And sometimes.... the good guys win.

So last Sunday I went to watch The Amazing Race, like I always do on Sunday nights, and the news had said that Osama bin Laden had been killed by U.S. troops. I gotta say, I didn't hold a rally, or rejoice in his death or anything but I was relieved. I couldn't help but think, "What the heck took so long?"

On September 12, 2001 people were so spitting mad, you would have thought there was no safe place for this guy to hide. Then we started a totally different war in a whole other country and priorities shifted.

I know there are a whole lot of Obama haters out there. I've heard all the reasons why. I'm not interested in them. I'm not neccessarily saying he did a whole lot in the last 3 years. But when he was running for office, he promised he would shift our priorities back to this monster and, you have to admit whether you like the guy or not, whether you voted for him or not, or whether you think he's an American citizen or not.... he did what he said he would do.

Somehow Obama turned into Chuck Norris this week. And I have to say.... it made me feel more safe.

This Is Alabama! We Speak English!

Before I go any further, please take the next 30 seconds to watch this campaign ad for who could be the next Governor of Alabama:

Yes, let's examine why exactly we give the driver's test in 12 languages. Because though this is Alabama, it is also America. And it's okay if not everyone speaks English. Sadly, because I have spent a good segment of time in Alabama, I am not at all surprised at this kind of "forward" thinking. I mean, come on guys, it'll save money.

Mr. James, if you are so concerned about saving money you might want to consider all of the money the state would be paying towards legal fees that would oppose this blatant act of prejudiced.

This is America! We have Rights!

A letter to Ms. Palin

Dear Bristol,

I have never really been a fan of your mother. But I have never let that reflect poorly on my opinion of you. When you had a baby at such a young age, I was happy with your decision. When you graduated from high school despite that obstacle, I was ecstatic. But yesterday I couldn't have been more proud of you as I watched your PSA about teen pregnancy.

Way to take your situation and use it for the good of others. I am sure that couldn't have been a decision your mom was super on board with, but I'm really impressed with your ability to be your own woman and take control of your situation. That is what makes an intelligent woman. So thank you for restoring my faith in Palins everywhere. Do you think YOU could run for vice president?

Finding the humor in healthcare.

So instead of writing a blog on the extremely controversial healthcare bill that was just passed, I wanted to address something slightly more... silly about it. That would be, people's reactions to it on facebook. Last night when it was passed, I scanned through all my friend's updates and so many of them wrote quite humorous things. Actually, they were trying to be serious, but I found them humorous.

My favorite update would have to be "Great, welcome communism" (I think they meant socialism). While I think everyone is entitled to their own political convictions, I still find humor in the way that people choose to express them. This morning I came acrossed the group " 1 million facebook users against the new healthcare plan." Like O'bama is going to sign into his facebook account, see that there are 1 million facebook users against his bill and suddenly he will see the light and withdraw the bill.

When Obama was elected I took to facebook to see people's reactions. I was susprised to hear theories about the Apacolypse and the End of Days. Now I understand when your guy loses that you're not thrilled, but Obama the anti-christ? I don't know if I'd give him THAT much credit.

I just find it funny how dramatic people can be, especially on facebook. And how, they can be worried about what this world is coming to then 10 hours later update their status about this fabulous pair of shoes they just got. Funny.

There's an app for that

So the whitehouse just came out with it's own app for the iphone this week. What? No wonder the economy is so awful, healthcare is still down the drain, and people are jobless...they were working on an iphone app.

Okay maybe I'm a little cynical, but I feel like I was a little lied to. I voted for CHANGE and all I got was a whole year of the SAME.

I'm pretty sure the campaign slogan should have read:
Yes We Can??

This ain't your mama's tea party

As many of you know, there are tax tea parties forming all over the country tomorrow. I think it's a cool concept. I know some may call it a "lame" attempt to gain attention. But I actually think it's quite a patriotic way. I mean look at Peta, are they really getting anywhere throwing paint on people? Not really. This is a peaceful way to get your point across.

Now I am not anti-Obama. I do not wave my rebel flag around or anything. I am more fascinated with the idea of bringing a historical protest back to life in 2009. What a neat concept.


Will it work? I don't know. But it seemed to work 200 years ago. I will definitely be interested to see if something changes at least. I for one am sick of the bailouts. They don't work, they're not helping and they're taking money away from people who really need it.

So tomorrow I am not sure that I will be at City Hall or anything, but I might drink a cup of tea in protest.

Here's to making history, or at least living in it.

Torches and Pitchforks

Sheesh, who thought that voting in this election would lead to my pants being on fire?
I am what you would call a liberal republican. Which, according to most, would mean that I am NOT a republican and one better, not American. Who I vote for and what I stand for are my inaliable rights as an American (that's what is supposed to be great about this country). So why do I feel so tarred and feathered?

I am amazed at the amounts of sermons that have been emailed to me, lectures over the phone and debates I have inadvertantly (and unavoidably) gotten into over this one stupid topic. So, I have decided to recant my title. I am no longer a liberal republican, I'm an independent, Switzerland. There, now maybe I will stop getting the death threats.

A night in history

NOVEMBER 4th 2008

Dear son:
Tonight is a very special night for our country. It is a night that years from now people will remember. I just wanted you to see where you were and what you were doing on this night.

Today your daddy and I voted. We made our voice heard for you and your unborn sibling. I don't know what the future will hold, or how this will shape it, but I have a profound hope. A hope that this election will change the course of YOUR country for the better. That your world will be a better one because of this night.

I am happy to know that you will grow up with the first African American president. That you will see boundaries crossed, and stereotypes broken. That you will see in your young childhood what many Americans never thought possible.

Be proud of our country son, and the freedoms and liberties you have as a member of it. We thank the Lord for his provision on our country, and pray that He will use this leader for great things.

