For months I have heard millions of people's opinions and views on this years' election and its candidates, and while some of them are ridiculous and some are pretty on point, there is one that speaks to me the most. Deepak Chopra has successfully described the deeper psychological differences between Obama and Palin and what each person represents in terms of consciousness. He explains how Obama represents harmony and enlightened thinking, where as Palin spews fear and hatred. Higher consciousness vs. reptilian fear based thinking. Check it out!
Obama and the Palin Effect
Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin's
pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.
She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and exhorting people to obey their worst impulses. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of "the other." For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don't want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.) I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin's message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision.
Look at what she stands for:
Small town values: a denial of America's global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism.
Ignorance of world affairs: a repudiation of the need to repair America's image abroad.
Family values: a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don't need to be heeded.
Rigid stands on guns and abortion: a scornful repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.
Patriotism: the usual fallback in a failed war.
"Reform": an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn't fit your ideology.
Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from "us" pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of "I'm all right, Jack," and "Why change? Everything's OK as it is." The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness.
Obama's call for higher ideals in politics can't be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow -- we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest. It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
My feelings about Sarah Palin in a nutshell....
Oh jebus, where do I begin. I have a lot of opinions about her, but to sum it up, I really, truly, deep down, can't stand this woman. Everything she stands for makes me sick, and I think that if she were our next VP, not only is everything we as women have worked hard for is going to go down the drain, but our nation is going to take a huge turn in the wrong direction. I think this whole "family oriented" spiel is a bunch of crap. She says she's all about family, yet what’s going to happen when she's VP? She has a 17-year-old pregnant daughter, three other children, and a brand new baby with Down syndrome. This is a time where her family is seriously going to need her, so where do her priorities lay? I think the way somebody is with their family says a whole lot about a person, and right now I think that she should be concentrating on what’s more important: her family's well being. In Joe Biden's case, after his wife and child were killed in a car accident, he resigned from congress to stay home and raise his kids. I think that shows great character and where his priorities are.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Obama's Big Fundraiser!
Hi-Five to the biggest night of fundraising in U.S. presidential history: 9 million dollars! Obama's campaign sold between 250 to 300 tickets for 28,500 dollars each for a reception and dinner at Hollywood's historic Greystone Mansion and a later party at the Regent Beverley Wilshire Hotel is where some 800 guests paid 2,500 dollars a ticket. I had read a lot about this even online and in the papers, yet didn't see anything on television, which was surprising seeing as so many celebrities and important political figures attended. Obama's representatives released a statement stating that in the midst of the worst US financial crisis in decades, Obama kept television cameras away from the star-studded parties in a bid to minimize criticism that he was celebrating as the country suffered. Thought that was interesting, but smart choice on his part. I think that if it had been televised, the republicans and the media would have jumped on the slander train. It's sad that the focus on the election revolves around so much nit-picking! Some of the things McCain's campaign and the media spin are so ridiculous. I can see the headlines: "Obama parties it up with A-listers as the nation's economy crashes and everyone burns alive." Don't forget the pictures of Obama hugging Oprah with a drink in his hand, with the caption, " Obama can't answer your 3 a.m. phone call because he's either too wasted, or too busy making fun of all the poor Americans suffering through this economic disaster with his rich friends." Crazy that it could've totally happened.
John McCain's Big Speech
One of McCain's new campaign slogans is "Change you can trust." I have heard McCain and other republican’s state how McCain represents change, and how he is different than the current administration, and how the change John McCain wants to bring to Washington is different than the change George W. Bush wanted to bring. Or is it?
Friday, September 19, 2008
Wholesome Hockey Mom or Christian Nazi Evil Shrew?
So McCain has chosen his running mate! The oh so qualified Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin! Over the last couple of weeks, there has been an unbelievable amount of media coverage on Governor Palin, both right and left wing. Many people are amazed and concerned with McCain’s choice based on her experience. Republicans love her because of what she represents: Family, religion, and conservative views. She is someone the average American can relate to, especially conservative women who, in the past, weren’t a big voting group. But one thing that I feel has gotten lost in the shuffle are her political views. Right now, due to her current family situation, her political positions have been semi-swept under the rug, while everyone insists on talking about her knocked-up teenage daughter. So lets just take a little look at exactly what Mrs. Palins views are, shall we?
