Life lessons from Mr. President

The kids watched President Obama's speech today in class with their teacher. This, after the inane hubbub about whether the President was overstepping his bounds by orating to our children about the importance of responsibility in education. (PSHAW! Shame on him!) And yes, I was floored when they sent out permission slips to the parents to opt-out of having your kids not watch the speech and instead, do some alternate activity during the 20 minute duration of the speech.

When I asked Hannah and Luke about President Obama's speech this morning (what they thought of it and what they learned) they both proudly exclaimed, "We learned about how important it us for us to take responsibility for our education. Not exaggerating the quote. From my 4 3/4 year olds.

OK, how can you NOT LOVE that 4 year olds were able to take away that message from Obama today? There's certainly nothing partisan about some classic messages:

Stay in school.

Work hard.

Dream big.

Achieve your goals.

And, OWN it. Your education, your future.

Love it. Love it.

I will play this speech for them every year before they start school in the fall. I swear.

1.20.09 - A Beautiful Day

You know that song from U2, "Beautiful Day"?  

Well, that's what today was...for me, our kids, the citizens of our great country and for a many, many people around the world.   

That song was the backdrop for a ginormous day in our country's history, where many breathed a collective sigh of relief while feeling the giddy anticipation and excitement of a child on Christmas morning.  Like a child, we've been waiting a long time, hoping for a new gift that gave us a sense of renewal, even if we were to enjoy the newness of it for even a fleeting moment...knowing that the harsh reality of much work to be done will set in tomorrow. 

However, for today, let's enjoy the moment.  Today was historic and magical.  

Truly a "where were you when..." moment.

Where were you when Barack Obama was sworn in as President?

Here was my reality...yes, work.

I said this the other day when I posted and I'll say it again:   

Godspeed, President Obama.  May we exceed our own expectations.    

I pledge to do my part to help you - us - succeed.   

You inspire me and our country to do great things, and I (and my kids, although they don't realize it yet) can't thank you enough for it.   It truly is a gift.

(Yes, I sent them to preschool this way.  i know, i am shamelessly leveraging my kids to get across my beliefs.  It's my 1st amendment right after all.

God bless America.)

Whatta man, whatta man, whatta man, whatta mighty good man

It's been a while since I've posted about Barack Obama so I thought I would do it again for good measure, especially in anticipation (and celebration!) of his upcoming inauguration to be our 44th President (yah!!!!!) on January 20th.  

Truly a big moment for our country.  We have come such a long way.

A friend posted this article on Facebook today of an open letter from Barack to his daughters, Malia and Sasha.  In it, he shares why he embarked on his campaign journey and what he envisions for his little girls and all children.

I so <3 heart <3 Barack.  I so hope he does not disappoint and that he exceeds all expectations.

Godspeed, President-Elect Obama.

2008 in review (Or, what has inspired me this year)

These little guys (in 2005)...

...Who are now this big.

And him, my life partner, who is my source of balance and strength every day.

Quality time together as a family...whether on vacation or around the holiday table or simple, everyday things, like hanging out in our pajamas at home (or in this case, at a campground).

This awe-inspiring victory, and what it has meant for me, our children and the potential we can reach together...reminding me just how far we have come. 

The wonderful company of female friends who are trying-to-balance-it-all-dammit. And who can also relate to this stressful, crazy, but blissful time in our lives parenting little ones.

Believing in magic, and viewing the world with the hope and wonderment that my children see with every little thing that most adults take for granted.

The beauty of children in general, and what I learn from them each day...especially the lesson about being carefree and unapologetic about anything.

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

I have waited 8 years for this.

What a victory it is. And it is so much sweeter because I know I did my teensy little part in making history here in California's 50th congressional district to help elect Barack Obama.

Effing amazing. I feel ebullient. Ecstatic. Hopeful. And I have faith in the American electorate again.

The enthusiasm and energy across the country... the world... is just amazing.

After today, I can go back to blogging about Hannah and Luke's poop or boogers and their goofy observations about life. Or darling husband's musings. Or mine, about something other than this election.

Hannah, Luke and darling husband - thanks for being so patient with me over the last 8 weeks.

All this campaigning and volunteering and electioneering and debating and attempts to educate others about why Barack- I did for you. I did this for our future, so we can feel hopeful and proud our what our country can achieve.

Yes we can.

