fear and loathing in my inbox

i’ve somehow made it onto my grandpa’s email list. a few excerpts (without edits–italics are mine):

THIS MUSLIM ALIEN (Obama) HAS AN AGENDA THAT IS ENTIRELY UNPALATABLE AND I AM THOROUGHLY CONCERN THAT THE MASS MEDIA ARE PERPETUALLY COW-TOWING TO THIS UNABASHED KENYAN MESSIAH.

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Subject: The Patriot Microchip

The PATRIOT MICRO CHIP is intended to be implanted in terrorists. The implant is specifically designed to be installed in the forehead. When properly installed it will allow the implantee to speak to God.

It comes in various sizes:

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this stuff scares me. i understand thoughtful dissent and sincere concern for the direction of the country, but i don’t really see these sorts of messages presenting any solutions beyond shouting “you’re wrong and i’m right!” (at best) or raw violence (at worst). i also don’t see any substantial reasoning to any of it. no logic, no research–just sheer emotion and fear.

i get fundamental differences in philosophy. i get how a small-government Republican who believes every person (rather than society as a whole) is responsible for their own well-being would think that the economic stimulus package going through Congress right now is completely misguided. and i get how a true-blue liberal who believes in creating opportunities for all people would have problems understanding why CEOs are compensated hundreds of millions of dollars when there are homeless people wandering the sidewalks outside the buildings where they work.

what i don’t get is the complete refusal of those on both ends of the spectrum to have a conversation. not an argument on CNN, but a discussion where each side hears out the experiences of the other. because that’s all our beliefs are–values shaped by how we’ve experienced the world. when you start to see people as a product of their experiences, you begin to see that there is no “wrong” or “right;” that there are simply different knowledge pools, more or less access to information, and more or less contact with people of different experiences.

i can’t get mad at a kid in Rock River, Wyoming for calling me a dyke when his only experiences of gay people has been what he’s seen on tv and what his homophobic father taught him. and i can’t get mad at a Yale student from Boston for calling a guy wearing Wranglers and a cowboy hat an ignorant redneck when that student’s only experience of cowboys has been what he’s seen on tv and what his Harvard dad taught him.

the best i can do is call people on their assumptions and snap judgments, and simply ask them, “what do you really know about that person? what do you know about what they’ve been through?”

and maybe that’s what i need to do with my grandpa’s emails. maybe i just need to ask him if he’s ever really considered where the “terrorists” are coming from. maybe i need to ask him what about Obama scares him so much.

or maybe i’m being naive (as so many people have told me many times). maybe i just need to delete the emails as soon as they come into my box and accept the fact that he’s never going to let loose his grip on what he so strongly believes is “right.”

i just wish we’d all stop and listen to each other once in awhile instead of constantly seeking out only those who agree with us and demonizing those who don’t.

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Prop 8 Protest in New Haven – Nov. 15

Lots of pics on Lauren’s blog (Part 1 and Part 2) or on Facebook (gotta login), and lots of information and photos from protests around the nation at Join the Impact.

Local coverage at the New Haven Independent (along with some stirring commentary), the Yale Daily News, the New Haven Register (with even more, uh, interesting commentary), more awesome comments at WTNH, and video coverage at WFSB.

We have a lot of work to do.

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Join the Nationwide Prop 8 Protests in New Haven and Hartford!

CONNECTICUT PROTESTS

When:
Saturday, November 15
1:30 p.m.

Where:
New Haven
City Hall
165 Church St.

Hartford
City Hall
550 Main St.

Facebook (must login)
Join the Impact
POSTERS!

Poster Painting Party!
At Our House
Friday, November 14
8 p.m.
RSVP by commenting

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Countdown – Obama’s Historic Journey

(forgive me for all the misposts. i was going beta, and it wasn’t working at all. you can also watch the authorized, official version of this video here.)

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ISSUES! John McCain and Barack Obama on Foreign Policy

This is part of a greater effort to be better informed about the actual issues of this presidential election. Check out this post for background.

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The selection of this issue as next was inspired by my mom, whose vote I’m trying to cajole. When I sent her an email about taxes and the middle class, she responded with this:

Very interesting. It looks great on paper. I especially agree about the tax breaks for companies keeping jobs in the USA. I’m really interested in his foreign policy. What can you show me on that?

This is for you, mom.

