rock the vote

There were no elections in my town today, but it there is one in your area you better have voted. If not, then you have made your decision, and I don't want to hear SQUAT from you until the next go 'round when you have hopefully made better choices.

No sale.

Two things.

First:

I don't demand that everyone agree with my morals or my politics. Everyone has a right to their own opinion. Everyone does not, however, have a right to their own facts. So if you want to talk about your politics, that's fine. If you want to post a bunch of bull malarky that you haven't bothered to fact check, screw you.

Second:
If you are going to post those ridiculous, fictional screeds in a space where you are also trying to promote your business, I am going to unfriend/unfollow/unbookmark you and certainly, I am going to choose not to support your business.

GROW. UP.

Alright. Last night I was politcally cheery, tonight I'm on a downturn. If your guy won, which was the case for me...YAY! But gloating is gross and not going to help the situation. Keep it amongst friends, and be gracious with the losers. No one likes a sore loser, but a poor winner is almost as bad. If your guy lost, I'm sorry. That sucks. But this country has a lot of work to do. Instead of whining about how things didn't go your way, why don't you buckle down, roll up your sleeves, and get to work. It is time for all of us to start working togethr to fix things, rather than complaining about how much we don't like how things are. Obstructionist actions and policies can no longer be accepted. It is not acceptable to me for a senator or representative to vote against a healthcare bill, or a jobs bill, or a budget because they don't like the person who sponsored it. Disagree with it? Think it's wrong or bad for the country? Explain why. "We don't want Obama to accomplish anything" is NOT. GOOD. ENOUGH. So suck it up, and make it better.

Way to vote!

What's making me cranky tonight? Very little, go Go GO OBAMA!

Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing

So obviously, today's post is about politics. I mean, CLEARLY. Listen, I think I've made it pretty clear what side of the line I fall on, and if you disagree with me, you're wrong, but that's your choice and you have a right to it. But while what happens on Tuesday will either delight me or depress me, what's going to happen every day leading up to it is just depressing me. The political commercials. Oh y'all. I am not even in a swing state, and I am so tired of them...I mean, sooooo tired of them. It's ridiculous. They've done everything except claim that the other one is possessed by Satan and frankly I'm not sure it hasn't happened, I just suspect I just haven't seen that commercial. I admit, I don't watch much network television, so I've been spared the worst of it, but it takes only one commercial for me to go from "I wish this campaign was over" to "dear heavens, I think there's something seriously wrong with these people" and then on to "really, if any of this is true at all they're clearly all maniacs of the worst sort and what on earth have we left our government to?" Which of course, is enough to make anyone cranky, because how ridiculousis this mess? If the commercials are to be believed, this entire goverment is nothing but liars, charlatans and outright criminals. WHAT on earth are we coming to, then? Hyperbole is all well and good, but there has got to be a line, people. And really, it's all this noise...and what does it ever change?

Second Verse, Same as the first

So today I added Margaret Sanger to the list of potential topics to have freshman prove their research skills on. She was a fascinating woman, who did a lot for the cause of allowing woman to control their own bodies, which in turn made a huge difference in the overall ability of women to move in society at large. If you haven't already done so, I encourage you to read My Fight for Birth Control, by Sanger. Then you can be as cranky as I am when you realize how many of the arguments she faced are still being presented to stop women from having control of their bodies and their lives TODAY.

Get out the Vote! Or Just Plain Get Out.

Hello, everyone. Today is election day, so let's talk about politics. Did you vote today? If you didn't, you make me cranky. Did you fail to vote, but make the decision to complain about the state of the country  anyway? You make me very cranky. Did you decide to vote based on political ads, your father's political party or Rish Limbaugh (etc) without doing any research or bothering to think for yourself? You make me the MOST CRANKY.

Folks, the good Lord gave you a brain. Let me take this time to encourage you to USE IT. Look, if you vote differently than me, I'm not going to be all yay! you cancelled out my vote by voting for someone I think is a total dick! Well done! But if you thought it out and made your decision based on what you believe, I'm not going to hate on you. But for the love of Pete, at least THINK about it.

Writing Your Representative - Getting Political Again

Here is the letter I just wrote to my Rep.

Are you and your cronies seriously SERIOUSLY forcing a government shut down because you want more control over women's health? Over my health? Over the right to tell people who can and cannot have a legal procedure that is CONSTITUTIONALLY protected? Are you holding up the government because you can't see that Planned Parenthood is more than just abortions, and that many don't even offer abortions but instead do things like offer preventative care and access to birth control that prevents abortion?

Why is it that Republicans want to preach for small government but still get to know what I'm doing with my body? You are denying funding for women's health care at large, not just abortion. And in the process you are denying paychecks to government workers, including soldiers.

You, and everyone else involved in this hostage situation should be ashamed of yourselves. You aren't representing the people. You are representing yourselves and your desire to force your beliefs on everyone else, regardless of whether it is actually good for the government, and for the people under it, which is what you claim to serve. Shame on you, shame on your party, and shame on everyone who falls in line with your blackmail, and unwillingness to do your job. Hopefully, you and your fellow members of the house will be among the government employees who don't get a paycheck. You certainly haven't earned one.

How's that for cranky?

In which I really get political.

Watch out! This one's a doozy.

Alright folks, as always there are plenty of things I’m cranky about. But I have cranky blog writer’s block because the thing I’m MOST cranky about is politics which I didn’t really intend to discuss here, but forget that. It’s time to lay it on the line.

