To the President of the United States, Barack Obama:
Sir, take a second to think back to a little over a year ago. You’d just been elected and our country was full of this strange feeling that you called “Hope.” Remember that Mr. President? I hope so.
And I hope that you remember the year before you became Mr. November, where you were criss-crossing the country trying to prove that a junior Senator from Illinois had the guts and wisdom to make up for the experience he was lacking. Mr. President, I stood in massive crowds multiple times to hear you speak before the election in 2008. I stood ready to vote for you based on the things you said and the ideas you had. Promises you made.
To many in this country you were the antithesis of your predecessor, someone seen as mildly Machiavellian. You were the answer sir, someone who actually made people excited to go out and vote. Then the election came and by time you took office we were all past the fact that you were the first black president. It was time for you to be something more than a novelty.
And then we found out that you’d be keeping General Petraeus around for some more time to come, because he obviously hadn’t already done enough for our country. There seemed something suspicious about keeping Petraeus around after you’d once grilled him in the Senate.
Then last night, I caught a few snippets of your speech outlining how the U.S. needs 30,000 more young lives to be risked in Afghanistan. A country the mighty Soviets couldn’t handle due to a combination of terrain and the fierce resolve of some Afghani people. I laugh at those crying that this will be the new Vietnam. I think you’re smarter than that if you don’t get talked into something dumb.
However, I don’t think that just because NATO and select other countries are upping their troop levels by a few hundred or thousand we need to send 30,000 more. I heard a congressmen talking on NPR today about how there are only actually 100 members of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Probably in some of the hardest places to get to. So, even if there are 10 times the number of Taliban, we still have 10 soldiers on the ground for every 1 member of the Taliban, and that ratio will soon be higher.
I’ve also read comments from other generals and even a retired colonel who likened the war in Afghanistan to that of ending poverty or world hunger. Karzai’s government is undoubtedly corrupt, so it nearly useless to try and transfer power to them or train more troops to defend Afghanistan when what people really want is an American exodus.
Not only are the American people tired of enduring these wars started by your predecessor that got him one of the lowest approval ratings ever, but people the world over are tired of American interventionism. The Afghan people have stood up to world powers before; I don’t know why it would be any different this time.
I know you want to make it right so that you can say you got all of our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan to clean up the mess that old Georgey go this country into. But getting it right isn’t always “winning” sir, and with all due respect I think the fucked up “we have to win” mentality is what is making the withdrawal of our troops from the Middle East so difficult. We need to stabilize the nation with the forces we currently have while implementing the exit strategy you laid our last night on television to the world. Mr President, last night you said:
“If I did not think that the security of the United States and the safety of the American people were at stake in Afghanistan, I would gladly order every single one of our troops home tomorrow,” Mr. Obama said. “So no, I do not make this decision lightly.”
Sir, with all due respect the safety and security argument was also something that old Georgy used to justify invading Iraq…wasn’t it? And I hardly see how having 30,000 additional troops is going to remedy something two nations have already messed up royally. By putting more American lives on the line, your are placing your legacy on this decision, and given reaction to your troop increase announcement, your
Sir, on behalf of those people who voted for you because we thought you would be better or different, I’d like to say that I know you inherited a mess; but I’m also not at all pleased with how you’re handling it. On behalf of those who voted for you to close Guantanamo and investigate torture, we feel mislead. On behalf of the Americans who voted for a peaceful President that would end instead of extending our military involvement, I’d like to say that you better hope you got this one right…or you could be the most novel one-term President that we’ve ever had.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
for the record...
I'm currently trying to befriend Dhani Jones of the Bengals via Twitter of all places, because he rides a fixed-gear. And that makes me want to hang out with him. Otherwise, just keeping it hilarious today. More info on a possible impending bike ride.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Tonight, Friday November 6th
Cyclones Retro Night with $7 admission, $1 drafts, hot dogs and pizza. 50 cent popcorn.
You'd be silly to miss some great hockey with some good people for cheap. USBank arena at 7:30. Promises to be a good game, as the Cyclones have been fielding really good teams the past few years. See you there.
