Archive for Politics

What I have to say about Israel

January 6, 2009 / / 6 comments

I have, for a long time, found it distressing that very liberal Jews are very hawkish about Israel. That they support things happening in Israel they would oppose were it Slobovia or Berzerkhistan. The pain of anti-Semitism is very real for us, and the history is very present. I think it is a mistake to interpret criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic, just as it is a mistake to interpret criticism of the U.S. government as unpatriotic.

And yet.

I was listening to progressive radio, the topic was the current Israeli war on the Gaza strip, and within a couple of minutes, I heard “If the Jews don’t like it, too bad,” and “Bloomberg is either a Jew or an American.”

So don’t even try to tell me that anti-Semitism isn’t a component of liberal opinion on the issue. Don’t even try.

Happy New Year

December 31, 2008 / / 2 comments

I can’t say it better than Tom Tomorrow.

happy new year

What didn’t happen in 2008

December 27, 2008 / / Comments Off on What didn’t happen in 2008

Local NPR station (I dunno, maybe all NPR stations) is playing a year-end fundraiser commercial that starts like this:

2008. Barack Obama became the first African American President of the United States.

No.
He.
Didn’t.

Barack Obama was elected to be the first African American President of the United States.

Barack Obama became the first African American President-Elect of the United States.

Barack Obama was the first African American to win the Presidency of the United States.

Barack Obama, however, is not the President of the United States. Not for another 3 weeks.

Language problem, or wishful thinking? You decide.

Cadillac Records

December 3, 2008 / / 2 comments

I heard an advertisement on the radio today for Cadillac Records. It was an NPR spot, very dry and announcey. They said it was about Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, and Etta James, starring Adrian Brody, Jeffrey Wright, and Beyoncé Knowles.

Yep. It’s about 3 black people, starring a white guy and 2 black people. Can your ears do a double-take?

I thought about it. The story of Leonard Chess is certainly interesting, but is it a way of getting white people to see a movie about black musicians? Didn’t white people see Dreamgirls?

I remember there was an article about Eva Mendes co-starring in Hitch. They didn’t want to give Will Smith a black romantic interest, because they didn’t want it to be ghettoized as a “black movie.” On the other hand, a white romantic interest could be controversial. Enter the beautiful Latina.

So that’s…unpleasant. And I have to ask myself, am I, a white person, less likely to see a “black movie”? And the truthful answer is, maybe. Not consciously, but I think when I’m looking at what’s playing, I might definitely eliminate non-white movies when I decide what I’m going to see. Which shows me how far we have to go. How not post-racism we are. Because I look at black movies as movies I won’t necessarily relate to, as if those are people too different from me for me to form a connection to them. (Which is why Cadillac Records or Dreamgirls are exceptions; I connect to the music.)

And it’s true. I know fewer black people than white people (even though some of the black people I know are my relatives). I connect less to the culture. I feel like a stranger. It shouldn’t be true, it’s wrong that it’s true, but it’s true.

Mother denied custody because of Wicca

November 20, 2008 / / Comments Off on Mother denied custody because of Wicca

Every time I hear one of these stories, it’s a fresh, new horror.

Did talk of a mother’s (alleged) adherence to Wicca cause her to lose custody of her child? That is the allegation of Andrea Hicks, who said that Chicot County Circuit Judge Robert Vittitow improperly considered her religious views in his ruling.

“In her appeal of Chicot County Circuit Judge Robert Vittitow’s decision, the mother noted Vittitow described Wicca in his opinion letter as ‘a religion, movement, cult or whatever it that may be.’ The judge also wrote that while the mother testified she was only joking when she told the boy’s father that she was involved with Wicca, the ‘court believes she is much more involved than she would lead us to believe.'”

Hicks’ first appeal was denied, even though the two dissenting judges believed that the ruling ‘impermissibly considered’ her faith. You can read the opinions of the judges on the appeal court, here (Andrea Hicks v. Joshua A. Cook). Now, somewhat unsurprisingly, a motion to rehear the appeal has been denied with the same justices dissenting.

I would ask anyone reading this to cross-post it. Widespread attention is one of the few things that helps in cases like this.

