Community Art!

As I have drafts upon drafts laying about in journals, steno notebooks (yeah, you heard me), and various applications, but can't seem to focus, here's some more art. This is a donated piece for my son's public school. Our PTA plans to use it in promotions and fundraising. It was a more challenging map than my usual works, which as significantly smaller and usually fantasy-based, and therefore more forgiving. I loved working on it (it took about 70 hours), and I have plans for two more larger-scale, map-type works that I won't begin until mid-March. I'm looking forward to it!

Happy Holidays

I finished this on December 25th and everything, but didn't get it scanned until last weekend. But as we still have our Christmas tree up in the living room and holiday videos by the TV, and I don't have to start my annual Atheists' War on Christmas for at least six months, I'm posting this now.

This started as a tweet

When republicans say "Make America great again," they are implying that America is not, presently, great. Like those low points during, say World War II when we imprisoned our fellow citizens in concentration camps because they were of Japanese descent, or when we were persecuting fellow citizens for their political beliefs in the 1940's and 50's. What is their evidence for America's current lack of greatness?

I think America is pretty great; we get a lot of things right. I could offer some tweaks, but my issues are (in no particular order, and in no way comprehensive): wealth and asset inequality, poverty, racial justice, education equality, continued LGBT equality, campaign reform and voters' rights, environmental protection and reclamation, thoughtful and rational foreign policy, gun safety and control, utilizing evidence-based policies for effective government intervention, and a pony for everyone.

I'm guessing these are not the same issues been discussed at a GOP rally. 

Dear Tim Gunn,

I know you are concerned that, if I am watching a fashion show or looking at an ad campaign featuring a transwoman, who you insultingly call "a tall, skinny guy with no hips" (see P.S.), there's no way I can "project [my]self into those clothes," but just so you know, there's already no way I am projecting myself into those clothes, transwoman or no, so don't you worry your pretty little head about it. If I see a transgender model in an ad campaign, I won't lose all touch with reality or somehow disconnect with the world of high fashion.

When I look at Vogue, I am being sold envy and the unattainable. I am being sold someone I have never and can never be, and I am being sold the desire for and the knowledge of all that I am not.

Reality isn't a concern when it comes to fashion.

If you think that using transgender women as models is using "basically adolescent-shaped boys or men in women's clothes" (again, see P.S.), I'd like to know what you think the fashion industry is doing now? Because I don't see many curvy, size-6 cis-women walking down the runway, let alone someone size-8 like me. At size-2, 5'9", and 110 pounds, most fashion models do not resemble the women you see walking down the street.

The cis-women who dominate high fashion are already decades younger, dozens of pounds smaller, inches taller, and infinitely wealthier than I. In any given runway or print situation, they are wearing items worth significantly more than my average yearly expenses. Their body shape, life experience, and facial features in no way reflect back on me. Except for the fact that they are overwhelmingly white.

But if I know that a company has chosen to hire a few of my transgender sisters, then I can at least begin to believe that they recognize that there is a breadth of female experience beyond what they constantly sell me, even if the models themselves are still size 2, 5'9", and 110 pounds.

Also, Tim, have you ever SEEN any transgender women?

Love,

-kitty

P.S. You need to check your language when you talk about transwomen.
I'm no expert, and I am still learning, but please.

P.P.S. That's Carmen Carrera, former RuPaul's Drag Race contestant, model, and performer, modeling something I can never project myself into.
Gorgeous.

Republicans close War Memorial. Then Republicans stage photo op where they help Veterans get into closed War Memorial they closed. Then Republicans complain to America about closed War Memorial they closed.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

From this day forward...

I admit it. I cry at weddings.

But I am usually present.

I am there in the park/church/bar/garden/inn to witness the ceremony. See the bride or groom; hear their words; experience their emotion.

This is different, and it has been happening with increasing, joyous regularity: looking at pictures from all over the country of same sex couples exchanging vows, getting married, pledging themselves to each other in full sight and approval of family,and friends... and the law.

This time, it’s personal.

