A Word from Atop the Soapbox

*climbs onto soapbox*

Time to revisit the Hos Before Bros argument again, y'all...

This corporation has a strict 'bros before hos' policy.
~ 30 Rock
(THE best comedy on TV today -- season premiere is THIS Thursday on NBC. Watch. For me. Thankyew.)

I am a woman. Obviously.

I vote. Also pretty apparent.

So, using what I recall as basic equation logic... does it follow that a voting woman automatically has to vote for a woman?

Must I apply the adage 'hos before bros' to this situation?

I’m all about Girl Power. Giving a boost to other members of my gender whenever possible. I belong to a women-only volunteer organization -- was even president of said group. Fact: Women are notoriously tough on other women (I can say that because (a) I am one and (b) I’ve witnessed this first-hand.) And I work really hard not to be one of those kinds of chicks. Empowerment. Support. Validation. All important to me.

Being as woman-centric as I am, I’ve been asked the following question more than once: "Aren’t you voting for Sarah Palin?"

Hmmm. Do I have to vote for a woman candidate? Am I obligated by common physical composition to support the chick on the ballot?

Therein lies the rub. And the conundrum facing female voters this election season.

I say no.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey, MSNBC, CNN, and yes, NOW (and doesn't that one hurt the most): I just got back from the big secret National Vagina Convention and we decided that women are in fact capable of independent thought and are not contractually obligated to check the box for the candidate with the box.
~ a very pithy and wise poster, screen name Francie Nolan, from Television without Pity.com

When I vote, I give serious time and thought to how and for whom I’m going to give my support. My choices are totally based on the individual. Not gender. Not race. The person. Especially in such a critical election as the one before us.

I totally agree that this campaign season is groundbreaking, with each ticket sporting candidates with labels that heretofore have not been seen in viable candidates. It’s historical and I’m thrilled I have the opportunity to participate in this scene-changing election.

But I don’t vote based on labels.

Just because I have a vagina doesn’t mean I’m genetically obligated to vote for a candidate with a vagina.

Just because I’m a Caucasian doesn’t mean I have to vote for the candidate that looks the most like me.

Just because I’m a WASP doesn’t mean I have to vote for the WASPy-ish candidate.

Just because I’m a church-going Christian does not mean I have to vote with the evangelically preferred candidate. (Want my take on this? Check this blog post out...)

When it comes to stuff like this, I think with my head and my heart, not my reproductive organs or the color of my skin or my religious preference or my ethnic background.

I vote for the person. And what she or he has to say. How they conduct themselves. What they believe in -- and how that works with what I believe in.

Frankly, I don’t need to vote for a woman to demonstrate that I support my gender. I put my time and my money where my mouth is on that one. I’m voting with an eye towards the future -- not for a fight that’s already been settled for the most part. In theory anyway. Believe me, I’m grateful to the thoughtful and smart women who came before me and fought to insure that I would and could be taken as seriously in any workplace as a man. I watched the news when I was a wee lass, seeing Betty Friedan and Bella Abzug with her fab hats, speaking on behalf of, well, me. Young as I was. I read the papers and newsmagazines -- Gloria Steinem was all over the place. I sang along with Helen Reddy... "I am woman/Hear me roar."

Too young to participate, but old enough to watch and appreciate.

Things are different now for my gender, in the workplace and in our American society. For the most part and if you're looking at the big picture...however, I will admit there are still issues. But that’s another rant for another day.

Anyway.

The things my peers and I are concerned about -- balancing work and family and money and self -- are issues relevant to everyone.

It’s not a woman thing. It’s not a man thing. It’s a person thing.

I would be doing myself and the country and yes, my gender, a disservice by automatically and rotely voting for the female candidate -- any female candidate. The struggle to give women the right to vote would be seriously marginalized if mandates were placed, even informally and societally, on for whom we cast our vote. We’ve come too far for such insulting and demeaning histrionics.

And yes, the female vote is, once again, critical to the success of the candidates. Soccer moms, urbanistas, seniors, single chicks. All important. Wonder if Susan B. Anthony ever anticipated that our reproductive organs would become such hot commodities and bargaining chips when she helmed the suffragette movement... what would she say about all of this?

By the way, the candidates on my preferred ticket... both men.

I think I’m a better woman for supporting them.

Does feminist mean large unpleasant person who'll shout at you or someone who believes women are human beings. To me it's the latter, so I sign up.
~ Margaret Atwood

A Word from Atop the Soapbox

The concept of religion and politics is on my mind a lot these days. Can't escape it -- it's everywhere. And intermingled. Uncomfortably so, at least from where I sit.

I've rewound and updated a piece I wrote on this very subject back in the winter. My position and feeling haven't changed, so why reinvent the wheel. Although I'm more passionate about where I stand than ever.

