I always feel proud to cast my ballot on election day, but I also feel cynical, weary and disgusted. A tiny part of me envies people living in places like Cuba where the airwaves and mailboxes are blessedly free of campaigning--one benefit of living under a dictatorship. Tomorrow my phone will cease ringing, the TV ads will revert to selling me fast food and cars once again, and my mailbox will contain only a few bills. The amount of money spent on mudslinging reached $4 billion this year. I look at my choices and I want to vote "D--none of the above." Sometimes I have a fantasy that the American public will show up to vote and return blank ballots--what would happen if we united and exercised our right to vote for none of them? What if we demanded a complete do-over? Would we get a new round of choices? Would we finally silence the political machinery running our nation? I'd like to take our country back from them, frankly...
But of course I'll vote. I have no right to complain if I don't--and it is my obligation as a citizen, although one wonders what effect that ballot has these days when corporate free speech has a bigger bankroll than the average citizen... and what's the obligation of "corporate citizens?" That's a question left unanswered by the Supreme Court... they handled it as a question of "Free Speech," but one might argue the nature of a corporation. Does it's very essence entitle it to the same Constitutional rights as a human being? Could the citizens of America ever unite to take their country back using their right to vote? Stay tuned...but I bet it won't happen this year.
Pretty deep for a Tuesday morning, aren't I?
At least one group of working men won the big prize last night. Let's hear it for the Giants! Whoo-hoo! Scary beards aside, that was just a great moment in baseball history. Hard working underdogs winning the World Series--the equivalent of a blue collar team in baseball. I can't wait to watch the Disnified version of this story on the big screen someday...
On a lighter note, Mr. D and I had an extraordinary experience last night. We went to Mr. T's parent/teacher conferences where four teachers sat in a row and told us "Mr. T is a hard worker, participates in class, asks questions, does great and is polite and pleasant." One teacher even suggested cloning him. Since first grade all we've heard is how frustrating it is to work with Mr. T--he "doesn't pay attention in class, struggles with keeping up, needs to work harder." What changed? I'd argue Mr. T didn't change that much--but sending him to a new school changed everything. We floated out of the building feeling giddy after hearing such praise for our son.
And even better? Watching Mr. T duck his head and grin while his teachers said such nice things about him.
In the spirit of November and Thanksgiving, I'll end this post with my gratitude for that. And to the suffragettes who fought for my right to vote--thank you, ladies. For you, for hope and for America I'll go vote.
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