Poplitics

Joan Knows: Same-sex marriage? DUH.

2011-11-13T15:35:00.000-08:00

Being a relative newbie to political debate, when I first started looking at this issue, I didn't really delve into the viewpoints opposing mine. This question, to me, was a no-brainer. People who love each other ought to be able to legally marry and enjoy the protections and benefits of that arrangement, natch. I mean, one of the reasons people get so reached and rowdy about things they consider moral ground is that most people have an ingrained, unflappable sense of what they believe is right or wrong, and I believe that allowing same-sex couples to marry is simply right.

Because I'm trying to be neutral and open-minded, here, I went looking for 'why not?' People are so passionate about this issue that I hoped to find some reasoning that made sense to me for 'why not'.

I encountered a Pro/Con list for Same-Sex Marriage online, and I'd like to respond to the 'Con' list and invite readers to give me other viewpoints; because while fair in assumption based on the language flying around the media, I think this list as a basis for banning same-sex marriage is pretty weak. It should be noted that the aforementioned link also includes a simple and fairly comprehensive list of 'Pro' expressions that I can agree with, and the author takes no specific stance on the issue.

1. Most religions consider homosexuality a sin.

In Joan's estimation, then, those religions and their leaders specifically should be free to decline to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies, but this is not a reason for the nation or for individual states to ignore the recognition of a civil union, at the very least, of same-sex couples.

2. It would weaken the definition and respect for the institution of marriage.

Joan calls BS. If this is a real concern that should be addressed by law, let's make divorce illegal, and let's make getting married more difficult. Any straight couple of legal age with 35 bucks and the appropriate identification can get married and, with a little more money and a bit more paperwork, subsequently divorced. Where are the indignant picketers for changing laws to correct this affront to the definition and respect of the institution of marriage? Most people think throwaway unions are stupid and destructive, but don't get terribly fired up about preventing them, because this a matter the government should stay out of...right?

3. It would further weaken the traditional family values essential to our society.

The definition of traditional family values has changed greatly over the last half century. If anything, allowing same-sex couples to marry will create and strengthen new traditional family values that already have a worthwhile place in society.

4. It could provide a slippery slope in the legality of marriage (e.g. having multiple wives or marrying an animal could be next).

Seriously? I've heard this little rant spouted a few different ways and the first thing that comes to my mind is that it's insulting to suggest that a same-sex union is something so perverse or unnatural that it has to be compared with polygamy or bestiality. Same-sex couples are as human, as capable of love, commitment, fidelity and family values as any other human couple.

5. It confuses children about gender roles and expectations of society, and only a man & woman can pro-create.

I believe that adults don't give children enough credit for figuring out gender roles and expectations of society - those expectations being another issue that has changed radically, whether you like it or not. I think that children can easily understand the wish for two people who love each other to marry, cohabitate and enjoy their lives together, and children SHOULD be allowed to see the merit of those unions and have them explained and accepted as a normal part of life. When I think of all the things about marriage and couplehood that are more potentially confusing, traumatic and harder to explain than same-sex marriage, I scarcely see why anyone spends time debating this issue.

6. The gay lifestyle is not something to be encouraged, as a lot of research shows it leads to a much lower life expectancy, psychological disorders, and other problems.

Joan is of the opinion that the 'gay lifestyle' is not some mysterious Bacchanalian island that you choose whether to live on or not. While not a part of any team having done 'a lot of research', I can only glean that the mentioned troubles are a result of the stress feelings of not 'belonging' to 'traditional society' and the real and imagined persecution that comes along with that. To me it is simple - too simple? Perhaps. Love need not be legislated - love being among the best reasons for anyone to consider marriage. Everyone should have an equal chance to make it work or screw it up.

As an aside, please check out this short piece about where popular opinion falls lately:

Opinion: A Long, Winding Road to Marriage Equality
By DOROTHY SAMUELS Published: November 12, 2011 There has been progress, but this remains a country where discrimination against gays is enshrined in most state constitutions.

To All Veterans

2011-11-11T08:35:00.000-08:00

Joan Q. Public would like to express her gratitude to America's men and women in service; 'service' being today's biggest understatement.