And ps: that's not being lazy -- I prefer to think I'm being pragmatic.

~~~~~~~~~~
“What’s that on your shirt?” the old friend of the family asked me as we made small-talk during halftime of the Florida/Auburn game in 1992 (which the Gators won, 24-9, by the way.)

“Excuse me?” I looked down to see if there was an errant smudge of ketchup from my hot dog or a dribble of soda dotting the landscape.

He pointed to a button I was wearing, smiling with a slight malicious glint. “That right there. It looks like a bird took a crap on your shoulder.”

“No, nothing wrong there, Mr. So-and-So. Everything looks nice and clean to me.”

The button in question:

He continued poking his Republican stick at me, despite the fact that the teams were running back onto the field.

“I didn’t think Baptists voted for Democrats. That doesn’t seem right.”

“Yes sir, we do. We vote for whoever we like. Making conscious decisions is a very Baptist thing to do.”

“But...”

Fortunately, before he could bait me any further, it was time for the third quarter to start. In our world, Gator football often supersedes anything else, including politics and religion. Or the uncomfortable intermingling of the two. Good thing too -- I was going to have to try to reconcile my innate instinct to be polite to one’s elders with my overwhelming need to speak my mind in the face of cloaked hostility.

Thank goodness we won that game. And the election. "We" being a relative term, natch.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fast forward ahead 16 years. It’s February 2008. I’m walking across the parking lot of the church I’ve attended since I was in the womb after going to my weekly interdenominational women’s bible study. (It’s a lovely coincidence that my church graciously hosts this wonderful activity.) I notice a couple of women looking at my car a little oddly. Flat tire? Big scratch on the side? A present left by a passing-by seagull?

Nope. They’re staring at my bumper sticker.



In a sea of cars with RUDY! and MITT!* adhered to chrome and windshields, my little oval declaration of devotion to Obama sticks out. Like a sore thumb.

*Update note: those stickers have been replaced with McCain/Palin stickers. And mine now says Obama/Biden. In case you were wondering...

Today, the Presidential election begins in earnest following the official declarations of the major party candidates. It's going to be a crazy eight weeks until election day, with passions running high and people expressing their viewpoints. That's a good thing -- it's better to be involved and invested in the process. And I'm a firm believer in the concept of "if you don't vote, you forfeit your right to bitch about the outcome."

But with the inclusion of a very conservative Christian female into the candidate mix, the lines between politics and religion will become even more blurry, I fear. Toss in that whole "gender solidarity" crap argument that will inevitably come my way once again and you've got a real savory -- and not necessarily in a good way -- mix.

I’m used to being the odd woman out in my groups of real-life friends and acquaintances when it comes to the intermingling of politics and religion. Not often you meet a white female liberal Democrat Baptist in the South. I’m the only one I know. Notice I didn’t say Southern Baptist -- even though my church fell into that category when I was growing up, we’ve totally moved out and away from that realm and fall on the much more moderate side of things. A main reason why I still attend there, actually.

While I take both my religion and my politics very, very seriously, I’m not crazy about mixing the two, however -- it’s like a bizzaro version of that old commercial for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (“You got chocolate in my peanut butter! You got peanut butter on my chocolate!”)

“You got your politics involved in my religion!”

“You got your religion involved in my politics!”

Neither option is nearly as tasty as that Reese’s cup. These days, anyway. But I’m very cognizant of the fact that religious activism played a huge part in the mobilization of such political movements as abolition and civil rights. And sincere religious rhetoric is an intrinsic component to many landmark American speeches -- both Dr. King and President Lincoln freely evoked their personal religious beliefs in their statements -- which we simply view now as a matter of course.

All that being said, there’s no way the two can completely be severed from one another -- it’s just not how our society works these days. But... our country was indeed founded on the separate principles of religious and political freedom...

History review time! (thanks, Wikipedia!)
The separation of church and state is a legal and political principle derived from the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . ." The phrase "separation of church and state", which does not appear in the Constitution itself, is generally traced to an 1802 letter by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists, where Jefferson spoke of the combined effect of the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. It has since been quoted in several opinions handed down by the United States Supreme Court.

~~~~~~~~~~

Maybe I’m more adamant about this than most because I am a lone little idealistic soul out in the world in which I travel -- the liberal apologist thinker in a tank of more moderate conservative voices. It’s a hard place to be sometimes -- right about the time of the ‘92 elections, I was the coordinator of the singles Sunday School group at church. And in our pre-packed lesson material one quarter was a session about abortion. You can imagine what position the materials advocated taking. Fortunately, the wonderful woman who was our class teacher had a problem with it as well -- even though I am sure we had differing opinions on the subject itself, we both agreed that Sunday School was not the best forum for such a topic and inevitable discussion, and so we opted to take a sidebar and talk about something else that day. Thank goodness.

There's also the issue of defining what is and isn't, in our human world, the will of God. Read an article this week about some comments Governor Palin made regarding God's will, the war in Iraq and a plan to build a $30 billion natural gas pipeline in her home state of Alaska.

OK then. Not my take on things. But whatever.