Image not mine. From The Star Tribune. Linked below.

Minnesota has joined the ranks, and the resultant photographs are as exultant, poignant, and beautiful as all the others I have perused, hoping that some day, I would see my state embrace marriage equality.

These are the happiest of tears, and my marriage means more to me now than ever.

Full, unreserved congratulations to all couples married today and in the coming weeks, months, and years. Welcome and congratulations to those married in other states who are now, also, married here.

Thank you, citizens, lawmakers, and organizers of Minnesota.

And we’ll get there, United States of America. There’s still work to do.

You know what I mean.

Let’s get federal.

Star Tribune

Pioneer Press

Buzzfeed

Time Magazine

Star Tribune2

Keith Ellison

Which is it?

Hey, conspiracy people! Is the government incapable of organizing a piss-up in a brewery, or is it single-handedly masterminding large-scale attacks against its own people?

Choose one, because I don't think you can have both.

Seriously.

Go feed the homeless or something.

Or are they a false flag, too?

Boston: a Tribute

I must share this blog post from runner Dave Munger:

Mungerrunns: In Praise of Boston

From the piece:

"Marathon day in Boston is one of the warmest and most heartfelt holidays and events that I have ever been a part of. Someone tried to take that away from the people of Boston yesterday, but I don't think they succeeded. They only gave Boston another chance to show how generous and brave its people are. While I am horrified by the events that occurred yesterday, I'm glad to have had the chance to see so many people at their best." -Dave Munger

Runner's High (Repost)

Note: I wrote this in October of 2005, when my uncle ran in the Twin Cities Marathon. In the midst of the horror that happened this afternoon in Boston, I wanted to remember this day in the past, when I first had a glimmer of understanding as to why people would want to run a marathon. To everyone in Boston, my family and friends there, anyone who is feeling shaken, sad, and angry; all who are affected by this senseless violence... love and light to you.

I don’t like running

If I had to run for my life, I’d die.

I quit track after 9th grade because they would not let me just run fast and then jump, and they would not let me just run fast and then stop. They wanted me to run. They made me run. And run. Just run. Run and run and run.

I didn’t like it.

This past weekend was beautiful. A showcase of Twin Cities autumnal majesty. One sparkling, warm yellow light day, and one grey blue breezy day. It was the weekend of the annual Twin Cities Marathon, and my uncle and aunt had arrived so that my uncle could run in it. I was excited to see them as they are two of my favorite people in the world and my example of how a couple should behave; madly in love, even when you are doing the dishes. But I don’t like running. I don’t know if I have mentioned this, but I just don’t like it. It kills my prematurely old knees, and it makes me sad, deep in my respiratory system. It would be great to cheer Mike on, but being that close to so many people who are running…. I just didn’t know.

I don’t understand marathons; I don’t know why anyone would want to do it; I don’t see the point. This does not mean that I am not impressed by the achievement because I most certainly am, but I did not see how I could get much actual personal enjoyment out of being a spectator for a marathon. And actual personal enjoyment is an important pursuit in my life.

Pete and I decided to ride our bicycles. Most of the route through St. Paul was familiar and relatively close to our house, and it seemed strange to use the car to cheer on people who are running. Jump in the car, drive the car, park the car, get out of the car, “GO MIKE YAY MIKE”, jump in the car, drive the car, park the car, get out of the car, etc. I figured it would stress me out and make me feel even more of a fitness loser than I already am. I jumped astride Stan and Pete got his bicycle (who will remain nameless), and we struck off to meet the marathoners.

We arrived at the Lake Street Bridge that connects Minneapolis to St. Paul where the Mississippi River separates them. People, everywhere. Cheering and whooping. Waving signs and clapping. Runners passing under us on the River Road, clearly members of the elite, still cruising along at Mile 21 like they had just started out. We were meeting the family at mile 18, across the river. I was surprised by my reaction to all the activity. It was as if the air was full of the runners’ endorphins, and I felt no pain, just a positive sense of ineffable joy. It was the kind of free-floating goodwill that makes you say nice things to people you don’t know, remark on the cuteness of strangers’ dogs, and walk around with an idiotic grin on your face, directing the glow at everyone in your vicinity. I found myself looking for things to compliment. “Nice boots!” “I love your top.” I look forward to moods like that.