You'd be silly to miss some great hockey with some good people for cheap. USBank arena at 7:30. Promises to be a good game, as the Cyclones have been fielding really good teams the past few years. See you there.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Cincinnati votes for progress? maybe
After last nights windbag diatribe on elections in this country, the winners have been announced and I think everything will be okay. Unfortunately, Ohioans voted to legalize casino gambling - however the way the amendment is written only two companies may build them. We also kept Mayor Mallory around for a few more years, however his victory was by a much smaller than expected margin. Cincinnati residents also defeated issue 9, so now the real battle about the streetcars can begin. Some people expected the streetcars to begin construction soon, but there are still millions in federal money that must be sourced before anything can begin...and there's always a chance of COAST trying to put the issue on the ballot again.
I must say that while I'm a bit disappointed about how some of this all happened, I'm not really surprised by anything.
I must say that while I'm a bit disappointed about how some of this all happened, I'm not really surprised by anything.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Election night 2009 (inconsequential?)
Today marks the anniversary of the most historic election on the history of this country. Exactly a year ago, we nominated our first black president while at the same time cast a referendum on the policies of Barack’s predecessor. It was a euphoric night for 3/5th’s of our country.
However, today is just as important of a day in Hamilton County politics. On the ballot were all the members of city council, the mayoral race, a statewide initiative on casinos and the big kicker, Issue 9. For those outside of the area, issues 9 would me an amendment to the city’s charter that would make any kind of public transportation subject to a countywide vote. Voting yes on 9 means that voters wanted more say in the government – and that people definitely didn’t want street cars. Voting no on 9 was seen as the progressive vote, which would grease the tracks for streetcars to soon come to Cincinnati.
Both sides of issue 9 spent the majority of their campaign funding trying to fight misconceptions about the issues instead of trying to make a case for their issue. In the end I think just as many people were confused about which way to vote in order to get their desired outcome. Both sides perpetuated an equal amount of bullshit about the other side, and today is the day that everything will come to a head.
Instead of voting on whether or not people in fact wanted streetcars on their roads, proponents intentionally made the issue hard to read and as confusing as possible. This led to many people thinking that “yes” on 9 would bring streetcars to the city. However the issue was farther complicated by the accusations that the money would just be a waste and result in a decline in public services, particularly the police. However, if you investigate where the money would come from, more than half of the funding came from one time federal grants that can only be used on projects like the one at the heart of issue 9. However, proponents were able to skew the data to make it seem like having streetcars would cut the police force in half and put the city on the verge of bankruptcy.
To me, the issue boils down to people being willing to do whatever it takes to get their view to be that of the majority. While the city would have to spend money to get the streetcars, the city itself would be paying only a fraction of the cost while the federal government kicked in the rest essentially free of charge.
To me the issue came down to pragmatics. As a city we could spend a fraction of the real cost of the project while reaping the full benefits economically and socially, or we could not spend any money at all and continue to lose people and jobs to other areas that have the amenities that Cincinnatians voted against.
The issue came down to an incredibly intense game of politics that matters so much more to the lives of people and businesses in this city than the lobbyists and politicians making these decisions. So many lies and so much misinformation being spread around that I feel like only a fraction of the population was voting on the real issue at hand, while so many cast their votes either the way they were told or in a misinformed light.
Maybe I’m wrong, and maybe the people of Cincinnati don’t see streetcars as a necessity. But if you talk to any business owner downtown, uptown or in Over-the-Rhine, they would tell you to vote “no,” or “nein” on Issue 9. Talking to the people that live in the affected neighborhoods will net you a similar response. However, people that don’t actually live in the city are the ones trying to fight streetcars in Cincinnati. They’re the people from Oakley and other outlying city areas that are afraid to come downtown and see absolutely no benefit in helping a recovering and developing downtown area.
Preliminarily election results are starting to trickle in. So far Ohioans favor casinos to be built in their cities (a reversal of their decision when the economy was better a few years ago), have a mayoral race at a dead heat and are voting against streetcars. But the polls have just closed and it’s still way too early too tell what the exact outcome will be (i.e, election 2004).
