Saturday, February 27, 2016

The Old Man and the She

2/27/16

I am madly in love with Bernie Sanders, but am slowly becoming ok with voting for Hillary Clinton if she ends up being the nominee.

She's not honest. She flip flops on most major policies. 20 years ago she was one of the two most moderate Democrats in the country. She has only been a Progressive for around 9 months or so. She is funded by huge Wall Street corporations. She voted to support the Iraq War, and she also supported the Defense of Marriage Act and  Don't Ask Don't Tell. But honestly, those qualities can be found in many of the past elected Presidents.

A lot of very significant and progressive legislation came out of the "smoke filled room." The Civil Rights act, the New Deal, and voting rights for women and black americans. Barack Obama, who cannot be considered a corrupt President, was elected the same way for the most part as Hillary would be, and the Administrations of Barack Obama have been very strong for very many, so a continuation of that would not be the end of the world. But its still a compromise...

The campaign of Bernie Sanders is the first political movement I ever felt I truly identified with. Many of the policies and issues that i have been complaining  and thinking about for the last few years are the issues and policies that he is running on. His message found me. I identified with it before i even heard him speak, and then I did, and i knew that this was my message. This was the candidate for me.

I still believe he has a chance to win the nomination. Super Tuesday could be very good to him. Democratic voters just need to show up. More people like Bernie than any other candidate. But his supporters are not caucus goers, or primary voters. That the achilles heal of his constituency. But there still is hope.

Hillary is a juggernaut. She has had 8 years essentially to prepare for this race. Building a base. She has potential to be unstoppable.

If she is the nominee, I might have some thinking to do.

I will never forgive Donald Trump  for making me think Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio aren't as crazy as I originally thought. Trump scares the living shit out of me. His presidency would be a disgrace, and could end is come disaster, hopefully not one of a national security kind. His rhetoric of hate, misogyny, bigotry, and dishonesty are shameful. But he has a lot of support.

The other two, Rubio and Cruz, have been in government. They have drafted policy. Fought in the trenches. Contributed to the governance of The United States of America. Trump has done none of that, and has shown no knowledge of anything that would apply to this job. A lot of candidates have gone way right or way left in the primary and then run straight to the middle in the general election. So i can surmise that much of that Rubio and Cruz are saying will be thrown slightly to the middle. Their propositions when it comes to social issues I disagree with, but I think Trump scares me more.

So since many of my largest issues with Hillary Clinton can be found in the resumes of past Presidents, I could see myself voting for her. Mainly because abstaining, or voting for a third party or something, basically ends up as being a vote for Trump. And a Trump Presidency is not a piece of American history I could ever live with knowing I contributed too.  

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

And Now You Say Something.

2/03/16

I am going to preface this by saying that this is not a position piece. My mind is not made up. This is me working through the issue that follows and also offering it up for discussion...


Earlier I was scrolling through facebook and along came a meme that said that congress had just voted to put a "scarlet letter" on passports for sex offenders.

1. I did not look to see if it was true or not.
2. My initial thought was "Oh, well sex offenders are bad, they are registered in this country if previously convicted. they are people that need to have an eye kept on."

But then I read a comment, that basically condemned the American criminal justice system and our political leaders for our reprehensible methods of addressing the rights of sex offenders. This intrigued me, so i read more comments. A few down was a quote that said "I can't be the only person in the world that thinks that "sex offenders" shouldn't be continuously punished after serving their sentence in jail/prison." 

Now this was something I have never thought about. I do think that overall, if we have set punishments for crimes, once those are met the matter needs to be over. But I had never thought about that pertaining to sex offenders. 


We forgive a lot of bed people for doing a lot of bad things, but we treat sex offenders very differently. From a purely liberal (small l not big L) perspective, the just solution would be the forgiveness or at least to not let that incident hinder the life of that person any longer, but as humans, we do treat crimes towards the invasion of ones body very seriously.

Rape and sexual assault are horrific crimes. But so is beating someone nearly to death, and leaving them severely physically and psychologically damaged, but for the most part, they are welcomed back into society with relative ease. 

Should we reconsider our treatment of sex offenders? Is it more of a severe crime than the punishment? So should the punishment be more severe, so that apprehended offenders have a much less likely or no chance at repeating, and maybe it deters would be offenders? Or should we accept the punishments we have as adequate, and work on finding ways to get them to get help that's needed, and become apart of mainstream society again?

It is not only a look at ourselves as people, and the system of justice and injustice we have created. Its also an opportunity to look at how we think about justice. Whether its punishment, or treatment that is needed. Maybe its a mix of both. Either way I do think it is a conversation worth having.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

An Old Jewish Man and a Dream

2/02/16

I donated to an election campaign for the first time today. I donated to the campaign of Bernie Sanders.

