Making Calls for Obama

Since the political fire has been burning inside of me, and we live in a swing state, I decided a few weeks ago to donate some time to one of the Obama/Udall headquarters here in Denver. I'm not sure what I thought I would be doing since I'm too afraid to go door to door and I personally hate getting telemarketing calls from people. In my naive little mind, I thought that somehow I could slip in and do some data entry eat a few donuts and leave. Well that just wasn't realistic. There were NO donuts. I ended up making phone calls my first night there.

After my training, with sweaty palms and dinner plates under my armpits, I sat and listened to people for awhile before diving in. Then I just hammered away, making over 40 calls in an hour and talking to roughly 12 people. Several weeks ago, the main point in making calls was to try and get people to sign up for mail-in-ballots, while at the same time finding out what candidate they were leaning towards. When I went in the second time, we were trying to confirm that people got their mail-in-ballots and reminding them how to get them mailed in or dropped off at early voting centers. Of course while on the phone, if you got someone that was "undecided" you could give them some talking points. For the most part, I got a lot of nice people. As a side note, here is an editorial from David Sedaris on "undecided" voters which is pee your pants funny.

Now, with 2 weeks before Election Day, tempers are high, and people are heated. When I went in last night to make calls, I got a lot of angry people on the phone, something that my delicate ego could not deal with. About 5 calls in, I got a 27 year old male voter on the phone who immediately lit into me with some crap about how Obama won't release his birth certificate and it's under a federal investigation. Luckily I had read up on this issue and was somehow able to remain completely calm (in a sweaty blood pressure raising kind of way) and explain to him that what he was spouting were schmeer tactics that had been proven to be completely incorrect and false. I encouraged him to do some research online at my favorite fact checking sites. I was so direct and on point with him that he backed off and said, "Um, so there's no federal inquiry?" "No sir, his website shows his birth certifcate, it's in Illinois for anyone to view, it's been checked by non-partisan groups, you can find it online, there is no federal inquiry." He then insisted that even Obama's mother was ashamed of him for the lies he has told. It was then that I had to break it to him that this would be difficult as Obama's mother had died of cancer several years earlier. This went on for over 5 minutes as he continually tried to slander Obama's name. His final piece de resistance was that Obama is somehow related to Dick Cheney. Now this one I had not heard. My response to him was, "What are they like 10th cousins once removed? I'm pretty sure they aren't hanging out eating potato salad together at the family reunions." (I was a once removed off.) I followed by asking what difference it makes that they could somehow be related? Here was his argument: "Scoff, well, er uh, it like makes a huge difference." I'm not sure how I managed to hold my tongue and not use DG's phrase "ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!?" (Sorry Mom) But in the end, though I didn't change his mind (I don't think he's voting for McCain either.), I felt better that I didn't let this lie continue to propagate itself and that maybe next time, he will try to get more informed. One small little victory at a time.

Rate the Debates

I get emails from Move On, Colorado Women for Obama, FreePress.net, and MomsRising.org all with information about different election issues. I recently signed up to rate the debates so that people could give their opinions of the debates before the press spun the issues. I am a bit disappointed with this first debate in that both candidates seemed to skirt the questions and instead give their own spin on the topics they wanted to discuss. Obama needs to laugh more and McCain needs to stop giving that creepy smile. And Mr. Lehrer could have done a better job holding candidates to answer the questions he asked and keep McCain in line when he kept talking over Obama. I'm not sure there was a winner here. You can sign up too, click here.

Our Political Sitcom

Something funny happened on the way to my blog. I ran smack dab into a wall of radical conservatism. David received an email from a friend about how Barack Obama is really a Muslim. This got me thinking about how the mind works of a person who believes this? I would like to say that this person has their head so far up their ass that....but I won't because I am above that. It is just difficult for me to believe that someone can actually be so ill-informed that they think that the democratic nominee for the President of the United States can possibly be a Muslim. It is easier for me to believe that what they really want to say is a black man. It is just more acceptable to say Muslim.