I really hope that if the streetcar measure gets defeated that people won’t get shitty with each other like they did in the days following the 2008 election. Much like that election polarized our country between black/white/republican/democrat/past and future, I hope that people can not be bitter assholes about losing this race. Regardless of which side actually wins, I can sense that the other side won’t go down without a fight – which to me is not how politics should work. If your side/issue/whatever gets defeated by the people at the polls (aside from election 2000) you should accept that the populist vote has said “no” to what you believe in instead of being a sore loser and dragging the process out even farther. The nein on 9 crow will bitch and moan if they lose, saying that voters were tricked and misinformed. If issue 9 passes, there will be an entirely different camp of people saying that the city is absent-mindedly throwing money away with no regard for the present or future while the nein on 9 crowd will continue to tell them that they’re dumb for opposing a diversification in public transit.
This election, like so many others in this country and across the world, will be decided by people that are less than completely informed about what is at stake. As the world continues to become smaller and smaller, popular elections will increase in importance. This will only lead to more disinformation and lies. The real trick for people to effectively use elections to resemble their own views is to abolish the two party political system. How many Americans actually align with the two parties is unknown, but I’m sure that if there were more options seen as viable by voters instead of rouge 3rd party craziness, there would be a wider dispersion of votes amongst parties.
There is still a large divide in the thinking of this country between the two parties. Some people are more; some are less extreme than the platforms of the elephants or the donkeys. Some people fall in the middle and just want to feel out what everyone else thinks. There are way more than two ways of thinking in America, and politics needs to represent that more.
By diversifying American politics in the melting pot manner that this nation is supposed to truly represent we could all be much more satisfied in our government instead of almost everyone being disillusioned and bitter about the entire process. If elections more closely resembled the thinking of this country, I think we could all get along better not only in government but also in our daily lives.
Instead of everyone being hyper focused on only one person or party, people could choose which sides of civics to embrace and which to shun much more readily than if there are only two choices. And that would be beautiful
However, today is just as important of a day in Hamilton County politics. On the ballot were all the members of city council, the mayoral race, a statewide initiative on casinos and the big kicker, Issue 9. For those outside of the area, issues 9 would me an amendment to the city’s charter that would make any kind of public transportation subject to a countywide vote. Voting yes on 9 means that voters wanted more say in the government – and that people definitely didn’t want street cars. Voting no on 9 was seen as the progressive vote, which would grease the tracks for streetcars to soon come to Cincinnati.
Both sides of issue 9 spent the majority of their campaign funding trying to fight misconceptions about the issues instead of trying to make a case for their issue. In the end I think just as many people were confused about which way to vote in order to get their desired outcome. Both sides perpetuated an equal amount of bullshit about the other side, and today is the day that everything will come to a head.
Instead of voting on whether or not people in fact wanted streetcars on their roads, proponents intentionally made the issue hard to read and as confusing as possible. This led to many people thinking that “yes” on 9 would bring streetcars to the city. However the issue was farther complicated by the accusations that the money would just be a waste and result in a decline in public services, particularly the police. However, if you investigate where the money would come from, more than half of the funding came from one time federal grants that can only be used on projects like the one at the heart of issue 9. However, proponents were able to skew the data to make it seem like having streetcars would cut the police force in half and put the city on the verge of bankruptcy.
To me, the issue boils down to people being willing to do whatever it takes to get their view to be that of the majority. While the city would have to spend money to get the streetcars, the city itself would be paying only a fraction of the cost while the federal government kicked in the rest essentially free of charge.
To me the issue came down to pragmatics. As a city we could spend a fraction of the real cost of the project while reaping the full benefits economically and socially, or we could not spend any money at all and continue to lose people and jobs to other areas that have the amenities that Cincinnatians voted against.
The issue came down to an incredibly intense game of politics that matters so much more to the lives of people and businesses in this city than the lobbyists and politicians making these decisions. So many lies and so much misinformation being spread around that I feel like only a fraction of the population was voting on the real issue at hand, while so many cast their votes either the way they were told or in a misinformed light.
Maybe I’m wrong, and maybe the people of Cincinnati don’t see streetcars as a necessity. But if you talk to any business owner downtown, uptown or in Over-the-Rhine, they would tell you to vote “no,” or “nein” on Issue 9. Talking to the people that live in the affected neighborhoods will net you a similar response. However, people that don’t actually live in the city are the ones trying to fight streetcars in Cincinnati. They’re the people from Oakley and other outlying city areas that are afraid to come downtown and see absolutely no benefit in helping a recovering and developing downtown area.
