The O'Becca Factor

Politics. Ugh. Why I’ve decided to write a political blog should be the eighth wonder of the world. I’ve touched on this subject before, but shied away from any particular issue. I do my best to avoid narrowing down my political opinions in writing because that will only result in exposing my utter ignorance.

So in order to not stray from tradition, I will attempt to be as vague and confusing as possible.

I’m not one to keep up with today’s headlines. Sure, every now and then I’ll catch the “top stories” at the top of the hour on CNN. I may watch Anderson Cooper every so often, but that’s mainly because I think he’s a cutie. Too skinny, but cute. One of my favorite shows is Larry King Live, but even I fast forward through most of the show.

I’m drawn to non-political stories. You know the kind… the little old lady who beats up a mugger. Or the dog who saves the life of a two year old. Or the teenager who throws her newly born baby into the dumpster. Or a highly successful pastor being caught with is pants down. Or how contaminated tomatoes are now being blamed for the most recent salmonella outbreak. Those stories, as inspirational, depressing or humorous as they may be, are what catch my attention.

I don’t watch war coverage.

I just can’t. For a couple of reasons. First, it depresses me. Second, it confuses me. I’m not up-to-date on all the players and so I tend to not know/understand what this game is all about. This is my fault. I totally take complete blame for my own ignorance, denial, uninterest... or whatever you want to call it. My excuse of avoidance can only defend me so far. This I realize.

And this makes me quite dangerous.

As I was sipping my second bout of coffee this morning with a friend at the neighborhood Starbucks patio freezing my ass off, I explained to him that reading about political issues now is like tuning into a movie an hour too late. Sure I can form an opinion on what little knowledge I have gathered, but that’s possibly a risky move since I don’t know what has happened before now. The information I receive from the media is filtered through their own political agenda and I find it quite difficult to trust. Candidates up for (re)election are only going to put their best foot forward and do whatever it takes to have me believe that they will make all the bad stuff go away.

Ignorance does not hinder my right to vote.

Should it? A couple of weeks before election day, should they hand out fee copies of updated “Politics for Dummies” books? Of course, I’m sure those would even be filtered depending on who’s shucking out the bucks.

Even though I probably know more about political issues than I’m letting on, it does scare me that uninformed people are voting for issues that may affect my life. There are people who go to the polls and shade in the first available oval because… well, because it’s the first one. Uninformed OCD people will have to perfectly shade in the first available oval all the way down the list. Or maybe they’ll shade in the first, then the second, then the third… until they run out and then start the whole cycle over again with the first. Granny will vote for anyone named “Robert” because that’s the name of her favorite grandson and anyone named Robert must be a good boy.

Oie Vey.

But I hesitantly admit… I can be just as damaging. I still don’t know who to vote for governor. I always default to the Democratic Party, but over the past few years I’ve decided that wasn’t a good idea. Defaulting can lead to bad uneducated decisions. But since I’ve missed the first hour of the movie, I guess can only do my best and apologize later.

And I’m going to completely avoid the topic of the fear of stupid people hacking into the electronic voting machines. If “they” can’t avoid people from manipulating the election results, how am I going to trust that they can prevent another tall building from crumbling down.

Red states. Blue states.

We live in America where statistics are used as often as they can. We love statistics. Red. Blue. Rural. Urban. Democrat. Republican. Americans tend to vote the way their families have. A kid growing up on a farm is probably going to vote Democrat because that’s what his family did. Same goes for a person voting Republican who grew up surrounded by the great resources of a big city. If your parents are Southern Baptist… you will be, too.

Gotta respect people who have learned to make their own decisions about politics, religion and life. Just because that’s the way your momma made the meatloaf doesn’t mean that it’s the best way. Side bar: My momma does make great meatloaf and I don’t even attempt to out do her.

Competition = Choices

I believe that all these different views are good. It creates competition which can – at times – be healthy. I wish we had more competition in life. Choices on electric companies, gas companies, schools, etc. I think it would bring quality up and prices down. But who am I... I’ve already admitted my lack of knowledge on the issues of today’s society.

I just went back and re-read what I’ve thus far typed.

If being vague and confusing and avoiding specific topics was my goal from the start, I believe I’ve achieved it. I will now put this blog out of it's misery and end it. I’ve been told I have the ability to write three pages about absolutely nothing. I can write you a short essay about the description and social importance of a mere thimble. And I’m sure it’s a talent that will amount to absolutely nothing.

There is no moral to this political blog. In order to have a moral, there would have been motivation from the beginning. It lacks insightfulness (a critique I received just this morning from my friend as we downed our hot coffee). If I were to attempt to summarize this jumbled mess, it would be to say that people need to vote. And if they don’t vote, let it be due to being uninformed on the issues and not because of laziness. Don’t vote for the fear of making the wrong choice and not because it’s out of your way.

Ok, I’m done with political blogs for now.

A Little Less Conversation

I went to a great party Saturday night at a friend’s house. Lots of people, music, good conversation. Usually at our parties, the crowd starts thinning about 10pm. The responsible people decide they need to get up in the morning, leaving us scallywags unsupervised… which is why most of the good stuff happens after 10pm.

So it was just like clockwork Saturday night when we witnessed the bulk of the party-goers leaving. Now it was just us… the normal crowd. About 12 of us huddled around the table out on the deck. Little conversations sprinkled here and there. A couple of guitars playing made-up songs. All the leftover food placed in the center of the table in hopes that it gets eaten. Which it does.

