Family

SPECIAL SATURDAY EDITION (Wasn't able to get this up on Friday...):

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year... friends, family, loved ones. My time with the family has been great this year. It's been a time of reflection as well, so here goes...

I was listening to my favorite radio show a couple days ago on my way to school. The people on the show were debating whether the Thanksgiving football game should be turned off during the big meal. I was dismayed as the discussion reached its apex. One person was basically saying that football takes priority over Grandma, and the two hosts reached a conclusion: Watch football the whole afternoon, and hope for a blowout so that the TV can go off during the meal.

The fact that this topic was even DEBATED, much less concluded in that way, made me sick. Is this the state of our society and our families today? I suppose that the forces affecting this "football over family" issue are related to those motivating stores to open on Thanksgiving Day for a few hours "to get a head start on holiday shopping." It was a big front-page article on our local newspaper. Again, I couldn't believe it.

Don't get me wrong, Thanksgiving here is not all bad. The fact that the Wednesday before (ha, my kids call it "Thanksgiving Eve," but that's a story for another day) is the busiest travel day of the year (and even the fact that the Wednesday before is the biggest day of the year for bars) shows that people do still make Thanksgiving a priority. And it's comforting to know that family/friends is the big priority on Thanksgiving for most of my friends, family, and students. But still, I don't like where our society is heading in this area. I hope there isn't more of the same as the Christmas and holiday seasons go into full swing... but maybe my hopes are in vain.

Strange happenings... the election

I'm going on vacation to MN!!!! The plane leaves soon, so I'll keep this short.

That said, I think that the Democrats actually did not do very well this election. They did take both parts of Congress.... but with all that they had going for them, (war approval ratings, most Senate seats up for grabs being defended by Republicans, etc) the race between the 2 parties should not have even been close. All that happened, and the Senate was only decided by a down-to-the-wire race in Virginia? The Democrats should be ashamed, maybe, that they couldn't "run up the score" given their situation.

Two Parties...

Election season is here in full force in Missouri. While the political climate here is not nearly as complex and active as it is in Minnesota, it is DEFINITELY personal. I don't even have a TV, and I'm bombarded with ads about the Senate race and the stem cell vote. That's a topic for another day... for now, I'd like to reflect on our political system.

For the last century and a half or more, it's been a two-party system. Republicans and Democrats, fighting for power ever since the Civil War... and even Democrats and Whigs before that. While the parties have changed over the years, the system of which they are a part has stayed the same. As someone who is on various parts of the political fence (depending on the issue), I must say that I am frustrated with it.

In 2004's presidential race, I remember contemplating my choice (among 3 possible candidates) until 2 am (or later) the night before I voted. I ended up voting for a major party candidate... thinking that my vote would actually count towards a winnable candidate. As I discussed my voting with a friend in class later that day, venting my frustrations toward the "lesser of two evils" type of system we have here in this great nation, I realized that I had been a tool in that system! I realized that a third-party candidate represented my views much more closely than either Bush or Kerry and that I should have gone that way.

We as Americans often talk about how frustrated they are that more major political parties don't exist. But we rarely challenge the existing system with our vote. While it might seem useless in the short run, it's the only way to change things in the long run. I encourage you all to stand up for what you believe in this political season and vote for the candidate that most accurately reflects your views... Democrat, Republican, Independence, Libertarian, Green, or otherwise.