At least no Tropical Storms and Hurricanes are threatening to shut it down. Just a group of protester's carefully restrained from turning the place into a form of Elephantitis By Proxy. Although I'll watch the events throughout the next three days, I have to admit that these political conventions are beginning to seem like part of The Past and not of The Present and hopefully will be gone in The Future. Why throw expensive parties during a recession just so a person everyone knows will be running for president can show up, be declared the "Official Nominee", make a speech to excite The Base, shake a few hands, then go back to Washington (or wherever the nominee is located), catch a breath or two, and then leave town again to jet around The Land and give speeches to attempt to sway the almost unswayables to one's political "side"?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a politically expedient thing to do: spend time in states which are key to the election. Show the little towns and supporters how much you care for their pie/muffins/cakes (or not if you're Mr. Non-Diplomacy Unhinged as has been Mitt Romney's response in the past), and prove to everyone that you have a "human" side as you sweat in the heat along with them. What a bunch of circus crap.
Almost everyone knows who they will be voting for in this election. The primary issue for the Dems is to ensure that people GET OUT AND VOTE again this year. Ennui has set in on both sides of the aisle; however, it is a well-known fact that Republicans show up with more consistency to the voting booths that Democrats, and this year, with one of the weakest GOP nominees in recent history leading the party, one would think the election in November is a "shoe-in" for Obama, so why bother?
Not so, my friends. Not so. Although a few judges with a true judicial mind have disallowed most of the Voter ID Blocking games to play out in an attempt to disenfranchise a specific group of minorities who usually vote Democratic from getting their chance to vote, there will still be sneaky attempts to keep them from getting to the polls on time whenever possible.
That's why it is so important for younger voters to put down the latte and cell phone for a minute and get to the Voting Booths before or on Election Day if they want the current freedoms they have to remain. And yes I am primarily talking to younger women in this paragraph. Don't take what you have for granted on any level when it involves your right to chose what will or will not be legal for you to do to your body. You may be against abortion in principle, but what about abortion via incest or rape? If you find it alright to let a group of men determine your fate in such insidious rulings, then you are probably not going to care. However, if you believe the current rhetoric and threats from extremists within the GOP to make you have your rapists' baby or your cousin's or even your own father's child, then I urge you to vote on the side of fairness and plain decency.
So, although many of us are weary of politics, empty speeches, lies, broken promises, try to move past the cynicism for one day and make what's left of your voice heard. It's better than doing nothing…even if you think the election is just a joke and that Big Money will win for the GOP. Sometimes those who have the biggest campaign coffers do not always win. With a liar such as Paul Ryan on the GOP ticket and a man with no will or transparent honesty about his own monies as the alternate option in 2012, I'll take the guy who has two daughters, a sense of social justice and one of the most daunting challenges any president has had to face since the Great Depression any day.
As "they" are saying "out there": It took 8 years to get into the economic mess we're in right now. How in the world can anyone expect ANYONE to make it right in only 4 when all he hears from the Other Side is No, No, No on every single attempt he has made to get things moving. This time around if Obama gets a chance for another 4 years, I sincerely believe a few of the once-children running Washington of late will be either out of a job in November or will have grown-up enough to realize it takes an adult to grasp "Compromise." Obama has been too willing to compromise, irking his Base, but has shown more maturity while dealing with the Tea Party Crazies than they have shown in not accepting a loss of Power and the shock of seeing a person of colour in the Highest Office In The Land.
Let's hope Michelle Obama's speech at the DNC tonight will shed light on how our country can overcome the political doldrums rather than give a tepid speech where she tells everyone how much she loves "Women" like Ann Romney did with false sincerity a week ago today.
That's my perspective and I'm sticking to it.
Image via: http://dailyagenda.org
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