We crossed the river and rode up the path alongside the course. The family was there, dutifully waiting for Mike. Spectators were stretched out as far as we could see, each way along the route, and the runners formed a steady stream of endurance. Almost eight thousand people would pass through here once the day was over, running, wheeling, walking, breathing, smiling, wheezing, and sweating. It was unbelievable, and I felt emotional, teary. I thought that perhaps I was losing my mind until I looked at Pete, who said, eyes red, “I feel like crying.” Freak. Freak like me.

I guess that it was the upbeat nature of the event. It is what it is, and this positive sense of accomplishment for the sake of accomplishment was hanging in the autumn air, just underneath the canopy of grey clouds. And it was affecting everyone. From me with my low expectations and disdain of running to the women who were across the course from us on Mile 18, cheering indefatigably for anyone, everyone who went by, using some stand-out aspect of the participant’s costume or appearance to designate them. “Go Spam! YAAAAY!!! All right you guys, you’re looking great!! Woo Hoo! Number 8413!! Super Fly!! Sparkle head! Batman! Robin! Superman! Keep it up!! Great Job!! YAAAAAAAAYYY!!!” They were incredible. My uncle would tell us afterwards that the crowd was pretty quiet, compared, at least, to Pittsburgh. But we can’t be compared to steel workers of the western Appalachians. It’s just not fair. I posit that they were pretty loud for a bunch of passive aggressive Minnesotans.

It’s a gorgeous route to run, if you have to run. Or if you want to run. It starts in downtown Minneapolis and wends its way past the Sculpture Gardens, though neighborhoods that inspire envy, home of the Mary Tyler Moore house and Walter Mondale’s home, past the chain of three lakes, Isles, Calhoun, and Harriet, along the Minnehaha Parkway and around Lake Nokomis, north/northeast along the river and then back down the other side, over and up along Summit Avenue through Saint Paul, past the Governor’s Mansion, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s brownstone, Garrison Keillor’s neighborhood, and down past the Cathedral and on to the State Capitol. Pete and I put in over 16 miles on our bicycles, a pittance in physical expenditure compared to my uncle and the thousands of others who finished, but it felt good. It was fun to ride alongside, to look for him in the crowd, to cheer him on, to have that brief moment where I actually understood why someone would want to do this. I won’t be running a marathon any time soon, or ever, I should say, but I will probably get the bike out again next year, and cheer on a bunch of strangers.

Frailty, thy name is Minnesotan

It snowed last night. While we were sleeping, a soft blanket of fresh, white flakes covered the brown dreck of early spring. Over the dog poop, string cheese wrappers, cigarette packs, and other accumulated refuse of a season of neglect.

At 5:00 this morning, I heard the plows go by, but I didn't need that scraping sound to know that we would wake up to the solid form of precipitation most bemoaned by Minnesotans. I could tell from the quality of the light coming in through the curtains in Finn's room, where I had retired after one too many kicks to the back by himself.

In a few hours, I would wake to wailing and gnashing of teeth on various social media platforms as Midwesterners prove how not-resilient we are. We talk a good talk, but when it comes down to it, we don't cope very well with winter. Or summer. Or weather.

To be fair, it's most likely a condition of humanity in general. It's easy to complain about the weather, and most people are going to agree with you; then you can wallow in common misery. Fun!

But it's truly bizarre, in some ways. There is nothing we can do about it, so crying to the heavens about the cold or the snow is about as useful as, well, crying to the heavens about anything. Weather is truly, madly out of our hands. We have tools to cope with it, such as outerwear, sunblock, and indoor climate control, but the weather will be what it will be.

As I sit on my livingroom floor playing pretend kitten with my son, I can look out the windows at a grey sky and rooftops still striped with white, and I know that it is spring. We are not at the start of a long haul, nor are we trapped in the middle of what seems like endless cold. It is spring. The lilies and irises are poking up next to the garage. The ice that choked the driveway is almost gone. The earth has a smell of darkness and possibility to it.