Preliminarily election results are starting to trickle in. So far Ohioans favor casinos to be built in their cities (a reversal of their decision when the economy was better a few years ago), have a mayoral race at a dead heat and are voting against streetcars. But the polls have just closed and it’s still way too early too tell what the exact outcome will be (i.e, election 2004).
I really hope that if the streetcar measure gets defeated that people won’t get shitty with each other like they did in the days following the 2008 election. Much like that election polarized our country between black/white/republican/democrat/past and future, I hope that people can not be bitter assholes about losing this race. Regardless of which side actually wins, I can sense that the other side won’t go down without a fight – which to me is not how politics should work. If your side/issue/whatever gets defeated by the people at the polls (aside from election 2000) you should accept that the populist vote has said “no” to what you believe in instead of being a sore loser and dragging the process out even farther. The nein on 9 crow will bitch and moan if they lose, saying that voters were tricked and misinformed. If issue 9 passes, there will be an entirely different camp of people saying that the city is absent-mindedly throwing money away with no regard for the present or future while the nein on 9 crowd will continue to tell them that they’re dumb for opposing a diversification in public transit.
This election, like so many others in this country and across the world, will be decided by people that are less than completely informed about what is at stake. As the world continues to become smaller and smaller, popular elections will increase in importance. This will only lead to more disinformation and lies. The real trick for people to effectively use elections to resemble their own views is to abolish the two party political system. How many Americans actually align with the two parties is unknown, but I’m sure that if there were more options seen as viable by voters instead of rouge 3rd party craziness, there would be a wider dispersion of votes amongst parties.
There is still a large divide in the thinking of this country between the two parties. Some people are more; some are less extreme than the platforms of the elephants or the donkeys. Some people fall in the middle and just want to feel out what everyone else thinks. There are way more than two ways of thinking in America, and politics needs to represent that more.
By diversifying American politics in the melting pot manner that this nation is supposed to truly represent we could all be much more satisfied in our government instead of almost everyone being disillusioned and bitter about the entire process. If elections more closely resembled the thinking of this country, I think we could all get along better not only in government but also in our daily lives.
Instead of everyone being hyper focused on only one person or party, people could choose which sides of civics to embrace and which to shun much more readily than if there are only two choices. And that would be beautiful
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Tuesday
After inadvertently riding about 30 miles with some friends last night...Here's the story: you know how sometimes you're out riding and see someone you know? Well, I ended up seeing like four of them that I hadn't seen in a while, so why not? Got back late and went to bed after a quick bite for an early shift at FIndlay Market, which appears to me at least, to be struggling a bit. Everyone's numbers up and down the aisles have been sliding.
Today I ended up in a hilarious conversation regarding appropriate ways to meet people. I hate meeting people through other people, because then the entire framework of any new relationship is still the relationship you had with the first person. And I refuse to be set up with people, because it's awkward, and evidently I'm a little too intense for a set-up date situation. Friends have tried before to set me up with their friends, and it always just ends up with at least one person being mad or disappointed in me.
This all got me thinking about wether or not there are organic and authentic ways to meet and interact with people anymore, and then I realized last night talking to a friend that all of the places where those communities still exist still call cyclists "fags"...
But then again, no one really seems interesting enough to keep up with me in a relationship - which is why I haven't really given a shit. For the next 9 months in Cincinnati, I need to tie up a bunch of loose ends and have some very serious conversations with a few people.
I've got a backlog of reading for school to hit, but later in the week I'd like to get into urban planning a bit more, as well as some cycling events throwing down this weekend
Today I ended up in a hilarious conversation regarding appropriate ways to meet people. I hate meeting people through other people, because then the entire framework of any new relationship is still the relationship you had with the first person. And I refuse to be set up with people, because it's awkward, and evidently I'm a little too intense for a set-up date situation. Friends have tried before to set me up with their friends, and it always just ends up with at least one person being mad or disappointed in me.
This all got me thinking about wether or not there are organic and authentic ways to meet and interact with people anymore, and then I realized last night talking to a friend that all of the places where those communities still exist still call cyclists "fags"...
But then again, no one really seems interesting enough to keep up with me in a relationship - which is why I haven't really given a shit. For the next 9 months in Cincinnati, I need to tie up a bunch of loose ends and have some very serious conversations with a few people.
