Saturday, October 25, 2008

Check Out My Mind, Yo

Another segment on random crap that's been going through my head:
  • It's funny when the 10 year olds in my fourth grade class think Obama might be Muslim. It's pathetic when adults do.

  • I would like to talk to Gov. Palin in private and see if she really talks like that. I'm just curious.

  • What the hell is up with people who are still not ashamed of having supported Bush? I still see "W" stickers on peoples' cars! Are they asking for road rage? Are they unaware of the state of the country? Are they the same type of people who swim in shark infested waters to prove they don't care? I really, really would like to know what is happening in their thick skulls. Do they believe we will admire their stubborn support of Dubya?

  • I also think people who voted for Bush TWICE should not be able to vote. They are obviously mentally challenged.

  • If you have voted for Bush twice, you are not allowed to have an opinion on this election. Especially those of you saying Obama is "inexperienced". I hereby revoke your right to judge anyone else. Ever. You had your chance and you voted for Dumbass-in-Chief. Now the country's in the crapper. Go away. You are terrible at this "judgement of character"-thing.

  • I know I'm not supposed to let politics get in the way of my friendships, but I want to punch people who support McCain/Palin. McCain-who chose Sarah "she-Bush" Palin. McCain-who is allowing these robocalls to scare people into thinking Obama is a terrorist. McCain-who is trying to tag "socialist" on Obama. I'm sorry, but no. If you are choosing McCain at this point, I have to rethink our relationship. I think we need a break.

  • I was so disappointed to see John Elway support McCain. What the heck? I think I'm generally disappointed whenever anybody supports McCain right now.

  • Elizabeth Hassleback needs a bitch-slap. Hold me back.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Strength in Numbers

Missouri proved there was truth to its “Show Me State” title yesterday, as an estimated 100,000 people gathered for a rally under the Gateway Arch in St. Louis in support of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. When I first heard Sen. Obama’s rally was to be held beneath the historic monument, I imagined the powerful images a large crowd could produce. But not even in my wildest dreams did I fathom St. Louis would produce the largest crowd ever for an Obama rally in North America.

But I can tell you that as I looked among my fellow St. Louisans on my metro ride over to the downtown area, I could feel an excitement and feeling in the air that I can only describe as revolutionary. Looking back, I remember wondering if people in the March on Washington felt the same way. I literally felt the instantaneous recognition of change that I knew was shared by everyone around me. We all smiled at each other, barely able to hide our excitement for finding each other in such large numbers. We boarded the trains as if we were on a mass exodus from the Bush era. The Metrolink filled almost beyond capacity and the scene that unfolded as we exited the train and took to the streets of St. Louis city nearly took my breath away.

I had never seen anything like it before, and for a political event none-the-less. The urgency in the air made things even more exciting. We all knew we needed to make it in time to witness our chosen leader give his speech. The lines stretched for blocks...blocks! …in the downtown area. People were walking briskly and even running to get into the line (if they could find the end of it). We were anxious to get as near to the scene as possible. When we reached Washington Avenue, the crowd before us shuffled along at snail pace in the beginning. We barely managed to move 5 feet within the first 30 minutes.The sheer mass of people of all colors and from all walks of life was unbelievable. We couldn’t even be angry or feel stressed at the daunting task of moving forward because the number of fellow supporters only emboldened our sense of unity and purpose. A number of mothers with strollers, a father with his two young daughters, a grandmother leading her grandchildren…these were just some of the groups surrounding me. It really was a sight to behold.

When we finally reached the Arch grounds, people began to jog towards the already waiting rally goers. When Sen. Obama came out, it felt presidential. How jealous had I been to grow up and see decades old images or video of a young, beloved leader in JFK speaking to his constituents. Now, how thrilled I was to be among tens of thousands of people screaming for our own political rock star and inspiration we were truly proud of. During his speech, someone behind me laughed and said out loud in disbelief, “I’m looking at Obama. He’s right there! I’m looking at him!” Volunteers walked around passing out free bottles of water. Despite the constant buzz circulating around me, I couldn't help but feel calm with my surroundings. Perhaps because it felt nice to be around tens of thousands of people, just like me, thirsty for a sense of sanity after eight years of a leadership in Washington parched of it.

All I could keep thinking was, how could such a diverse crowd be wrong? How could black, white, Asian, Arab, Hispanic, and people of all ethnic backgrounds and colors be unanimously wrong? Surely something that brings us all together in the spirit of tolerance and change (for the better) can only be good. It was not just strength in numbers that was impressive. It was the depth of diversity. I looked around me and felt good as a human being. The brotherhood of man brought together by one leader on this day, who preaches unity with a, yes, eloquence few have ever been in possession of in our lifetime was right. As far as I’m concerned, we deserve Obama. November 4th couldn’t come fast enough.

Friday, October 03, 2008

LIVE FROM WASHU...IT'S THE VP DEBAAAAATES!

