Iowa

If you know me then you know that I am a political junkie. Not in that fervent constantly have to talk about it way. But if you bring it up I would love to share. I do not know as much political history as I should, but I am paying attention and reading the information that I feel effects my life and my family.

Last night I logged on quickly before I went to bed to see what was happening in the Iowa caucuses. I am a huge fan of Kucinich and Edwards, and felt that Edwards might have a real chance of winning, or at least being in the top three. I was thrilled to see Obama pull out into first in the end, its still a great sign. The best news of all was the record numbers of "young people" (can I still be included in that phrase?) that voted. Its so important that people pay attention to the decisions leaders are making. There are a whole lot of people that have died so that each one of us can have the opportunity- the choice if you will, to vote. Its so easy, it doesn't take that long, there's just no excuse.

Here's some political quotes from last night:

"...John Edwards was supposed to have come in third. He had been written off. He was outspent by the other front-runners six to one. But somewhere along the road he threw off the old politico hack jacket and turned into a real person, a fighter for the poor, for the uninsured, for peace. And for that, he came in a surprise second, ending up with just one less delegate than the man who was against the war from the beginning. But, as Joshua Holland of AlterNet pointed out earlier today, Edwards is still the only front-runner who will pull out all the troops and do it as quickly as possible. His speech tonight was brilliant and moving [did you see the sign "Carpenters for Edwards"].
What an amazing night, not just for Barack Obama, but for America. I know that Senator Obama is so much more than simply the color of his skin, but all of us must acknowledge -- and celebrate -- the fact that one of the whitest states in the U.S. just voted for a black man to be our next president. Thank you, Iowa, for this historic moment. Thank you for at least letting us believe that we are better than what we often seem to be. And to have so many young people come out and vote -- and vote for Obama -- this is a proud moment. It all began with the record youth turnout in 2004 -- the ONLY age group that Kerry won -- and they came back out tonight en force. Good on every single one of you!..."

"...With all due respect to Senator Obama's victory, the most important news out of the caucus this evening was the whopping, room-busting turnout of Democrats. 239,000 people showed up to vote Democratic tonight (93% more than in '04, which was a record year), while only 115,000 showed up to vote Republican. And this is a red state! The Republican caucuses looked anemic. The looks on their faces were glum, tired. As the camera followed some of them into their caucus sites, they held their heads down or turned away, sorta like criminals on a perp walk. They know their days of power are over. They know their guy blew it. Their only hope was to vote for a man who has a direct line to heaven. Huckabee is their Hail Mary pass. But don't rule him out. He's got a sense of humor, he's downhome, and he said that if elected, he'd put me on a boat to Cuba. Hey, a free Caribbean vacation!
Bottom line: People have had it. Iowa will go blue (Happy Blue Year, Hawkeyes!). Whomever your candidate is on the Dem side, this was a good night. Get some sleep. The Republicans won't go down without a fight. Look what happened when Kerry tried to play nice. So Barack, you can talk all you want about "let's put the partisanship aside, let's all get along," but the other side has no intention of being anything but the bullies they are. Get your game face on now. And, if you can, tell me why you are now the second largest recipient of health industry payola after Hillary. You now take more money from the people committed to stopping universal health care than any of the Republican candidates..."

-Michael Moore

Love that guy.

What I cant get over is how well Edwards did with so much less money than Clinton or Obama. When I listened to Edwards speech, I actually got weepy, it was that powerful. Take ten minutes and watch it, its so worth it. I listen to what he is saying about the two Americas, the complete separation from the wealthy and the poor. How just one health care emergency, one death in the family one crisis can completely change the way you live your life in the U.S.

I think of Fred this morning, getting up at 5:45am, putting on several layers to protect him from the 3 degree weather outside. Putting on his huge boots and lumbering upstairs to take the garbage out with him. This morning he is bringing my car into the garage for me- it wont pass emissions- so he has to unload his truck of things he may need for his day and put them into my car. By 6:30am one of the guys from work will have picked him up from the garage and headed out in the work trucks to set up some footings.