There's an example of the intermingling of politics and religion from the other side of the room: religion being interjected into politics. Still makes me uncomfortable. Again, maybe that's just me. And for the record, I'm uncomfortable when ANY politics intervenes in religion, my personal viewpoints included. Just so you know.

What’s interesting to me in this ideological give-and-take is the fact that conservative values often get classified as the singular religious values. Or the only family values. To me, they are different things. And now with the teen pregnancy situation the Palins are dealing with, the "family values" argument is taking on yet another hue. A very personal family matter is going to have to unfold in a spotlight, which is going to compound already difficult circumstances. (Here's hoping everyone involved can be left alone as much as possible.)

Lines have gotten blurred across the board. The conservative thinkers have bogarted the market on all things religious and family-oriented, when in fact, they’re not the only playahs in pews on Sunday morning or Saturday night or whenever. Not from where I sit, anyway (Four rows back from the platform on the right in the sanctuary. Yes, the right. I like the view lines from there. At least in church.) We may not be as vocal, but we're there.

~~~~~~~~~~

I saw a bumper sticker the other day on my way home from taking Will to school that gave me a laugh, a wave of hope and a feeling of solidarity. I'm not the only one who thinks this way. Hooray!

Yeah. I’m a member of the Religious Left. And proud of it. Nice to have a label -- even a loose one -- for where I hang in this crazy melange of people trying to do the business of life based on their personal moral compass. I’m in good company, too, per wikipedia: FDR. Jimmy Carter. Harry Truman. Al Gore. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Stephen Colbert (cool!)

And Barack Obama.

In my ‘net hunt to discover more about what makes the Religious Left tick, I’ve read some really interesting things; seen the word “socialism” used more than once in context; and reaffirmed within myself the values I hold dear. Both religiously and politically.

So the next time I cause a spectacle in my church parking lot with my Obama/Biden sticker or when I speak out about my opposition to mandatory prayer in schools or voice my opinions (softly but intelligently) on the creationism versus evolution brouhaha, I will do so with a little more confidence. And passion. Not only because it’s what I believe in my heart is right, but because I know I’m not alone. Hallelujah. Amen.

Talkin' 'bout my generation

I stand here today at the crosscurrents of that history -- knowing that my piece of the American Dream is a blessing hard won by those who came before me... All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won't do -- that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be.

And that is the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack's journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope.

That is why I love this country.
~ Michelle Obama

My favorite cerebral sporting event started last night. The Democratic National Convention. Nice of it to follow so closely the end of the Olympics so that I wouldn’t have to go through Big Televised Event withdrawal.

I love watching the convention activity. The conceptual come to life in the form of exuberant delegates (dressed with an eye towards making a statement -- and not necessarily a fashion one, either) and passionate speeches. The spectacle. The pomp. The circumstance.

It’s one bigass ideological pep rally. Go Team! Let’s be the champions!

I watch these things with a biased eye. My mind is already made up regarding the candidate I’m supporting. Has been for a very long time, actually.

Horn Toot Alert: I got on board the Obama train right about the time he formed his exploratory committee in January 2007... check me out!

Given that predisposition, I tune in and observe the convention shenanigans only partially from an intellectual standpoint. I do like to soak up the rhetoric and the vibe. But, as I discovered last night, I watch primarily, at least this go-round, with my heart. My emotions.

At my core, deep inside where my basic essence resides, I am an idealist. A glass-half-full kinda chick. And intellectually, I know that many things that are bandied about are pure rhetoric and abstracts designed to set tone and hit people just where it’s all hitting me -- in the heart.

I know that this part of me is naive -- politics is never as noble as it is made out to be during such subjective showcases as party conventions. I’ve worked on enough political campaigns to understand how this shit really functions.

But just for a moment, I like to believe that it is. A noble beast. When someone like Teddy Kennedy speaks about this being “... a season of hope -- new hope for a justice and fair prosperity for the many, and not just for the few -- new hope.” my heart soars and my eyes fill with tears. Yes. This -- this is what I believe. What I cling to. What makes me tick.

Right now, I’m coupling that with the ah-ha realization that the next POTUS could be someone with whom I went to college. This is not my daddy's candidate. He's mine. Through and through.

This is my generation
This is my generation, baby

Barack and Michelle are my age -- Michelle is literally only a few months older than I.

They are my peers. I could have danced with Barack at a college frat party. Been project partners with Michelle in a class.

Our kids are close in age. Our pop cultural references are the same. Our historical context in terms of world events are the same.

My generation. Moving to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. (Yup -- there’s that optimism again.)

Wow.

This is my generation
This is my generation, baby

So pardon me if I hold onto that cloak of idealism just a little while longer. The time for practical action will come soon enough. Right now, it’s just nice to simply be inspired.

And this November the torch will be passed again to a new generation of Americans, so with Barack Obama and for you and for me, our country will be committed to his cause. The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on.
~ Senator Edward Kennedy

A Change is Gonna Come

... What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon - that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize. Because we may call ourselves Democrats and Republicans, but we are Americans first. We are always Americans first...

Here's to our Democratic Nominee.

Senator Barack Obama.

Full speed ahead, y'all.

Let's do this thing.

Young Hillary Clinton

My very good friend Sprezzatura shared this with me -- it's too good not to pass along:



And yes, that is Jerry O'Connell. Your eyes -- not deceiving you.

SMACK.

A Special Comment from Keith Olbermann regarding the Ferraro/HRC mess.

Worth a watch.



Edward R. Murrow would be proud.

Yeah -- What She Said!

I received this message in an e-mail this afternoon -- I belong to a handful of groups on mybarackobama.com. I wish I'd written this, as it conveys my feelings in a succinct and powerful fashion. Thank you Cecilia Levin, for penning this and passing it along.

Dear Women Supporters of Barack Obama (and those who love them):