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I’m starting to realize that you can’t break down intensely complicated issues into one readable post. So on this one, I would strongly encourage you to visit the links and read all you can.

What Their Websites Say: (Again, I’m not even going to try to summarize what each candidate’s web site says about the issue, but I will give you the links for you to explore.)

McCain: His website does not feature a “Foreign Policy” option on his Issues page. His views on the matter are summarized under “National Security” and “Iraq”.

Key Ideas under “National Security”:

• A Strong Military in a Dangerous World
• Fighting Against Violent Islamic Extremists and Terrorist Tactics
• Effective Missile Defense
• Increasing the size of the American Military
• Modernizing the Armed Services
• Smarter Defense Spending

Key Ideas under “Iraq”:

• John McCain believes it is strategically and morally essential for the United States to support the Government of Iraq to become capable of governing itself and safeguarding its people.
• The best way to secure long-term peace and security is to establish a stable, prosperous, and democratic state in Iraq that poses no threat to its neighbors and contributes to the defeat of terrorists. When Iraqi forces can safeguard their own country, American troops can return home.
• Support the Successful Counterinsurgency Strategy (i.e. the “Surge”)
• Push for Political Reconciliation and Good Government by: 1) Creating jobs for Iraqis in security services and, 2) supporting free and secure elections
• Get Iraq’s Economy Back on its Feet
• Call for International Pressure on Syria and Iran

Obama:

• Ending the War in Iraq
• Iran
• Renewing American Diplomacy
• Nuclear Weapons
• Bipartisanship and Openness
• On Israel
• Meeting the Challenge of a Resurgent Russia
• On Africa
• On Latin America & the Caribbean

What The Media Says:

New Yorker on both candidates: John McCain talks about new kinds of threat sometimes, too, but his views on foreign policy are completely different from Obama’s, in tone and in substance. McCain’s chief focus is on great powers, and on the all-importance of maintaining American military and political primacy in the world. There is a lot at stake in foreign policy in this campaign. The next President will have two wars to pursue, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. McCain has said he believes both countries “can in time become pillars of stability, tolerance, and democracy,” as long as America commits military and economic resources to them. Obama wants to draw down U.S. forces in Iraq and focus on Afghanistan, and he tends to define the war there more in terms of the threat of terrorism than of the opportunity to establish a model democracy….Whoever wins the election may have a chance to do something larger: propose a new defining idea for American foreign policy. For McCain, a history buff who loves to talk about America’s glorious military and diplomatic triumphs, the question has been whether he would be viewed as someone who understands how the world has changed. For Obama, the question is whether he can successfully keep the focus on his new ideas…
[This is a very excellent (though incredibly long) article, by the way. It thoroughly examines both of the candidates' ideas and personality and how they relate to big picture foreign policy issues.]

The Independent Institute on McCain: Both Bush and McCain have macho tendencies and that’s what al-Qaeda brutally exploits. It is standard practice for weak actors, such as terrorist groups and guerillas, to bait the stronger party by attacking and then hope for excessive retaliation. Such overreaction makes it easier for such groups to garner more money and recruits for their causes and also to overextend the giant.

The same article on Obama: If Bush fell into al-Qaeda’s trap from the right, however, Obama, if elected, could very well fall into it from the left. Muscular liberals often think that their foreign policy is very different from Bush’s neo-conservative fare, but it often gets us to the same place—in al-Qaeda’s crosshairs. Such liberals tend to use military power for “humanitarian” reasons. Even when such interventions don’t have ulterior motives—which, as in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Haiti, they almost always do—they often make somebody very mad.

New York Times on both candidates: An American president who keeps troops in Iraq indefinitely, fulminates about Islamic terrorism, inclines toward military solutions and antagonizes other nations is an excellent recruiting tool. In contrast, an African-American president with a Muslim grandfather and a penchant for building bridges rather than blowing them up would give Al Qaeda recruiters fits.

The News Chief (Winter Haven, Fla.) on Obama: On foreign policy, Obama has weak credentials. His Senate votes for hasty and unwise U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq and talk about meeting leaders of enemy nations without preconditions indicate an unsettling naiveté about the dangers America faces from abroad and about our enemies’ true intentions.

