Thankful for the political process(even when it doesn’t play out the way I’d hoped)

The day after a big election always leaves me feeling hung-over.  I stayed up too late, eating the Fiend’s Halloween candy (shhh, don’t tell!) and refreshing the local paper’s election results page every 2 minutes or so.  As with most of the country, the races here were tighter than David Bowie’s costume in Labyrinth and there were several upsets.  It was a real nail biter.   I looked like this for most of the night:

I'm freaking out!

 

That being said, man am I thankful I live in a democratic republic.  Thank god that in this country leadership is determined by the ballot and not the bullet.  Thank god that in a few years we can throw ‘em all out and try again.

 

American citizens have been given a gift through the sacrifice of our forefathers at the birth of our great nation.  The gift of a voice.  This is not inconsequential.  It is easy to get disheartened and disillusioned.  It is easy to say it doesn’t matter anyway, things will never change.

 

Things will never change.  Unless we make the decision to change them.  And then put in the work to do so.

 

Exercising your right to vote is the smallest step in process of change.  The rest requires a good deal of hard work and dedication.  But aren’t you worth it?  Isn’t your family worth it?  Your friends?  Your neighbors?  Your children and grandchildren.

 

I’m here to tell you this:  You are worth it.  Each and every one of you.  Whether we agree or disagree.  You are welcome, in fact encouraged, to come to the table and make this a better world.

 

What’s stopping you?

The Biggest Bully on the Playground: The Attack Ad

Every two years the American people steel themselves for another election cycle complete with dinner-interrupting campaign calls, a kaleidoscope of lawn signs and the endless political advertisements.  This year’s campaign has shared the spotlight with a dawning realization that bullying is a significant and dangerous problem for American youth.  There is a disheartening connection between the two.

 

Politicians are bullies.

 

Consider this:  if Billy repeatedly tells all the other kids in second grade that Johnny plays with dolls as a way to embarrass him we call Billy a bully.  If Candidate Smith accuses Candidate Jones of being a tax evader, corporate puppet or terrorist as a way to dissuade you from voting for Candidate Jones we call that the six o’clock news.

 

Our politicians have a responsibility to help set the standard for acceptable behavior in our society.  If our children grow up seeing the men and women who are responsible for the future of our country attacking each other in print and on television how will they learn it isn’t ok to attack their classmates for differences of opinion?  If they watch the news and see one adult stepping on another adult’s head because they are on opposite sides of an argument how will they learn they can’t punch people to get their way?  How can we expect our children to understand the detrimental effects of bullying behavior when we engage in it ourselves?

 

Not all negative campaigning is initiated by the candidates. In fact much of it is not.  Unfortunately many candidates tend to merely shuffle their feet and look guilty when others employ attack ads on their behalf. Not addressing such disrespectful behavior is akin to standing by while your schoolmates get beaten up on the playground.

 

Candidates for public office make the choice to place themselves under the microscope of public opinion.  By doing so they become role models.  Candidates for public office must recognize the importance of setting a good example. They must denounce attack ads and condemn those who use them. Our candidates must stand up to these political bullies and say strongly “My name is Candidate Smith and I do not endorse this message”.

 

9/11: A Poem

I wrote this poem on 9/11 in 2002.  Be forwarned, I am unashamedly liberal and this poem reflects that.

September 11th, 2002

A year has passed

In the aftermath

Of our country’s greatest unlearned lesson

We name the dead

And fill our heads

With the insidious propaganda of retribution

We are told that this is war

Assured

We don’t know what’s in store

It’s an eye for an eye

A tooth for a tooth

While orphaned children cry

And we ignore the truth

Years of Americans on Unamerican shores

Tallying it all in incursions and tours

Passion plays of collateral damage

And we have collectively managed

To forget

The regret

We should feel keenly especially now

When we have gained the understanding of how

The majority of the world lives

And dies

Yet the cries

Of children of third world nations

Of lesser stations

Fall on our deaf ears

How many years

How many souls

Can we kill or control

Before we grasp the error of our ways

How many days

Of playing god in countries

Who have never known plenty

Before we learn

The hatred we’ve earned

How many schools and hospitals burned

How many lives wasted

How much blood tasted

Before we understand

The impact of our heavy hand

It is this that perpetuates

Deep seated hate

Causes men to take to the skies

And our snide

American pride

Allows us to believe that jealousy

Is the cause of this tragedy

When the truth lies

In that which we deny

Our culpability

Our responsibility

In a thousand tragedies

In poor countries

Who could not refuse

To be used

To be “aided”

And we wonder why they are jaded?