Now here’s where the comedy really begins. Like a classic episode of Seinfeld, David made the mistake, (by accident) of responding to the ENTIRE email list. No, no, it gets worse, and he did it with profanity. After realizing that he had sent it to everyone, he tried to make the situation better (by making it worse) and apologizing for his offensive language, and giving links to show that people should educate themselves. What ensued was a fire storm of e-mails from a long list of the most radical conservative republicans you could ever find. Here are some email excerpts:

"This country filled with all the tree hugging, liberals, and the “just do whatever makes you happy” mentality is what is running this country into the ground! Now, as if that’s not enough, all the left wing, Volvo driving, baby killing, homosexual marrying liberals are wetting their panties over Obama."

Let us analyze and discuss.

If this country were filled with tree hugging liberals then no one would believe that Obama was a Muslim. We would say that he is black and would make a great president.

The “do whatever makes you happy mentality” has not been running this country into the ground for the past eight years. It has been the one dimensional president in a three dimensional world that has deregulated us, and lead us with fear, that has gotten us to where we are today.

Alright, you did get us at Volvo driving, but I DO NOT kill babies. I think you will be hard pressed to find anyone that is pro-abortion. I do believe that homosexuals would make great fathers but I would not marry one.

Another email promoted the military, and McCain as a war hero to make sacrifices for this country as his ability to be president. He then proceeded to tell David that "it was his filthy left-wing bullshit and pussy mentality that would get him ass raped in Iraq like a two bit whore and then have it shown on You tube" I'm paraphrasing, but this man also went on to say that "He would bring popcorn to that viewing."

He almost sounded logical when describing McCain’s past, because really who’s going to argue that he is an honorable man? I totally agree. But then he got all uni-bomber on us and the real republican family values that I often hear about during election time came out. Dear Mr. Butt Sex, you fit very well into our sitcom as part of the "don't ask don't tell" area of the military if you want to view that type of explicit behavior on the internet. What else are you watching? *wink wink*

And finally another email this morning, from Mrs. Butt Sex that said she’s glad I lost my job, “Praise the Lord, now she can be a real mommy and stay at home and nurse her baby just like God intended her to.”

Ok, let’s pretend for a second that she's making a valid statement. My question to her would then be, if all women should be home raising their babies, then how do you feel about Sarah Palin going back to work three days after giving birth in April?
For the record, I don't think all republicans feel this way, I don't think McCain is a bad man, I am not against the military and I DO support our troops. Freedoms that we take for granted today are because of the men and women who fight for this country.

All this, just because DG didn't want people to think Obama is a Muslim. More DRAMA than the new 90210. Stay tuned.

Palin's Lies

FINALLY!!!! The Today show this morning details each of the lies that Sarah Palin has been using to further her political career. Not just one little white lie, not just two or three...a myriad of falsehoods.

When Bill Bennett, a McCain supporter and conservative syndicated talk show host followed this segment to defend the republican ticket, he brushed off the lies as "small beer, really small stuff". "It doesn't really matter whether she has or has not been in Iraq." he said. He then tried to compare Joe Biden's record against war as "more consequential" than these lies. Trying to mask the lies by pointing out an honest man's voting record? I'm going to need some blood pressure medication.

Small inconsequential lies are when I tell my husband that I was way too busy to do the laundry today, when in fact I was incessantly reading political editorials and playing solitaire. BIG huge lies are when you tell the entire country to hire you because you have foreign policy experience because you went to Iraq and Ireland once when you actually never set your foot in either country. Thanks but no thanks Sarah Palin.

And finally, in the I-threw-my-damned-tv-out-the-window Category, the new McCain ad that I saw this morning slamming Obama's economic policy is completely and outlandishly incorrect. You can see what a big craptacular load it is here.

::Takes a breath:: I apologize for all of the politics on the blog this week. I swear, next week it will be back to pictures of Hadley and poop talk.