Fear and loathing in America

There was a lot of hullaballoo this week about the recent McCain/Palin rallies and all of the fear and loathing that these candidates have incited at these events.

"Arab!"     "Terrorist!"      "Kill Him!"  

Basically, it was everything short of calling the man a N -----, which, I have no doubt, was  being privately harbored or said under one's breath by many.

I've watched endless news and YouTube videos this week of these rallies.  And I took heed of the audience's background comments as Palin made insinuations of Obama's dangerousness and terrorist associations.  Not surprisingly, I  became more and more appalled, and more and more saddened by what I was seeing.  

And then, I got bitter.  So bitter that I became almost obsessed about this turn of events this week, wondering how this incitement of fear and loathing would impact the polls and the tide of the election.   And more importantly, I wondered what types of deep-rooted, downright ugly sentiments would surface from the American electorate when stoked by others...in this case, pitbull Palin.

It harkened me back to a time when I was an awkward teenager living in Charlotte, North Carolina, just having moved from the cultural melting-pot of Northern California.   My bitterness was rooted in a seminal event from my youth: when I had first heard racial slurs directed at me from some ignorant teenagers at a Burger King drive-thru.  

"Chink!  Go back to your own country!"  

they yelled with a North Carolina southern twang.

Needless to say, I was shocked.  And angry.   And I told myself that these people were ignorant, stupid fools.  (By the way, there are very nice people in the state of North Carolina...I just happened to run into some unfortunate ones that night).

"There are other countries besides China in the continent of Asia.  These dumbasses think that every Asian is Chinese.   How stupid!  They probably can't even name other Asian countries on the map!"  

This is what I justified to myself as a 1st generation Filipino who had just been called a chink.  And after this,  I vowed to myself that when I grew up I was never going to live in a non-socially progressive place again  - I did not want my children to ever experience this kind of disdain and disrespect (little did I know how naive that thinking was).  

So back to the events of this week.  

I wondered who these people at these rallies are.  Are they the sons and daughters of small-town U.S.A.??  Of bumblef&ck hicksville??  It also made me wonder - are there many closeted, narrow-minded people here in my own backyard of the so-called socially progressive, culturally-tolerant state of California??  

Who are these people making these awful comments and where the hell did they come from?! 

And sadly, these were my angry thoughts as I tried to rationalize what I was seeing:

They are certainly not people that I dare associate with.  

Nor will we ever be cut from the same cloth.  

Because I am more educated and open-minded than these people.  (yeah, yeah, call me an elitist)

And they are just a bunch of...retards.

But then I realized, and a fellow socially-progressive friend (thanks, M!) reminded me:  mocking and making fun of these people does not advance our cause; it only serves to fuel the fire and further polarize Americans into the elitists and non-elitists, the progressives and the conservatives, the free-thinkers and the narrow-minded, the well-informed and the ignorant.

And today, McCain attempted to tame the flame that his campaign had started, whether they intended to do this or not.  Unfortunately, this flame may turn into a fire that will continue to burn, if not on the surface then in the closets and basements...and nothing can be done to put it out.  This ugliness is what scares me the most -- for our generation and for our children's generation.  

So, now, I must have patience.  Patience that America will come through.  Patience that some good will come out of this.   Patience that the dark days we Americans are feeling are almost behind us.  Patience that the hope I continue to feel is palpable and real and is practically within our reach.

And I must continue to have tolerance that not everyone sees the world as I do.  And that there is still some ugliness that exists in this world.  In this country.  And probably even in my own socially progressive backyard here in the state of California.

Patience and tolerance does not come easy for this working mom of twins, but for the sake of my sanity over the next 25 days left in this campaign, I will certainly try.

Veeps face-off

Was it me, or was the Veep debate tonight MUCH more interesting than last Friday night's debate??!

No country for (inconsistent, tired, clueless and corrupt) old men

Ok, so I'm back to my politics talk again. I just can't stay away from this topic.

So, the last few days have been B-U-S-Y...not only on the family and work side, but also on the "figuring-out-my-campaign-volunteering-commitment-between-now-and-November-4th" side.