This is spring. And it has snowed. The snow does not make it winter; we do. Indeed, it will snow more this evening and into the night.

This is my song of Shut the Fuck Up. Minnesotans, this is Minnesota. I think you have met before.

Just think. In a few short months, you can be bitching endlessly about how hot you are.

Won't that be fun?

Guns (Redux)

Back in August, while vacationing at Cape Cod with family, I started writing about kids and guns. Or, more to the point, parenting and guns. I noodled around, trying to talk about how we institute sane gun policy with our child, because kids, especially boys, like to play with toy guns.

Now, on December 14, 2012, as I sit on the couch with my child while he eats Extra Cheesy Cheddar Bunnies and watches “Wonder Pets,” that essay sits unfinished in my queue, and 20 children and 7 adults have been slaughtered in Newtown, Connecticut by a man with guns.

On Tuesday, a man with guns killed two people at a shopping mall in Oregon. Here in Minnesota last week, a man shot his granddaughter because he thought she was an intruder. (She lived.) On Thanksgiving, again in Minnesota, a man shot and then executed two teenagers who he says broke into his home. I don’t need to go any further back in time, do I?

Because America has reached the point where headlines such as this are necessary: “Mass shootings at schools and universities in the US” (emphasis mine) and “A history of mass shootings in the US since Columbine.” They don’t even try to list them all anymore.

One of the reasons I have not finished the essay is because talking publicly about guns and gun policy is a daunting prospect in this hysterical, gun-addled country. It’s like a third rail or, more accurately, a religion, where no one is allowed to criticize or question. The moment anyone brings it up, the NRA and various right-wingers go ape-shit, bark about the Second Amendment, trot out false equivalencies, blame it on gun control, and it’s all over.

“Guns don’t kill people; people kill people.”

Fuck you, NRA, and the heavily-armed horse you rode in on.

People with guns kill people, and you can keep your bumpersticker mentality and bizarre interpretation of the Constitution to yourself. Your superficial, myopic sloganeering in your adoration of the Second Amendment is laughable, uncritical, and harmful. It hinders thoughtful discussion of our culturally complicated relationship with firearms. It distorts our history and makes effective, evidence-based public policy impossible. I have no use for you; you are part of the problem. Because you stifle any chance to approach this issue with sanity, facts, reason, and long-term thinking.

Sure, it’s not just about guns, but you won’t let us talk about the guns part at all. And, truth be told, your friends on the right don’t want to assist the mentally ill, talk about poverty, drug policy, education, or anything else that might help. And it’s not about better defenses or arming teachers or security at schools. Stop blaming the victim.

All you have is “No.”

So just shut up.

Your right to have a gun is infringing on my freedom to be safe anywhere, ever.
You’re done.

After today, you have nothing more to say.

Guns.

No apologies, folks. It's time for a review of the evidence and a re-evaluation of national and state gun policies based on facts. It's time to address the cultural issues. It's time to talk about our national obsession with firearms and the Second Amendment. It's time to talk mental health, poverty, crime, and drug policy.

Past time.

Thoughts and prayers are one thing. I'm sick of them. Thoughts and prayers are not action.


Surely a great nation such as the United States can work to craft sane gun policy as well as policy that works on other related issues. While it is certain that every prohibition creates another underground, I believe that we can create a policy long-game that starts to create change.

Stop standing in the way, GOP and NRA. You have no leg to stand on.

You never did.

United Gifts of America

This may be one of the worst things I have read in awhile: Romney reflects on his loss in call with campaign donors

Not the least for its cynical reaffirmation of the famous 47% comments, its abject disdain for government, and complete inability to analyze election results, but because the party of "personal responsibility" and its poster boy, Mr. Romney, take absolutely no personal responsibility for his loss.