I don't only like Bernie Sanders because i agree with him, and think he is the most qualified, respectable, electable, honest, and smartest candidate. No,  also like him because the political science nerd in me gets to geek out over him. He was 50 points behind Clinton when he started his campaign. He has no Super PAC. He has a complete grassroots political campaign the likes of which we have not seen in many many years. He is giving speeches to record breaking numbers of people, and in the month of January alone his campaign raised $20 million from contributions that averaged $27 apiece. His campaign exemplifies American Democracy. His campaign is the reward for the struggles of the Progressive era of Teddy Roosevelt. His campaign is proof that Citizens United and other organizations are unnecessary and the the American democratic process can work perfectly fine when the people pick the candidates and the nominees, not the parties and the billionaires. You may disagree with the views of Bernie Sanders. You may think it deplorable that a Democratic Socialist has made it this far. But what you cannot discredit, and what you cannot disrespect is the way he did it. Bernie Sanders has been preaching the same message since 1990. He has not wavered. He has not had a scandal. He has been himself. He also gives away four stickers with any donation of $15 or more. So those will be cool. Its always nice to get mail.

When Bernie Sanders says he doesn't have a Super PAC, some of you might not know what that means. It means that all of his money comes from individual people, or families. Adjusted for inflation, individuals are only allowed to give up to $2500 to any candidate. Any donation over $50 has to be reported to the IRS. This allows for transparency, and with the total donation amount low,, it is impossible for the candidate to be in the pockets of their donors, and to owe them favors once in office. In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the interest group Citizens United, and reestablished the legal president that "corporations are people too" and that limiting the amount of money that they could contribute to PAC's and in turn, contribute to candidates, is limiting the corporations right to "free speech" and is illegal. This was a huge ruling because not only did the court rule on the issue of the case, they went further and issued their own judicial review and overturned campaign finance rules that had been put in place in other trials. This opened up avenues for people like the Koch brothers to funnel billions of dollars to the candidate of their choice, helping them get elected, and in turn, getting policy that helps their cause once the candidate is in office. Now I could talk for hours about how horrific that actually is, but I hope that you can figure that out on your own.

But what Bernie has done is show that the people of America still care about politics. They still want their voice heard and when they scream all at once, they can be heard loud and clear. Bernie has not Super PAC's. Bernie gets his money from teachers, iron workers, administrators, fast food employees, college students, and the unemployed. Bernie gets his money from the people of America, and all he owes us in return is the platform he stands on and to honor the promises he has been making. But those promises have been made to all Americans, not to just a few very wealthy people.

I donated to the Sanders campaign 30 minutes ago, and already my $20 has done more good than the Koch brothers tens of millions have. Just ask Jeb Bush.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Church Basement Parties

1/25/16

Important memories have a knack for bubbling to the surface at the opportune moment.

My Grandma (Dad's mom), passed away when I was in the 6th grade. She was the first one of my relatives to pass away. Hers was the first funeral I ever went to.

After the funeral there was a reception in the basement of the town (Echo OR) church. I sat next to my Aunt Dee during. I always liked her. She always enjoyed talking to me, was always nice, didnt boss me around. Ya know, all the combinations that make up a great relative. Even after just burying her mother, she was willing to answer all the questions that an 12 year old had to ask. I asked about my Grandma, what she was like more. I asked about what my dad was like as a kid. What this town was like as a kid, what she was like. She answered everything with a smile. She gave  me this new perspective on the lives of people I had know my whole life. I loved it and I loved her for it.

Sadly, I did not remember how much I enjoyed and cherished that moment until this morning. I woke up to a text from my dad saying that she had passed away peacefully. I stared working backwards, and thinking about the times I had spent with her. I saw her just this last summer at a family reunion Illinois. Before that it had been a very long time and quite possibly the last time may have been my Grandma's funeral. But then I remembered how amazing she made that time. How she was able to let a little boy, confused about the box containing his Grandmother, bombard her with questions, and make him feel comfortable. I remember how she normalized the situation. Helped me to feel ok with my first experience with loss. I dont know if she knew what she was doing, or if she was just having a conversation and doing her best to put up with me. Either way, it still means so much.

Im sad I never got to thank her.

I have a lot of Aunts and Uncles. They in turn have a lot of kids, nieces, nephews and grandchildren. So I do not expect much in terms of the memory department with them. But when she was able, every year, on my birthday there was a phone call or a card. Every year the age of my birthday was correct. Neer once did she ask me how old I was. Even this summer. She knew I was 21. Again, I dont know how she did it.

But I  thank her for it.

RIP Aunt Dee.

Friday, January 22, 2016

Kindergarten Projects: The Foundation of Future Success

1/22/16

The last few months have been nothing but me trying to figure out me. Progress has been slow. My school work, job and my relationships with my family and friends have each taken a bit of a back seat. If during this time, I have had some form of negative affect on you I am sorry, truly. Also, to people who have done the same to me in that stretch of time and before, well I don't really care. The actions, and thoughts of others have not really been on my mind.