The same article on McCain: A former U.S. Navy pilot and former prisoner of war in Vietnam, McCain would make a fine commander-in-chief. He consistently has supported the military during his long Senate career, but he also has fought against wasteful defense spending and expensive and unnecessary defense systems. He understands the needs of the U.S. military and how best to protect U.S. national security and security interests around the globe. He consistently fought for more boots on the ground in Iraq and finally got what he wanted through the U.S. troop “surge.”

[Obviously, there are many, many more articles about the candidates on this topic, but I thought the segments above basically summarize the general ideas and arguments. Feel free to suggest others!]

Voting Records in the U.S. Senate:

John McCain
Defense
Foreign Aid and Policy Issues
Military Issues
National Security Issues

Barack Obama
Defense
Foreign Aid and Policy Issues
Military Issues
National Security Issues

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ISSUES! John McCain and Barack Obama on Education

This is part of a greater effort to be better informed about the actual issues of this presidential election. Check out this post for background.

Unless I find a lot more free time somewhere in the next 11 days, there is no way I’m going to get through all the issues on the list I initially created. So I’m going to pick and choose only some from that list, prioritizing on the following criteria: a) those that are not very clear-cut or obviously split on party lines, and b) those that matter more to me. if there’s an issue one of you really wants me to take on, feel free to comment on the original post, and I’ll do my best to get to it.

Anyway…

Education is probably the single most important issue to me in any election. According to an Education Trust study, “the United States is now the only industrialized country where young people are less likely than their parents to earn a diploma.” It goes on to say that “most states allow schools to graduate low percentages of students by saying that any progress, or even the status quo in some cases, is acceptable.” (Associated Press, 10/23/08)

I see this failure play out everyday where I work. I meet a lot of homeless folks who were never pushed, either by their family or by the schools they attended, to earn their diploma. And even many of those who do have a diploma can’t read. Of course these people are going to have a tough time navigating the everyday challenges of life–filling out an apartment application, getting a driver’s license, finding a job.

So how do the presidential candidates plan on improving education?

What Their Websites Say:

McCain: He believes all federal financial support must be predicated on providing parents the ability to move their children, and the dollars associated with them, from failing school.

Key Points:

• Too many of our children are trapped by geography and by economics in failing schools.
• We must empower committed parents with critical knowledge about their child’s performance, and empower them with real and meaningful choices to act upon that knowledge.
• There should be an emphasis on standards and accountability. However, our goal cannot be group averages. Instead, our focus should be to inspire every child to strive to reach his or her potential.
• The single biggest challenge in turning around a failing school is getting quality teachers into that school. To do this, he will: Encourage Alternative Certification Methods, Provide Bonuses For Teachers Who Locate In Underperforming Schools And Demonstrate Strong Leadership As Measured By Student Improvement, Provide Funding For Needed Professional Teacher Development.
• Expand The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program
• Ensure Children Struggling To Meet State Standards Will Have Immediate Access To High Quality Tutoring Programs
• Expanding Virtual Learning
  

Obama: No Child Left Behind Left the Money Behind: The goal of the law was the right one, but unfulfilled funding promises, inadequate implementation by the Education Department and shortcomings in the design of the law itself have limited its effectiveness and undercut its support. As a result, the law has failed to provide high-quality teachers in every classroom and failed to adequately support and pay those teachers.

Key Points:

• Reform No Child Left Behind: Obama and Biden believe teachers should not be forced to spend the academic year preparing students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests.
• Support High-Quality Schools and Close Low-Performing Charter Schools: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will double funding for the Federal Charter School Program to support the creation of more successful charter schools.
• Make Math and Science Education a National Priority.
• Address the Dropout Crisis: Obama and Biden will address the dropout crisis by passing his legislation to provide funding to school districts to invest in intervention strategies in middle school – strategies such as personal academic plans, teaching teams, parent involvement, mentoring, intensive reading and math instruction, and extended learning time.
• Expand High-Quality Afterschool Opportunities.
• Support College Outreach Programs.
• Support College Credit Initiatives: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will create a national “Make College A Reality” initiative that has a bold goal to increase students taking AP or college-level classes nationwide 50 percent by 2016.
• Support English Language Learners.
  

What The Media Says:

The San Francisco Gate on both candidates: “McCain is really distinctive – his program is minimalist, featuring choice and efficiency,” said Mike Kirst, professor emeritus of education at Stanford University and former president of the California Board of Education. “Obama’s is more robust, with significant investments focusing on disadvantaged, low-achieving children.”

