Yes, We Can!

We can now officially say that Barack Obama is the 44th president of the United States!

Regardless of party lines, I think we can agree that today is one of those days that future generations will be reading about in history textbooks for years to come. The amount of change happening within the last 24 hours is indescribable. Much like everyone down in Washington waiting for the election, I awoke early this morning, however, I was awoken by fire alarm number two of this week and not the need to get on a 4 am bus to downtown DC. J What a great way to wake up; strobe lights and loud buzzing noises. Anyway, it didn’t much matter because I was able to fall back asleep and by the time I woke up at 8 the official festivities of inauguration day were just beginning on TV. By the looks of the TV coverage, there are a few million people on the mall. As I found out last night, not everyone here knows what the mall is? In case you fall into this category, the mall is an open space in Washington DC between the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol.

On campus are a number of student groups that have organized an inauguration party for the swearing in and speech at noon. I’m watching the speech from the comfort of my dorm room (while my roommate sleeps) so I can be somewhat productive since I’m missing a class today. Yeah, I know what a horrible student. But to tell the truth I’ve never skipped a class in over 12 years of school and I felt that this was one of those times that I just couldn’t miss out on.

Politics in Rochester are much different than in Washington. I’ve grown up in the DC metro area for my entire life (as mentioned in other posts). Politics are a huge deal in DC, not to say that every person is obsessed but definitely a large majority. In my neighborhood alone, it would be safe to say that over a third of adults work for the government. DC is roughly 40 minutes away by car or just a few metro stops away. Here in Rochester, I feel far removed from DC yet strangely close at the same time. It's so hard to wrap my mind around the idea that while I'm sitting here in my comfy dorm room watching history unfold on TV, this is actually happening just 7 hours away. Despite the distance, the excitement for Obama here is in no shortage. I'm remembering back to when he was officially announced as the democratic president elect in November when there was cheering in the quads and lounges. I can only imagine what the next four years will bring.

On a completely unrelated note, Animal Collective’s new album Merriweather Post Pavillion comes out today! The extra neat thing about this is that the album is actually named after a pavilion about 10 minutes from my house in Maryland and it’s also the location where I graduated almost nine months ago. But you know, that’s such a small piece of news compared to Obama!

Top Ten

According to my poll (top right) you all are spectacular US citizens & are already planning on going to vote... but in case you need a little push...

Top Ten Reasons to Vote

1. You can complain for four whole years. If the candidate you support loses and you did not vote, you therefore forgo all rights to complain about the president for the next four years.. simple as that.
   
2. It's easy. Seriously guys, how long does it take to fill in a tiny bubble?? They're not asking you to take the SAT's here.
3. It's your right. We're all able to vote, so why not do it? Every underrepresented group complained about not being able to vote previously and now we can... so do something about it.
4. Strictly for fashion reasons. You get to wear that awesome "I Voted" sticker-- although this priviledge is taken from you if you vote by absentee ballot.. (perhaps I will call Obama and ask him to mail me a sticker).
5. Everyone counts. Elections can get really close.. what if it's YOUR vote that prevents a candidate from being in office.
6. They will take all of your money. It's your money, do you want some dude taking all of your money and putting it towards slot machines? Yeah, probably not.
7. It's the cool thing to do.
   
8. I will be mad at you. No explanation necessary.
   
9. The penguins are melting. If something is not done about this environmental prediciment by the year 2050, it's almost hopeless. Carbon emissions need to decrease over 80% by then and if we get a dumby in office, the penguins will all be gone =(
   
10. Something will FINALLY be done about the current economic state of our government. We've now wasted the past eight years of our lives..so let's move on and do something about the next four. Who really cares which party is elected, we just need a change.
    

Also, is this really how the United States wants to be viewed by other countries...

"How was it allowed to happen? How did politics in the US come to be dominated by people who make a virtue out of ignorance? Was it charity that has permitted mankind’s closest living relative to spend two terms as president?.....

It wasn’t always like this. The founding fathers of the republic - men like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams and Alexander Hamilton - were among the greatest thinkers of their age. They felt no need to make a secret of it. How did the project they launched degenerate into George W Bush and Sarah Palin?.....

On one level this is easy to answer. Ignorant politicians are elected by ignorant people. US education, like the US health system, is notorious for its failures. In the most powerful nation on earth, one adult in five believes the sun revolves around the earth; only 26% accept that evolution takes place by means of natural selection; two-thirds of young adults are unable to find Iraq on a map; two-thirds of US voters cannot name the three branches of government; the maths skills of 15 year-olds in the US are ranked 24th out of the 29 countries of the OECD(3)...."

Source: George Monbiot, The Guardian (UK). For the full text click here.

Seriously guys? I'm moving to the North Pole.

Tuning Out the Bad?

Ever stop and think sometimes why you like or don't like a particular thing? 

I'm a democrat. I'm registered as a democrat. I'm planning on voting for Obama for the current election. That being said.. why am I voting for him? Good question, I have no idea. Yes, it's alarming, the government has allowed naive people like myself to vote in the election. We're eighteen, legal adults, so what? How many eighteen year olds have a genuine interest in the election? Not a lot. I can't tell you the number of people I talk to who either don't know there is an election coming up, aren't registered to vote, don't know who is running for president or cannot tell you a single issue whoever they are "voting" for supports.

I've kind of always just identified myself with the democratic party although I'm not entirely sure why.  Partly because that's what my parents believe, sure? But not really. Can you feel a certain draw to a party, issues aside? Is it right to vote for one candidate just because you don't agree with the other? I guess. I feel sometimes like I just decided I was a democrat and I saw Obama was the chosen candidate so I decided to vote for him. I guess for a while I just thought all of his plans were great and everything McCain said was horrible and wrong. Perhaps I just glossed over the idea and didn't stop to really think about why I chose Obama. I just assumed I agreed with everything Obama said because of his title as "democratic presidential candidate."

Of course, I've done my homework now. I read CNN on a semi-regular basis.. although, I do have to say it's honestly because I mostly just enjoy reading headlines like "Local Mom Finds Giraffe in Toaster with Biblical Symbol Grilled On." No really, I do read the news online; occasionally I'll glance at a newspaper or Time magazine if I have the chance. I can tell you basic points of each of the candidates. I've watched parts of the debates as well as the vice presidential debate (which so did not deserve the title.. "debate" but that's another topic for another time). I'm currently working on a paper about the democratic environmental plan so I can tell you about the cap-and-trade program Obama wants to implement. I support his efforts with the G8+5 summit to bring developing and developed countries together as well as his plan to phase out 125 year old incandescent light bulbs and his efforts to enforce standards to prevent mercury pollution, air pollution and other things harmful to people and the environment. I like the fact that he makes plans for 2060 but then has target goals along the way since he cannot possibly be president until that time. 

Okay, so maybe I do have an idea why I'm voting for Obama. But do you know why you're voting for the candidate of your choice? Regardless of political party, let's try and pick a president who will actually run the country, help our current environment predicament and hopefully stimulate some kind of economic growth so that I do not have to live in a cardboard box in 4 years.. Oh yeah, and while we're at it.. let's go for a president who can pronounce "nuclear" :)