I am learning to take responsibility for the wrong things I do. Not so much toward others, because I do feel that I own up to my actions in that regard. But I do a terrible job of treating myself the right way. So if what I am going through is depression, or just a bad few years, or whatever it is, I know that a lot of it falls on me. I need to eat healthier. I need to get my ass to the gym. I need to listen better. And I need to think carefully about the words that I use or don't use. But mostly what I need to do is find out what makes me me, and how to live that life. Because if i'm not living as the best Mack i can be, then I am never going to be able to achieve anything else.

I started CWU in Fall of 2012. It was the only school I applied too, but a 100% acceptance rate for college is nothing to sneeze at, and the credit I receive for such a thing is always lacking....DAD. But when I showed up I put on a good face, as I always do. I cracked jokes, I smiled, I laughed, I wasn't happy. Its hard to pinpoint when I started not to be happy, mainly because its hard to pinpoint when i realized I wasn't happy. (BTW, i wont be proof reading or using a thesaurus or anything for the majority of these. If i want to do something formal i will. If i catch mistakes is will fix them, But thats not really the point of this currently. so BEAR with me...............) I knew it wasn't the school. It came down to me. I didnt know what type of person i wanted to be, so figuring out the friends i wanted, the major I wanted, or anything was near impossible to decide.

I have switched majors 6 times since coming to CWU. I came originally to do Sports Business, Then switched to broadcast journalism, screenwriting, theater, education and finally Political Science. So as you can see, it was a very clear and concise grouping of fields that made it very easy to decypher what my degree should be. Oddly enough, I even considered going into meteorology simply because that was apparently what i wanted to be in kindergarten. I remember the drawing that i did for it and everything. Kindergarten was a good ass time. I highly recommend. But alas, i landed on political science. Which as it turns out, has become a very fine choice, a choice that was made in November of my Junior year here at Central.

24hrs prior to my declaration as a Poli. Sci. major, I found myself in line to declare a a Secondary History Education Major, in Black Hall here on campus. Whilst in said line, my hands began to shake. My body temp rose. I started to sweat. This was my first ever panic attack/nervous breakdown. I could sense it coming. I had no clue how to handle it. I had no clue what i would have done if i would have let that happen. All i knew to do was stuff my papers in my backpack and wrinkly as i could, and get the fuck out of that building, which i did. I knew that that had to be a sign that Education, at least at that time, was not for me. So i went home, looked online at the catalog of majors on the CWU website, saw political science, remembered the 101 poli sci class i had my freshman year. i remembered that i enjoy my politial opinions, and talking about politics with others, so i called the department. They didnt have a secretary so the Chair of the Dept. answered the phone. He talked me through the major, I looked at the requirements, did some math, and discovered that i could do Poli Sci and still graduate in 4 years total. Less than a 15hrs later I was in the Poli Sci. Office and was declared as a Poli Sci Major.

I have no plans on using my degree.

   

So it Begins

1/22/16

"Talking to yourself isn't crazy. Answering yourself is."

You know, I don't think I agree with that quote. I think good conversation is good conversation, no matter who with. As someone who has always kept in consistent contact with myself both verbally and mentally I have learned that talking to yourself does not make you crazy.

For a long time I really did think there was something wrong. Because it was not just the occasional couple question and answers that people have, I would have close to full conversations with myself. I had no idea what might cause it, and how to stop it. But recently, as in earlier today, I think I finally stumbled on the answer; The voice in my head is not just that, but it is my voice. The conversations i have been having are not between two personalities, but between two different adaptations of the same one.

I believe that I have been having conversations between the person and the writer in me. I believe that i have been having these conversations, because I have all these thoughts, musings, dreams and opinions that have no where to go. These conversations have been the only way that I could process, file, and store info, or else it would have no where to go, and traffic would start to build up in my brain.

Thus, this brings us to this blog. One, I want to test out my theory that I am a writer, and see if that by putting things on paper, the conversations among myself might subside. Also, I think that a lot of the things I have to say should be heard, and talked about by others, and talked about with me.

So, if I post something, and it hits a chord with you, if it makes you angry or sad. If it makes you laugh or cry. If you agree or if you disagree, or if you simply want to talk; LETS. I not only want to work through some of the issues I have been having, but I also want to create a place, or an avenue that people can use to help themselves. I have 0 qualifications that make me able to help anyone is almost anyway, but I want to try. I want to try for myself, and to give others a chance to be apart of it, or to help themselves is just an added bonus.

I have no idea how often I will write. I have no idea how long each individual post will be. I have no idea what is going to be said in each post, and there is no guarantee that the beginning of a post will relate to the middle or the end.

So here is it. "Talking to Myself, About Myself."

Thanks.