It couldn't be that you see access to health care and the ability to get a college education as "gifts"; it's that those gifts were given to brown people, young people (presumably of all colors), and women. It couldn't be that your party no longer has anything to offer to broad swaths of a changing America, it's that America is changing, and you don't like it. It couldn't be that what Mr. Obama has offered is good and important to many Americans, and actually is what they want; it's that President Obama bribed voters with "freebies." It's not that you are anti-immigrant, it's that President Obama painted you that way. (Insert Jessica Rabbit quote here.)

You, in other words, did not bring this failure, this loss, on yourself through bad politics and poor policy, it was thrust on you by a President, a government, who panders to minorities and women (i.e. not "real Americans"?). He, Mr. Obama, is the cynic, not you. He is trying to make life better for Americans purely to be re-elected president, while you pandering to a decaying segment of America is purely American.

I'm disgusted. More disgusted than when I heard the 47% comments for the first time. But I suppose I am not surprised. The Party of No has learned Nothing. Perhaps they shouldn't. Perhaps they should continue looking for the missing black people, talking about "urban voters," and revive their search for the Muslim Brotherhood in the Obama Administration. Maybe, then, in 2014, we will be rid of their over-represented public presence for awhile.

Thanks, Minnesota. Again.

The rights of a minority should not be put to a vote. The Minnesota State Constitution is no place for discrimination; it is a place to uphold rights and equality.

I'll be saying "Thanks" to Minnesota voters for awhile.

Thanks.

Twice.

Tea Party for the Community?

There's an interesting article in the NYTimes about Occupy Wallstreet organizing to help people hit hard by Sandy in the New York City area. Eric Boehlert of Media Matters for America tweeted a query: "Good piece in NTY about the Occupy relief response to Sandy. Q: has Tea Party ever dedicated itself to acts of goodness?"

From the New York Times: "ON Wednesday night, as a fierce northeaster bore down on the weather-beaten Rockaways, the relief groups with a noticeable presence on the battered Queens peninsula were these: the National Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Police and Sanitation Departments — and Occupy Sandy, a do-it-yourself outfit recently established by Occupy Wall Street."

And that got me thinking: does Tea Party morality allow for helping your fellow human? In the libertarian-objectivist model, if one is suffering, hasn't one brought that suffering upon oneself, even if it's caused by a natural disaster? If someone knew a storm was coming, and did not prepare, do they deserve what follows? Do the dictates of "personal responsibility" stretch that far?

I really don't know; that's why I'm asking.

For religious members of the Tea Party, are natural disasters acts of God, and brought about by a moral failing? And isn't suffering also the direct result of a moral failing?

Or is it only if people in the government extend the helping hand that it's wrong? Even though one could argue that officials are elected by the people, so the government is only extending the hand of the people through a bureaucratic system.

The only things I have seen Tea Partiers doing are: yelling at elected officials at community meetings, holding up poorly-spelled and/or logically-flawed posters at rallies and protests, and generally being nuisances in a completely non-constructive manner by spouting hollow rhetoric about "liberty" and "freedom," which seems to mean "taking liberty with the truth and freedom from facts."

In many ways, I would think that the Tea Party should be getting all hot and bothered, reading about the response these Occupy people have put together. After all, it's private citizens doing it, instead of the the government, even if they are just a bunch of dirty hippies. But then again, it's community organizing, and it's what Barack Obama references when he says that Americans stick together and help their fellow Americans. And we cannot agree with the Great Socialist.

And how can a group of people like the Tea Party get together and organize themselves, protest as allowed by the government, elect candidates into the government, etc. without criticizing themselves for "community organizing"?

There again, I think this is only OK in their morality when it's based in rage toward a government that...

Oh, I don't know. It's all so tortured.

See above. I really don't know.

The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs

If you are anything like me, you read and re-read and sometimes still read the Chronicles of Narnia. I have always especially loved The Last Battle, with its nefarious plots, darkness, and heroics. It is perhaps the most obvious in its Christian allegorical implications, but any reader can create meaning and draw parallels, and as a nonbeliever, the most striking and current parallel I have is pulled from Chapter 13: "How the Dwarfs Refuse to be Taken In:"

"Romney and his campaign had gone into the evening confident they had a good path to victory, for emotional and intellectual reasons. The huge and enthusiastic crowds in swing state after swing state in recent weeks - not only for Romney but also for Paul Ryan - bolstered what they believed intellectually: that Obama would not get the kind of turnout he had in 2008.