After 4 days of spinning my wheels and creative negotiation with my husband and our September-October schedule, here's where I ended up with my Obama campaign involvement:

• Camp Obama & being a Deputy Field Organizer = just too much time commitment for little old me (Camp O meant at least 3 full weekends of volunteering - one weekend of boot camp training, 2 weekends in Nevada -- albeit Vegas - bling, bling, which would have been fun...we will likely still go though)
  
  
• After 4 phone conversations and 3 e-mails to the Obama4America peeps in the L.A. regional office, we've determined the best way for me to be involved is to sign-up with my local San Diego peeps.
  
  
• So now, I am on Team B in the 50th Congressional district (San Diego) and I have taken on a small leadership role called "Data Manager" - this is nice title for data input monkey for people who can't use the online tools for our canvassing calls to Nevada. (Ironically, as a tech person and computer savvy professional, this job is probably my worst nightmare since it involves picking up the slack of computer illiterate people and inputting their results into the voting software. BUT, I am over this and will do whatever it takes to help my team. Yes I am a pig, not a chicken, as the analogy goes.)

Last night I attended the 50th Congressional District Obama rally party in Encinitas. And how refreshing it was to be surrounded by 200 like-minded individuals who want so badly for our candidate to win that they are volunteering time to do so. The energy and excitement was palpable. And our stated goal for California campaign efforts is clear -- Help win Nevada's 5 electoral votes. This election may come to 5 votes at this rate.

This weekend, I begin my phone canvassing of Nevada undecided voters. And one of the weekends in October, our family will likely make the trip out to Las Vegas to do physical canvassing and voter registration - sans any Camp Obama training...I think we can handle it.
(Funny enough, with all of this Obama talk in our household, I have my almost 4-year-old twins saying "Obama for America" to their preschool teachers -- so much so that the teachers mentioned it to me the other day. Whoops! At least they will be ready for our Nevada canvassing. :)

I know, I know...all this time, all this commitment. And you know what? We may not win in November, but at least I will know that I am not just on the sidelines watching how this unfolds. 47 days commitment to this campaign is relatively short in the scheme of another 4 (or possibly 8) years of another potentially bad leader. I want to make my difference in this, however small.

To close, there was a great editorial I read earlier this week from Thomas Friedman, author of non-fiction bestseller The World Is Flat. The editorial was in the New York Times, entitled "Making America Stupid." It totally resonated with me and is the new article I point folks to when they ask me why I support Obama.

No country for (inconsistent, tired, clueless and corrupt) old men, especially McCain.

_________________

Update on my Data Manager role as of this evening's Obama campaign 9PM PST conference call :

Apparently, there's more to my responsibilities than data input guru. I will also be training other volunteers on the voter database software tool and will be the list generator for canvassing calls and for volunteer management on specific events like out of state travel, etc. OK, I feel better now. I think. This, on top of everything else. Oy. (I have to remind myself...it's only 47 more days in the grand scheme of 4 years of the same old, same old...)

I got the call!!

So after the RNC, I was so mortified with what I heard that I had started to rant and spin in circles. My ranting finally became productive when, on a whim, I decided to apply with the Obama campaign to be a "Deputy Field Organizer" and do my part to help win this election in a battleground state. (California is a non-factor/traditionally blue state.)

Well, I got a call!!!!!

Yesterday afternoon, I got a voicemail from an Obama campaign volunteer named Anjali who said they had reviewed my application and were interested in having me, just so long as I could attend Camp Obama (the weekend community organizer boot camp in SoCal) AND just as long as I could spend a weekend doing community organizer work somewhere in Nevada (a battleground state) between now and Election Day!

Wow. Be careful what you wish for, right??!

Like I need another extra-curricular activity besides...um, everything else I'm doing.
BUT, I so LOVE, LOVE this stuff. And I feel so passionate about this election, and this candidate, our candidate -- more than I've ever felt before.

So now, I am busily trying to arrange for child care and do some creative juggling around our next couple of weekends since, if you can believe it, we are almost totally booked up between now and Election Day.

I so, so, so hope I can make this work.

BE it, don't just do it

So I told myself that I wasn't going to use this forum (too much) to even remotely pontificate (and/or rant, as I have been doing) on politics.

But lately I am finding that I can't help myself.

Why?

Because I CARE what happens to our country. And because I CARE how it affects my family and my kids, especially. And just because I lean left, that does not mean that I am not patriotic and I don't love America. Quite the contrary.