The women members of the Scholars for Obama Group (like so many of us) have been concerned about the emphasis on gender and “identity politics” in the current Democratic presidential competition. We strongly believe that the women supporters of Barack Obama could make a vital difference in this very tight primary process. By increasing our visibility, we have the potential to encourage women in states with upcoming primaries to look beyond gender stereotyping when casting their votes.

We believe that it is important to show American voters that the women supporting Barack Obama are individual faces. We are not anti-feminist, traitors to the “cause”, or lacking personal empowerment. Similar to Hillary Clinton’s backers, we are disgusted by and abhor any form of sexism that has been directed towards the female candidate in this campaign. We would love to see a female president some day, but right now our nation’s problems are too urgent, our times are too volatile, and our future is too precarious. We cannot afford to use our upcoming presidential election as a debate about feminism or to correct gender imbalances in our society. We stand behind the candidate that we believe is best to lead our country. We support Barack Obama and his platform, and we know he can achieve many of our shared goals as our president.


To voice our support we produced a photo collage and a video depicting the many and diverse women’s voices endorsing Barack Obama. Our images of over 500 female Obama supporters represent all races, ages, occupations, regions and life styles. View them, find a reflection of yourself in these individuals, and please pass this message and video link on to as many people and organizations as possible:


Our project resulted from a few women sharing ideas and dreams about how we could make a difference. Imagine if each of us takes action! We encourage every woman backing Barack Obama to become visible and let her voice be heard. Be creative, have fun, and always uphold your own dignity with the same respect and dignity that our candidate reflects in his own words and actions.

The women supporters of Barack Obama are not merely crunched numbers or statistics on a chart. We are your mothers, your wives, your sisters, your daughters, your friends and your neighbors. Our strength is in our powerful and united voice, echoing his words, “Yes, we can!”

Gratuitous Photo of the Day

I'm just gonna let this one speak for itself.

Oh. My. And yee-haw.

Hos Before Bros? Who Knows...

This corporation has a strict 'bros before hos' policy.
~ 30 Rock (THE best comedy on TV today)

I am a woman. Obviously.

I vote. Also pretty apparent.

So, using what I recall as basic equation logic... does it follow that a voting woman automatically has to vote for a woman?

Must I apply the adage 'hos before bros' to this situation?

I’m all about Girl Power. Giving a boost to other members of my gender whenever possible. I belong to a women-only volunteer organization -- was even president of said group. Fact: Women are notoriously tough on other women (I can say that because (a) I am one and (b) I’ve witnessed this first-hand.) And I work really hard not to be one of those kinds of chicks. Empowerment. Support. Validation. All important to me.

Being as woman-centric as I am, I’ve been asked the following question more than once: "Aren’t you voting for Hillary?"

Hmmm. Do I have to vote for a woman candidate? Am I obligated by common physical composition to support the chick on the ballot?

Therein lies the rub. And the conundrum facing female voters this election season.

I say no.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey, MSNBC, CNN, and yes, NOW (and doesn't that one hurt the most): I just got back from the big secret National Vagina Convention and we decided that women are in fact capable of independent thought and are not contractually obligated to check the box for the candidate with the box.
~ a very pithy and wise poster, screen name Francie Nolan, from Television without Pity.com

When I vote, I give serious time and thought to how and for whom I’m going to give my support. My choices are totally based on the person. Not gender. Not race. The person. Especially in such a critical election as the one before us.

I totally agree that this campaign season is groundbreaking, with two contenders sporting labels that heretofore have not been seen in viable candidates. It’s historical and I’m thrilled I have the opportunity to participate in this scene-changing election.

But I don’t vote based on labels.

Just because I have a vagina doesn’t mean I’m genetically obligated to vote for a candidate with a vagina.

Just because I’m a caucasian doesn’t mean I have to vote for the candidate that looks the most like me.

Just because I’m a WASP doesn’t mean I have to vote for the WASPy-ish candidate.

When it comes to shit like this, I think with my head and my heart, not my reproductive organs or the color of my skin or my religious preference or my ethnic background.

I vote for the person. And what she or he has to say. How they conduct themselves. What they believe in.

Frankly, I don’t need to vote for a woman to demonstrate that I support my gender. I put my time and my money where my mouth is on that one. I’m voting with an eye towards the future -- not for a fight that’s already been settled for the most part. In theory anyway. Believe me, I’m grateful to the thoughtful and smart women who came before me and fought to insure that I would and could be taken as seriously in any workplace as a man. I watched the news when I was a wee lass, seeing Betty Friedan and Bella Abzug with her fab hats, speaking on behalf of, well, me. Young as I was. I read the papers and newsmagazines -- Gloria Steinem was all over the place. I sang along with Helen Reddy... "I am woman/Hear me roar."

Too young to participate, but old enough to watch and appreciate.

Things are different now for my gender, in the workplace and in our American society. For the most part and if you're looking at the big picture...however, I will admit there are still issues. But that’s another rant for another day.

(Although take a look at this op-ed piece which argues that having a woman as president is unconstitutional. It’s good for a laugh.)

Anyway.

The things my peers and I are concerned about -- balancing work and family and money and self -- are issues relevant to both genders.

It’s not a woman thing. It’s not a man thing. It’s a person thing.

I would be doing myself and the country and yes, my gender, a disservice by automatically and rotely voting for Senator Clinton. The struggle to give women the right to vote would be seriously marginalized if mandates were placed, even informally and societally, on for whom we cast our vote. We’ve come too far for such insulting and demeaning histrionics.

And yes, the female vote is, once again, critical to the success of the candidates. Soccer moms, urbanistas, seniors, single chicks. All important. Wonder if Susan B. Anthony ever anticipated that our reproductive organs would become such hot commodities and bargaining chips when she helmed the suffragette movement... what would she say about all of this?

Hillary. She’s OK. But for me, Barack is better.

Plain and simple.

I wouldn’t be going too far out on a limb to say that whoever the Democratic nominee is in November will get my vote. That’s basically a given.

But right now, in the white-hot scrum of this electric Democratic primary, I’m on the side of the candidate that I think would be the best for our country.

