Dating Your Political or Ideological Opposite…Would You Do It?

Sometimes I watch Keith Olbermann and I wonder, would someone (not necessarily Keith) who is so liberal ever date someone like, say, an Ann Coulter (ok not quite raving lunatic conservative but nonetheless staunch conservative) type? In trying to find a guy, I’ve always said I don’t want a social conservative. I’m a liberal in all senses of the word, and I personally don’t think I would get along with a social or political conservative. Ok, let me elaborate. I don’t think I would get along with a social conservative especially if they are adamant about their views. Yet I wonder how many couples there are where both people were at odds, politically or otherwise, and have lasted for a long period of time. I’m sure there are many that exist, but I would think they would be in the minority.

So what about you?

Rush Limbaugh Strikes Again!

Here is the latest gem being attributed to him:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090306/ap_on_go_co/limbaugh_kennedy;_ylt=AnoR55xz7DwCcO0OyZH.faIDW7oF

I can’t say I’m surprised, the man really has no qualms about going after the gravely ill. Especially not after seeing this little clip (couldn’t find the clip of Rush alone, but this will do):

You would think that the man has some sort of a system in place to keep him from talking when what he’s about to say comes across as insensitive or just plain stupid. Sadly, that’s not the case. News flash Rush: cancer (regardless of what kind) and Parkinson’s disease are both devastating illnesses with no cure, and few treatment options. Here’s to hoping that Rush Limbaugh recovers his sense of propriety and compassion, since they’ve clearly been eaten away long ago.

Republicans Eager for Obama’s Failure…

Not all Republicans of course, just the ones that are way right of center and way off their rockers (Rush Limbaugh et. al.). I’m completely baffled that there are some in their party that would practically salivate at the thought of Obama’s policies failing.

Hal Sparks, a comedian, was a guest on the Rachel Maddow Show today, and I think he put it best and I will paraphrase as best as I can. It is as though the Republicans want to see the fall of Obama, who they see as this messianic figure at the helm of the liberalism movement. It clearly summarized what I think is running through their heads. It’s unbelievable. I know I disagreed with Bush on almost everything, but I always hoped that somehow, by some miracle, one of those policies would work out.

They want to see the one hope the country has to fumble and fail, they want to see the policies that have an infinitely better shot than anything the conservative base has been able to offer up die before it does any real good. It’s not as though they have had any groundbreaking ideas over the last eight years, instead they drove the country right into the ground. It’s not as though they have come up with anything new and potentially useful now, just the same old nonsense they have peddled for so long. Still, they worship at the altar of Reagonomics and the trickle down theory, which had left the rich richer and the poor poorer, before everything went to hell in a handbasket and everyone was in the same boat: poor or well on their way there.

The Republican Party, besides being the party of “no” has now become the party of “ego.” Their egos are so hurt by the fact that the country has abandoned them more quickly than they can say “tax cut” that they are hoping for the failure of this new administration and a quick reinstating of the old ways at the potential cost of a whole nation’s chance at picking itself up out of the rut that the conservatives themselves had dug. Many conservative lawmakers are refusing, or are poised to refuse, the stimulus money even if they desperately need it. This means you, Bobby Jindal, governor of a Louisiana that is still hurting and hasn’t been helped enough to this day…and Katrina was almost four years ago. This is petulance at its purest, and would be a wholly irresponsible move.

Please, to all you all who are hoping for Obama’s failure, get your collective head out of your (insert synonym for derriere here). This isn’t about liberalism supposedly trouncing conservatism. This isn’t about which party is in control, and how to oust the current party in control. This is about helping a country that is hurtling towards economic and social ruin if something isn’t done fast. If you made a mistake (or mistakes as the case may be), ‘fess up and let someone try their strategy. Don’t assume the same, failed strategies will work if you just keep pushing at it for long enough. If you can’t break down a brick wall with a toothpick, admit it, and find someone who has a jackhammer. The goal is still achieved. That’s really all that matters.

Support the Pink Chaddi Campaign

Some of you may be reading this and asking, “What the hell is a chaddi anyway?” Chaddi in Hindi means underwear. This should probably pique your interest.

I heard about this a few days ago and think it’s absolutely brilliant. It’s kind of useless for me to rehash the whole story in my own words when someone else has done it very well already, so here is the the link to that.

Hindu fringe elements like the Shri Ram Sena give Hinduism a bad name. The rule of thumb for Hindus is to treat every woman with the same respect as though they were your mother or sister. Times are changing and women are more empowered in India and elsewhere. To try to violently bring them back into some ultraconservative way of living, where women are forever subservient to the demands of men, is foolish and horrific. Women will not be embarrassed anymore. We will live and love freely.

So please support the Pink Chaddi campaign. Visit their website and join their Facebook group. Mail pink undies to the Shri Ram Sena. I’d go so far as to say mail large, billowing, pink, granny-panties, just for kicks, but really it’s your call. Regardless of what kind of undies, they have to be pink, otherwise where’s the fun?