I've got a backlog of reading for school to hit, but later in the week I'd like to get into urban planning a bit more, as well as some cycling events throwing down this weekend
Monday, October 26, 2009
October 26, 09
School is gearing up and the year is winding down. Everything is slowly sliding into place ( to avoid a Radiohead reference ), and hopes are high for 2010. In as much as I'm using this blog for the semi-public chronicling of my life in OTR and within the biking culture, I intend use it for personal archive purposes as well. IF I stay up to date, this should provide me with a decent body of work to draw from when creative companies want to see what I'm capable of.
Today, I got my first ever question about my blog - from a pseudo internet stalker (interesting side story about this later). She wanted to know why I'd named this "White Kid on a Bike" instead of resurrecting a prior blog that I'd already established and let go by the wayside. Partially I wanted to focus on different topics than any other blogging I'd done. Another part of the decision was that I felt a new blog could give me a better launching ground, something that I could prove instead of something I already had a bad history with. So, in naming the blog I settled upon the nickname I was given during my first few months in OTR.
Men in tall tees standing on street corners would yell, "yo, white kid on a/the bike" trying to sell me something different depending upon which street I was on. Weed on Vine, Heroin on Elm and Crack on Walnut. They all sound like name for something totally dysfunctional, but a lot of OTR is...so what can you do?
A lot of my interactions with these same people that used to yell at me are now deeper in ways since it's been made clear that I live here and am out in the community just as much as anyone else. This is in part thanks to a few select individuals that avoid the rain on my front stoop slinging dubs and the occasional dog food. I know who these people are, and I'm sure the police have to know as well...so I often wonder why nothing happens. If you're selling weed literally hidden in a gaping sidewalk crevice, I don't have a whole lot of sympathy if you get caught. Seems like an inevitability in ways.
Much of what goes on in OTR centers around the trafficking of drugs. I get offered them all the time and have learned the effective ways to say no while still being polite so that people don't think I'm a raging dick, or a cop (the latter being more important on the street). However, most of the people involved in the OTR drug culture don't live in the neighborhood and simply commute. Some from Avondale or Colerain or a variety of any other neighborhoods that aren't OTR or in the Clifton Area, since most college kids have been warned, and largely stay out of OTR.
As much as drugs permeate OTR life through the smell of blunts burning on street corners, there is another pervasive theme in the neighborhood, struggle. A lot of people here don't want to be here - I love it, but I admit the circumstances are much different - and so often you see people at the lowest of lows trying to get food or find a place to defecate. Things in everyday life that so many people don't even think about. And that in many ways has shaped my experiences in OTR more than someone trying to sell me drugs. As long as you stay a healthy distance away from the drug game, chances for survival are much higher. And having a little big of a head on your shoulders doesn't hurt either. Things totally acceptable in Clifton would get ugly in OTR and visa vera. It's funny to me how one single mile can make such a big difference in communities. In some instances it's 1/4 mile up a hill to a totally new world.
Today, I got my first ever question about my blog - from a pseudo internet stalker (interesting side story about this later). She wanted to know why I'd named this "White Kid on a Bike" instead of resurrecting a prior blog that I'd already established and let go by the wayside. Partially I wanted to focus on different topics than any other blogging I'd done. Another part of the decision was that I felt a new blog could give me a better launching ground, something that I could prove instead of something I already had a bad history with. So, in naming the blog I settled upon the nickname I was given during my first few months in OTR.
Men in tall tees standing on street corners would yell, "yo, white kid on a/the bike" trying to sell me something different depending upon which street I was on. Weed on Vine, Heroin on Elm and Crack on Walnut. They all sound like name for something totally dysfunctional, but a lot of OTR is...so what can you do?
A lot of my interactions with these same people that used to yell at me are now deeper in ways since it's been made clear that I live here and am out in the community just as much as anyone else. This is in part thanks to a few select individuals that avoid the rain on my front stoop slinging dubs and the occasional dog food. I know who these people are, and I'm sure the police have to know as well...so I often wonder why nothing happens. If you're selling weed literally hidden in a gaping sidewalk crevice, I don't have a whole lot of sympathy if you get caught. Seems like an inevitability in ways.
