So, I know I haven't posted anything for quite some time, and for those that are aching for my political musings, I am afraid that this wont satiate those needs. However, I have seen something today that was truly spectacular. I think that this world, particularly in politics, we have grown very cynical. We expect people to fail and at times we even hope for failure (see previous posts). However, sometimes we are gifted with a surprising and inspiring experience that reminds all of us about who we are, as people. We see the inherent gifts that God has given to us and we find them in the most rare of places. For me, this was one of those moments:
Boyle is the youngest of nine children and lives in Blackburn with her ten year old cat, pebbles. Boyle suffered oxygen deprivation during birth, resulting in learning disabilities. Her classmates teased her because of this and her appearance. She had some voice training lessons early in her life, but stopped her pursuit of singing to look after her sick mother, who died in 2007 at the age of 91. This performance was the first time she had sung after her mother's death. She told The Washington Post that she entered the contest at the behest of her late mother, who urged her to "take the risk" of singing in front of an audience larger than her parish church.
I think that the song chosen was so appropriate. Here you have a 47 year old woman, who is unemployed and took care of her ailing mother no less, that has never been able to have a chance to showcase her talent, but dreamed a dream. How hopeful is it to know that there are Susan Boyles out there just waiting to be discovered? Truly inspirational.
So every time I post something incredibly depressing that Rush did/said, I feel I need to balance it out with something really funny. This has nothing to do with politics, so just have fun with this. You will laugh. Guaranteed.
Ok. Now you are really getting on my nerves, Rush. I hesitate to even post this because it keeps giving attention to a man that really deserves to lose all of his listeners. On his radio show Friday, Limbaugh suggested that Sen. Kennedy would be dead by the time health care reform passes. "Before it's all over it will be called the Ted Kennedy Memorial health care bill." Whatever you feel about the man's politics, HE HAS BRAIN CANCER. This would be obviously disrespectful for anyone else, but it seems that Rush feels he is beyond reproach these days. His argument was that Obama is moving to other issues because he can't solve the economic crisis. He has been president for what, 47 days? And he still hasn't single handedly solved the largest economic crisis we have seen in almost 100 years? You're right, Rush. He is a slacker. Now let's move on and insult terminally ill people.
So, for those who don't know, I am the among the biggest of political nerds. Yes. I watch CSPAN. Its that really boring channel that most of normal people skip over and wonder why it deserves its own channel (and just for my own prides sake, I have taken it one step further. I have BEEN on CSPAN. Take that.) So, anyway, they bulk of what has been on CSPAN lately (for those of you who aren't avid watchers) has been the speeches from CPAC 2009. CPAC stands for Conservative Political Action Conference. It is a collection of Republicans from around the country who essentially jockey for position in the leadership pecking order of the Republican Party. Anyway, I thought that this was a chance to see the direction of the Republican Party and where it is heading.
The keynote speaker of the entire conference was given by Mr. El Rushbo, Rush Limbaugh. This is the man that not too long ago publicly told the entire nation that he hopes that Obama would fail as president. He did nothing to retract from that position last Saturday. In fact, he further emphasized his stance by saying the following, "This notion that I want the president to fail, this shows you the problem we've got. This is nothing more than common sense and to not be able to say it? Why in the world would I want what we just described: rampant government growth, wealth that is not being created yet is being spent? What is in this, what is possibly in this that any of us want to succeed? Did the Democrats want the war if Iraq to fail? They certainly did. And they not only the war in Iraq to fail they proclaimed it a failure... They hoped George Bush failed. So what is so about being honest and saying I want Barack Obama to fail if his mission is to restructure and reform this country so that capitalism and individual liberty are not its foundation?"
There is a lot to pick apart in this quote so I am going to take one item at a time. First of all, this quote shows one of the biggest problems the Republican party is dealing with right now, and people are starting to feel estranged by their party in large numbers. This kind of a viewpoint is so extremely myopic it is dangerous. There is so much more at stake with a president than just politics. ESPECIALLY in this time of uncertainty and peril, the last thing anyone wants is to see their government failing, no matter what party you subscribe to. I understand that there is a fundamental difference in ideology between the two parties, but know this. Democrats were never hoping for what happened in Iraq. We did not want to see thousands of American sons and daughters killed in combat. We did not want to see failure. We didn't want George Bush to fail. If I could go back and somehow magically help President Bush make all the right decisions, I would in a heart beat. Because here is the thing; I believe it is our patriotic duty to stand up for what is RIGHT. It's not about how politicians look and their popularity. I know it sounds naive, but I still believe that American politicians have it within them to act as statesmen, not professional appeasers. I know that there were sharp differences of opinion over the past eight years on a variety of issues. If you want to say whenever someone disagrees with you that you are hoping for their failure, I think you have missed the mark completely. THIS IS MORE THAN A FOOTBALL GAME, MR. LIMBAUGH.
I wish that the Republican party would not give someone as acidic as Rush Limbaugh the benefit of the spotlight. This will only widen the fracture that has created the disorganized mess that the Republicans find themselves in. In fact, Michael Steele, the head of the Republican National Committee, was on D.L. Hughley's show on CNN and took offense to Hughley calling Rushbo the "de facto leader of the Republican Party." Steele came back saying, "No he is not. I am the de facto leader of the Republican Party". He went on to call Limbaugh a mere "entertainer", whose show was "incindiary", and "ugly".
Limbaugh fired back at Steele yesterday calling the RNC and Steele "so called Republicans" and saying that they needed a little leadership. Of which he is trying to provide. "So I am an entertainer and i have 20 million listeners because of my great song and dance routine. Michael Steele, you are head of the Republican National Committee. You are not the head of the Republican party. Tens of millions of conservatives and Republicans have nothing to do with the Republican National Committee... and when you call them asking for money, they hang up on you."
