
EDIT: Two interesting op-eds on the speeches.
1. Ann Romney had to humanize Mitt as the husband and father she trusts and whom we can trust. In that, she was on steady ground in telling her "When Mitt Met Ann" story, positively beaming when she spoke of being a wife and mother. Women in the hall clapped their hands off for that.
But she was not in her element in her evocations of sighing mothers at the end of a hard day, in offering insights and empathy for women and families struggling to pay bills, to buy gas and food. That's too much for her to do. She has neither the personal nor the professional authority to talk about the difficulties of poor, working-class or even middle-class Americans. (source)
2. Michelle Obama and Ann Romney speeches: Agreement that moms are tired on both sides of the aisle. GOP equates parenting with mothering; Democrats seem to see parenting issues as family issues - with Dad just as tired as Mom. (source)
Anyway, a couple of other speeches I particularly enjoyed:
- Julian Castro (Mayor of San Antonio), which I felt like didn't pack the same punch Deval Patrick's did in terms of delivery but which had some brilliant moments, particularly in sharing his personal story and the engagement with the audience on "Romeny said no". (His bootstraps line made me facepalm though. No, the whole point is that you can't actually pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.)
In the end, the American dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon, but a relay. Our families don't always cross the finish line in the span of one generation. But each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor. My grandmother never owned a house. She cleaned other people's houses so she could afford to rent her own. But she saw her daughter become the first in her family to graduate from college. And my mother fought hard for civil rights so that instead of a mop, I could hold this microphone.
And while she may be proud of me tonight, I've got to tell you, Mom, I'm even more proud of you. Thank you, Mom.
Today, my beautiful wife Erica and I are the proud parents of a three-year-old little girl, Carina Victoria, named after my grandmother. [...] She's still young, and her dreams are far off yet, but I hope she'll reach them. As a dad, I'm going to do my part, and I know she'll do hers. But our responsibility as a nation is to come together and do our part, as one community, one United States of America, to ensure opportunity for all of our children.
- Deval Patrick (Governor of Massachusetts), which was a slow build to an incredible crescendo, powerfully delivered, on point for every major platform item, and just awesome.
My message is this - it is time for Democrats to grow a backbone and stand up for what we believe. Quit waiting for pundits or polls or Super PACs to tell us who the next President or senator or congressman will be. We are Americans. We shape our own future.
- Lilly Ledbetter (plaintiff in employment discrimination case, namesake of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009), which was particularly amazing on women's rights, equality, and what Obama has done for us. An added bonus is how very, very Southern she sounds. :)
The President signed the bill for his grandmother, whose dreams hit the glass ceiling, and for his daughters, so that theirs never will. Because of his leadership, women who faced pay discrimination like I did will now get their day in court.
That was the first step but it can't be the last. Because women still earn just 77 cents for every dollar men make. [...] Maybe 23 cents doesn't sound like a lot to someone with a Swiss bank account, Cayman Island Investments and an IRA worth tens of millions of dollars. But Governor Romney, when we lose 23 cents every hour, every day, every paycheck, every job, over our entire lives, what we lose can't just be measured in dollars.
- Also, this woman floors me with how amazing she is: Tammy Duckworth, Asian-American woman, veteran, amputee, and Congressional candidate. Now that is an American hero.
Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat, is the first Thai and Chinese-American, mounting a challenge as a Democrat in Illinois. [Representative Judy] Chu (D-California) describes Duckworth's story as "so compelling" that voters will find her easy to remember.
Duckworth, a captain in the National Guard who piloted Blackhawk helicopters, became one of the first women to fly combat missions in Iraq. On Nov. 12, 2004, a rocket-propelled grenade hit her aircraft. She lost both legs and part of the use of her right arm in the explosion and was awarded the Purple Heart. (source)
Now, one thing that really stood out to me today in all the pundit commentary was that the Democrats' official platform for 2012 does not have the word "God", does not state that Jerusalem is Israel's capital,¹ and does include LGBT rights. Well, the last point is one more touted by the Dems as a good thing; the first two have been raised by pundits as questionable moves by the Dems and may cost them support, particularly from, obviously, the Jewish-Americans. AIPAC (pro-Israel lobbying group) apparently did not approve the platform and its lack of "Jerusalem is the rightful capital" message so... Some politicking may be necessary, say commentators. Catering and/or backpedaling, say I.
And in the time it took me to write up this post at work in an email draft and coming home and reading the headlines - yep, the Dems are putting "God" and "Jerusalem" back into their platform.
¹ For the record, Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel. I feel the need to state that in self-defense, because there are seriously people out there asking what Obama's last name is.
Yeah, so that was a lot of thoughts, sorry. Here is a picture of cute animals to make up for it:
x
Please, please, please remember to vote this November if you can. And specifically, since specificity is great, vote for Obama. (Also remember: Barack Obama supports the correct college basketball team, and that team is UNC. ♥)