That person just so happens to be a man.

I think I’m a better woman for supporting him.

Does feminist mean large unpleasant person who'll shout at you or someone who believes women are human beings. To me it's the latter, so I sign up.
~ Margaret Atwood

Hail to the Chief

So, it's Presidents' Day -- that hybrid holiday which is an amalgamation of the birthdays of Misters Washington and Lincoln and now salutes all of our illustrious leaders.

I myself don't have a presidential anecdote -- although I did hear Bush the First speak at a Homecoming function at UF when he was Vice President. My dad had the opportunity to spend time with Bill Clinton on the campaign trail back in '92 -- and he still says to this day that a more charismatic man he's yet to meet (even though we're both more than a little irritated with WJC due to his antics on this current campaign trail... but I digress.) And my paternal grandmother may or may not have met Harry Truman, being a daughter of Missouri and a Yellow Dog Democrat herself -- the details are fuzzy. But man, did she love him.

But I'm reminded of the snippet of a story my maternal grandmother -- hereafter referred to as Nana -- told me about trying to go see Calvin Coolidge. (I Wiki-linked him, because if you're anything like me, you might need a refresher as to where he falls in the presidential scheme of things.)

Apparently President Coolidge was in town, staying at the very posh Vinoy Hotel. And rumour had it that Mr. Coolidge found the food in the main dining room too fancy for his more simple tastes and instead opted to eat in the employee cafeteria. Hmm. I often eat at the Vinoy -- and the food is damn fine. He didn't know what he was missing.

While he was at the hotel, there must have been some big to-do for him. Nana wasn't too specific on details (or else I was too young to remember them all) but she told of sitting on my grandfather's (known as Daddy Pete) shoulders to peer in one of the large vertical windows that looked into the room where President Coolidge was speaking.


That is so something I would have done. Even though I suspect that my political views and those of old Calvin differed greatly. But to take advantage of the chance to see a president as up close and personal and as casually as through a window -- hell, yeah I would have gone.

Opportunities like that are rare -- actually, they're basically non-existent any more, what with Secret Service and security clearances and the proliferation of media everywhere gives us the feeling that we are with the entourage anyway.

But the thought of my Nana, who I knew as a proper, loving but no-nonsense elementary school principal, sitting on her husband's shoulders, trying to get a look at a President just makes me smile. Taking a risk, doing something totally cheeky. While I wish I knew more of the details of this particular piece of family lore, what I know and have inferred gives me just a little more insight into how and why I'm programmed the way I am.

Here's to Presidents' Day and the men who held that office, y'all. And to being cheeky.

Up On My Soapbox Again

“What’s that on your shirt?” the old friend of the family asked me as we made small-talk during halftime of the Florida/Auburn game in 1992 (which the Gators won, 24-9, by the way.)

“Excuse me?” I looked down to see if there was an errant smudge of ketchup from my hot dog or a dribble of soda dotting the landscape.

He pointed to a button I was wearing, smiling with a slight malicious glint. “That right there. It looks like a bird took a crap on your shoulder.”

“No, nothing wrong there, Mr. So-and-So. Everything looks nice and clean to me.”

The button in question:

He continued poking his Republican stick at me, despite the fact that the teams were running back onto the field.

“I didn’t think Baptists voted for Democrats. That doesn’t seem right.”

“Yes sir, we do. We vote for whoever we like. Making conscious decisions is a very Baptist thing to do.”

“But...”

Fortunately, before he could bait me any further, it was time for the third quarter to start. In our world, Gator football often supersedes anything else, including politics and religion. Or the uncomfortable intermingling of the two. Good thing too -- I was going to have to try to reconcile my innate instinct to be polite to one’s elders with my overwhelming need to speak my mind in the face of cloaked hostility.

Thank goodness we won that game. And the election. "We" being a relative term, natch.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fast forward ahead 16 years. It’s last week. I’m walking across the parking lot of the church I’ve attended since I was in the womb after going to my weekly interdenominational women’s bible study. (It’s a lovely coincidence that my church graciously hosts this wonderful activity.) I notice a couple of women looking at my car a little oddly. Flat tire? Big scratch on the side? A present left by a passing-by seagull?

Nope. They’re staring at my bumper sticker.



In a sea of cars with RUDY! and MITT! adhered to chrome and windshields, my little oval declaration of devotion to Obama sticks out. Like a sore thumb.

I’m used to being the odd woman out in my groups of real-life friends and acquaintances when it comes to the intermingling of politics and religion. Not often you meet a white female liberal Democrat Baptist in the South. I’m the only one I know. Notice I didn’t say Southern Baptist -- even though my church fell into that category when I was growing up, we’ve totally moved out and away from that realm and fall on the much more moderate side of things. A main reason why I still attend there, actually.

While I take both my religion and my politics very, very seriously, I’m not crazy about mixing the two, however -- it’s like a bizzaro version of that old commercial for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (“You got chocolate in my peanut butter! You got peanut butter on my chocolate!”)

“You got your politics involved in my religion!”

“You got your religion involved in my politics!”

Neither option is nearly as tasty as that Reese’s cup. These days, anyway. But I’m very cognizant of the fact that religious activism played a huge part in the mobilization of such political movements as abolition and civil rights. And sincere religious rhetoric is an intrinsic component to many landmark American speeches -- both Dr. King and President Lincoln freely evoked their personal religious beliefs in their statements -- which we simply view now as a matter of course.

All that being said, there’s no way the two can completely be severed from one another -- it’s just not how our society works these days. But... our country was indeed founded on the separate principles of religious and political freedom...

History review time! (thanks, Wikipedia!)
The separation of church and state is a legal and political principle derived from the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . ." The phrase "separation of church and state", which does not appear in the Constitution itself, is generally traced to an 1802 letter by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists, where Jefferson spoke of the combined effect of the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. It has since been quoted in several opinions handed down by the United States Supreme Court.