Long Island…and Why I Can’t Stand It

I go to grad school in the city, but live on Long Island, in a town where I have lived for the past 19 years.  Getting to and from the city means (for most Long Islanders) taking the Long Island Railroad (LIRR), a commuter rail system that links the city with most of Long Island, extending as far out east as Montauk on the South Fork, and Greenport on the North Fork.  Heaven forbid I have to take the train at rush hour, here is the general scenario:

I get on the train and start walking down the aisle, trying to find the seat.  In each car, there are two sets of seats: two-seaters and three-seaters.  The general rule, logically, would be that if there is an extra seat and there is someone that needs a seat, the other person would make room for that person to sit down.  Not the case on the LIRR.  Three seaters are occupied by one person and five bags, two seaters likewise.  There are times where I just give up and stand in the vestibule, hoping people get off at Jamaica.  Other times, I will march down the aisle, find the person most unwilling to give up their extra seat, and make them make room.  That coupled with the businessman who can’t stop cursing on his phone, the Botox-ed fiftysomething drawling on and on about vacuous nonsense, and the teens who are perpetually inebriated and inappropriate, well that pretty much sums it up.

Ok not exactly, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. But why?

Perhaps it is a function of our being so close to New York City, the financial capital of the world, but I can’t speak for Westchester or Rockland counties, or for New Jersey or Connecticut.  From what I’ve heard, they don’t quite have quite the same…er…aura that Long Island does.

Perhaps it is a function of our being Hollywood’s little haven.  J.Lo has a home in Greenvale, P. Diddy has a pad out in the Hamptons, and the list goes on.

Nonetheless, there’s something that’s causing Long Islanders to be these cookie cutter people.  Men have their suits, briefcases, and Blackberries; women have their fake orange tans (or worse yet, leathery skin from real tans), gaudy French-manicured nails, excessive makeup, plastic surgery, Tiffany jewelry, Coach bags (or maybe Prada), and Blackberries.  Starbucks and tanning salons are ubiquitous.  Materialism is their god, indulgence and excess, their salvation.

Going from high school to college meant a few drastic changes.  It meant going from a place where the teacher and the students excitedly talked about getting highlights that weekend, where Prada and Gucci were a way of life, where conformity trumped any other pursuit to a place where…well…people were actually concerned with varied pursuits, new points of view (political and otherwise), and just plain old diversity.  Gone was a lot of the racism and homophobia, replaced instead, by a healthy respect for all things unique and different.

Not all of Long Island is racially/ethnically homogenous, but it feels like much of it still is.  Certainly Long Island does feel like a conservative stronghold, among the older generations, though the younger generations are slowly starting to break the mold.

Oddly enough, coming from Long Island I didn’t think too much was wrong, but it was when I realized what Long Island’s reputation is on the outside that I realized that there was much that needed to be addressed.  “You don’t strike me as a Long Islander,” people would say, and when I asked why I wasn’t, they would often just roll their eyes and laugh congenially.  “It’s a good thing,” they would finally add.

Long Island has been my home for the last 20 years of my life, for better or worse.  I went to Long Island schools.  Among my closest friends are friends from high school.  I’ve shopped at Roosevelt Field, gazed out from Montauk Point, and done research at Long Island’s premier labs.  There is a connection I have with Long Island that I can’t deny.

Not everyone from Long Island is as I’ve described above, to assume that would be foolish.  Really this can be applied to any similar piece of suburbia in the backyard of a large, populous city.  This is just the trend that I’ve seen among the majority of Long Islanders, a trend that is disturbing and needs to change.  I can’t comfortably consider myself a Long Islander without adding to it, all the baggage and stereotypes that come with the title.  I can’t see myself living here in the future, past marriage, past having kids, and beyond.  I can’t imagine my kids growing up to be among those often disgruntled, boorish, and self-centered LIRR riders.  I don’t want my kids to just settle and conform to the vapid norms, I want them to stand up and take a chance, I want them to think of other people besides themselves.

The world does not revolve around any one of us, none of us is entitled to anything.  I don’t care if you are a big shot trader on the floor of the NYSE or a plastic surgeon, netting millions of dollars a year.  I don’t care if you own a mansion in the Hamptons, I don’t care if you’ve partied with the Olsen twins.  I don’t care if you own stock in Armani, or drink only fine Bordeaux.  Get over yourself.  Get over yourself and make room for your fellow passenger.  Heck, maybe strike up a conversation with them, you’ll be surprised at what you can learn.

