Primaries
Hey, somebody I like/voted for actually won an election! Congratulations, Barack Obama! And thanks to Hillary Clinton for "suspending" her campaign, although my understanding is that "suspending" it means she retains her delegates and could, theoretically, start it up again. Hopefully that won't happen. I sincerely admire her "it-ain't-over-til-its-over" attitude; truly I do, because it made the South Dakota primary important for the first time since I've been eligible to vote (which, granted, has been a comparatively short amount of time), but once the primary's over, I think it's time to throw in the towel. I know there's the controversy about the Florida and Michigan thing and emotions are still running high, but I think they came to an equitable arrangement (while they shouldn't have broken the rules and should suffer the consequences, the rules aren't entirely fair to begin with; the big states shouldn't get to have all their primaries at once and decide things before we little states get to have our say), so hopefully everybody can agree to just let it go, but I won't breathe entirely easily until after the convention when the nomination is formalized and finalized.
As some of you know, I was on vacation last week visiting my parents, and I try not to discuss politics with my parents because I don't want to run the risk of getting into an argument with them. Their point of view tends to be somewhat conservative, and its funny because as I examine my personal and political beliefs I notice that my personal beliefs--that is, the decisions I have made on how to live my own life--also tend to be rather conservative, but those beliefs/decisions don't necessarily inform my political beliefs, because I don't believe that the way I have chosen to live is necessarily the best way for everyone to live. Anyway, it's good to know that whatever political differences I may have with my parents, we share a deep and abiding dislike and distrust of Hillary Clinton and the Clintons in general (actually, I kind of like Chelsea; or at least she hasn't done anything to piss me off yet, and I really feel sorry for her because of all the crazy sh!t her parents have put her through).
Another funny thing happened over my vacation relating to Hillary Clinton: on Monday I went to visit my friend Julie in Rapid City because that was her day off, and she took me downtown to show me where she worked, and for window-shopping and sight-seeing. Well, South Dakota "cities" tend to have small, narrow, downtown streets with limited parking anyway, and on the way there we encountered a cop redirecting traffic, so we had to circle the block and find another place to park and then walk back down. We didn't know what was going on; I was just hoping it wasn't an accident or something like that. Julie works at a store about three doors up from the historic Hotel Alex Johnson, so when we walked to the end of that block we saw more cops and streets being blocked off and crowds and crowds of people holding up Hillary signs (and they do all say "Hillary," with no mention of her last name, so I just want to point out that I mean no disrespect by referring to her only by her given name). This made me laugh; I had heard on the news that she and her family were planning a last whirlwind tour of the state before the primary the next day, but I didn't pay attention to where, specifically, they would be; it never crossed my mind that Hillary planning to be in Rapid on the same day that I planned to be would affect me. And indeed, it didn't affect me much at all, apart from minorly inconveniencing me; I was just relieved that no one died or anything like that.
It was also funny because when we got to the store where Julie works, the lady behind the counter (I assume her boss, but I'm not sure) asked her if she was downtown to see Hillary, and Julie said simply, "No." Which was not remarkable in and of itself; if you know Julie, you know that she tends to be rather laconic, but her tone of voice struck me as really funny, and unfortunately I can't do it justice by describing it. On the surface it sounded entirely polite and conversational and casual and non-committal (which again is pretty much the way she always talks) but there was this undertone to it, like, "No, and I'm surprised and slightly offended that you could suppose such a thing of me." It was funny, but I guess you had to be there.
Later we were just walking along browsing in the other stores downtown (which seem to consist mostly of antique stores and bridal shops), and we were looking around in this antique store when a woman who--I assume--knew the proprietors came bouncing in squealing "Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!!11!!" and going on and on about how she saw her! and she got to shake her hand! After we left that store and walked a ways down the street we went into this Catholic gift/bookstore to which Julie had never been, and it was kind of a relief to know that, more than likely, no one would come bopping in squealing about meeting Hillary.
As some of you know, I was on vacation last week visiting my parents, and I try not to discuss politics with my parents because I don't want to run the risk of getting into an argument with them. Their point of view tends to be somewhat conservative, and its funny because as I examine my personal and political beliefs I notice that my personal beliefs--that is, the decisions I have made on how to live my own life--also tend to be rather conservative, but those beliefs/decisions don't necessarily inform my political beliefs, because I don't believe that the way I have chosen to live is necessarily the best way for everyone to live. Anyway, it's good to know that whatever political differences I may have with my parents, we share a deep and abiding dislike and distrust of Hillary Clinton and the Clintons in general (actually, I kind of like Chelsea; or at least she hasn't done anything to piss me off yet, and I really feel sorry for her because of all the crazy sh!t her parents have put her through).
Another funny thing happened over my vacation relating to Hillary Clinton: on Monday I went to visit my friend Julie in Rapid City because that was her day off, and she took me downtown to show me where she worked, and for window-shopping and sight-seeing. Well, South Dakota "cities" tend to have small, narrow, downtown streets with limited parking anyway, and on the way there we encountered a cop redirecting traffic, so we had to circle the block and find another place to park and then walk back down. We didn't know what was going on; I was just hoping it wasn't an accident or something like that. Julie works at a store about three doors up from the historic Hotel Alex Johnson, so when we walked to the end of that block we saw more cops and streets being blocked off and crowds and crowds of people holding up Hillary signs (and they do all say "Hillary," with no mention of her last name, so I just want to point out that I mean no disrespect by referring to her only by her given name). This made me laugh; I had heard on the news that she and her family were planning a last whirlwind tour of the state before the primary the next day, but I didn't pay attention to where, specifically, they would be; it never crossed my mind that Hillary planning to be in Rapid on the same day that I planned to be would affect me. And indeed, it didn't affect me much at all, apart from minorly inconveniencing me; I was just relieved that no one died or anything like that.
It was also funny because when we got to the store where Julie works, the lady behind the counter (I assume her boss, but I'm not sure) asked her if she was downtown to see Hillary, and Julie said simply, "No." Which was not remarkable in and of itself; if you know Julie, you know that she tends to be rather laconic, but her tone of voice struck me as really funny, and unfortunately I can't do it justice by describing it. On the surface it sounded entirely polite and conversational and casual and non-committal (which again is pretty much the way she always talks) but there was this undertone to it, like, "No, and I'm surprised and slightly offended that you could suppose such a thing of me." It was funny, but I guess you had to be there.
Later we were just walking along browsing in the other stores downtown (which seem to consist mostly of antique stores and bridal shops), and we were looking around in this antique store when a woman who--I assume--knew the proprietors came bouncing in squealing "Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!!11!!" and going on and on about how she saw her! and she got to shake her hand! After we left that store and walked a ways down the street we went into this Catholic gift/bookstore to which Julie had never been, and it was kind of a relief to know that, more than likely, no one would come bopping in squealing about meeting Hillary.