Much of what goes on in OTR centers around the trafficking of drugs. I get offered them all the time and have learned the effective ways to say no while still being polite so that people don't think I'm a raging dick, or a cop (the latter being more important on the street). However, most of the people involved in the OTR drug culture don't live in the neighborhood and simply commute. Some from Avondale or Colerain or a variety of any other neighborhoods that aren't OTR or in the Clifton Area, since most college kids have been warned, and largely stay out of OTR.
As much as drugs permeate OTR life through the smell of blunts burning on street corners, there is another pervasive theme in the neighborhood, struggle. A lot of people here don't want to be here - I love it, but I admit the circumstances are much different - and so often you see people at the lowest of lows trying to get food or find a place to defecate. Things in everyday life that so many people don't even think about. And that in many ways has shaped my experiences in OTR more than someone trying to sell me drugs. As long as you stay a healthy distance away from the drug game, chances for survival are much higher. And having a little big of a head on your shoulders doesn't hurt either. Things totally acceptable in Clifton would get ugly in OTR and visa vera. It's funny to me how one single mile can make such a big difference in communities. In some instances it's 1/4 mile up a hill to a totally new world.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
my favorite speech
In lieu of writing some big to-do today, since I have tons of stuff due for school...I thought I'd leave you with the text from what I consider to be one of the best American speeches. It's former governor Mario Cuomo's 1984 speech to the Democratic Nat'l Convention. I think it's lovely.
Ten days ago, President Reagan admitted that although some people in this country seemed to be doing well nowadays, others were unhappy, and even worried, about themselves, their families and their futures.
The President said he didn't understand that fear. He said, "Why, this country is a shining city on a hill."
A shining city is perhaps all the President sees from the portico of the White House and the verandah of his ranch, where everyone seems to be doing well.
But there's another part of the city, the part where some people can't pay their mortgages and most young people can't afford one, where students can't afford the education they need and middle-class parents watch the dreams they hold for their children evaporate.
In this part of the city there are more poor than ever, more families in trouble. More and more people who need help but can't find it.
There are ghettos where thousands of young people, without an education or a job, give their lives away to drug dealers every day.
There is despair, Mr. President, in faces you never see, in the places you never visit in your shining city.
Maybe if you visited more places, Mr. President, you'd understand.
Maybe if you went to Appalachia where some people still live in sheds and to Lackawanna where thousands of unemployed steel workers wonder why we subsidized foreign steel while we surrender their dignity to unemployment and to welfare checks; maybe if you stepped into a shelter in Chicago and talked with some of the homeless there; maybe, Mr. President, if you asked a woman who'd been denied the help she needs to feed her children because you say we need the money to give a tax break to a millionaire or to build a missile we can't even afford to use — maybe then you'd understand.
Maybe, Mr. President.
But I'm afraid not. . . .
The difference between Democrats and Republicans has always been measured in courage and confidence. The Republicans believe the wagon train will not make it to the frontier unless some of our old, some of our young, and some of our weak are left behind by the side of the trail.
We Democrats believe that we can make it all the way with the whole family intact.
The President has asked us to judge him on whether or not he's fulfilled the promises he made four years ago. I accept that. Just consider what he said and what he's done.
Inflation is down since 1980 . . . reduced the old-fashioned way, with a recession, the worst since 1932. More than 55,000 bankruptcies. Two years of massive unemployment. Two hundred thousand farmers and ranchers forced off the land. More homeless than at any time since the Great Depression. More hungry, more poor, and a nearly $200 billion deficit . . . a mortgage on our children's futures that can only be paid in pain and that could eventually bring this nation to its knees. . . .
Where would another four years take us? How much larger will the deficit be? How high will we pile the missiles? Will we make meaner the spirit of our people?
We Democrats still have a dream. We still believe in this nation's future.
It's a story I didn't read in a book, or learn in a classroom. I saw it, and lived it. Like many of you.
I watched a small man with thick calluses on both hands work 15 and 16 hours a day. I saw him once literally bleed from the bottoms of his feet, a man who came here uneducated, alone, unable to speak the language, who taught me all I needed to know about faith and hard work by the simple eloquence of his example. I learned about our kind of democracy from my father. I learned about our obligation to each other from him and from my mother. They asked only for a chance to work and to make the world better for their children and to be protected in those moments when they would not be able to protect themselves. This nation and its government did that for them.
And that they were able to build a family and live in dignity and see one of their children go from behind their little grocery store to occupy the highest seat in the greatest state of the greatest nation in the only world we know, is an ineffably beautiful tribute to the democratic process. . . .
