She’s ten times cooler actually. I totally dig that woman.

You know I’m still voting for Obama and I think he’s great, but “integrity”… well… this has left a sour taste in my mouth. He’s a politician, after all, as they all are.

I know I’m the anomaly, with my whole, “I’ve voted for candidates representing 4 different parties since 2005,” but…

Fine, be pissed at the Dems. There are countless reasons. I’ve certainly done my fair share of ranting about them, but candidates should be considered on their merits, not their party. In almost every case in this country, you vote for an individual, not a party. Ruling one out entirely (Dem, Repub, Green, Independent, whatever) strikes me as supporting deliberate ignorance. I won’t even consider them because they’re in that party. The impact of individual votes is too important to be treated so cavalierly.

I admit, I’m crushing big time on both the Obamas right now. I identify really strongly with their values and the choices they’ve made in their lives. Not only do I like their politics, but from what I know, I like them as people too. That’s incredibly rare for me and it’s cool.

I agree, there’s definitely no quick fix to the massive and systemic problems the next president will inherit, regardless of who he may be. However, the prospect of electing someone with the integrity, intelligence and nuanced views that Barack Obama has and the fact that he’s running a smart enough campaign and the fact that it seems like We the People are willing to break this massive race barrier…he’s not perfect, but he’s damn exciting. :-)

Yes, Michelle is cooler than Barack. But she’s pretty fucking cool.

/second usurpage of blog (Wasn’t my own blog supposed to stop this sort of thing?) :-)

I take issue with whining about Dems and progressives. I will not dispute that there is much to whine about but, again, how can we actually make progress in this situation? My sense is that a lot of people get fed up with the process of politics/elections in this country and take it out on the candidates who are generally locked into a system that sucks.

It should have been clear but in case it wasn’t… I was not whining about ALL of them. I was whining about the hypocrites. Who, unfortunately, I have encountered a lot of, showing their true colors when it comes down to brass tacks. (Am I using that term correctly? I don’ tknow.)

ANd Obama is an excellent candidate, but we need to be careful not to idolize him. He’s not perfect. No one is. He’s a person, with faults just like the rest of us. I know it’s easy to lean toward seeing his as the end-all beat-all solution, given what we’ve been dealing with for the past 8 years; but we need to be realistic. (Octogalore has put a lot of it into perspective for me, btw.)

fundamentally disagree with this. Privilege does not change reality. You have to adjust your approach according to your privilege, but it’s counterproductive to say that men can’t call women out for being sexist or that white people can’t call black people out for being racist. If we rule out honest communication, we can never make progress.

Again, I’m not saying that you don’t approach these situations differently, but to not approach them at all only serves to perpetuate a system of privilege.

I agree w/ both of you - bc I think Jenny you might have been misunderstanding Bob. (Or maybe I was, who knows!) What I got from his comment was the concept that someone who is not a member of a certain oppressed (hate that word in this context but don’t know a better one) group does not get to define what is or isn’t “-ist” against that group. E.g., if I point to an instance of sexism and call it out as being sexist, a man (esp. the man who I just called out!) doesn’t get to say, “No it’s not.” Or, well, he can say that, but he’s an asshole. Because, he doesn’t get to define it. I do. I’m the one who experiences it. He’s the one who holds privilege in that situation and has the luxury of not having to understand what privilege is, what sexism is, how women experience sexism, how his ignorance perpetuates sexism… etc. etc. etc.

I think you know what I mean… but I feel like I could make more sense in person. Which just goes to show we need to visit each other more often! :)

Is it just me, but is Michelle Obama cooler than Barack?

We have a saying in my office: Everyone in a little bit racist. Given that our staff is pretty much 50/50 black/white, it’s almost a requirement that we’re open with such things. (What we’re not open about is class and that drives me nuts, but that’s not a rant for internet consumption.)

You and I don’t get to call Michelle Obama a racist. I don’t get to call you and Ren sexists. That’s the rules. Not just of political correctness, but of not pissing off your friends and allies.

I fundamentally disagree with this. Privilege does not change reality. You have to adjust your approach according to your privilege, but it’s counterproductive to say that men can’t call women out for being sexist or that white people can’t call black people out for being racist. If we rule out honest communication, we can never make progress.

Again, I’m not saying that you don’t approach these situations differently, but to not approach them at all only serves to perpetuate a system of privilege.

(People either love me or hate me…for obvious reasons.)

I take issue with whining about Dems and progressives. I will not dispute that there is much to whine about but, again, how can we actually make progress in this situation? My sense is that a lot of people get fed up with the process of politics/elections in this country and take it out on the candidates who are generally locked into a system that sucks.

I’m ridiculously tired and probably not coherent, so I’ll stop there for now. I’m probably fanning flames and I’d rather do that when I know I’m making sense.

Except one last thing…this very morning, I actually had the thought that if I knew Barack and Michelle Obama, I would probably be friends with them. From what I know, I like them as people. That’s just a little surreal for me. I need to volunteer on his campaign. Need.

/usurpage of blog

I hear that chewing new assholes, like chewing gum, is good for your dental health. But yes, it is pixelly (yes, I totally made up a new word) frustrating to not be able to lay into someone in that case. And I ditto what Amber says…which is why I’m not a Dem anymore. At least not on the federal level.