How lucky are we that terror lives in one day

Not an ever present threat that is constantly replayed

When all are affected but most indirectly

Instead of fearing for your loved ones daily

When your home is destroyed in a bomb strike

Whose purpose is to avoid a gas hike

In the land of big screen tvs

And shiny SUVs

Then you can claim righteous rage

When your children waste away before your eyes

To support the lies

Of the thinly veiled fascism

Of overt capitalism

Each person lost

Is too high a cost

Whether you believe them black or white

Wrong or right

By whoever’s standards you choose

We all lose

When we close our eyes and turn our backs

On pointless and futile attacks

What it all boils down to

Is doing all we can do

So the few

Don’t drag the earth’s entire population

Down to prove their’s is the greatest nation

Because it will not matter

If everything is shattered

To satiate the thoughtless, heartless bloodlust

Of small men

We must make sure it doesn’t end this way

That we all accept our responsibility and say

This is our pain and our loss

And it has come a too great a cost

We will not see this wrong redone

On other mothers daughters sisters brothers fathers and sons

This has to end here

Let us be clear

We will not defile the dead

We will not turn our heads

We will demand an end to the cycle of violence

We will proclaim our defiance

We will not be misled

By the lies we are fed

We will not enforce freedom with an iron hand

While sticking our heads in the sand

And ignoring the loss of our own freedoms:

Freedom of speech

Freedom of choice

Freedom to teach

Freedom of voice

We have done more to diminish our freedoms with our own denials and lies

Then any could do with four planes in blue skies

Our nations encroaching mediocrity

Painted as patriotism does not fool me

I will not participate in a misguided pep rally

For a game with a death tally

And it’s true that my one voice may be small

It’s true it may not be heard at all

But if you speak out with me

Then emerges the possibility

That all of us will be

Heard

And rest assured

There will be persistence

In the rejection of resistance

To the party line

But it is not yours and it is not mine

I will not accept this

Continue to reject this

Until more of us accept our arrogance

And are ashamed by our ignorance

And act

Forcing them to react

Or move aside

To avoid the tide

Of America propelling itself to a new day

We must accept that it is a long hard way

To a path of empathy and peace

But it is a place that we can reach

If we sing loud enough

Stand proud enough

Fight long enough

Are strong enough

We can surpass our individual inability

To affect change

Together we will counteract the eventuality

Of wars being waged

I believe in our country can become more than it has been

That coming together we can truly begin

To take our place

Not just take up space

Together we can alter the way in which our country behaves

To truly reflect that this is the land of the free and the home of the brave

A Study in Hatred

My home state of Maine yesterday made a tremendous step in the furtherance of equality for all.  It was not as big a step as manyof us might have hoped for, but it was significant none the less.

Imagine my dismay when I logged into my Facebook account to find the following message in my inbox:

Subject: Gay Marriage is stupid

November 4 at 9:12pm Report
It is a can of worms we dont even want to open eg Health insurance!! I resent you dikes and faggots parading yourselves in front of our children! We tried tyo be nice to you but you just wont shut the fuck UP!

I responded, I think, calmly:

Shannara Gillman November 4 at 9:22pm
While I admire firmly held beliefs I have no patience for hateful attacks. You will be reported to facebook for your inappropriate use of this forum. And on a side note, when leaping into the intellectual fray it pays to have your facts straight. I am neither a dyke nor a faggot, although I count many of both among my friends. I am a straight mother who is committed to teaching her children love and acceptance are family values, not hatred and ignorance.

I have removed the individuals name as I have no desire to perpetuate a cycle of hatred. I do not know this person. We have no friends in common. This was a hate based attack by someone from another state who has no idea who I am or what life I lead. I am unsure how this person came to find me or how they determined my stance on gay marriage. I’m not sure that matters.

But this attack is nothing compared to the attacks our gay family,friends and neighbors face on a daily basis. There was no threat of violence here. It will not impact my life beyond the minor irritation and frustration. I have gotten off easy.

But my friends and family wo are gay do not often get off so easy. And this is why it is so vitally important to continue to talk about, think about and fight for equality for all people. It is not just a concept, not just an idea. It has an impact on people’s lives. On all of our lives. Because until we are all free to live and love how we choose, none of us are free.

The Hard Work of Change

Change was the watchword of this most recent election cycle.  The promise of change brought voters to the polls in greater numbers than this country has seen in decades. The promise of change drew out people who had never voted before, many of them Americans who have felt disenfranchised and dismissed.  The promise of change called people to action, creating a new generation of organizers and activists.