"On this Veterans Day, let us remember the service of our veterans, and let us renew our national promise to fulfill our sacred obligations to our veterans and their families who have sacrificed so much so that we can live free." - Dan Lipinski

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." - John F. Kennedy

"How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and
she-roes!" - Maya Angelou

Famous people who give a rat's patootie

2011-11-10T13:26:00.000-08:00

Curious about celebrities who get behind particular causes and issues, it didn't take me long to find a web site devoted to the idea. Except for what we read in tabloid snippets and on the fan sites of our favorite screen, music and artist personalities, it can be hard to sort out who's for what and why.

At Look To The Stars, you can search for particular celebrities or causes and see who's involved. The resulting information sometimes isn't very robust, but the statistics are interesting, and as you click through, official sites for your own favorite charities and causes are clearly linked and accessible, offering opportunities for learning, donating or volunteering. Neat.

91 easily recognizable faces for Voter Education. Maybe I can make the list one day!

Deaf Politicians, Apathetic America, Termites and Opinion Pie

2011-11-09T17:54:00.000-08:00

My brain hurts.

Like the longest, toughest class I've ever had - Joan Q. is cramming and crunching and caffeinating herself silly, deciding what order in which to post articles regarding issues she cares about. I'm a solutions girl - I like to fix things. I can get behind passionate people who want to make a big difference in the quality of life for many, from local to global levels. I want to be part of the winning team that gets to say "We did it!" and affect positive change; whether that means offering a cough drop, providing a job for one person who doesn't have one, or effectively ending world hunger. I'm looking for those passionate, powerful personalities in the news and on the sidelines to get information from, ally with and make some things happen. It's difficult to pick any one person to shine a Poplitics light on at the moment.

Our country and our politics are a mess. I hardly know where to start. I might be just slightly less confused than I was last week.

Americans are self-involved.

We don't even know what we want most, we only know that we want more of it. We want our government to tell us the truth and save us from - from what? From poverty and pestilence; from terrorists and termites. We also want government to stay the hell out of our living rooms, bedrooms and proctologists' offices. We have strong opinions about everything from foreign policy to brands of mayonnaise, and we express those opinions, red-faced and blue-faced and tablepounding with righteous indignation and oh-HELL-no-you-did-not-just-go-there conviction.

So what?

Who's listening, besides the aforementioned termites and any nearby unfortunates wishing they'd left their earbuds in?

Aside from local activists who are personally reaching out to their nearby constituents and tasting the bake on that regionally opinionated pie, I've found it impossible to tell so far whether the hopefuls in this Presidential election are listening to anyone but their own handlers.

Sympathetic Solution, Viable Communication or Soothing Stunt?

I invite you to visit the White House web site subsection, We The People. I am encouraged that there is such a space for Joan, John, Joe, Jerry, etc. to visit, explore, voice and then listen. As I look through the numerous petitions, I don't envy the staffers whose job it is to process and respond to them all. I notice many of them are redundant; even more drip cynicism. Some of them are ridiculous. The site's barely been open a month and already the beginning responses to petitions are starting to arrive, met largely with mocking, scathing and disappointment, whether the response is a strong stance or an explanation as to why there is no strong answer.

The way I see it, Obama's White House has so far been the most wired, communicative, information-disseminating office in history. We The People is the closest any administration has come to giving the regular American public the chance to speak directly to the Oval Office, meet some petition numbers criteria and expect that at some point, there will be a response to the specific issue raised...and while the We The People Blog writers seem surprised that there are as many as 31,000 new signatures a day, it seems to me that this is far from enough. I see very few references to meaningful petitions in the news or on social networks; I would have thought this idea would have spread like wildfire. Are we all so apathetic? To me, this looks like another opportunity to add my voice to others on that winning team I mentioned earlier.

I pray thee, now what?

