Conservation Message

If you spend most of your time sitting on the couch, watching tv, eating your microwaved meal, with every light in the house turned on, you don't so much have a carbon footprint, you have a carbon assprint. Turn the lights and television off when you leave the room.

I've Decided

I've decided on my Democratic candidate: Obama. While I think Clinton is smart and capable, I feel like we'll just get more of the same. Clinton, I think, has made the mistake of trying to beat up Obama (albeit politely) over his inexperience. The fact that he's not been immersed in beltway politics for decades is exactly what I like about him. He's smart, inspiring, charismatic, and he doesn't have decades of political favors to repay. Clinton and many other pundits seem to think that to be qualified to lead this nation you have to have X number of years in Congress or the Senate to be an effective leader. I'd point out that some of the more progressive and effective Presidents we've had in the past had little or no experience in Washington politics: Lincoln served one term in the house, years before he became our best President so far; Theodore Roosevelt had never served in Washington, yet he did much to increase the power of the executive; Woodrow Wilson, Governor of NJ, ran on a progressive platform; FDR served as Assistant Sec. of the Navy under Wilson and as Governor of NY and pulled us through the Depression and WWII; even Reagan, former Governor of California, didn't spend any time in the beltway. These leaders had smarts and charisma; they inspired people with their rhetoric and were able to get things done, not by cashing in political favors, but because the people (i.e. constituents) were behind them. They didn't accomplish all they wanted, but they were effective. I think Obama has what it takes to get people behind him, and once they're behind him, the entrenched politicos in Washington will have to take notice and come to the table or risk losing their own seats. Maybe I'm just a dreamer, too, but why not dream?

Images from the Bus Stop

YES WE CAN music Video by Wil.I.Am from Black Eyed Peas