National Review on Obama: Senator Obama clearly has lofty and laudable goals for American education — such as giving all children access to high-quality schools with challenging curricula, diminishing achievement gaps by race and socio-economic status, and “spurring innovation.” But he advocates programs that have proven incapable of accomplishing these goals.

Des Moines Register on McCain: Senator McCain in large measure relies on what he calls the fundamental principles of competition and choice. He favors government vouchers so parents can choose their child’s school and believes this market factor would lead to higher-quality education.One problem: Vouchers send public dollars to private, religious schools, a church-state line that should not be crossed. Another: While some families may indeed benefit, others will lose out. Vouchers would drain dollars from some public schools, yet some children still would attend them, left to learn with less.

That would not deliver equal access to excellent education for all.

Voting Records in the U.S. Senate:
John McCain
Barack Obama

1 Comment

ISSUES! John McCain and Barack Obama on Crime & Punishment

this is part of a greater effort to be better informed about the actual issues of this presidential election. check out this post for background.

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i took a broad sweep at this one, mainly because crime and punishment is not really a hot-button issue in this election, and the candidates are surprisingly similar in their stances on some of the specifics of this issue. i did not address gun-control in this post–i’ll be getting to that. the media has not really taken up the candidates’ views on this topic (except when it comes to gun control), so i don’t have much to give you.

What Their Websites Say:

McCain (in bullets):

• The Federal Government Should Provide State And Local Law Enforcement With The Support That It Is Uniquely Able To Provide.
• The Practice Of Earmarking Grant Funding For State And Local Law Enforcement Must End And These Funds Must Be Awarded Based Upon Merit And Need.
• The Federal Government Must Solicit, Evaluate, And Fund Innovative Policies, Technology, And Programs Which Help Law Enforcement Protect Us In The 21st Century.
• Fostering Prisoner Reintroduction And Assistance Programs Is Essential To Reducing Recidivism
• The Federal Government Should Shoulder The Responsibility For Detaining, Prosecuting And Deporting Illegal Aliens Who Commit Crimes And Secure The Border To Prevent Their Reentry.

Obama:

• Support Local Law Enforcement.
• Reduce Crime Recidivism by Providing Ex-Offender Supports.
• End the Dangerous Cycle of Youth Violence.
• Address Gun Violence in Cities.
• End Racial Profiling

What The Media Says:

The Boston Globe on both candidates: On paper, at least, McCain looks marginally tougher on crime, with his broad support for the death penalty and call for more spending on federal prisons. But Obama, who supports the death penalty in limited cases, including child rape, is hardly a bleeding heart on crime and punishment….

Each candidate still has some explaining to do. Voters deserve to hear more about why McCain voted against bipartisan crime bills during the 1990s. And Obama’s position on the constitutionality of citywide bans on handguns remains murky, at best.

The candidates seem only too happy to duck discussions about crime. Neither, therefore, deserves commendation as an especially effective crime-fighter.

Slate.com on Obama: Obama has also heartened advocates for criminal justice reform by expressing reservations about mandatory minimum sentences, at least for nonviolent offenders. He said he would end federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in states where they’re legal. And he has expressed some welcome dismay about America’s incarceration rate, which is the highest in the world.

But in the last month, Obama’s line on criminal justice has been a lot less encouraging. His running mate selection of Joe Biden, long one of the Senate’s most strident crime hawks and staunchest drug warriors, was telling. Since the vice-presidential pick, Obama and Biden have embraced criminal justice policies geared toward a larger federal presence in law enforcement, a trend that started in the Nixon administration and that has skewed local police priorities toward the slogan-based crime policies of Congress, like “more arrests” and “stop coddling criminals.”

(I couldn’t find anything specific on McCain that did not focus on gun-control. If you find anything out there, please let me know!)

Voting Records in the U.S. Senate:
John McCain
Barack Obama

1 Comment

ABC Refuses to Air “Repower America” Ad by WE Campaign

i try to do what i can for causes i believe in. the WE Campaign represents the biggest, most organized effort in curbing global warming through advocacy of renewable energy and education about our current forms of polluting energies. please click on the link below and take action.

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Did you notice the ads after last night’s presidential debate?