 

These things are thrilling in and of themselves.  Congratulations America, you are now engaged.  You are now empowered.

 

But we can not be content to rest on the laurels of a job well done because the job is not done.  The job will never be done because we can always do better.  We can always do better because we live in a country whose government was designed to adapt and improve.

 

It’s not enough to have elected new leaders.  It is not enough to have turned out on one day to make our voices heard.  It is not enough to have accepted the promise of change.

 

These new leaders must be held to their platforms and made accountable to their constituents.   We must continue to make our voices heard.  We must put our bodies, minds, hearts and souls into the hard work of promised change.

 

Change can not happen without our continued participation.  Change can not happen without our continued commitment.  Change can not happen without our continued sacrifice.

 

Change requires blood, sweat and tears.  The hours may be long.  There may be days we don’t want to carry on.  But change does not come without sacrifice.

 

Change requires dedication.  The road ahead may get rocky.  There may be days we want to quit.  But change does not come without steadfast determination.

 

Change requires belief.  Our faith may be tested.  There may be days we feel our actions lead only to futility.  But change does not come without surrender to hope. 

 

Change requires courage.  The world may present us with incredible challenges.  There may be days we feel the urge to succumb to fear.  But change does not come without bravery.

 

Change requires love.  Love of self, love of country, love of each other.  Our differences may tear at the fabric of our nation.  There may be days we can not agree.  But change can not come without a unified commitment to each other.

 

In order to reach our greatest potential, as individuals, as neighborhoods, as communities, as states, as a country, we must all stand up and be counted.  We must each bear our share of the burden.  We must contribute to the cause.  We must work together.  We must transcend our differences to give strength to our commonalities.

 

So do not stop now.  Stay informed.  Stay involved.  Stay engaged.  Stay empowered.  The hard work of change lies ahead.

Fear and Mediocrity: A Variation

I watched the presidential debate last night at a friend’s.  I brought The Fiend because it is never too soon for a child to gain an understanding of our political system or how to deal with drunken hooligans.  Unfortunately there was a disappointing lack of inebriated shenanigans.

 

As the grownups (term used loosely) all settled in to watch the debate, The Fiend settled into my arms and drifted off to sweet, sweaty sleep.  We watched these two men, the “best” candidates their respective parties have to offer, trade verbal barbs and talk around the issues.  We watched these men use a plumber from the Midwest like a stage prop to attack and parry.   We watched both men speak in half truths.  We watched these men offer ideas and plans that do not go far enough.  We watched these men, neither of whom will suffer the brunt of our economic downturn, neither of whom have been unable to provide their families with good healthcare, neither of whom have had to choose between food or heating oil, say what they thought we wanted to hear without fully appreciating the gravity of the position for which they are vying.

 

I couldn’t help thinking, “This is the best we can do?”  I don’t think it is.  I think we can do better.  We should do better.  We have to do better.

 

Everyday I talk to people who are sinking under the weight of heavy financial burdens.  I hear stories of families who were doing ok until Mom lost her job, Grandpa passed away or Joey got sick.  These are not people who spend money frivolously or own grandiose homes or drive expensive cars.  These are families who are trying their best to live within their means.  These are families who have become victims of things beyond their control. These are people who could have just as easily been me.

 

Do people need to learn how to budget their money better?  Absolutely.  Do we need to move away from this culture of rampant consumerism with its obsession with the size of your television and the coolness of your gadgets?  Without question.  Do people need to take more personal accountability for their decisions? Yes.

 

What’s disturbing is that our government, the men and women who we have chosen to represent us are more willing to bail out bloated corporations who have created their own messes than people who are for the most part are victims of circumstance.  How about calling for some corporate responsibility?  How about demanding that CEOs who have made bad decisions lose their overly generous compensation instead of receiving golden parachutes?  How about these corporations have to make the hard decisions that any of us facing financial strain have to make?

 

We need to demand more.  We need to become more present and involved.  We need to start a revolution.  Beginning with our own communities.  Shake things up at home and work your way up the chain.  Demand a government dedicated to the best interests of its human citizens over its corporate ones.  Demand a government truly committed to health care for all Americans.  Demand a government that stays the hell out of your business.  Demand a government invested in education, the environment, justice and equality. 

 

Don’t let fear guide you.  Don’t let fear make you and this entire country mediocre.  Don’t give in. Don’t give up.

 

And if you can’t get motivated to make these demands for your own benefit, do it for the sweetly sleeping children all over this country who deserve more than either of these men are promising to provide.