Tonight I read a very good, succinct blog post from Jamie Lee Curtis, the actress no less, on The Huffington Post. And she had echoed some things Obama said this weekend that I said a few days ago after having listened to Ms. Palin's RNC speech thinking to myself,

"Uh, oh...she was good (delivering from a teleprompter). SO GOOD that people are going to forget she's a friggin' puppet and be brainwashed by all of this KarlRovian garbage...like they were brainwashed in 2004 and 2000 - Lord help us."

Anyway, something in Jamie Lee's post struck me, and it was what she had quoted from Gandhi:

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

While this is not the first time I've seen this quote, it really resonated with me, in particular, related to this election.

With all of this talk about "change" from both sides (especially now that McCain decided to take on this as his campaign message), and with all of the GOP mockery of community organizers, this was the kick in the pants I needed. For me and the now and how I can make a difference come November 4th.

And as a registered Democrat and strong supporter of Barack Obama, I realized that I mustn't just sit here and let 2004 happen all over again. I needed to do my part outside of donating (which I have already done) or putting up lawn signs and bumper stickers in a state that will likely go blue anyway. And I can no longer be complacent and assume the last 8 years is enough to speak volumes and direct the American public to our candidate.

So this weekend, on a whim, I applied to help the Obama campaign and the Deputy Field Organizer Groups that they are mobilizing in California to spread the message to the audiences who most need to hear it. As such, the Obama campaign is recruiting a team of "community organizers" to attend Camp Obama with the goal of developing grassroots coalitions to gain victory in the battleground states. And while I can't travel to the battleground states with my current family and work responsibilities, I asked them if they could leverage me somehow remotely. I really don't know how, and highly doubt I will get "accepted" but I feel better knowing that I am trying to make a difference in this election.

Just BE it. My not-so-new mantra.

Not-so-new because when I stepped back to think about it, I've already started being some of the things I want to change in the world. But I still have more to be including making a difference (however small) with the choice of our new leader.

(ok, I'm done ranting for today.)

I am moved

I totally connected with Barack Obama tonight.

His speech almost moved me to tears and gave me hope that this country can be great(er) again. He was inspirational. He was larger-than-life. He was presidential. A true leader who wins hearts and minds. Someone this country so desperately needs right now.

And you know what? I don't care that he's a junior senator who has not been seasoned (read: infected) in the ways of Washington.

I actually like that he's idealistic and not schooled in the old guard M.O. I believe in his platform for change. Is McCain saying these things? All he can say is that Obama lacks the experience and the track record (temperament and judgment)...what's his case for change? I find it amusing and laughable that the GOP even bothers to waste their critiques over his acceptance speech venue dubbing it the "temple of Obama" with it's pillars and grand stage. Again, here goes the GOP making small issues out of big elections. What else ya got, McCain?

I will say this: The Republicans rightfully critiqued that his speech rhetoric does not fully contemplate the realities of funding his platform specifics to drive change. And I am curious to hear over the coming weeks and through the debates how exactly he plans to bankroll some of his aspirational (but not insurmountable) promises such as affordable education and health care for all, without increasing taxes. (And of course, those taxes will probably be assessed on people like me.)

And will he be able to execute on every tactic in his change platform? Probably not...let's remember that the Congress has its role to play in terms of policy-making - checks and balances was instituted for a reason. Our Founding Fathers were smart that way. But, I do believe that Obama will try his damnedest to uphold his promises, because I know that he believes we will hold him accountable.

Nonetheless, his idealism, optimism and his potential to drive true change is there and it is palpable.

And I so, so feel it, like I've never felt with any Democratic candidate I've supported before. Maybe it's because this is the first election where I am a parent and I am moved by such issues that affect more than just my generation? Regardless, I think many Americans who watched tonight felt the energy and the stirring too. And like me, many probably also feel that there is a light at the end of this long, dark tunnel we've been traveling through for 8 years.

And yes, while potential is no match for true experience (which is the retort of the McCain camp) what we do know is that when you put a damn smart leader with great potential who is hungry in a BIG job, they often rise to the occasion...just as Barack Obama has demonstrated time and again.

And that is the track record that I am using as my benchmark. It may be naive, but I believe.

Tonight Obama was "epic, yet accessible." And as David Gergen stated, his wasn't so much "a speech but a symphony." A masterpiece. And he had me at hello.

Forget my post from 2 days ago (I'm over the Hillary thing, even though I loved her speech too...), I am a proud supporter of the Obama-Biden ticket.

God bless him.