When I read the cynical critiques of the We The People innovation or other official requests for feedback or ideas, telling me it's a waste of my time to initiate or sign any petition because it will only get a fluff namby-pamby response, I wonder what the cynics would have me do instead. What does the White House, or any politician, or any activist group have to do to batter through the haughty arrogance of people who think they have nothing left to learn and consequently, nothing to contribute until the day their personal hero is elected? What better idea are they waiting for, and from whom?

Joan Knows: Poverty is out of control. 49 MILLION...???

2011-11-08T15:22:00.000-08:00

As a member of the 'working poor,' Joan Q. is increasingly frightened of the financial future. Where are the new ideas for industry and employment that make a dent in America's poverty? Everything costs more - from tennis shoes to pinto beans - and wages can't keep up. As children, we're taught to embrace a strong work ethic and power our potential for earning by getting the best education we can and landing a high-paying job. Now that 'high-paying' is relative, and the costs of education and good grief - just basic living - are soaring beyond the possibility that we can pay for them - what do we teach our children now?

Consider this report from PBS Newshour on the recent Poverty Census calculation.

SERIOUSLY?? Work + government support is the best way to go? While that statement is quoted from the report out of context, it's telling of the hopelessness that so many feel. No wonder there is panic and confusion. Where do we go from here?

Register to vote - right here, right now!

2011-11-07T08:23:00.000-08:00

Notice that new red button in the upper right corner? If you haven't registered to vote, or if you've changed your address, click on through and prepare your registration form right here on Poplitics. Answering a few basic questions and submitting will generate a .pdf form, complete with appropriate recipient address, for you to print and mail and wrap up your registration well in advance. Why wait? Click and get registered today!

I'd Sing the National Anthem if I Had a Mic

2011-11-06T14:59:00.000-08:00

Welcome to launch! Poplitics.com will be pasted and posted and perpetually prettified. Joan is adding content furiously and is cheerfully accepting comments, suggestions, criticisms, article contributions and gourmet coffee. Stay tuned for updates, and while you're waiting - visit the links over there. ----------------->

Find your Political Soulmate with VoteEasy Project Vote Smart

2011-11-06T11:14:00.000-08:00

Find your Political Soulmate with VoteEasyProject Vote Smart

With the presidential election exactly one year away, Project Vote Smart has launched VoteEasy (winner of the best there is at the 2011 Webvisionary Awards), the interactive tool for voters to instantly see which presidential candidate they are most compatible with. To use VoteEasy now visit www.votesmart.org.
Using innovative technology to simplify voters' pre-election research, this web-based tool allows voters to answer the same key issue questions Vote Smart asked the candidates to address on the 2012 Political Courage Test, and watch as the tool matches them with the candidate who best aligns with their views. Questions span 13 major issues, including the budget, economy, health care, and immigration.

Joan thinks this tool is a great place to start to begin learning about candidates and their positions. Check it out!

Joan Knows: Education is key.

2011-11-05T17:38:00.000-07:00

Joan believes in embracing new ideas and radical changes in our education system that promote better education for our children and more access to technology for all young Americans, the earlier the better. She believes in support for arts programs, vocational training, government and financial management courses for students, and for teachers to be lauded and paid well enough to be interested in doing an exceptional job. She wishes for reform of public school administration from the smallest to the largest schools in the country that replaces ineffective people and unties the hands of the teachers and school employees who are passionate about their students. She supports accountability and investigation of school budgets, board actions and funds appropriations that don't jive with the aforementioned high standards.

Joan Knows is a series of brief statements that will express the author's personal views on the major issues in the upcoming election.

Don't Be Sucked In: Voting With the Flow

2011-11-04T15:47:00.000-07:00

Think back to your high school student council race. Oh, how high the stakes seemed at the time! The most popular student would undoubtedly be victorious, and oh my goodness, if you could remind that shining specimen of student body awesomeness that at the pep rally you pledged your vote louder than anyone else, then maybe you could be a part of that victory for the rest of the year - a member of the elite pool of other hopefuls that screamed their candidate's name with flying school colors and pompoms and posters and buttons, and now that the election's over you get to put on your turtleneck, upturn your nose and say, 'I told you so!'