It's Burning Inside of Me

When it comes to Politics, there is one thing that really burns my britches and it is lies in television ads and on the campaign trail. Now let's be honest, both parties can tend to spin the truth a bit in their ads. However, I feel that John McCain has gone so overboard that it is burning inside of me, like day old mexican. And I've got to let it out. And you know when Karl Rove says that you've gone too far, that you are probably laying in a gutter somewhere with a thong on your head and dollar bills sticking out of your pants.

The final straw came this morning, when in horror, I watched the new McCain ad promoting himself and Palin as MAVERICKS. They cite her shutting down the "bridge to nowhere" as her Maverick experience. Do they think that we are stupid? At this point, anyone with a computer knows that Palin was FOR the Bridge to get votes, before she realized it was going nowhere, so she took the money and spent it on other projects.

Then this morning on the news, McCain was shown pandering to the working class in OH, saying that while he chose to be in OH with the "working man", Obama had chosen to hang out with the elite in Beverly Hills raising money. "How can he say that he understands the working man?", McCain asked. From the man with 8 homes, McCain apparently forgot to mention that just the night before, he had a similar elite high class fund-raiser in Miami raising himself $5 million.

I am so done with all of his hypocritical misconceptions. I am not going to go into all of the details on each lie in each ad. You can view the research at my favorite Fact Check site. I just can’t believe he is even allowed to continue showing some of those ads especially when non-partisan fact checkers have proven that they are not accurate. Someone in the media, besides the ladies on The View, needs to start questioning his behavior. Isn’t it a bit of a red flag that whenever McCain or Palin get asked tough and serious questions that they cry foul or sexism?

I Approve This Message

I have a lot of fire going on inside of me regarding politics these days. It is hard not to use this blog as a platform. I might have to get on a soap box at some point, but for now, you can watch this funny video from Saturday Night Live. It is so laugh-out-loud while at the same time, giving a subtle inuendo against Sarah Palin.

Be Careful What You Pray For

Prior to the Democratic National Convention, a certain conservative Focus on the Family man asked his fellow like-minded religious fanatics, to pray to God for rain to drown out Obama's acceptance speech. Talk about unchristian behavior.

Apparently they prayed so hard, that indeed God did send rain. So much rain that they gave it a name: Gustav. So much rain that it's currently rated a level 3 hurricane. Unfortunately it missed the window they wanted and the place they wanted and instead is going to land tomorrow, in Louisiana, smack at the beginning of the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. Now the Republicans are planning on postponing their convention a few days in lieu of what happened with Katrina. Would it be so bad to wonder what God thinks about the Republicans? He's listened to their prayers and decided to piss all over their convention. Hmmm. I think Alanis Morrisette would call this IRONIC.

The Democratic National Convention in Denver

You won't often see religion or politics discussed on this blog, because I don't believe those topics and friends mix well together. But with this city on fire with a bunch of liberals running around, Hadley and I took the light rail downtown to meet DG for lunch so as not to miss out on all of the fun. As you can see from the picture, Hadley is giving the thumbs up.

With such a huge event, the crazies are sure to come out, and boy did we run into quite a few of them. Mostly a lot of protestors. In fact, there were so many protestors, protesting so many things, that I wonder if they are really getting their messages out. There were the "I was with Hillary and now I want McCain" protestors. I wanted to trip them. There was one group with t-shirts that said "911 was an inside job". There was one group of 6 protestors with a bull horn causing a hububaloo. I'm not sure what their issue was, but they made me realize that I could have gone down and garnered my own press, protesting...um...protestors. I also could have gotten more than 6 people together. Lame. There was a large group of anti-abortionists with awful pictures and a van with graphic pictures with a loud speaker. It was so aggressively horrendous and upsetting that I just wanted to starting cocking off to everyone I saw. Luckily I realized that perhaps that wasn't the best example to set for Hadley.

On the good side, there were a lot of stickers that said "Make Out Not War". And my favorite, Planned Parenthood passing out condoms in bright pink packaging that said "Protect Yourself from John McCain". For pictures of it all, check out DG's flickr.