Is this really 2008?

Ken Blackwell, the former Ohio secretary of state who appears to be leading in the race to become the next chairman of the Republican National Committee, is defending a rival who distributed a CD containing a song called "Barack the Magic Negro," and dismissing criticism as a sign of media "hypersensitivity" to race.

and...

"Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan issued a statement Saturday distancing the party’s leadership from one of the GOP’s best-known operatives, Chip Saltsman, who distributed a CD containing “Barack the Magic Negro” as part of his campaign to be elected chairman of the Republican National Committee next month."

Duncan's statement, in full: "The 2008 election was a wake-up call for Republicans to reach out and bring more people into our party. I am shocked and appalled that anyone would think this is appropriate as it clearly does not move us in the right direction."


My God! It took 22 hours and questions from the press about their silence before they even responded...with this? An uproar following the use of a racial slur is "hypersensitivity to race"? "...does not move us in the right direction"?? Is he shocked and appalled only because it's a disastrous political move? Because the story got out? These are the mainstream representatives of the Republican Party? Is there no depth to which these people will not sink?

Voting "Please, Lord: Now!"

Voting this time was unlike any other. By 5:30 a.m., the line ahead of me was over a hundred people. Under the friendly, chatty atmosphere there was intensity, quiet, determination, and a sense of hope that was amazing and heartening.

I chose my vote by default: I couldn't vote for one candidate - it was just impossible as a woman; as someone who respects others' right to be different with dignity and full rights of citizenship; as a moderate; as an educator...as a thinking person. If nothing else, the possibility of having an unqualified, right wing religious fanatic as vice president (and quite possibly president) was too terrifying to consider.

In this state, it wouldn't have mattered if I voted as the outcome was a certainty. I considered not voting or voting down-ticket. In the end, I just couldn't bring myself to do that. The honor, privilege, and duty of voting could not be denied. With Tagore's definition of duty going through my mind, I went to the polls.

And I am so glad I did. Although I wish I had a candidate I really wanted to vote for available, being with a group of people blazing with the possibility of finally arriving at the shore after standing uninvited in the water for all those years was almost overwhelming. The hope and affirmation were palpable, almost blistering.

The little elderly lady, bundled in a too-big coat and tucked in a folding chair, waiting patiently to vote behind close to three hundred people smiled at each of us as we left, responding to good wishes with a repeated prayer: "Please, Lord: Now!"

Now the voting is over and the choice is made. I hope her vision holds true for more than this day.

OK That's It!

I wondered what it would take to get me to vote for Obama. I really can't stand McCain...but Obama and his assortment of pathetic (at best) responses to issues I care about wasn't far behind. I actually considered not voting.

That is, I considered that path until the Old One nominated the anti-abortion, anti-evolution, anti-wilderness, etc. etc. beauty queen with no experience.

Bad enough that he might get to nominate a Supreme. But the idea that he might die and she become the President? No thanks!

ok Obama, that's one more (albeit a really reluctant one).

finally...

News of worth

Hoorah!!

Congratulations to U, Husband, and new Dynamic Duo! Be well!

Here We Go Again

It looks like once again I might be stuck voting for the lesser of two evils: the wooer of conservatives or the guy who hopes we won't remember that JFK, while charismatic, was just not much of a president. Neither can demonstrate that he will be a positive force when it comes to women's issues; neither really so much as tries to do so.

*sigh*

I am sick of stupidity; sicker still of sheep.

In honor of this day

From Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

"Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

"The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers."

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

"True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice."

Others:

"You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist." (I've seen both Golda Meir and Indira Ghandi credited with saying this.)

"The real differences are between those who embrace peace and those who would destroy it; between those who look to the future and those who cling to the past; between those who open their arms and those who are determined to clench their fists." President William Jefferson Clinton

"Peace has to be created, in order to be maintained. It is the product of Faith, Strength, Energy, Will, Sympathy, Justice, Imagination, and the triumph of principle. It will never be achieved by passivity and quietism." Dorothy Thomson

"Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace, for example, starts within each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us." Dalai Lama