Comments on: Calvinism (bulleted list)

By: bj

bj — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:09:12 +0000

But, Nicole — have you already gotten to vote? Someone on another blog pointed out that she’s excited that she’ll get a chance to vote. So, if only folks who’ve voted already are tired of the whole shebang, we should survive OK.

By: doris day

doris day — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:26:57 +0000

Yay! I’m wretched and depraved too!!!

Hey, where’s the Madison neck update please? I can add nothing of value to the political conversation. I voted for one, still have feelings for the other–at this point I feel the urge to be a runaway bride–I can’t seem to choose, and our wedding date is coming soon!

So when we lived in the East Bay, we heard all about the danger that is Oakland. While living in Oakland, nothing of note occurred, but one night, as we were leaving dinner in uber-delightful, progressive, calm Berkeley, a car (chased by at least a dozen police cars) flew down Telegraph Ave, cut across 5 lanes of traffic and crashed into a pole directly in front of us. When the guy jumped out to flee, I noticed the shiny-shiny in his hand and began to freak out. I was so scared we’d learn the true meaning of innocent bystander while my tots were in the car. Yep, glad to be back in the quiet mid-west! Your story does not put me at ease…

By: Nicole

Nicole — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:23:49 +0000

I’m so tired of this primary season. Never thought I’d say that. But it’s like the longer it goes on, the testier everyone gets, and dammit I don’t WANT to hate EITHER candidate. Can’t I like them both?

That said, Obama has my vote. For numerous reasons that are too long to go into here, but yes, part of the deciding factor for me is race. There is all kinds of sexism in this society, but I honestly think the racism is worse. As a previous commenter said… POWER. Who has more power? Maybe it’s partially because of where I live, but it seems clear to me that women have more power in our society than black people do. That’s certainly the case in south-central PA, anyhow.

As for Calvinism–you said not to debate you on it but I can’t help it, a little. Oh yes, Calvinists belive everyone is equal, it’s true… they believe everyone is equally wretched and depraved! ROFL.

By: Riderone

Riderone — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:31:14 +0000

All that stuff Dawn said about the car chase? It’s true! It was like the movies! It was like The French Connection! In Worthington! And if the driver had veered a bit differently, the three of us could have been killed! I’m still exhausted and today I’m all shook up over it. I feel like I have 1/10th of 1% of a clue of what it must be like to live in a war zone, with the sound of skidding, crashing, thumping, blasting, and sirens pretty much all the time.

By: bj

bj — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:15:30 +0000

My gut is with you on #5. Now, I was born brown, so it wasn’t through some other process that I got to share both the burden (and joy) of being from both the less powerful gender and race. That isn’t mydividing line between Obama & Clinton — I have many other reasons why I prefer Obama to Clinton. But, let’s imagine a scenario, a fantasy scenario, where we have two identical candidates and one is a woman and one is brown? which influences my vote more? And, hands down, it’s race. I’ve tried to articulate both to myself, and to others, why race matters more to me, and, I think it boils down to access to power. Though women lack power in the divide, they are loved by people who have it (husbands, sons, fathers). And, let’s not underestimate the strength and power of that love. The same need not be true of someone of the less powerful race. Inter-racial families (like yours, and mine, and Obama’s) cross this divide, but they are certainly far less common than inter-gender families (which are the norm).

And, why does the rest of the world care more about race than gender? for much of the same reason. Women leading a nation are not rare (Thatcher, Bhutto, Ghandi, Tymoshenko). But, if we could elect a person of the “wrong” race to lead America? we prove that anything must be possible in America. Other countries also have disenfranchised minorities (though not always based on race).

Mind you, I think (unlike Steinem) that the burdens faced through gender and race cannot be ranked. They are different, and I first contributed to Obama when Steinem ranked them in her Op Ed piece.

Obama is my essential vision of American patriotism: “That I owe everything I am to my country.” Like him, who I am, what I have, my hopes and dreams for my children are possible no where else in the world. And, since I am an immigrant it’s a gift, not a birthright, which leaves me forever grateful , but also committed to idea (and not lapel pins).

“O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.”