I ask you, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters — for the good of all of us, for the love of this great nation, for the family of America, for the love of God. Please make this nation remember how futures are built.
Ten days ago, President Reagan admitted that although some people in this country seemed to be doing well nowadays, others were unhappy, and even worried, about themselves, their families and their futures.
The President said he didn't understand that fear. He said, "Why, this country is a shining city on a hill."
A shining city is perhaps all the President sees from the portico of the White House and the verandah of his ranch, where everyone seems to be doing well.
But there's another part of the city, the part where some people can't pay their mortgages and most young people can't afford one, where students can't afford the education they need and middle-class parents watch the dreams they hold for their children evaporate.
In this part of the city there are more poor than ever, more families in trouble. More and more people who need help but can't find it.
There are ghettos where thousands of young people, without an education or a job, give their lives away to drug dealers every day.
There is despair, Mr. President, in faces you never see, in the places you never visit in your shining city.
Maybe if you visited more places, Mr. President, you'd understand.
Maybe if you went to Appalachia where some people still live in sheds and to Lackawanna where thousands of unemployed steel workers wonder why we subsidized foreign steel while we surrender their dignity to unemployment and to welfare checks; maybe if you stepped into a shelter in Chicago and talked with some of the homeless there; maybe, Mr. President, if you asked a woman who'd been denied the help she needs to feed her children because you say we need the money to give a tax break to a millionaire or to build a missile we can't even afford to use — maybe then you'd understand.
Maybe, Mr. President.
But I'm afraid not. . . .
The difference between Democrats and Republicans has always been measured in courage and confidence. The Republicans believe the wagon train will not make it to the frontier unless some of our old, some of our young, and some of our weak are left behind by the side of the trail.
We Democrats believe that we can make it all the way with the whole family intact.
The President has asked us to judge him on whether or not he's fulfilled the promises he made four years ago. I accept that. Just consider what he said and what he's done.
Inflation is down since 1980 . . . reduced the old-fashioned way, with a recession, the worst since 1932. More than 55,000 bankruptcies. Two years of massive unemployment. Two hundred thousand farmers and ranchers forced off the land. More homeless than at any time since the Great Depression. More hungry, more poor, and a nearly $200 billion deficit . . . a mortgage on our children's futures that can only be paid in pain and that could eventually bring this nation to its knees. . . .
Where would another four years take us? How much larger will the deficit be? How high will we pile the missiles? Will we make meaner the spirit of our people?
We Democrats still have a dream. We still believe in this nation's future.
It's a story I didn't read in a book, or learn in a classroom. I saw it, and lived it. Like many of you.
I watched a small man with thick calluses on both hands work 15 and 16 hours a day. I saw him once literally bleed from the bottoms of his feet, a man who came here uneducated, alone, unable to speak the language, who taught me all I needed to know about faith and hard work by the simple eloquence of his example. I learned about our kind of democracy from my father. I learned about our obligation to each other from him and from my mother. They asked only for a chance to work and to make the world better for their children and to be protected in those moments when they would not be able to protect themselves. This nation and its government did that for them.
And that they were able to build a family and live in dignity and see one of their children go from behind their little grocery store to occupy the highest seat in the greatest state of the greatest nation in the only world we know, is an ineffably beautiful tribute to the democratic process. . . .