Normally, one of those little conversations takes on a life. Spreading itself throughout the group. This causes people of like minds to mentally congregate… separating the crowd into teams: the losing team and the winning team. Of course both teams think they’re winning. Naturally.

This particular game was over the topic of politics. Not usually a good topic amongst friends, huh? Or maybe it was the perfect topic. Normally I would think that the two teams represented would be the republicans and the democrats. But it seems over the past few years the line that separates everyone has changed into Clinton-Haters and Clinton-Supporters. The rule is that you have to declare up front which team you’re on.

I’m not necessarily a rule follower. I sat there listening to my friends while nursing my margarita and eating way-to-many of those homemade chocolate chip cookies. It occurred to me that the topic was a little less political and maybe a little more moral.

The Clinton-Supporters bring out their briefcase of political facts which they incorporate into their usual and rehearsed “Why I Defend Clinton” speech. Normally I would think that you debate political facts with opposing political facts. But it seems to me that the “Why I Hate Clinton” team always brings up the moral issue every time as their defense. They always go straight to the “but he LIED” and then right into any other morally wrong doing.

What REALLY cracks me up that inevitably the argument always resorts to “personal” testimonies. “My cousin’s friend’s wife used to work for a guy who knew Clinton and he said that…” These unproven stories never end well either.

So here’s my problem: This is all a bunch of crap.

I’m not a politically driven person, but I do think that people are arguing the wrong fight. I’m not going to defend or chastise Clinton’s political history because, frankly, I’m not that interested. However, I am going to say something if all you do is use someone’s sexual history and those “personal” testimonials as your political argument.

If you’re going to attack a President on political grounds, use politics as your weapon. And don’t use the whole “but he lied to us… to America” line. You would lie, too. If you were placed up there in a chair in front of millions of people and asked if you had sexual relations with some intern in a blue dress, I guaran-dog-tee you that most people would have lied under that amount of pressure.

I just wish that people would use politics to fight politics. Use morals to fight morals. And that’s only if you have your own moral ground to stand on. Don’t hold your wife’s hand while politically slamming another man for immoral behavior when you have stained a few blue dresses yourself.

Whew, I’m on a roll. Get out of my way.

I did voice my opinion to the crowd Saturday night in between my regular feedings of chips and dip. Turns out there was another believer there and so we made a team of two. It was nice to have back-up.

Maybe this conversation is always brought up because I live in Arkansas. People here take the Clinton issues pretty seriously. They are either proud of him or ashamed of him. And since we ALL know him personally, we feel that our opinions are correct and validated.

After our debate sizzled out, it was suggested that we now tackle topic of religion. The group vote was “NO”. Smart people. Very smart.

One thing that I do find interesting: For not being a politically driven person, these past two blog entries have been politically oriented. Wussup wit dat?

It All Comes Down to the Dog

It’s election day. Everywhere you go, there they are. Those people. The ones who stand on every corner with the hot sun beating down on them. Their sweaty tired hands holding up that predictable red, white and blue sign which advertises the candidate they support. They’re proud. You can tell from the smiles and waves they give you. Peering at me through my window as if I’m their best friend. And I would be if I voted for their candidate.

I was impatiently sitting at a stop light at one of the busiest intersections which has a church on the corner. Before I go on, I must say that I’ve always found it odd that most voting places are in churches. Somehow in my pea brain it doesn’t seem to fit with the whole separation of church and state thing. Maybe it’s just me. Probably. Usually is. Anyway, there I am. Avoiding eye contact with these cheery, desperate, sign holding volunteers. Through the crowd I see a lady sitting in a chair right smack dab on the corner. Using her sign of hope to shield her eyes from the sun while yelling out the name of her political choice. I thought, she sure is smart using that chair. Bet she's tired. I then realize there’s a dog sitting at her feet. I move my car up a bit to get a clearer view of the type of dog. I’m a dog person, so this isn’t shocking or odd.

The light turns green and I move forward slowly while rubber necking to see this dog who I’m now obviously obsessed with. There he is. He’s a poodle. A poodle? Maybe I’m strange. Maybe I over analyze. To me, the poodle is the wrong dog to have supporting a candidate. Why would anyone use a poodle as a political prop? What is it about a poodle that says “I’m here for you… the people.”? To me, the poodle says, “I’m high maintenance. I have special needs that must be addressed on a regular basis. I need to be groomed to look funny so I will be accepted by my poodle peers.” Or maybe “I can’t be my own poodle. I must conform to the rules. I will not fight for what isn’t standard.”

I’m a major dog person. I have three. I’m all about the poodle. Really. Some of my best friends are poodles. But listen, if you’re going to sit out there in that miserable sun waving and showing your toothy smile at strangers all day, wouldn’t you want to make your time productive? You only get so many seconds of “influence time” with each car passing by. Poodle = wrong choice. For God sakes, borrow someone’s lab or golden retriever. Use a dog that will roll around in the mud for you and with you. Work hard for you. Eager to please you. One that enjoys wrestling around with the kids. A shaggy mutt would probably be the best choice. A mutt says, “I’m one of you. I’m all of you. I am you.”

I swear. A poodle. There should be a “do’s and don’ts” list somewhere advising these people on canine marketing.