They thought intensity and enthusiasm were on their side this time - poll after poll showed Republicans were more motivated to vote than Democrats - and that would translate into votes for Romney.

As a result, they believed the public/media polls were skewed - they thought those polls oversampled Democrats and didn't reflect Republican enthusiasm. They based their own internal polls on turnout levels more favorable to Romney. That was a grave miscalculation, as they would see on election night."

Wait, that's an article about the Romney campaign on November 6.

Let's try this:

Tirian had thought... that they were inside a little thatched stable, about twelve feet long and six feet wide. In reality they stood on grass, the deep blue sky was overhead, and the air which blew gently on their faces was that of a day in early summer... Lucy led the way and soon they could all see the Dwarfs. They had a very odd look. They weren't strolling about or enjoying themselves (although the cords with which they had been tied seemed to have vanished) nor were they lying down and having a rest. They were sitting very close together in a little circle facing one another. They never looked round nor took any notice of the humans till Lucy and Tirian were almost near enough to touch them. then the Dwarfs all cocked their heads as if they couldn't see anyone but were listening hard and trying to guess by the sound what was happening.

You remember it, right? Everyone emerges through the door into a bright, sunny paradise, but the Dwarfs sit huddled in a circle, only able to see the dark, dirty stable. They close ranks and refuse to listen to anyone:

"Now it's time for the president to propose solutions that actually have a chance of passing the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and a closely divided Senate, step up to the plate on the challenges of the moment, and deliver in a way that he did not in his first four years in office.
"To the extent he wants to move to the political center, which is where the work gets done in a divided government, we'll be there to meet him half way."

Oops. That was Sen. Mitch McConnell.

"But it isn't dark, your poor stupid Dwarfs," said Lucy. "Can't you see? Look up! Look round! Can't you see the sky and the trees and the flowers? Can't you see me?" 

"Are you blind?" said Tirian.
"Ain't we all blind in the dark?" said Diggle.

"There is no black hole, save in your own fancy, fool," cried Tirian. "Come out of it."

Now, I don't expect republicans to be wandering about a post-election world in which they lost, taking gulps of bright, autumn air, sighing sparkles, and peeing rainbows, but the choice has been made, it was clear, and people want action.

They don't want yammering about a republican mandate when House republicans, while still in charge, had fewer votes than House democrats. They don't want continued obstructionism from a Congress with historically low approval ratings.

All the "modern" GOP has to offer is denialism and the inability to prepare for all outcomes if those outcomes do not fit with their created reality. Karl Rove going live on Fox News to tell them they had it wrong when they called Ohio for Obama. Running an entire end-of-campaign strategy on the belief that polls are skewed and that your anecdotal observations and internal polling tell the Real Story because the other one doesn't look good. Choosing to believe that the Obama ground game was all just smoke and mirrors, and that their own ground game was superior and would carry the day when they had not even truly tested their big, expensive GOTV apparatus. Ignoring any data showing Obama in the lead in both electoral and popular counts. Thinking that we still live in an America where all that counts is GOTWV: Get Out The White Vote.

And closing ranks on November 7, vowing to stick to their dark, fantasy-based belief in cutting taxes and obstructing the President, all in the name of party and politics.

“Well, at any rate there’s no Humbug here. We haven’t let anyone take us in. The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs."

B Not So Much

 

Stands on her own! Literally!

 

I see what you're trying to do here, Mattel. I really do. But why did you have to go all Fox News, Million Mom on it? What's wrong with a smart pantsuit in a vibrant blue? Or a sassy, shorter cut?*









A sensible pair of flats and a casual cardi?

I know. It's Barbie. She started out as a fashion model, and now, she can B President, right? That's progress! She has B-liefs! She can B Aggressive! B B Aggressive!