I think of my dad, a carpenter for years and years. Working in any weather, in all the conditions Nature had to throw at him. He created beautiful homes and additions day in and day out. He is a lousy mechanic but an awesome philosophiser.

I think this is why Edwards resonates with me, he seems to honestly care about everyone that lives in this country, not just the ones that he needs something from.

"A candidate who says things like this: "I absolutely believe to my soul that this corporate greed and corporate power has an ironclad hold on our democracy." Whoa. We haven't heard anyone talk like that in a while, at least not anyone who is near the top of the polls. I suspect this is why Edwards is doing so well in Iowa, even though he has nowhere near the stash of cash the other two have. He won't take the big checks from the corporate PACs, and he is alone among the top three candidates in agreeing to limit his spending and be publicly funded. He has said, point-blank, that he's going after the drug companies and the oil companies and anyone else who is messing with the American worker. The media clearly find him to be a threat, probably because he will go after their monopolistic power, too. This is Roosevelt/Truman kind of talk. That's why it's resonating with people in Iowa, even though he doesn't get the attention Obama and Hillary get."

-Michael Moore

Now the front runner for the republicans was Mike Huckabee. This is an interesting quote from him: "I didn't get into politics because I thought government had a better answer. I got into politics because I knew government didn't have the real answers, that the real answers lie in accepting Jesus Christ into our lives...I hope we answer the alarm clock and take this nation back for Christ."

Ummm, OK. Some how I would really have a hard time believing that enough American citizens would actually get behind someone who would say that as he was representing our country. How about this quote:

"If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague. It is difficult to understand the public policy towards AIDS. It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents."

Quarantine people because they are sick with a disease you can not get just by coughing on someone! Are we really still this backwards?

On the other hand I watched a trailer for this movie earlier and it made me scared- and wanting the see the whole thing. Here's a quote from the movie:

"According to Gallup, 44% of Americans believe that within their lifetimes Jesus Christ will literally descend from the sky and take his followers with him up to heaven.
In this clip from The God Who Wasn't There, Rapture believer Scott Butcher talks about his End Times convictions, and author Sam Harris (The End of Faith) discusses what such widely held apocalyptic beliefs may do to our future."

At least I was glad to see Ron Paul didn't fare so well.

"Then there's Paul's now infamous slavery quip that he made on Meet the Press. Paul claimed the Civil War was an unnecessary bloodbath that could and should have been avoided. All Lincoln had to do was buy the slaves. Other slave promoting countries, asserts Paul, didn't fight wars and they ended slavery peacefully. Paul's historical dumbness would have been laughable except for four things.
One, he was dead wrong. Lincoln twice made offers to the slave owners to buy the slaves. They turned him down flat. The countries that freed the slaves without war, presumably France and England, unlike the U.S., did not practice slavery in their countries. And France did fight a war -- Napoleon's ill-fated invasion of Haiti to put down the slave revolt there.

"Government as an institution is particularly ill-suited to combat bigotry." In other words, the 1954 landmark Supreme Court's Brown vs. Board of education school desegregation decision, the 1964 and 1968 Civil Rights Acts, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and legions of court decisions and state laws that bar discrimination are worthless. Worse, says Paul, they actually promote bigotry by dividing Americans into race and class."

-Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Did you stick with me through all that? lol.

I just have high hopes- I'm optimistic that enough people can come together and create the changes that are needed. Even though it sounds repetitive at this point because of all the speeches, it really is true. There is so much beauty out there i want my children to be able to experience. So many wonderful people I want them to have the opportunity to meet. If things cant change we will never get out of this idea that its just the daily grind- day after day. If I wasn't spending $500.00 a month on a lousy health care plan, could we be using that to go towards our children's education? Or the adoption of our child? Its just a frustrating cycle that needs to be disrupted.

One last thing- if your like minded, check out GoLeft TV its interesting and informative.

And by the way- Congratulations Sprout!!!!!!!