So, in my home state of Kentucky: 

Are you people REALLY trying to make it so the EPA doesn’t belong to the coal companies? Cause if so, that’s a brilliant plan. Way to make sure that everyone involved knows you care way more about your campaign funds and kickbacks than about the safety and health not only of the people of Kentucky, who get to drink the contaminated water and breath the contaminated air, but also for the land that makes up a beautiful state. Please continue to blow the tops off our mountains and ignore the continuing environmental impact. I can’t imagine how that could possibly go wrong. There is no easy solution to this. Kentucky runs on coal. We need the jobs, and we need the fuel. We don’t need to buckle under to the coal companies’ every demand. Why not? Because they need the coal in our mountains to run. We’ve worked for them for a long time. Maybe they should start working for us.

In Wisconsin: 

Are you people kidding me? This is just embarrassing to the U.S. and people in EGYPT are now supporting protestors here. Zombie Jimmy  Hoffa is gonna rise from his grave (he is likely sleeping with the fishes, after all) and come eat Scott Walker’s brains. Personally, I suspect the poor guy is going to go hungry. Listen, folks. There’s no denying that some unions have used their power unwisely, but to go nerdy on you here, there is a dark side and a light side to the force and all those of you who enjoy things like weekends and lunch breaks and minimum wage should thank God the unions exist. To the people who are saying we don’t need the unions? The very fact that they are trying to bust the unions means we still need unions, because they aren’t about to then hand that negotiating power back to the individual workers. They’ll do that and suddenly it will be all “this is chaos! The workers cannot handle their own negotiations, if only there was some kind of group they could join that would make this easier. In the meantime, we’re just going to go ahead and screw them over. Thanks, folks! Remember us when it’s election time!”

On Planned Parenthood: 

Let’s put aside the fact even though  the country is still struggling to recover economically, that the unemployment rate is still high, and something like one in five families are struggling to eat, the Republicans have decided that the thing to worry about is what I do with my uterus.  Instead let’s focus on the fact that only about 3% of what Planned Parenthood deals with relates to abortion, that not every Planned Parenthood offers abortion and that the best way to prevent unwanted pregnancies that lead to abortion is to provide comprehensive health care including affordable access to birth control, which Planned Parenthood provides. Let’s look at the fact that the Republicans in the House have already voted to DEFUND Planned Parenthood (AND PBS) but have decided to let NASCAR continue to receive 7 MILLION DOLLARS in funding that comes directly from taxpayer dollars. I don’t have anything against NASCAR but I’d rather have access to affordable health care and PBS. Why is it the Republican’s claim to want small government but there’s still room for them to insert themselves into my uterus? Why is it that NASCAR benefits but women suffer under Republicans?

On Women’s Issues: 

I have recently had several young women tell me that feminism is no longer necessary and it was okay, you know, in the past, but we are totally equal now. So let me just say to this…when women are equally represented in politics? We might be equal. When a woman winning an election is no longer news soley because of her gender? We might be equal. When politicians quit trying to win political points by screwing over women? We might be equal. When the pay gap is finally closed and women make the same money for the same work as men? We might be equal.  Until then, we need to keep fighting. 

On Women’s/black/latino, etc etc History Month: 

If I hear one more  white guy say “I don’t see why we need Women’s History Month or Black History Month, where’s White Man History month?” I will scream. I swear. NEWSFLASH. White Man History month is 365 days a year. They are the primary target in just about every history class, not because, as one student suggested “they are the only ones that did stuff” (I swear they actually said that and then my nervous tick came back. La la la.) but because they were the ones writing it down and they only recorded what they did.

Separation of Church and State 

Listen folks, I am a Sunday School teacher. I am a Christian. I believe there is one God, with a big G. I also believe in the separation of church and state.  I believe in that for two reasons. Because I may be a Christian, but the government of the United States needs to represent all of its citizens, and not everyone shares my beliefs. And I believe in it because separation of church and state goes both ways. I don’t want the government in my religion anymore than I want my religion in the government. People seem to have forgotten so much of America’s history. Namely, that many of our ancestors fled here to avoid religious persecution that was being sanctioned by the government. The separation was not only there to keep religion from deciding on how we govern, but also to keep the government from deciding on how we worship. 

On Civility in Politics: 

Look, I write a blog about my anger. Clearly, I am not a model of restraint and patience, here. That said, I think we should all be ashamed of how politics has devolved in the last few years. I had to have a conversation with my Sunday school class about politics. Why? Because they were talking about how they HATE Obama and he’s EVIL.  Now, clearly, I have a liberal slant here. I’m not going to deny it. But I didn’t preach to them that they should have voted for Obama or that their parents should have voted for Obama. Instead, I said that hate is wrong. If there’s anything that EVERYONE can take from the Bible, regardless of a myriad of (often twisted and out of context) interpretations, it’s that Jesus wants us to love each other.  When asked what the greatest command is, he said "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (NIV, Mark 12:28-31). I know and like the parents of these kids. But the kids didn’t pick up on Obama is evil, by themselves. We are to love each other, despite politics, despite everything.

A brief political interlude

I had intended to make today's crankiness about yesterday's political tomfoolery.

I can't do it. Because RAND PAUL, people. I cannot address how incredibly crazy he is without losing my own mind. I will cuss and rave and froth and all for no reason, because you know what? We're stuck with him.

So instead. I will take a deep breath. Thank the people for electing Ben Chandler (d) and Jim Gray, Lexington's first opening gay mayor (it's progress!) and hope that this whole situation will finally light a fire under the democrats butts (or at least encourage them to grow a pair. seriously) and hope and pray for the best.

To those of you who voted, well done. To those of you who didn't? I strongly suggest you don't open your mouth to complain about politics of any nature for the next two years.

I'll be back later with a genuinely cranky post, folks.