And you, little (white) girl, playing with Barbie, can B anything!

I know you can't make everything in a version that looks like everyone, but instead of white brunette President Barbie AND a white blonde President Barbie (such diversity!), how about black President Barbie? And I know pink is your signature color, and certainly the women pictured above have appeared in it, but for President Barbie of the B-certainly-does-not-stand-for-Bitch Party, couldn't you have knocked down the Studio 54 disco-ball glitter just a tad?

At the very least, you are not teaching the art of smart campaigning, as no one, male or female, is going to win the presidency with a sunglasses-wearing micro dog in their purse and cutesy not-spelling and supremely weird phrases on their campaign literature.

I think the elections of 2008 & 2012 showed us what happens when certain parties don't choose serious people to run for higher office, and I will not be expecting "Lastly, I have to thank Barbie" in Paris Hilton's 2050 acceptance speech.

But I do think we can do better than this for our girls.

 *Think of the awesome that would follow if you modeled a President Barbie after Hillary. She would come with transcripts of speeches, giant checks written to her SuperPAC, copies of her legislation as a Senator, diplomatic credentials from her time as Secretary of State, and then there's The Ken-First Gentleman doll. The accessories create themselves.

Dear GOP,

You didn't lose because you didn't have enough money.

You didn't lose because the media are against you.

You didn't lose because Barack Obama is a big ol' meanie.

You didn't lose because of a superstorm.

I'd like you to take a time out. You can come out when you have thought about what you have done wrong and are ready to change.

love,

-kitty

There's got to be a morning after

Like many people, I went to bed after President Barack Obama's acceptance speech, grabbed my phone, and hit "refresh" on an election results page until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore.

Right?

That was just me?

I won't believe it.

When I finally put down the electrons, the only race outstanding here in Minnesota was the Graves-Bachmann congressional seat. I saw the amendments fail and the 8th CD go back to the DFL. I saw DFL majorities predicted in the Minnesota Legislature.

(Don't worry, Governor Dayton. I know you said you would shine our shoes and press our shirts if we gave you that, but consider it a reward for all your hard work the past two years.)

Now, as I catch up on the (very) few hours of social media I missed during what feels like a short night-time nap, I'm feeling good. I don't feel like gloating or rehashing gripes about the "modern" GOP, although I must say that Mitch McConnell remains an ass. Not exactly breaking news.

I feel like thinking. And writing. All the stress and worry of the last few weeks is gone; today is for reflection*. Because action is right around the corner. Positive action. I feel for those on the other side of these wins. More precisely, I feel for those on the other side of Barack Obama's win. I cannot feel sympathy for anyone who lost while trying to limit someone else's rights, and I'm talking to you, "Vote Yes" people.

Ok. That was a little gloaty.

But just as I don't like seeing the bench on the losing side of a big game, I don't like seeing the faces of sad supporters of a losing candidate. They, too, put their all into something they believed in, and it hurts to lose.

What I wish they would understand is that Barack Obama is a thoughtful, caring, and strong leader who seeks consensus and compromise, and he really is listening to the fact that 48% of the citizens of this country did not vote for him. Just as the 50% who did need to understand that 50% is a slim majority. They are results that demand compromise, and this is the place where the GOP falls down.

Barack Obama has compromised, and the GOP has not. It's time for those "clear eyes" to be truly clear. American voters seem to want a divided government, but they still want to see something accomplished. For reasons that entirely elude me, they do not make a connection between a 14% approval rating and GOP recalcitrance, and they kept the House in republican hands for now.

Those representatives have two years to prove they care about governing; that they care about the citizens of this country beyond political grandstanding, or the midterms could make that decision for them.

*and maybe some laundry.

Thanks, President Obama

(This was adapted from the "Top Ten Reasons" blogs, written for Obama for American Minnesota. The whole list can be found at mn.barackobam.com)

Dear President Obama,

Thanks.