-The Predator Control Policy: In 2007, Palin supported the Alaskan Dept. of Fish and Game policy allowing the hunting of wolves from helicopters as part of a predator control program intended to increase moose populations. In March 2007, Palin's office announced that a bounty of $150 per wolf would be paid to the 180 volunteer pilots and gunners, to offset fuel costs. Wildlife activists sued the state, and a state judge declared the bounty illegal on the basis that a bounty would have to be offered by the Board of Game and not by the Department of Fish and Game.
(I'm not even going to get into why this pisses me off....)
-Palin is a social conservative and a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association (NRA)
(Sweet! Its Ted Nugent and Charlton Heston mixed together but with breasts!)
-She supports capital punishment
-Palin supports allowing the discussion of creationism in public schools.
-Palin opposes same-sex marriage and supported a non-binding referendum for an Alaskan constitutional amendment to deny state health benefits to same-sex couples.
(This makes me so upset because it continues this messed up way of thinking that gay people aren't human beings like everybody else and don't deserve the same 'god' given rights as each one of us are entitled to. This whole "Every man should be treated equal," something that our country was founded upon, only applies to the conservative norm. It makes me sick.)
-Palin has called herself "as pro-life as any candidate can be" and has called abortion an "atrocity." Palin supports a constitutional amendment to make abortion illegal in all cases, including rape and incest.
(So when your 12 year old daughter is raped and gets pregnant, she can thank Mrs. Palin for making her live with that traumatic pain for the rest of her life. I think that we, as females, have worked so hard to protect our rights as women, and Palin is on the path of destroying everything all the women of past generations have spent their lives working towards. Keeping abortion legal isn't about liking abortion, Sarah, it's about trusting women to make decisions that are right for themselves and their families--much like you trusted your own daughter to do that. That trust is at the core of women supporting and representing each other. Pregnancy, whether planned or not, is something families struggle with on a daily basis, and she had the right to choose what to do in her family situation, and so should every other woman.)
-She is a member of Feminists for Life. She supports sex education that promotes abstinence and that also discusses birth control.
(Looks like your a little late on that birth control talk huh?)
-Palin has promoted oil and natural gas resource exploration in Alaska, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), and initiated a lawsuit over the federal listing of the polar bear and Cook Inlet beluga whale as endangered species. Palin has stated in the past that she does not believe that global warming is human-caused.
(Its makes me very sad and scared to think that there might be a day when I have children of my own and they have to ask the question, "what did a polar bear look like?" Or am I even going to have the opprotunity of having children or are we going to destroy our planet before then?)
-She supports NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia, and affirms that if Russia invaded a NATO treaty member the United States would meet its treaty obligations and go to war with Russia.
-Regarding foreign policy, Palin supports preemptive military action in the face of an imminent threat, supports US military operations in Pakistan.
Sarah Palin does not possess the experience needed to lead this country, nor does she
uphold the issues that are important to me as a female voter. Feminism is not simply about achieving the power and status typically held by men. It's about protecting and supporting the rights of women of all classes, races, cultures, and beliefs. Palin's record and beliefs do not align with this. She was chosen by John McCain specifically because he believes that American women will vote for any female candidate regardless of their qualifications. He is wrong.
By selecting someone as inexperienced, incompetent, and intolerant as Sarah Palin, John McCain shows that he has no true concern for his nation or its citizens. He’s older and not in the best health, yet he doesn’t care if his choice means that America stands a good chance of being governed by such an inappropriate and flatly frightening person. Ladies, gentlemen: We’re not voting for someone like ourselves, who drives to soccer games or likes a beer with the guys. We’re voting for the most intelligent, able person we can find. Those people are not John McCain or Sarah Palin.
I believe the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate is pandering to the lowest common denominator of the American voting public .Domestically her stance on issues of choice, stem cell research, sex education and science, risks setting the advances that women have worked so hard for back by decades. Based on what I have heard from her so far, Sarah Palin is so utterly uninformed, sophomoric and insular in her world view that it is simply unbelievable to me that she would be considered a reasonable choice as Vice President of the United States of America in anyone’s universe. The United States is truly at a “tipping point” in terms of our political, economic, and military influence on the world stage. The consequences of voting for a ticket so dramatically weakened by the choice of Sarah Palin is frightening.