ABC had Chevron. CBS had Exxon. CNN had the coal lobby. But you know what happened last week? ABC refused to run our Repower America ad — the ad that takes on this same oil and coal lobby.

[The WE Campaign] sent a letter asking ABC to reconsider their decision and put our ad on the air, but still they haven’t heard back more than a week later. I think they need to hear from all of us. Can you help? Please send a message to ABC and tell them to air the Repower America ad this Friday on 20/20. Just click here:

http://www.wecansolveit.org/ABC

We’re working to get 100,000 public comments to ABC before 20/20’s next airing.

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ISSUES! John McCain and Barack Obama on Corporations/Regulation

this is part of a greater effort to be better informed about the actual issues of this presidential election. check out this post for background.

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god, what a GIANT subject, and as apropos as it gets. it’s hard to encapsulate this into one section, given that the candidates’ stances on Corporations/Regulation affect so many of the other issues such as ethics, the economy, taxes, etc. i’ll do what i can, but as always i don’t claim to be anywhere close to comprehensive.

What Their Websites Say:

Neither McCain’s nor Obama’s websites specifically address corporate regulations anywhere.

What The Media Says:

Athens Banner Herald on McCain: McCain represents the party of conservatism but has shown himself willing to break conservatism by favoring limits on corporate power. Unlike some conservatives, he has advocated for greater limits on executive pay while also favoring government stepping in to rescue financial houses.

At the same time, he would freeze spending to make room for the $700 billion bailout. During the debate, he listed specific programs he would eliminate, like funding for ethanol.

In this sense, McCain is like his hero, Roosevelt. When Lewis Gould was teaching history at the University of Texas, he wrote in “The Progressive Era” that when Roosevelt left the presidency, “he wrote that it had been his business ‘to take hold of the conservative party’ and make it ‘a party of progressive conservatism.’ “

New York Times on McCain: But his record on the issue, and the views of those he has always cited as his most influential advisers, suggest that he has never departed in any major way from his party’s embrace of deregulation and relying more on market forces than on the government to exert discipline.

While Mr. McCain has cited the need for additional oversight when it comes to specific situations, like the mortgage problems behind the current shocks on Wall Street, he has consistently characterized himself as fundamentally a deregulator and he has no history prior to the presidential campaign of advocating steps to tighten standards on investment firms.

Los Angeles Times on McCain: After Republicans captured control of Congress in 1994 by running a sharply anti-government campaign, McCain and 37 GOP senators pushed legislation to place a yearlong moratorium on all regulatory rule-making.

McCain even helped kill efforts to exempt from the moratorium new regulations for clean drinking water and meat inspections. A less restrictive compromise ultimately passed with bipartisan support.

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Yet there has long been another side to McCain.

Facing popular outrage over defective vehicles, or tobacco marketing to minors, or airline flight delays, the senator has responded with moral indignation and surprisingly zealous efforts to enact more regulation.

The New York Times on Obama: Mr. Obama set out his general approach to financial regulation in March, calling for regulating investment banks, mortgage brokers and hedge funds much as commercial banks are. And he would streamline the overlapping regulatory agencies and create a commission to monitor threats to the financial system and report to the White House and Congress.

The New Yorker on Obama: Last March, in New York, in a speech notable for its depth, balance, and foresight, he said, “A complete disdain for pay-as-you-go budgeting, coupled with a generally scornful attitude towards oversight and enforcement, allowed far too many to put short-term gain ahead of long-term consequences.” Obama is committed to reforms that value not only the restoration of stability but also the protection of the vast majority of the population, which did not partake of the fruits of the binge years. He has called for greater and more programmatic regulation of the financial system…

(After a numbing search for specific criticism to Obama’s plans for regulation, I’ve found nothing and am giving up. If anyone feels like paying for the archived Boston Herald article, Obama Economics Also Seen as Risky Bet, and sending it to me, I’d be very grateful.)

Voting Records in the U.S. Senate:
John McCain
Barack Obama

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SNL nails Sarah Palin

Saturday Night Live does Sarah Palin better than Sarah Palin does.

The VP Debate – Due to the historically low expectations for Gov. Palin, were she simply to do an adequate job tonight and at no point cry, faint, run out of the building or vomit, you should consider the debate a tie.

Katie Couric Interview – Katie, I’d like to use one of my lifelines.

Sarah and Hillary – It is never sexist to question female politicians’ credentials.

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