Fast forward four years. Do you remember who the president of your student council was? Are they still in touch with you? In fact, did you ever even get to eat lunch at their table? What did they accomplish? What memorable difference did they make in the quality or happiness of your high school experience? Most importantly: Why did you vote for Ima B. Fabulous in the first place?

We all knew at that time that we weren't really voting to change our future, but it was exciting to think that we might change SOMETHING. This experience was supposed to teach us a little about what to expect from the world of political races. For most, it just reinforced a way of thinking that is part of a large problem.

What did you know about Ima when you voted, besides that everyone around you thought she was cool? What did she know about you?

Baa-aaa-aaa

Human beings like to be liked. There are a lot more people jumping on bandwagons than there are creating dissent by standing up for singular ideas, because dissenters are immediately suspect. Any politician directing their speeches toward an idea no one's ever heard of is likely to be first crucified by the media and shortly thereafter by the bleating on the street. To avoid the town square stocks and maintain popularity with the herd, the best any politician can do is make inspiring promises out loud and sneak in more radical ideas in whispers - preferably after the race is won.

Appealing to the masses with the strongest emotional convictions on controversial issues is the only way to do it, and gauging the voting flow determines the stance. I don't believe too many candidates who say they are 'for' or 'against' something. This is not a personal statement. Truer words would be: 'I promise to use my power to sway important decisions in the future in the direction of the feeling of most of the people who voted for me.' Technically, that's what the voters are hoping for, but they also want to feel like they're personally identifying with the moral standpoint of their prospective leader. If a candidate can't touch your heart, they're probably not going to get your vote. This is not new information. To elect leadership that we really believe in, and escape voting with the flow, we have to make an effort to examine why we vote one way or the other. We have to separate some of that emotional conviction, educate ourselves, and dig up some facts.

Facts? What kind of facts? Where the heck do I start?

Pants on Fire!

People assume that all politicians are liars because everyone knows that while they're campaigning, their job is to tell the voters what they want to hear, even when the reality is beyond their power to change. Voters only seem to have the nerve to be upset with lying when the liars get caught and exposed...and even then, strong supporters will often go full ostrich and blame the media for defaming their favorite front runner. Ima B. Fabulous won our hearts when we got pizza for lunch five days a week... if she had to bribe the cafeteria manager with sexual favors to do it, and the sausage on the pizza turned out to be the results of a clandestine experiment with irradiated rat turds, that's not really important - she got the job done didn't she? And maybe the cafeteria manager was blackmailing her anyway. Maybe he was hiding drug money or illegal immigrants under the cookie pans and bygum, Ima has just GOT to be innocent.

Since there is no way to trust that all the information we receive is true, the best we can do is rally around the sources that seem to get it right most of the time and don't care who they piss off. Who are those sources? Is there such thing as an unbiased news outlet?

You Want Fries With That?

Americans unhappy with the way things are want changes, but we want them like fast food - quickly consumable, instant gratification with no effort on our part past plunking down change for the dollar burger we saw on that commercial last night. Smiling actors underscored by clever earbugs licked their lips and nodded approval, and we nodded in unison and started to drool. We don't know where the burger came from, what color the cow was, what the grill grease costs or how much the kid behind the counter had to pay in taxes this year. We'd never notice if the franchise donated a million dollars to AIDS research or if they were personally responsible for the clubbing death of a million baby seals. In a moment of hunger, we just don't care. Now, if that fried flesh is the slightest bit unappealing, we won't hesitate to make a scene. Hell hath no fury like a carnivore scorned. The shrinking, blinking pimpled face behind the register can only wait impotently for the rant to be over, slide you a slider on the house and move on to the next impatient urbanite in line. Sound silly and trivial? Well, it is.

Because we were sold on the slick advertising and promised goodness, we trusted that the result would always be predictable and just what we wanted. After all, Everyone Else said this was the best deal around.

Ready, set, ... Wait, let me start over...

Things are so depressing with the state of the U.S. economy that it's hard to know where to start to care; where to aim that laser dot of conscious conscience to start learning and thinking for ourselves. I'm happy to find more and more people who actually CAN think for themselves and want to know more about what they can do as individuals to affect changes in the national situation starting with their own neighbors and local governments.

