The End is in Sight
One. more. week.
Can I get a halle-freakin-lujah?
I'm pretty sure that if I hear ANYTHING else election-related, my brain might splatter all over the walls. I reached my saturation point for lies, propaganda, mud-slinging, partisanship, and stupidity about a month ago. Now I'm left wishing I could have a last week of campaign hell like I did four years ago.
Four years ago I spent the week leading up to and the week following the election in Los Angeles. You don't realize how good it is to be in a state where the presidential election is a done deal until you compare the constant chatter and in-your-face advertising between a so-called battleground state and one that is decidedly one-sided.
I like it in a Done Deal State MUCH better. It's quieter.
I really don't want to add to the election noise, but since the purpose of this here blog is to document things for the Toddler, I figured I would make a couple of notes especially for her:
1. No matter what happens, this election is monumental. There will be either an African American President or a female Vice President. This. is. huge. However, I hope that you never understand why. Your generation can be the first to judge people without looking at their skin or judging them based on gender.
2. I hope that in your lifetime you will see an election that is not based on partisan priorities. I don't know if the right answer is a third political party, the end of the current ones, or an independent breaking through. It doesn't matter how it happens, we need someone to figure out a way to run a campaign based on right and wrong, and not special interests and not according to party lines. Neither the left nor the right is correct 100% of the time.
3. I hope that you see the day when there is no need to remind people to vote, and when people make the effort to be educated on the issues without constant prodding. Voting is one of the most important things you can do and it should always be taken seriously. It is a right.
4. I sincerely hope you live in a time when the media doesn't manage to stretch an election out for well over a year. Six weeks would be plenty of time to cover all the angles. Trust me on that one, Alexis.
5. It'll never happen, but maybe your generation should be the ones to institute a strict No Tolerance Policy on lies and slander. I propose you take away 5000 votes each time a candidate makes something up or speaks negatively of the other people in the election. If you did that in this year, both candidates would be -4,000,000,000 votes by now, but maybe that would teach them a valuable lesson.
One last note for you, Miss Alexis. If you ever wink during a job interview? I'm so firing you as my kid. That? Is not how you shatter the glass ceiling.
Just sayin'.
One. more. week.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Reader Comments (30)
*L* somehow I'm pretty sure that you being her mom qualifies her as a non-winker. I LOVED #3. Loved it.
btw Polamalu is my third favorite football player if for nothing else than his beautiful Samoan hair *L*
can't. end. soon. enough.
make. it. stop.
I am telling you... I am so ready... At a dinner party we were just talking about this tonight.
Amen to that, sister! All of your points are EXCELLENT, and I would love for the next generation to learn about issues and polite political discourse (which seems like a dated term now).
And the winking? I'd smack my daughter if she did that, but she wouldn't. I didn't raise the girl that way. If you use sex to sell yourself in a job interview, you might as well be on the pole.
Peace - D
I too live in a steady state so there's less hullabaloo here. But we must be sharing brainwaves today b/c I wrote a very similar post.
I don't even have TV and I want it over. The internet is not the same during elections. LOL
I am so with you on #1. It boggles my mind that, to these kids, this is normal. I hope that never changes...
Also, is that Zoo Boo I see in the background? You are a brave, brave soul, my friend. We managed to stave off the requests and begging this year. It's just not the same now that it's in the middle of the day and they give out crappy candy. Bring back the nighttime Zoo Boo, I say!
Great points, but I really love number 5!
You Betcha!
Why aren't you heading up the political realm? I like the way you run things.
Excellent summary and very important points! I like the 6 week rule.
Enough already!!!!!
I think we're just going to watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on DVD on repeat through Friday morning. Then we'll watch football all weekend. And then we'll boycott television until I get home from practice on Tuesday evening.
Yes yes?
I like the #5--I was thinking it should be a rule that you have to run based on YOUR record of what you have accomplished, on YOUR political platform of what YOU hope to accomplish, what YOU believe in, etc. I would like for it to a law that you can not say negative things about your opponent. You are not running in an election based on what you perceive to be bad things about the other guy. Just tell me what you have done and what you stand for, and let the other guy do the same thing, and let me decide which one of you I will vote for. Spare me the mudd, please!
A-freaking-men.
Thank goodness. I'm sick of it. Though I think 6 months is enough. You have to give time for all the scandals to come out.
It CAN NOT end soon enough for me. I have been kinda depressed for the past few weeks and I figured out that it is all this election coverage. Not only on the news but emails, blogs, websites. I am SO SICK OF IT. It is all so malicious and nasty. SICK OF IT!!!!!
-are you saying I should stop winking??? ;)
I happen to live in one of those states the future presidents never visit! We don't get a break. The local and state politicians make up for it. We have one of the nastiest election years yet. I will be so glad when its over.
It goes without saying that you are so not alone in your feelings! Colorado is currently a battleground state - we are averaging 3 visits a week by the candidates and their flunkies!
Where are Ralph Nader and Ross Perot when you need them?! I still need to sit down and tacled my mail-in ballot . . . the one that requires 3 STAMPS to be mailed back in! Our little blue explain-all-the-issues-book is 117 pages long. Like I have the time to read a book these days! Could someone please send me the illustrated version?!
(And this is so late, but I am so sorry for the passing of Jasmine - she always looked like such a sweetheart in her pictures, and was no doubt an immensely important part of your family.)
I'm ready for it to be over too. Although, now that it will be over soon, I'm actually EXCITED about it. Because, while I hope the guy I want gets in (even though I'd bet he won't) no matter what it IS exciting.
And my mom just got that Steelers jersey for her birthday- her favorite guy whom she affectionatly calls 'foofoo' :)
You mean it's not over yet? ;)
AMEN!!! Regardless of who wins, it'll be nice to not see anymore ads or deal with the uneasiness of not knowing. This election has lasted forever! I'm so glad it is almost over. Although, I know I'll be glued to the tv this time next week in anticipation.
I cannot agree more. SO ready for it to be over and hopefully a certain someone will never again be held up as a role model for our daughters......
Ralph Nader third party politics?! BWAHAHAHAHA.
Amen! To the one more week and the never. ever. wink during a job interview. :)
Very well said.
I am so tired of all the crap too.
I am so with you. I am also sooo loving that picture.
Let me ask - how do you keep your uniform shirts fresh looking? My son's Bettis jersey he got for Christmas 3 years ago is in ruins. My husband's Roethlisberger jersey is on its way to being the same. How do you wash them? Dry them?
Excellent post. I couldn't agree more with every single point. I may even have to print that out and put it in my daughter's baby book for future referrence.
Amen to it all!
Oh, Amen! And might I add that I hope by the time these kiddos are grown, we won't be wasting as much money on an election as it takes to feed a starving nation for a year. I dream big.
I can see it now: 2040 - Alexis, elected President, thanks her mom for teaching her early how to do it right.