Ok. My facebook status was a little misleading. I said I would be at WASHU during the VP debates. I was...but not in the debate hall. I was in an auditorium with a bunch of other people hoping to see Sarah Palin pull out a rifle and pose in a bikini. That said, we did have the credentials to be on campus-otherwise, we couldn't be there- and photo I.D. was required. So in my book, we were pretty cool. My book is pretty thin, but it exists. Ask me about it some time and I'll show it to you (That's What She Said).

We sat in Steinberg Hall where we were to watch the debate live with a room full of WASHU Alumni. The prestigious school spared no expense.The reception area included cookies, fruit, soda, sandwiches, buttons and beads. I enjoyed the peanut butter cookies. Those were particularly soft and tasty. We took pictures with the lifesize cardboard pictures of the presidential and vice presidential candidates. We noticed a few interesting t-shirts, notably a "I'm a black Republican" t-shirt and "I'm a redneck who supports Obama" t-shirt. And they were both in the same room. Magical night.

A political science professor briefly spoke to us about the influence of vice pres. debates and delighted me by throwing in puns here and there. I like pun-tacular professors. Good times.

Pun moment of glory for this professor: Audience member asks a question. Prof. begins to answer but lights go out. Professor wastes no time in quipping, "I could be in the dark about this, but..." and we all laughed in pun glee.

I was lucky enough to procure a PALIN Bingo card from a group of strangers in front of us. Here's how PALIN Bingo works: Check off any of the number of words she is, like the robot-doll she is, likely to use during the debate. Here's what the card looked like-

As you can (somewhat) see, we could check off words such as "gosh", "hockey mom", "Russia", "earmarks" and "Gotcha journalism". The middle box has a picture of Palin's head with the appropriate words-FREE SPACE. As the night went on, I noticed that the PALIN Bingo cards were not only particular to our area. They were all over the place. Apparently this is big. Get on this, people.

Luckily for us, the room was almost completely either in support of Obama or just wanted to laugh at Palin. Here are some of the room's reactions that we got as a group:

When Joe Biden finished one of his lines with, "that's what I call the ultimate bridge to nowhere", we all errupted in cheers. We also laughed when he said he spends a lot of time at Home Depot. Gotta love Joe. Oh, and when he discussed the ridiculousness of the notion that he, once a single father, could not also feel for the struggle of the average American families just as any hocky mom apparently does, and paused to compose himself- you could hear a pin drop.

Whenever Sarah Palin spoke, you would hear a lot of frustrated sighs and "ughs". You might think I'm exaggerating, but I cannot stress how loud the groans were every single time Palin said, "in Alaska", or "in Wasila!" or mentioned "soccer moms", or brought up her "executive experience" or ignored Gwen Ifill's actual questions and insisted that she'd talk about whatever talking points she decided was appropriate. When Palin winked at the camera, I threw up in my mouth--- just a little bit. When she told Joe Biden that his school-teacher wife's "reward is in heaven", we all laughed. I mean, was she really saying these things? When she gave a shout out to the 3rd graders, you couldn't even hear her next line because, again, we were all laughing. It was like watching an SNL skit. Only it wasn't a skit. It was Palin.

I know what a lot of the strategists are saying. She did a good job. But they've lowered their standards of what a good job is, because contrary to a few days ago, she could actually put words together this time. Well bravo, Sarah. Keep up the good work. Keep speaking coherent English.

Anyways, I fought the urge to yell out, "you ignorant-f*cking-runner-up-in-Miss Alaska-George W. wanna-be! I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU! You are an embarassment to women everywhere and you do not-in any way- represent me! BIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH!" Yes, in that regard, I was victorious.

But in other ways, we are all still losers because she is-at this moment- spewing her hatred and fear mongering to another crowd. Hopefully this election ends without anyone seriously getting hurt. And hopefully it ends in victory for someone whose name rhymes with Marack Mobama. Am I clear enough?

By the way, we stayed after the debate and were amongst the crowd for Hardball with Chris Matthews. He is flipping awesome. He told us he thought George Steinbrenner (or was it Hank? Now I can't remember) was an S-O-B. And talked to the college crowd during commercial breaks. A highlight for the Ead sisters came when Matthews was interviewing a guest, brought up Palin's dangerous remark about moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, and asked the guest if he thought Palin was aware of the implications of this statement which goes against every former American adminstration's policies, to which we replied, impromptu, simultaneously, and loud enough to probably be heard on T.V., "NO!". This drew laughs from the crowd and a smile from Matthews. Thank you, thank you.

Anyways, I'm out to watch M-I-Z Z-O-U!

PEACE

Like everyone else, I am going to die. But the words – the words live on
for as long as there are readers to see them, audiences to hear them. It is
immortality by proxy. It is not really a bad deal, all things considered.
-J. Michael Straczynski

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