election

Perceptions…Confusion…Exhaustion…

/ ronashively / Leave a comment

On this, the eve of Election Day, I find myself wondering why so many people are still optimistic about the prospect of a Republican president. I mean, what more can they be permitted to do to the working people of America? At the rate we’ve been going, under a new Republican leader, we’d all be lucky to be able to afford bread, milk and toilet paper each week. What person in their right mind looks at the options and says, “Ok, I’ll take four more years of this. After all, I don’t mind putting money into a retirement fund that is sure to lose money. I don’t mind paying through the nose for everything I need to survive and I don’t really need to be able to save any money for the next four to eight years.”


I have had my doubts about electing Senator Obama to be our next president, but I have to tell you, it scares me more to think that McCain or Palin could ever be in a position of power.

It especially scares me to think about what could happen if Palin ever found herself in the big chair. She doesn’t appear to be wrapped too tightly. Though I don’t know her personally, her position on things like abortion and teen pregnancy (as evidenced by her own daughter’s situation) doesn’t impress me. I’m a feminist and although I like the idea of a woman achieving success, I have to say (and it pains me to do so) that some women simply shouldn’t have that much power. I hope that my fellow feminists understand me when I say that there are women out there whose agendas have not been set to further the status of women as a group, but to further nothing but their own selfish whims.


I didn’t see this in Hillary Clinton and I’m still disgusted that she wasn’t picked as our Democratic nominee. I won’t beat that horse now, though.

I will, however, keep plugging away at this notion. We all need to get out there and vote tomorrow. If you do nothing else productive with your time, please make sure that you go out and vote. It doesn’t take long and your input means everything. We have the power to make some very positive changes, no matter who we choose as our candidate. Although I would encourage everyone to vote Democrat on all counts, I know that we don’t all see the benefit in doing so. Perhaps you haven’t fallen upon hard enough times. Maybe, you’ve always voted Republican and you don’t easily accept change. Maybe the economy isn’t bothering you at all or maybe you’re still harboring some ignorant prejudices about our Democratic candidate that you simply can’t shake. Please don’t take offense, but we need to be rational about the state of our nation today. We’re in bad shape and the wrong choice (Republican) will only make things worse and worse over the next several years. They’ll keep chipping away at us until the middle class no longer exists. I don’t know about you, but I work too damned hard to let greedy politicians take it all away from me and my family.

I’m on pins and needles for now, waiting to see what the future will bring. I am hopeful that our decisions will be the right ones and that whomever we choose, they will lead us away from the chaos that we’ve fallen into. Though I’ve not completely decided to vote for Obama, I have decided not to vote for McCain. I do plan to vote for every Democratic candidate for the House and Senate, however, I’m still struggling with some of the negatives I have heard about Obama. When it all comes down to it, though, Obama definitely seems to be the lesser of two evils. Even if it is simply on the basis of the example that has been set by Republicans these past eight years. I have to admit, I’ve been wondering alot lately, how bad could he be?

I guess it will all come out in the wash and sometime tomorrow evening, we will have a much clearer picture of what our futures hold. Perhaps the one thing we can all be happiest about is that these damned political activists will stop calling us at all hours asking who we are voting for. I know at least that will make me happy.

Until next time…

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Anxiously awaiting November…

/ ronashively / Leave a comment

but not for the reasons you might think. Sure, all of the political crap will be over and we won’t have to hear about how terrible Palin is or how inadequate Obama is. We’ll have discovered our fate shortly after the first of the month, so we can enjoy the rest of it. What I’m referring to is the release of the new Madagascar movie! I just can’t wait to see it. The truly funny thing is that my daughter, who will turn five in November, tells me that she doesn’t want to see the movie. Hilarious. She would rather listen to my Lisa Scottoline audiobooks in the car while we’re driving to daycare. Could it be that something is wrong with this picture?

It’s been a stressful year for everyone. November will be great for lots of reasons. Aside from the election, it will bring the start of the holiday season. It’s my favorite time of year. I get to have a birthday party on the 9th for my daughter and then plan for vacation around Thanksgiving, and then start shopping for Christmas. Obama and Palin will be the furthest things from my mind at that point.

