The polling-booth line was already out the door at 6 am when I arrived to vote. Some Bethelites had arrived at 5:15 am to be able to vote and get to work or make trains on time. The rule prohibiting campaigning near the voting area meant that no one wore campaign buttons or t-shirts, so I had no idea about peoples’ voting preferences. Even as we sleepily joked about someone’s doing a coffee run, I was aware of the seriousness of our purpose. We had come to the voting booth determined both to have our say and to deal with whatever came at the end of the day. We were Americans, awake at this hideous hour, doing sacred work. The day wore on with extreme fatigue, and I, not knowing of course how the elections would turn out, nonetheless left “away messages” on my g-mail and instant message accounts that said “God bless America.” To some it may sound overly dramatic, but I am deadly serious: except for Israel, to which I have a strong attachment, I cannot imagine a country as magnificent as the United States of America. I have not always agreed with America’s leaders’ policies, the laws of the land, or my fellow citizens’ decisions on candidates or propositions, but I am truly grateful to have been born here, and I am beyond grateful that we all get a chance to have our opinions heard.
Do I wish some things were different in the US? Of course. Even as I am pleased that the vast majority of Americans elected the first Black president of the US and that Connecticut voters turned back an effort to legislate a ban on same-sex weddings following the state’s Supreme Court decision permitting them and at the same time opening the doors to young voters’ having a say in national primary elections, I am disappointed that three states chose to ban same-sex weddings on that same day. I was very distressed that some politicians derided those who disagreed with their platforms as being not “real” Americans or racists. But these are issues for another day and, as the saying goes, the perfect must not be the enemy of the good (which does not mean, by the way, that the good can’t be made better). The US is not perfect, but it is one of the best, and one of the best is a good enough start.
Dolls 1: There she is, smiling, sweet, happy, clutching her live cabbage patch doll to her graduation cap and gown. Bristol Palin has become the poster victim (or child, depending on your outlook) for a variety of strange-bedfellow policies and has been exploited by just about everyone who claims to love her. Her situation is an oxymoronic contradiction: the abstinence-only mentality colliding with “it doesn’t work;” teenagers needing real, solid and correct information on contraception colliding with “well, maybe we did it unprotected sometimes;” so-called “family values” colliding with a father from the wrong side of the tracks; the need for children to have both fathers and mothers in their lives colliding with the reality of a politician’s power to “negotiate” the rights of a father; and the sad reality of a teenager colliding with the perfect picture-bite on the cover of People magazine. So what is the message our teens are getting from this bizarre, contradictory media circus? Un...
Yeah, I know - pretty ridiculous posting this with my profile picture as it is - I just haven't had a chance to change the picture. One week and 4 days into "healing," and Stan and I saw the orthopedist this afternoon. Stan first: he is healing nicely (which, I have learned, is relative term - as in, "relative to not going off the bike..." or "relative to not having our insides ripped out ..." or relative to not getting on a motorcycle in the first place ...") and progressing exactly as the doctor wants. His knee, which had previously resembled something you'd see in one of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" or similar slice-and-dice movies, is actually looking much better. Prognosis is good - and he has about 4-6 weeks of absolutely NO weight-bearing on his left leg. The doctor says he can go back to work as long as he's comfortable and doesn't put any weight on the left leg. Stan's aiming for a shortened day on Monday so he ...
No sooner had the weather turned decent than the local newspaper declared "Return of motorcycle season in Connecticut kickstarts old helmet law debate." And just as predictably, the online comments kickstarted the usual "evil nanny Government" responses. Here's how I responded: "You don't want to wear a helmet, jacket, whatever? Fine. But hear this: when you hit the road, your skin will be destroyed along with your limbs. Sound too dramatic? My husband and I were involved in an accident last week when a car turned left in front of us. My husband, the driver, "laid the bike down" and we - and the bike on top of us on its side - went skidding down the rode. My ankle is broken, his leg was badly broken (requiring surgery). The good news? Had we not been wearing helmets, reinforced jackets, heavy-weight pants and boots, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that we would have suffered much, much worse - trauma to our brains and internal organs, ...
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