~~~~~~~~~~

Maybe I’m more adamant about this than most because I am a lone little idealistic soul out in the world in which I travel -- the liberal apologist thinker in a tank of more moderate conservative voices. It’s a hard place to be sometimes -- right about the time of the ‘92 elections, I was the coordinator of the singles Sunday School group at church. And in our pre-packed lesson material one quarter was a session about the evils of abortion. Ai yi yi. Fortunately, the wonderful woman who was our class teacher had a problem with it as well -- even though I still believe we had differing opinions on the subject itself, we both agreed that Sunday School was not the best forum for such a topic and inevitable discussion, and so we opted to take a sidebar and talk about something else that day. Amen.

What’s interesting to me in this ideological give-and-take is the fact that conservative values often get classified as the singular religious values. Or the only family values. To me, they are different things. Lines have gotten blurred. The conservative thinkers have bogarted the market on all things religious and family-oriented, when in fact, they’re not the only playahs in pews on Sunday morning or Saturday night or whenever. Not from where I sit, anyway (Four rows back from the platform on the right in the sanctuary. Yes, the right. I like the view lines from there. At least in church.)

~~~~~~~~~~

I saw a bumper sticker the other day on my way home from taking Will to school that gave me a laugh, a wave of hope and a feeling of solidarity. I'm not the only one who thinks this way. Hooray!

Yeah. I’m a member of the Religious Left. And proud of it. Nice to have a label -- even a loose one -- for where I hang in this crazy melange of people trying to do the business of life based on their personal moral compass. I’m in good company, too, per wikipedia: FDR. Jimmy Carter. Harry Truman. Al Gore. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Stephen Colbert (cool!)

And Barack Obama.

In my ‘net hunt to discover more about what makes the Religious Left tick, I’ve read some really interesting things; seen the word “socialism” used more than once in context (more about that later, I think); and reaffirmed within myself the values I hold dear. Both religiously and politically.

So the next time I cause a spectacle in my church parking lot with my Obama sticker or when I speak out about my opposition to mandatory prayer in schools or voice my opinions (softly but intelligently) on the creationism versus evolution brouhaha, I will do so with a little more confidence. And passion. Not only because it’s what I believe in my heart is right, but because I know I’m not alone. Both in Heaven and on earth.

The community of believers were of one heart and one mind. None of them ever claimed anything as his own; rather, everything was held in common.
~ Acts 4:32, The Bible

Thirty Seconds of Awesome

I made a private promise to myself to pull back on the YouTube postings for a while... don't want to fall into the Slacker Blogger trap.

But this was just too good to pass up sharing. Thanks go to my darling pal one_muse for sharing with me in the first place!

*snicker*

(Thanks to Slate.com for providing the funny for me this morning...)

Yes We Can.

Speech transcription:
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ........... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea --

Yes. We. Can.

Booyah!

Never, ever thought I'd feature a YouTube of ANYTHING from Fox News. Don't get used to it.

But this is too good not to share... plus, John Cleese!

...From Atop the Soapbox

Those who stay away from the election think that one vote will do no good.
‘Tis but one step more to think one vote will do no harm.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hey! You registered voter chicks in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah -- I have a pop quiz for you! (This also goes for any of y’all who live in a state that has a presidential primary coming up in the future...)

What will you be doing on February 5th?

(A) Good grief -- that’s next week! I don’t know what I’m doing in the next couple of hours, much less next week.

(B) The glamourous usual -- carpool, soccer practice, piano lessons, helping with homework, cooking dinner, laundry.

(C) Why do you want to know? What’s so special about February 5th? Is there some sort of fabulous function that day that I don’t know about? Do I need to book a babysitter? Get a new outfit?

(D) I’ll be speaking out and letting people know just what I think and how I feel about important issues and ideas facing our country and our community.

I’ll be voting.

Psst... the go-to answer is (D).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Did you know...
... 22 million women on their own did not vote in the 2000 presidential election. This is the largest group of non-voters in our democratic process. Voting together, women on their own could determine who wins and loses elections.

Women don’t vote...
... because they felt before that they weren’t affected by the election process or its outcomes.

... because none of the candidates on the ballot met their “personal criteria.”

... because they’re “too busy.”

... because they didn’t think their votes would make that big of a difference.

When was the last time you cast your vote in an election? In this year’s primaries? In 2004 for the last Presidential election? In 2000? Can’t remember?

Guess what -- no worries about any of this. The great thing about voting is that as long as you’re a registered voter, there’s always another opportunity around the corner to let your voice be heard. It's kinda like getting a less-than-desirable haircut. Hair (usually) always grows back. Problem solved. Regarding this voting thing though -- the key is not to let the oft-infrequent opportunities constantly pass you by.