Because of Obamacare, my child cannot be denied coverage simply because he was born extremely premature, and insurance companies can no longer deny payment were he to reach an arbitrary cap. Because of Obamacare, millions of Americans no longer have to worry that our family’s future will be mired in endless fights with insurance companies over the health and welfare of our children, or that we might face bankruptcy due to unpaid medical bills.

Thanks for keeping young adults on their parents’ health insurance. Now they have more choices when they go out to look for a job, and their parents can feel good that they are continuing to provide health care safety and security to their grown children.

You do care, and that’s one reason why I am voting tomorrow for four more years, so that you can preserve the gains we have already achieved through the Affordable Care Act as well as make sure that the law is fully implemented.

And thanks. There’s no doubt you have always been surrounded by strong, caring, accomplished women. And as the father of two girls, I know women’s issues are important to you. You know that we cannot succeed as a nation if over 50% of our population still has to struggle for equal pay or defend our right to choose when we start a family.

Your accomplishments for women cross policy areas, from health care to jobs. Under Obamacare, being a woman is no longer a pre-existing condition, and women have access to preventative care like mammograms without copays or deductibles. In addition, women will gain access to birth control with no copay.

Thanks for supporting Planned Parenthood and the good work they do all over the country, ensuring that women have access to high quality, affordable care including cancer screenings and birth control. Thanks for believing that a woman’s health care choices are her own, and should be made with her doctor, not interfered with by politicians or employers.

Thanks for signing the “Lilly Ledbetter Equal Pay Act,” and for standing by making sure that women are payed the same amount as men for the same work. You know that equal pay is not just a women’s issue; it’s a family issue, and you know we have more to do, including passing paycheck fairness.

So, thanks.

And thanks. Even through my four-year-old is not involved in politics, if he’s anything like me, he’ll be active and involved when he’s 17 and voting in the midterms of 2026. That may sound like a long time from now, but thanks for knowing that we have to play a long game, instituting sound policy now that will benefit us far into the future.

It’s in all our best interests to make sure that the next generation has the chance to do as well as or better than their parents. The next four years will see opportunities to appoint new Supreme Court judges to oversee the law of the land as well as the full implementation of Obamacare.

I want to know that public schools will be strengthened and supported, and that young people will be encouraged to pursue a career in teaching because jobs have been created and incentives are in place. I want to know that Pell Grants will be available if my child needs them; that opportunities for jobs in technology, energy research and development, and manufacturing are there when he finishes his education.

Thanks, President Obama, for working toward a better future for our children.

Oh hey, I also want to say “thanks” because as the child of a transgender parent, I cannot stress this enough: you can be proud of your record on civil rights for LGBT Americans. You know that we all do better when we all do better, and as long as people are discriminated against because of who they love, we still have work to do.

That’s why you’re the first sitting president to support marriage equality for same-sex couples and why you repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” You acknowledge that millions of Americans are serving or want to serve their country and should not have to hide who they are to do so. You know that millions of American couples deserve the same considerations and rights as their opposite-sex counterparts.

Because of you, Mr. Obama, the federal government now extends key benefits to same-sex partners of its employees. You also signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law. In addition, your administration is no longer defending the Defense of Marriage Act, believing it to be unconstitutional.

Your accomplishments for the LGBT community are many, including banning discrimination in federal workplaces based on gender identity, ensuring hospital visitation and medical decision-making rights for gay and lesbian parents, and allowing transgender Americans to receive true gender passports without surgery.

So yeah, wow. Thanks.

I could go on and on, but you have a country to run and an election to win, so I’ll have to say goodbye without thanking you for ending the war in Iraq, reforming student loans, giving tax cuts to American families and small businesses, supporting math and science research and education, allowing states to opt out of No Child Left Behind, expanding renewable energy, passing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, establishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, signing Wall Street Reform, strengthening our relationships with other countries, creating 5.3 million private sector jobs, appointing the first Latina to the Supreme Court, signing the new START Treaty with Russia, improving services to Veterans, and so much more.

You're a class act. I look forward to four more years, and...

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Karen McCauley
Saint Paul, Minnesota