Ironic Billboard of the Year

This is a billboard that the North Iowa Tea Party put up in Mason City, Iowa in June. They did remove the billboard because of public outrage over the comparison between President Obama and Hitler.

However, I think we should have made them keep this up to show the idiocy of the Tea Party. The tag line for the Billboard states, "Radical leaders prey on the fearful and naive." What a better way to express exactly what the Tea Party is doing with this ad. Comparing Obama to Hitler can only be preying on people's fear and naivety.

I don't think I have ever seen such an appropriate and ironic political ad.

My trip...

This week I got to be part of an amazing moment in history. This was my view:

We got up early in the morning and migrated en masse to the capitol, like ants to the picnic...

Where's Waldo?...Can you pick me out of this crowd?

What about this one?

Good wishes reigned.

44th President!

(But only the 43rd man to have the office. Also, 0 women. FYI, Chief Justice Roberts did a 2nd swearing in on Wednesday because he mixed up the words of the oath.)

Out with the old...

In with the new...

I love America!

I love the possibilities in America!

I love that America changes and keeps surprising me!

And...Really I didn't make it to Washington this week even though I wanted to be there, but.... "We The People" sure showed up in person and in spirit...

And so did the world:

In Africa...

In Iraq...

In Asia...

I blatantly stole these photos from this website:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/01/the_inauguration_of_president.html?s_campaign=8315

You should check it out.

But still, like air, I'll rise

Maya Angelou was on one of the morning shows and she quoted a portion of her poem, "Still I Rise," after talking about Barack Obama as the President elect, and, unlike my poems it is not pretentious. I thought I should share it with you:

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

-Maya Angelou

My Cup Runneth Over...

I wasn't going to comment on the election, but I feel as though I am missing out on this moment if I do not do so. I was sitting with Laura when Katie Couric suddenly announced Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States. Tears immediately threatened to overflow from my eyes. I held in the tears and pretended like it was not a big deal because I was with Laura. However, if I had been alone I would have allowed the tears to flow. This was a dramatic reaction, but it felt like a dramatic and historic victory.

I have been a supporter of Obama for 4 years and I am in shock that what was once a dream has actually solidified into reality. I generally do not think of Barack Obama as a black man, rather I think of him as a politician who actually gives me hope in the system and makes me want to work together with others to improve the lives of Americans. However, when I heard the words, "Barack Obama is our 44th President," I could not help but note the historic significance for our nation and it was this that brought tears to my eyes. It was this that brought a lump to my throat as Barack, Michelle and the girls walked across that stage in Grant Park in front of a huge crowd of people; people of all colors who were cheering, crying and celebrating together.

(2008 was my third presidential election and I am so relieved that we are not re-counting and filing lawsuits with this one. It feels like the system works. Americans can choose one person in an election and then they can think for themselves and change their minds in the next election.)

Speaking of Artifice or... Why I decided to become a Democrat

I tend to get a little passionate about everything in my life. I also do not have a hard time making up my mind about the smallest things or the really important decisions. For example, I liked Barack Obama when I first heard him 2+ years ago and thought he should run for president and I liked him throughout the primaries. And I am passionate about this election.

However, I come from a family who is religiously republican. I was with them for a long time, but then I started listening to the republicans and comparing what they said they believed (small government, lower taxes, family values, etc.) to what they actually do. For example, living in Utah, a notoriously republican state (Bill Clinton got less votes than Ross Perot!!!!!), we still have some of the highest state income taxes in the nation. What about the fact that we have gotten so in debt under the current administration, when republicans are supposed to be the more fiscally responsible party. Perhaps this is because the republican party is run by rich business people and, as evidenced by big business in America, rich business people care only about taking care of themselves not their employees (anyone checked out the pay received by top executives of Walmart compared with the workers at Walmart) and shareholders (at least if it is publicly traded).

I also realized that there was a major disconnect between my religious views and the views of the republican party. How can I, a Christian, follow a party that does not have any interest in helping the poor, the sick, and the needy? How can I follow a party that says it is the poor people's fault that they are in poverty and if they would just work harder they would not be poor? How can I support a party that doesn't care that millions of middle-class Americans cannot afford health insurance? How can I support a party that doesn't care that the insurance companies deny rightful benefits to the sick and weary who cannot fight them?

I can't! So I decided that I could no longer sit on the fence and I threw my hat into the ring with the democrats. However, this does not mean that I am not open to listening to the other side. I listened to Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention and he spoke on the things that I care about. He discussed the domestic issues that should be addressed by the next administration. He spoke of change, but he also discussed compromise. He radiated hope and I absorbed it. The republicans only laugh about Obama's campaign for change and ask how is he supposed to change anything? But Obama understands that change does not come from the one man on top, but rather it comes from the people in mass. But how to you unite the people to affect this change? People must have hope that there can be a change. If there is no hope, there can be no will to make the change.

Tonight I came home to my family raving about Palin's speech. (Of course, they did not listen to Barack Obama's speech.) So I listened to her speech on youtube and I felt despair, the opposite of hope. I tried to listen with an open mind, but I did not hear any substance on how she and McCain were going to improve our lives or at least talk about how we might face our problems. She used the republicans' favorite election strategy of fear, which I have fallen for before and I refuse to fall for again.

Fear will not make anything change. I have been trying to figure out how our nation was able to change during the 1960s, I don't know if I have figured it out, but I don't think the change came from fear. There might have been fear during the time because of all the political unrest, but I think that the change came from individual people with hope, thinking they could make a difference, and causing change by standing together.

I don't know if Obama can do all he wants to do, but I have personal hope that I can try and make things better around me. And I have hope that others are also feeling hope that they can make a difference.

This election I will vote for hope (even in Utah)!