Its funny how people from both parties don't want another 4 years of Bush, yet if you really think about it, Palin is pretty much just Bush in drag:)
-The Predator Control Policy: In 2007, Palin supported the Alaskan Dept. of Fish and Game policy allowing the hunting of wolves from helicopters as part of a predator control program intended to increase moose populations. In March 2007, Palin's office announced that a bounty of $150 per wolf would be paid to the 180 volunteer pilots and gunners, to offset fuel costs. Wildlife activists sued the state, and a state judge declared the bounty illegal on the basis that a bounty would have to be offered by the Board of Game and not by the Department of Fish and Game.
(I'm not even going to get into why this pisses me off....)
-Palin is a social conservative and a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association (NRA)
(Sweet! Its Ted Nugent and Charlton Heston mixed together but with breasts!)
-She supports capital punishment
-Palin supports allowing the discussion of creationism in public schools.
-Palin opposes same-sex marriage and supported a non-binding referendum for an Alaskan constitutional amendment to deny state health benefits to same-sex couples.
(This makes me so upset because it continues this messed up way of thinking that gay people aren't human beings like everybody else and don't deserve the same 'god' given rights as each one of us are entitled to. This whole "Every man should be treated equal," something that our country was founded upon, only applies to the conservative norm. It makes me sick.)
-Palin has called herself "as pro-life as any candidate can be" and has called abortion an "atrocity." Palin supports a constitutional amendment to make abortion illegal in all cases, including rape and incest.
(So when your 12 year old daughter is raped and gets pregnant, she can thank Mrs. Palin for making her live with that traumatic pain for the rest of her life. I think that we, as females, have worked so hard to protect our rights as women, and Palin is on the path of destroying everything all the women of past generations have spent their lives working towards. Keeping abortion legal isn't about liking abortion, Sarah, it's about trusting women to make decisions that are right for themselves and their families--much like you trusted your own daughter to do that. That trust is at the core of women supporting and representing each other. Pregnancy, whether planned or not, is something families struggle with on a daily basis, and she had the right to choose what to do in her family situation, and so should every other woman.)
-She is a member of Feminists for Life. She supports sex education that promotes abstinence and that also discusses birth control.
(Looks like your a little late on that birth control talk huh?)
-Palin has promoted oil and natural gas resource exploration in Alaska, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), and initiated a lawsuit over the federal listing of the polar bear and Cook Inlet beluga whale as endangered species. Palin has stated in the past that she does not believe that global warming is human-caused.
(Its makes me very sad and scared to think that there might be a day when I have children of my own and they have to ask the question, "what did a polar bear look like?" Or am I even going to have the opprotunity of having children or are we going to destroy our planet before then?)
-She supports NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia, and affirms that if Russia invaded a NATO treaty member the United States would meet its treaty obligations and go to war with Russia.
-Regarding foreign policy, Palin supports preemptive military action in the face of an imminent threat, supports US military operations in Pakistan.
Sarah Palin does not possess the experience needed to lead this country, nor does she
uphold the issues that are important to me as a female voter. Feminism is not simply about achieving the power and status typically held by men. It's about protecting and supporting the rights of women of all classes, races, cultures, and beliefs. Palin's record and beliefs do not align with this. She was chosen by John McCain specifically because he believes that American women will vote for any female candidate regardless of their qualifications. He is wrong.
By selecting someone as inexperienced, incompetent, and intolerant as Sarah Palin, John McCain shows that he has no true concern for his nation or its citizens. He’s older and not in the best health, yet he doesn’t care if his choice means that America stands a good chance of being governed by such an inappropriate and flatly frightening person. Ladies, gentlemen: We’re not voting for someone like ourselves, who drives to soccer games or likes a beer with the guys. We’re voting for the most intelligent, able person we can find. Those people are not John McCain or Sarah Palin.
I believe the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate is pandering to the lowest common denominator of the American voting public .Domestically her stance on issues of choice, stem cell research, sex education and science, risks setting the advances that women have worked so hard for back by decades. Based on what I have heard from her so far, Sarah Palin is so utterly uninformed, sophomoric and insular in her world view that it is simply unbelievable to me that she would be considered a reasonable choice as Vice President of the United States of America in anyone’s universe. The United States is truly at a “tipping point” in terms of our political, economic, and military influence on the world stage. The consequences of voting for a ticket so dramatically weakened by the choice of Sarah Palin is frightening.
Its funny how people from both parties don't want another 4 years of Bush, yet if you really think about it, Palin is pretty much just Bush in drag:)
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