I ask you, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters — for the good of all of us, for the love of this great nation, for the family of America, for the love of God. Please make this nation remember how futures are built.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
FALL 09 playlist. In no particular order
White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes
Bliss - muse
Schooled In The Trade - People Under The Stairs
A Threnody for the Victims of November 2nd - The Ascent of Everest
Mike Mills - Air
Olsen Olsen - Sigur Rós
I Don't Believe You - The Magnetic Fields
If I Fall - Aqualung
Family Tree - TV on the Radio
All Along The Watchtower - Bob Dylan
Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles - Arcade Fire
King's Crossing - Elliot Smith
The Stars Are Projectors - Modest Mouse
Interstate 8 - Modest Mouse
Neighborhood #2 (Laika)- Arcade Fire
Roads Must Roll - Boom Bip
National Disgrace - Atmosphere
Run Run Run - Phoenix
Skttrbrain (Four Tet Remix) - Radiohead
Hand on Your Heart - José González
The Way Young Lovers Do - Van Morrison
The Nasty - Amon Tobin
Kid A - Radiohead
Dimensions And Verticals- Say Hi To Your Mom
Skip Divided - Thom Yorke
You Got Me All Wrong - Dios Malos
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart - Wilco
The Eraser - Thom Yorke
Kyrie - Popol Vuh Hosianna
The Four Corners - Halloween, Alaska
/=/- Andrew Bird
A Minute's Warning - Johnnytwentythree
Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was - Radiohead
I Will - Radiohead
Baby, we'll be fine - The national
Bliss - muse
Schooled In The Trade - People Under The Stairs
A Threnody for the Victims of November 2nd - The Ascent of Everest
Mike Mills - Air
Olsen Olsen - Sigur Rós
I Don't Believe You - The Magnetic Fields
If I Fall - Aqualung
Family Tree - TV on the Radio
All Along The Watchtower - Bob Dylan
Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles - Arcade Fire
King's Crossing - Elliot Smith
The Stars Are Projectors - Modest Mouse
Interstate 8 - Modest Mouse
Neighborhood #2 (Laika)- Arcade Fire
Roads Must Roll - Boom Bip
National Disgrace - Atmosphere
Run Run Run - Phoenix
Skttrbrain (Four Tet Remix) - Radiohead
Hand on Your Heart - José González
The Way Young Lovers Do - Van Morrison
The Nasty - Amon Tobin
Kid A - Radiohead
Dimensions And Verticals- Say Hi To Your Mom
Skip Divided - Thom Yorke
You Got Me All Wrong - Dios Malos
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart - Wilco
The Eraser - Thom Yorke
Kyrie - Popol Vuh Hosianna
The Four Corners - Halloween, Alaska
/=/- Andrew Bird
A Minute's Warning - Johnnytwentythree
Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was - Radiohead
I Will - Radiohead
Baby, we'll be fine - The national
Beliefs
this is a redux of a much longer work I did earlier this year. I hope to sprinkle in some of my older writings and poetry over time to spice things up.
in a vague sense...
we should do things
and make an effort to experience new things
or take a different road home until you know your city
we should think about things
and make an effort to solve a problem
or take things into our own hands and actually do something
we should have fun
and make new friends in our travels
or make friends in our communities. the people we walk by every day with our heads down.
we should shake things up a little bit
and occasionally defend our decision to do so
or sit by and watch our sky high hopes crash
we should start with ourselves and move outward
and try to be the change we see in the world
or watch it all uncurl?
in a vague sense...
we should do things
and make an effort to experience new things
or take a different road home until you know your city
we should think about things
and make an effort to solve a problem
or take things into our own hands and actually do something
we should have fun
and make new friends in our travels
or make friends in our communities. the people we walk by every day with our heads down.
we should shake things up a little bit
and occasionally defend our decision to do so
or sit by and watch our sky high hopes crash
we should start with ourselves and move outward
and try to be the change we see in the world
or watch it all uncurl?
IN-tro
If you need an introduction to me, then I'm doing something good with this whole blogging game. Everyone else has one, and since I'm supposedly a journalist, it only seemed inevitable.
This blog stems from a series of discussions and interactions with a variety of people and places over the past few years. Currently I live in one of the most amazing neighborhoods in the world. It's a collision of culture, gentrification and colorful people. I work at the oldest continually operated public market in the country which is only a few blocks away from my apartment. Speaking of apartments, you'll soon get some insight on what goes on at mine, a 4000sq. ft. warehouse conversion on Vine St.
I like music, bikes, buildings, people, nature and adventures. The next post will be my fall 2009 jam list. It's mellow enough for cool weather, but far from boring.
This blog stems from a series of discussions and interactions with a variety of people and places over the past few years. Currently I live in one of the most amazing neighborhoods in the world. It's a collision of culture, gentrification and colorful people. I work at the oldest continually operated public market in the country which is only a few blocks away from my apartment. Speaking of apartments, you'll soon get some insight on what goes on at mine, a 4000sq. ft. warehouse conversion on Vine St.
I like music, bikes, buildings, people, nature and adventures. The next post will be my fall 2009 jam list. It's mellow enough for cool weather, but far from boring.
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