Here's what I've learned in my just-over-25 years as a registered voter: Voting is one of those things that may seem like a little gesture when in reality, it’s a big statement.

Vote early and vote often.
~ Al Capone

Granted, casting one’s vote can sometimes feel like an obligation, especially when adding a stop by the polls might mean shifting schedules and rearranging appointments. But -- casting a vote in any election is our right, our privilege and our chance to share OUR opinions in a venue where they will be heard and counted.

Think of it this way -- not voting lets other people make the decisions for you, and, speaking for myself, nothing pisses me off more than having someone speak for me without my consent or without an opportunity to put my two cents in. I can feel my blood pressure rising just imagining this. PS: By not voting, you forfeit the right to complain about whoever’s in office. Those elected officials aren’t really representing you, because you never spoke up and said what you thought should happen in the first place.

Muse upon that for a moment. That scenario more than kinda sucks, doesn't it.

Women, just a few generations before ours, were not able to vote; many had to literally fight to give us the opportunity to let our voices be heard. Our gender won -- and I do mean won -- the right to vote in 1920 with the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. This achievment took nearly 75 years to come to fruition, starting with the first Women’s Rights Convention held in 1848. Petitions, pickets and personal sacrifice -- many suffragettes were arrested, held illegally, and treated badly in prison -- were the hallmarks of the struggle that culminated in a quiet passage of the 19th Amendment on August 26, 1920.

If our fem-ancestors worked that diligently and passionately to secure something that we now consider a basic human right and often take for granted, the least we can do is to honor their dedicated efforts and take the time to share our opinions.

The very least.

The possibilities are endless for what could happen if our gender let its voices be heard. Look at Election Day as an opportunity to invest and educate. Find out what the issues are. Read about the candidates. Watch the debates. Ask questions. Spend time not just on candidate websites, but sites focusing on the objective side of politics. Think about what matters to you. To your family. To your community.

And come Primary Election Day, whether it’s next week, next month or whenever, after you have visited your polling site, put that “I VOTED” sticker firmly on your chest and headed out to tackle the rest of your day -- you can smile proudly with the knowledge that you have made a significant mark on your world.

Democracy... it’s a good thing.



Resolved, That the women of this country ought to be enlightened in regard to the laws under which they -live, that they may no longer publish their degradation, by declaring themselves satisfied with their present position, nor their ignorance, by asserting that they have all the rights they want...

Resolved, therefore, That, being invested by the Creator with the same capabilities, and the same consciousness of responsibility for their exercise, it is demonstrably the right and duty of woman, equally with man, to promote every righteous cause, by every righteous means; and especially in regard to the great subjects of morals and religion, it is self-evidently her right to participate with her brother in teaching them, both in private and in public, by writing and by speaking, by any instrumentalities proper to be used, and in any assemblies proper to be held; and this being a self-evident truth, growing out of the divinely implanted principles of human nature, any custom or authority adverse to it, whether modern or wearing the hoary sanction of antiquity, is to be regarded as self-evident falsehood, and at war with the interests of mankind.

~ Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions
Woman's Rights Convention
Held at Seneca Falls, 19-20 July 1848

Day (or Night) Brightener

I've been watching this non-stop since my lovely friend one_muse shared it with me.

That heavy breathing you're hearing. All mine.

GRRRRRRRR...

NOT happy with tonight's primary results. At. All.

However, this little statistical tidbit is a tiny ray of sunshine in the glum crap that's hovering over my stupid state right now... from Politico.com:

Looking at the MSNBC exit polls, 31% were absentee voters and they went 49-29 for Clinton.

Among those who decided whom they were going to vote for over a month ago or more, Clinton won 64-25.

But voters who decided within the last month? 46-42 Obama.

In the last week? 38-31 Obama.

In the last 3 days? 45-40 Obama.

There's momentum. To be sure.

On to Super Tuesday. It's certain to be an interesting week in this increasingly unpredictable campaign.

Go Obama.

We. Want. Change.

Barack's South Carolina Victory Speech.

To steal a quote from a good friend -- I felt like Paula Abdul as I listened and watched his speech: chills, goosebumps, tears and seal claps.




And I'm not only enamored with the candidate, I'm also crushing on his speechwriters -- the word nerd in me is totally smitten.

Battle Cry

Taken from Barack Obama's speech last night in New Hampshire.

Gracious. Uplifting. Powerful.

...But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we shouldn't try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.

Yes we can.

... Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world. Yes we can.

And so tomorrow, as we take this campaign South and West;... we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America's story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea - Yes. We. Can.