Ultimately, every voter has to decide what's really important to them. There will be no perfect candidate with a perfect plan, and it's not them who has to compromise to fit your thinking, it's YOU who has to make compromises in your thinking to ensure the best possible minds arrive in the government seats. What it we had a brilliant financial mind on the ballot who had a foolproof plan to employ every able bodied person in every state who also pledged to force every insurance company and public health service to provide abortion care? Or eliminate the national debt in one fell swoop but mandated daily prayer in public schools?

Those are extreme hypothetical situations that we're not likely to encounter, but people who vote with the flow usually don't really know what they're voting for. It's time consuming and confusing and to many completely boring, but if you haven't already started your quest for information, keep reading this explorative for coming resources on the qualifications, track records and positions of the important players in the upcoming Presidential Election.

Try making your burgers at home. Ground mutton, anyone?

Why should I bother to vote?

2011-11-03T07:31:00.000-07:00

What difference will it make, really? It seems like my small tappings of the checkbox are insignificant - as if for every person like me trying to make an informed choice, there are ten other people who support ridiculous, damaging policies or vote for the person who squawks the loudest. What chance do I have to make a difference?

For every major election, there are huge expensive celebrity-fraught campaigns urging every segment of the population to GET OUT and VOTEWOOHOO!! The slick somber high-def commercial directives hammer me in the face, "It's especially important for you to exercise your voting rights because you are _____." Fill in the blank with your choice of underestimated voting demographic: Black. Christian. A woman. Gay. Naturalized. Young. Old. A business owner. Unemployed. Bent on world domination.

Pissed.

Yes, I think the best reason for me to vote is because I'm pissed. There's a PSA I can get behind - complete with a rugged Clint Eastwood scowl. The total popular vote for all candidates in the 2008 Presidential election was officially announced at 131,257,328 - just over 60% of all Americans who were eligible to vote at the time. Where were you, 40%? If there were just a few million more folks making educated choices about their candidates, there might be more driven people with integrity in office and fewer mouthpieces banging desks and betraying constituents.

I know I'm not saying anything different than has already been said over and over and over...but is there anyone out there who really believes that our country is not in a crisis? I mean, are you OKAY with the way things are? No matter who you blame for the state of the nation, if you're waiting for everyone else to sort it out and make things better, you're trusting the wrong people. You ARE Everyone Else. All those people you're mad at because milk and antibiotics and gas and mobile homes and Six Flags and cherry brandy are too expensive are hoping you'll continue to be disinterested, uninformed, lazy and silently despairing yourself into not even trying to make a difference. If you expect your elected officials to be responsible with your future - and you SHOULD expect them to be - then you have to help elect people who are responsible. Thinking. Equipped with a pulse and a work ethic.

How many 'weird' news articles do you read about local governments passing legislation about dress codes and sex toys? How many times has your jaw dropped in shock when you see videos with sensational stories about laws being made or repealed that just flat don't make any sense? At least a few times a week I can point to some major government ridiculousness that insults, damages or fails to protect. The Everyone Else has blithely allowed people to be elected to their city, town, county, state, regional, national controlling bodies based on how much money is available for the campaign magic show.

I don't need to proselytize about your duty to vote as an American citizen or blather all the words from the pundits about protecting freedoms or the historical sacrifices made for voting rights or wag my finger about how many other peoples of the world fight and die for this privilege. You shouldn't vote because you feel guilty - that's a setup for voting with the flow, just for voting's sake or because the candidate plays a mean guitar. Vote because that number up there - 131,257,328 - ends in 8. Notice the precision of the statistic? Despite what you may think about the glumness of the Electoral College system, eight extra people counted. You, your mate, your mom and dad, a sibling and three cousins.

And the number starts with one.

Brass Tacks - What does it mean to be Democrat or Republican?