I actually applauded Steele when he forcefully reclaimed the reins of the party he was elected to lead. I really was hoping that the Republican party was not controlled by the Limbaugh's, Hannity's, and Coulter's (who also spoke at the convention, which speech deserves a post all on its own). So you must understand how disappointed I was when Steele had been politically compelled to call up Limbaugh to apologize! Apologize for what?!? As an American who truly wants the country to succeed, no matter who occupies the White House, I was really hoping that the Republican party would stand up to these shrill and misleading talking heads that have hijacked their party. It is just a disturbing reality that just weeks after Steele had spoken about his party's efforts to reach out to minority voters, he became the symbol of the party's most unfortunate historic images; the idea of a strong, educated, black man being forced to go hat in hand to a white man, for no other reason than to keep a job that is rightfully his.
The state of the Republican party will not have any sense of viability with the polarizing and caustic nature of the Rush Limbaugh's and Ann Coulter's. Its time for the Republican party to stand up and find out who they are, and this weekend, at the most premier convention other than the RNC, they took a huge step back.
As I was perusing my daily newspapers this morning and I read about Blago going on Letterman and the latest on Gov. Paterson and Caroline Kennedy, I couldn't help but reflect on the interesting people that we have put into office and the great drama that is American politics. Let me give you a couple samples:
You would think that we would never give attention to this (because we shouldnt), but we can't help ourselves. I can't help myself. I guess its similar to the morbid curiosity that causes us to slow down just to see how awful that car wreck on the side of the road is. I don't know. By the way Mr. Former Governor, it's not a dream. You are really screwed.
Another character in this drama that could fill the role of, say, Darth Vader (cue imperial march theme) that is still talking is this guy:
He told Politico today that he was fairly certain that by closing Guantanamo and rejecting the use of torture on terrorism suspects that the Obama Administration is bringing on a probable attack of nuclear or biological weapons. He said that protecting the nation's security is "a tough, mean, dirty, nasty, business." Curiously when Mrs. Cheney was asked how she deals with her husbands temperament, she gave the same answer. In all seriousness though, I am so glad that we are beginning to turn the page on this line of thought. When the United States is tough, mean, dirty, and nasty, we should expect the exact same thing to come back to us. This is why Mr. Cheney has been so wrong the past 8 years. The ill will that has been fostered by this kind of foreign policy cannot be measured. I respect the fact that we have not been attacked since 9/11. I think that is an achievement that should be acknowledged, and for which I am grateful. However, the golden rule applies to much broader, and gravely important applications. In no way am I advocating for us to be soft. We need to hit hard when we need to, but I am sick of being seen as the nasty dirty country by our friends and foes. Someday that nastiness is going to come back ten fold. I venture to guess that our dirtiness will be much more to blame in the event of an attack than our refusal to torture suspects. Lets be glad that we seem to have returned to a sense of sanity. (cue the wicked witch is dead theme)
I think that this story is getting a little funny, part of it by just looking at the picture of the two of them side by side (I know. I'm a horrible person. I still think SNL was funny). So apparently the he said she said continues in the NY senator appointment story when Gov. Paterson's office apparently leaked alleged lies that Caroline Kennedy had been rejected because of a tax issues and a "nanny problem". I have no idea what a "nanny problem" is, but it sounds like something that we as Americans should get to the bottom of. Let the saga continue.
So I say let's forget about the ginormous economic hole we find ourselves in and enjoy in some of the other stories that demand our attention today. I love America. I really do.
One of the reporters that I worked with at the DNC contacted me recently because he was running a story about Utahns that were going to be attending the Inauguration and the events surrounding it. I told him that I was going to be there, and he sent me an email back with some questions. They were all pretty generic such as why did I decide to go, how hard was it to get tickets, yada yada yada. But one of the questions really got me thinking. He asked, "please tell me what this Inauguration means to you." For those of you who know me, you may have noticed that I have changed quite a great deal for these past two years. A lot of it has been related to my work with the campaign. This has opened quite a few doors for me and I am excited with the possibilities in the future. More importantly, I have seen the country change as well. The past two years have not been the brightest for us. Our economy has fallen out, we have been dealing with two wars and our reputation abroad has been called into question. Yet with all of this going on, next week we will have a peaceful transition of power between two men who politically are enemies. I don't think that American's, by and large, understand how incredible that is. I know several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that would be quite jealous. I also think that the election of Barack Obama holds special meaning. Barack Obama's election is a reminder that the United States is still a place of bold ideas and a beacon of hope. It says to every child of color an every poor boy and girl that you belong and you do have a future. Throughout America's history, race has been a noose choking our capacity to soar. At a time when we face such a litany of problems, it is moving to see the American people's common sense and faith trump fear. It is truly a triumph that Americans voted for competence and a new vision, regardless of race.
Now the real hard work begins. As President Obama charts his course, I urge all of us to remain involved, or if you haven't yet become involved, there is never a better time. I urge all of us to think how we can improve our neighborhoods, state, and the divine country we live in. WE THE PEOPLE have the power. WE THE PEOPLE are in control of our destiny. WE THE PEOPLE can change the path of history. I think we all have a moment to realize next week to reflect on what that really means.
A blog for New Democrats. This is a place for discussion of what we can do to improve our country and restore its promise. The American Dream is alive and well, and it is up to us to make sure that it never dies.I am a normal American. I am a student at BYU as well as a National Delegate to the DNC. I am currently serving as Vice President of College Democrats of Utah.