This is the night that changed America.... and this is what you were doing that night.

The great debate

So, I have recently noticed how adult I have become. It still amazes me. On Friday night, we had our usual pizza night and settled in our way-too-tiny livingroom to watch the debates. I thought that I should document that Elijah also watched. So I could one day tell him.

Raised a born-again republican all my life, I have had a difficult inner struggle this election. A struggle between the values and morals that were instilled in me, and ideals and principles I have grown to be commited to. I have watched from day one as the candidates have dwindled down to 2 qualified men. I decided not to make a decision until I could hear both sides of the story.

Obama's acceptance speech was pretty moving, but after I heard McCain's acceptance speech I began to be torn. It wasn't until the debates on Friday night when my mind was made up.

Our economy is in shambles, our healthcare system is in need of a real boost, and our educational system is laughable. In my heart, I feel like we need someone who is willing to try new ideas, think outside the box, someone who can really shake things up.

I don't feel that McCain is that candidate. Now don't worry, you won't hear any McCain bashing from me (I save that for the safety of my livingroom). But I do feel that I have made my mind up.

And so after 26 years (yes from birth) of being a faithful republican, I have decided for the sake of my country and my child's future, to vote democrat. It's a weird feeling, but it's also an incredibly invigorating one.

*Note: My son also has extreme enthusiasm for Obama.

I pledge allegiance

After watching both the Republican and the Democratic National Conventions, I find myself hopelessly deadlocked. One candidate wants our country to change, and I believe in change. But at what cost? And at the end of the day, when all the programs are instilled, the troops are pulled out, and the tax money is spent, will we really be any better off?

The other candidate isn't really promoting too much change. Mostly just things we want to hear like that the whitehouse will somehow be so much different with the same party in it, just a different leader sitting in a chair. But will that solve all of our nation's problems?

So what do we choose.... change with an uncertain future, or 4 more years of nothing new?

It's days like this that I am so glad that I serve a God that is bigger than politics.
Derek Webb wrote some profound words on this subject, I think he says it best:

There are two great lies that i’ve heard:
“The day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die”
and that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican
and if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him.

My first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a
man
My first allegiance is not to democracy or
blood
It's to a king & a kingdom

I palin comparison

IS IT JUST ME, OR DOES SARAH PALIN LOOK ALARMINGLY SIMILAR TO TINA FEY?

I watched the Republican National Convention last night to hear Sarah's address. I had noticed how similar she looked to Tina Fey before, but it wasn't until last night that I really saw just how much they were alike. Throughout her address she would make sarcastic jabs at O'bama and democrats in general that people seemed to really connect with. And it really reminded me of a few jabs I had heard on weekend update. In fact, I half expected Jimmy Fallon to run up behind her and do a McCain impression or something.

All that to say, I was very dissapointed when she didn't end her address with:

Goodnight, and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Bringing sexy back

Politics and government platforms have always been lost on me. Not because I'm not intelligent enough to understand such complex things, but mostly because they did not interest me. I was too concerned with what Jennifer Garner wore to The Kingdom premier, and who graced the cover of US WEEKLY to be concerned with what was going on in our country.

Tim is the one who really got me into politics by talking about it over dinner, or at night before bed. I never realized how little I knew on the subject until I got into these conversations, and it never really seemed to bother me until I was challenged. Finally one day after a very heated debate between he and I on the war in Iraq, I decided that perhaps I should do my homework.



So I have really taken to reading political articles, tuning into CNN and watching the presidential race since there were a million candidates running down to just one. It's been so neat to see what each candidate's platforms are, and to decide for myself whether or not I agree on them.

Last week instead of surfing the net, or watching movies, we spent every night watching the Democratic National Convention. It was really invigorating (especially since I felt like I had a grasp on how I felt about the isssues). And just last night a friend started a political debate with Tim and said the words, "Check your facts". It was the first time I had heard those words and could actually say with certainty that I had indeed checked my facts.

Since I have started this brain-stimulating journey, I felt like it's given me a lot more confidence as a woman. I don't think there is anything more sexy than an intelligent woman. Someone that not only knows how to carry on a conversation with someone, but is passionate about her beliefs. That is what sexy looks like to me.

Waiting on the World to Change

Normally I don't talk, much less blog, about politics. But with the upcoming elections on Tuesday looming over my head, I felt the need to get some things off my chest.

Mostly, I feel the need to express my total disappointment in the sea of mediocracy that are our candidates. Usually, I feel one stands out above the rest, but this year I am just so terribly confused and dissolutioned.

I mean the cost of gas is sky-rocketing, the housing market is in the toilet, healthcare is a joke, jobs are hard to come by. But where is our money going? Foreign relations.

I just am not sure that anyone can get us out of the mess that is the US right now. I am tired of being the world police, when are we going to fix OUR problems? And people come up and talk about change, and revolution, and "reaganesque thinking" and such. But how much of that is just blowing smoke up our behinds?

I know that my generation of people are the ones that generally don't vote. But at this point, can you really blame them?

Bottom-line: Tuesday is coming up, and I have no idea what the heck I am going to do.

I feel my thoughts, as usual, are best said by my good friend, John Mayer:
Me and all my friends
We're all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing and
There's no way we ever could

Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it

So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change

It's hard to beat the system
When we're standing at a distance
So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change

Now if we had the power
To bring our neighbors home from war
They would have never missed a Christmas
No more ribbons on their door
And when you trust your television
What you get is what you got
Cause when they own the information, oh
They can bend it all they want

That's why we're waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change

It's not that we don't care,
We just know that the fight ain't fair
So we keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change

And we're still waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting waiting on the world to change
One day our generation
Is gonna rule the population
So we keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change

We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change