2011-11-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

This might seem to be a far-too-basic subject to kick off with. I mean, it should be obvious, right? We ought to be able to absorb the gist of the different philosophies from what we hear in news stories, see on TV, listen to celebrities' barking, read in the newspaper (wait... does anyone really read the newspaper anymore?) I find that this is not so. Ask an average high school student (many of whom will have the opportunity to vote next year) what the difference is between the parties and most often they will blink and shrug and maybe parrot their parents' affiliation. The scary thing is that there are many thousands of people in their 30s...40s...and beyond... who haven't bothered to think for themselves or investigate the basis for their own voting choices. They vote with the flow; they're influenced by rumor, speculation, sensationalism and sometimes even just physical appearances (Yes, more than one person has admitted to me out loud that they voted for Obama because he is 'hot'.) And it's hard to blame them - knowing where to start educating yourself and knowing what sources to trust amid the absolute poopstorm of media excitement and conjecture is HARD.

Since we're talking about basics... where better to get the straight scoop on the party standpoints than the official web site of each party?

REPUBLICAN!! (quoted directly from the RNC's web site)

The People's Party
It all started with people who opposed slavery. They were common, everyday people who bristled at the notion that men had any right to oppress their fellow man. In the early 1850’s, these anti-slavery activists found commonality with rugged individuals looking to settle in western lands, free of government charges. “Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men,” went the slogan. And it was thus in joint opposition to human enslavement and government tyranny that an enterprising people gave birth to the Republican Party.

This is the opening paragraph. Please click the link above to read the entire page. The rest of the bullet points include: All of us Equal, Free from Oppression, Elephants, not Donkeys, and Freedom Fighters.

DEMOCRAT!! (quoted directly from Democrats.org)

For more than 200 years, Democrats have represented the interests of working families, fighting for equal opportunities and justice for all Americans.

Our party was founded on the conviction that wealth and privilege shouldn’t be an entitlement to rule and the belief that the values of hardworking families are the values that should guide us.

Again, these are the opening paragraphs of the 'Our Party' description page, and I encourage you to click the link above to read the full text.

After poring over both pages - the official statements of 'This is US' from both parties - it's even easier to see why so many people are confused. I understand that this is only scratching the surface - there's far more to each party than these opening lines, and there are miles of text on each web site explaining positions on issues, differences among candidates, efforts for change and the like...however, before I looked, I expected that each party would have made a little more solid statement about what this important election year means for them and what they want voters to believe about the ground they stand on. I also understand that Republican vs. Democrat is not your only choice - I'll explore that in another post.

At first glance, the most notable difference - the immediate emotional impression - is that the Republican party spends a lot of time explaining about where they came from, and the Democrats are a little more focused on where they're going. If you want to look at it from a sheer marketing standpoint, the Democrats win the toss for best hook here.

Are we there yet?

2011-10-30T22:13:00.000-07:00

Officially launching exactly one year before Election Day 2012, Poplitics is a soapbox, a sounding board - a landing space for people who would vote responsibly if they knew how. Your host, Joan Q. Public, will post articles about current events, historical events, statistics and various effluvia coughed up by the popular media and ask for your help and direction.

Most Americans are deeply concerned about the state of affairs of today's economy, health care, religious and moral tsunamis that are sweeping our nation. Most of us, also, lack the time and the interest to study the hard facts about politics and how we as individuals can make a difference with our vote. Joan feels your pain. She, like the rest of you, only wants to do the right thing. As jobs become scarce, debt mounts, illness becomes scarier and money tighter, she's panicking with the rest of the country, seeking solutions and ways to make a bigger difference. She's confused and disgusted by the media, who so often speak out of both sides of their mouths. She's frustrated with political candidates whose impassioned pleas and promises don't quite go all the way to their eyes. She rarely participates in political discussions because she wants to be accurate, but can't seem to quite believe anything she's hearing.

So many people parrot and regurgitate what they see and hear on TV, radio, internet and other media outlets. So much gets twisted between actual events and screen renditions that Joan is reluctant to even watch. She cares deeply and so now she's asking the rest of the world for help. Bring Joan up to speed on what's really happening and how she - and we - can participate, speak out, be active and vote for a better tomorrow; striving to rebuild the foundation of the fabled American Dream. Countdown to launch: One week!