~~~~~~~~~~

I'm behind this man. Have been for nearly a year now, ever since he declared his candidacy. And I was chomping at the bit to get involved with his campaign on the state/local level. But party politics got in my way, with the Florida Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee at odds regarding the timing of the Florida primary, scheduled for January 29th. Cardinal sin: it's prior to the magic February 5th date set as the starting point for all but a few chosen states. Per Howard Dean, my primary in my state will amount to nothing more than a straw ballot. And no candidates on my team have campaigned here at all.

Frankly, I think both sides have shot themselves in the foot -- the state, for bucking the system and the DNC for refusing to budge. Which is ridiculous on a lot of levels, considering that Dems have a real chance to take the White House this go-round, sporting some very viable candidates. It's not like Florida's a low-key, low-action battleground... anyone remember the chaotic brouhaha of 2000? I thought so. Honestly, there's a bigger picture here -- winning the election -- that should supersede any of this party posturing and infighting. At least in my opinion.

I have family members (none of my friends, ironically, are on the same political team as I am -- they refer to me affectionately as their tree-hugging hippie friend. Evs.) who are so fed up with this Democratic pissing match that they're considering re-registering as an Independent in a "screw-you-guys" (tm Cartman) protest. I'm not there yet -- maybe because my idealism is showing and I continue to believe that things will eventually work out come convention time.

I am pissed, though, that I haven't been able to work for a candidate that I fervently believe in -- haven't had this passion for a candidate and what he/she stands for since 1992. And I'll leave it at that.

Maybe I'll get my chance to do more than just send an e-contribution as the year progresses. Although I do have to say that I'm not missing the proliferation of political ads that seem to glut the airwaves this time of year. But with the writers' strike still in effect, I'm not watching all that much TV now as it is... yet another irony.

Regardless, I'll stay tuned to CNN and CNN.com and read the pundits and hope that when I do cast my ballot on January 29th, that it won't end up being for naught anywhere along the line.

Let me leave you with the political concept I hold most dear -- it's a critical time in our country. Regardless of where you stand politically or ideally or whatever... vote. Just go to the polls and hit that touch screen. It's our privilege, our right, our obligation. And casting your vote gives you the right to complain about the outcome, the results, the government. If you don't vote, you forfeit that right, intangibly anyway -- as far as I'm concerned.

So just do it. It's a good thing.