What Ebert said

November 5, 2008 / / One comment

Roger Ebert, on Obama’s victory:

Our long national nightmare is ending. America will not soon again start a war based on lies and propaganda. We will not torture. We will restore the rights of freedom of speech, freedom of privacy, and habeas corpus. We will enter at last in the struggle against environmental disaster. Our ideas will once again be more powerful than our weapons. During the last eight years, the beacon on the hill flickered out. Now the torch will shine again.

That was some lottery ticket

November 5, 2008 / / 2 comments

Yes we can.

I cried like a baby during Obama’s acceptance speech. Sobbed.

I cried because there is hope, because we can save this country, because things might get a whole lot better.

I cried because that man, and that family, in the White House, just being there, it’s going to change things. Because I’m not old enough to remember Camelot, but this must be something like it. That his very presence shifts things. And I’m here for it.

Yes we can.

I feel all the things he was speaking about last night. That I can absolutely go back to being angry at a too-centrist Democratic president, as I was for eight years under Clinton, and how glorious those years seem now, and how willing I am for that, to fight for better, for more progressive, in a context where change is possible, where my voice can be heard. And truly, I will write letters and make phone calls and maybe do more, and instead of feeling ‘all those bastards are the same,’ I feel that my more-progressive-than-Obama voice can be heard, and is in play. (I mean for one thing, holy shit, Prop 8 passed? We have a long way to go.)

Yes we can.

Let’s be clear. Obama was not originally my candidate. I have had misgivings about him. But he ran a brilliant race which certainly speaks to his managerial skills, and an inclusive race. And in his speech, as he gave it back to us, as he said it’s our victory, well, I believed him.

Yes. We. Can.

That line is too long

November 4, 2008 / / 4 comments

In the coffee room, I was discussing Rachel Maddow’s description of long voting lines as a kind of poll tax, and I told my co-worker that lines were four hours long in some places (longer, sometimes, but I never got a chance to say that). And she said if it was four hours long, she wouldn’t vote.

And I was sort of stunned. I mean, this is an educated, upper-middle class woman in reasonably good health, with a good and tolerant job and whose children are grown. In other words, no reason not to vote except inconvenience. But she wouldn’t wait for four hours?

I get that the voting lines are wrong and fucked up. But give up your franchise? For convenience? I’m just shocked. Just. Shocked.

Your vote is the irreducible unit of a democracy. It’s the piece of you that is an American. And when long lines drive away people who have to work or care for children or who have disabilities that prevent them from standing there, then that is a problem. But if those aren’t issues? FUCKING VOTE.

That is all.

Winner

November 4, 2008 / / Comments Off on Winner

I bought a lottery ticket, of the instant scratch-off variety. I very rarely do so, but I was feeling very nervous about the election, about winning and losing and all that, so I thought I’d engage with the whole numbers thing by playing scratch-off Bingo at lunch.

I won $10. Okay, I won $5 since I paid $5 for the ticket. Still, it made me feel perversely better about the election. I know it’s the basest sort of superstitious behavior, but there you have it.

Meet me halfway: buy a ticket.

Making calls that make a difference

November 3, 2008 / / 2 comments

I volunteered with MoveOn.org to make phone calls, and I’ve ended up calling from home to recruit volunteers. Basically calling other MoveOn members in swing states (I’m in New York, a “not swing” state) and asking them to come into their local offices and give time up to and including Tuesday.

Here’s the thing: Everyone’s saying yes.

You make phone calls, maybe you reach half or fewer of the people you call. Answering machines, like that. But of the people I’ve spoken to? About half have signed up. Half! Have you ever done any calling, for anything? Half is crazy. Half is someone reaching over to you and stuffing money in your pockets just for shits and giggles. You can’t believe how good it feels.

Everyone’s excited. And there’s a counter at the top of the screen, showing how many calls have been made. It moves blindingly fast. I started mid-week at 800,000 at the top of my screen, and now it’s over 2 million. And everyone is saying yes I frickin can.

Yes. I can.

If you live in a swing state, volunteer. If you don’t, call voters in swing states. Here’s something from the script I’ve been reading to people: “No matter what the polls say, we need all hands on deck.”

(And no, I haven’t seen a movie all week.)

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