We get so caught up in the politics, the economy and all of the crap, that sometimes it seems like there will never be any more fun. November is a time when I can get centered again and remember how much I enjoy seeing my daughter’s face light up when she opens her birthday gifts and hearing her rattle off an endless list of things she wants for Christmas. I get to spend more time with family and see people I might not have seen in a while. They tend to come out of the woodwork during the holidays. And then there are the parties. It’s just such a happy, festive time.

What are you looking forward to? When it’s all said and done, what part of the year makes you the happiest?

Until next time…

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Tales from the fence…

/ ronashively / Leave a comment

Though I’m a loyal Democrat, I’m intrigued by John McCain’s choice of running mate. McCain announced earlier today that Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, will be his pick for Vice President. I think this might have been a great move on McCain’s part and am also thinking that the race is actually going to be interesting to watch. Though I still don’t think I can vote for either candidate in good conscience, McCain’s latest move made me stop to consider whether or not I could actually crossover and vote Republican. Of course, I can’t, but I’ve never even asked myself this question before now.

Governor, Sarah Palin seems to have some very strong credentials including her tendency to be a whistleblower. I admire someone who is willing to stand up for what they believe to be right even when taking such a stand is clearly unpopular. She’s got spunk from what I can see. There are only a few things about her that I can’t get past. Her participation in a beauty pageant, the pro-life thing, and of course, that Republican bit. Otherwise, she seems like a great choice. I think she will do a great job if she is fortunate enough to find herself in the position of being our first female Vice President.

Most people I talk to are still not too optimistic about the outcome of this year’s presidential election. On one hand, we can endure more of the same economic hardship and bullshit that we’ve put up with for the last eight years by electing McCain and hoping that his watchdog V.P. will help keep him in check with regards to any ethical concerns instead of helping him continue the Bush legacy of screwing the little guy. On the other, we have a candidate who is a smooth talker and who seems to have all of the right answers to the questions Americans have been asking for years. The problem is that anyone can provide answers to questions. We need someone who will follow through and make some actual progress. Someone who isn’t suspected of operating under some other agenda.

Unfortunately, there really isn’t a good way to know which is the lesser of two evils until they are actually in office. Once we’re stuck with them, the amount of damage they can do is limited only by the passage of time.

Until next time…

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She’s baaaack! And she’s hoppin’ mad!

/ ronashively / Leave a comment

Hello, all. Sorry I’ve been away for a while. I’ve been struggling with several things including a rather nasty bout with morning sickness. I simply haven’t had access to my brain cells for the past few weeks. Thankfully, a glimmer of coherence has presented itself and I’ve decided to give blogging another shot.

Yes, you heard right. Although I didn’t really want to say much about this until we’re sure everything is ok, I’m expecting our second child in late September. We’ve had some problems in the past with miscarriages and so forth, so please keep us in your thoughts as we pray for a healthy baby to join us this fall.

Today, I have a few things to say about the election. Like everyone else, I was all geared up to get out and vote for my candidate, Hillary Clinton. I was extremely disgusted to find out that my registration, which I filled out sometime last year was never turned in to the Board of Elections. Unfortunately, I didn’t find out about this until it was too late to do anything about it. And so, I couldn’t vote today. Talk about pissed. I’m sure there was steam rolling out of my ears. In fact, there might still be a little puff coming out here and there.

This discovery led me to wonder how many others had the same problem. It almost has me a little paranoid. Did someone lose it on purpose? Was the booth I registered at plagued by crazy, little Republican trolls who sought out my registration form and tucked it away, never to be seen again by the BOE? Who knows? All I know is that I made it a point to register early so that I would be ready and here I sit unable to vote. This was a big day for women to get out there and make their statement. We need Hillary in the White House. She’s been there before and if the truth is known, she’s responsible for much of the good that came out of the Clinton administration. I’m a big fan of Bill Clinton, but we all know that behind every good man, there’s an even better woman. 😉

Since I can’t vote today, I figure the least I can do is to state my position here on the blog. Ladies, it’s time to get Hillary back into the White House. We need this. Women have been taken for granted for too long and it is definitely our time to shine. We have a highly qualified, intelligent, motivated woman who can do this country some real good and we need to show her our support. I have filled out my new registration form and will be mailing it today. I will also be calling the BOE every month to make sure that they have me on the list. I’ll not miss another opportunity to vote. I just hope that I’m voting for the first female president when I go. If you haven’t already, get out and vote for Hillary. If not for yourself, do it for our daughters.

Until next time…