Yet there is hope too…

A week ago, I was again, caught in an LIRR train at rush hour, waiting at Penn Station.  I was in a three-seater, filled to capacity, with most other seats taken up.  It took me a while before I noticed the noticeably pregnant woman standing next to me, her swollen belly creeping into my peripheral vision.  I think she might have been standing there for a good five minutes before I even noticed.  Clearly no one else noticed either, because she was still standing, and no one had offered her a seat.  She must have been seven or eighth months pregnant, and she was still standing.  Can you imagine standing with a ten pound load on your abdomen and legs?  So I turned around after no one else decided to do anything to ask her if she wanted to sit.  She declined, saying she was getting off at the next station (Forest Hills, as it happened to be, which is a ten minute ride).  Yet really, I can’t stand for ten minutes with my bag slung over my shoulder.  How would she fare for ten minutes, standing with a living load that needs far more protection from the jostling of a train?  So I gave up my seat, much to the shock of everyone in the train.  Really people?  Is it that unusual?  So I stood, sandwiched between several people standing in the aisle, and when the woman got up to leave at Forest Hills, I moved aside and let her pass before sitting down.  The man standing in front of me also grabbed a seat.  What surprised, and moved me, though was that at Forest Hills, another woman had come in weighed down with bags.  The man, who had just gotten himself a seat after standing in the aisle from Penn Station, thought better of it and gave up his seat for the woman.

I consider that a little victory in my book.  First one person, then the whole LIRR ridership, then who knows?  I’m not saying I’m a crusader for all things good, but if I can do something to inspire someone else to do the right thing, then I think I’ve won something.

Conclusion:  Long Island is a place of good people who, unfortunately, have lost sight of the more important priorities.  Long Island is not all bad, though if someone can direct me to the parts that have not been overrun by corporate ambition and wonton materialism, that would be lovely. 

Why the Youth (Especially) Needs to Vote

It looks like most of us are pretty riled up now, but just in case the point(s) isn’t perfectly clear, here’s why we need to get the vote out.

This election REALLY matters.

Ok…they said it last time.  Remember?  When John Kerry ran against Dubya.  That race really mattered too…needless to say, the nation collectively dropped the ball.  So we embarked on another four years of neo-conservative, country-destroying policies that have borne their poisonous fruit.  The economy is tanking, education is tanking, healthcare is tanking, everything…is…tanking.

How does that affect me, you may ask.  Let me put it in terms to which we can probably better relate.

The dollar is losing value, so your plans to backpack across Europe after college?  Not as cheap as you may think.  That trip to the Caribbean will probably cost you a bit more than you’d like.  Don’t even get me started on air travel.  Oh and that pretty Prada bag?  That’s an Italian import, expect a higher pricetag on that. Same for Armani, Gucci, etc.

Are you on par with students from other countries in the areas of math and science.  Probably not.  Why?  Blame Dubya’s “No Child Left Behind.”  While the intentions are good (increase passing rates) it also dumbs down the curriculum so far that everything is just watered down to its basics.  So you say you want to go to college to further your understanding of some topic of interest?  That’s fantastic.  Expect the price of a decent education to take off like a rocket, and those loans you were going to take out?  Yeah expect it to get harder to get a loan, and expect it to get harder to pay it off once you have your framed, shiny degree (or degrees).

Well now that you can vote, you can also probably buy your own health insurance right?  Most health insurance companies make some sort of allowance for full-time students over the age of 18 to continue to stay on their parents’ plan until some age (usually 25).  That’s assuming, of course, you can afford to be a full-time student.  If you can’t, well then you’ll need to find a job that provides healthcare benefits.  That is, of course, if you can find a job.  Finding a job in this economy is about as easy as finding a needle in a haystack.  Now imagine finding that needle with about a thousand other people clamoring to find it as well.  Best of luck.

Don’t expect to be able to buy a home anytime soon.  We are probably going to end up a society of renters…until the housing market is somehow, treated…if not cured.

Half our products are being produced abroad, where the regulations are much more lax.  Hooray for melamine!  Unless you like your food and merchandise with a side of profound neurotoxicity and painful kidney stones, we need to find a way to bring production back to the U.S.  Otherwise, expect really high medical bills…since getting affordable health insurance will be pretty hard.

Ok, but cars are better right?  Sure, I have a soft corner for imports.  Yet the question is…why can’t we get the same quality in the U.S.?  Ford, GMC, Chevrolet (for the most part) are still clunky and noisy even though they are cheaper.  They are lacking the smooth appeal in function and appearance that their foreign cousins seem to have as a default.  Let’s try to change that.

Gay rights need to come now.  Let’s stop living in a world that frowns on (at the very least) basic civil liberties for gay couples, while gladly contributing to the juggernaut that is the porn industry.  Seriously…does anyone else not see the irony here?

I could probably go on…and on…and on.  But we, as youth, generally have the attention span of small rodents.  So I’ll stop.

Please vote tomorrow.  I’m not telling you to vote for any specific candidate.  I’m telling you to vote for the candidate that can save our future.  I’m telling you to think long and hard about each candidate’s stance, and decide which candidate brings the most promising plan to the table.  We will be the ones inheriting most of the mistakes of the last administration, not our parents (though they will also be affected).  We are the ones that need to assure that, at the very least, our children will not have to deal with the same dilemma.

Please…go out tomorrow (November 4th, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise) and vote.  Polling centers, to my understanding, are open from 6AM-9PM.  Bring your iPod, bring a book, bring something to kill the time because lines will be long but they will be worth it.

Let’s hope this election yields a better future for us, and our country.