An Open Letter to Sen. Kerry

Dear Sen. Kerry,

I write to you today about a most urgent matter, your campaign for President. As the presumptive Democratic nominee, I know you are a busy man, so I will be as brief as possible. But I feel I must warn you, I have a lot to say and I really think you should listen.

While I think you can, and hopefully will, make a great president, I am more focused on how it would be unsufferable for our country to endure another four years of Pres. Bush’s “leadership.” Hopefully, a similar concern inspires your own run for the office and will help overcome any slight to your own ego.

I can’t tell you how to win the election. Election strategy is not my thing. For that matter, if I spent too much time dealing with political strategy in general, I would become catatonic. This does not mean that I don’t follow politics, just not in great detail. I have to follow politics if only to keep an eye on the politicians. What I can offer you is motivation to keep going.

Perhaps this would be good time to tell you about myself. Three and a half years ago, I was in a good place. The economy was in a good place. The 2000 campaigns were in full swing. I personally liked Gore and McCain. I thought Bush was joke. I thought there was no way an idiot and failed businessman would be elected. Oops.

Bush entered office and the economy started to tank. You shouldn’t be surprised that I wasn’t surprised. Not that all the corporate fraud was Bush’s fault, but the connections to Enron proved interesting and didn’t do much for the administration’s credibility in their corporate relations. Plus, I was having a hard time thinking of Bush’s successful business ventures. Bush wasn’t doing too well and I wasn’t the only one who noticed. Then 9/11 happened.

9/11 was a horrible tragedy, one that joins a long list of tragedies, not all noted by the public consciousness. I credited Bush with handling the situation well in those first few days. However, the war drums could be heard, and not all of us were joining in. I learned very quickly that my dissenting opinion was not welcome. When I discussed the impending military action with my family, I was told not “to get into it” because I was antagonizing my brother and causing tension in the family. Everyone was waving or wearing a flag. “Patriotism” required true citizens to support military action.

Like many others, I wanted justice. But without investigation and disclosure, I didn’t see a reason for military action. My experience was already teaching me that few were interested in this viewpoint. Not everyone was openly hostile, but no one was really listening to what I had to say. As such, I bunkered down, kept quiet and rode out the storm. I wouldn’t even wear items with flags on them for fear that it would indicate to others that I supported war.

In the meantime, Bush’s popularity soared. He was praised for his strong leadership stance and quick military response. He could do no wrong. Whenever someone disagreed with Bush on his policies, he would raise the spector of terrorism to gain support. This became painfully obvious when the First Lady appeared on the Today show to speak on an after school program of the President’s. One of the major reasons to support this program, she argued, was that children who participate in these programs maintain stronger connections to their communities and are less likely to become terrorists. Suddenly, it became obvious that the easiest way for Bush to get approval for his policies was to link them to the fight against terrorism. That’s not leadership, that’s manipulation.

I’ve since found my voice. The flag is a symbol of many things, not a sign of one. Patriotism is love of one’s country not blind obedience of its leader. (I have never been asked for as much blind faith in the Pope as I have the President.) Bush’s efforts have failed to prove the promised results and as such, people now openly question him. Of course with the Patriot Act, I’m sure they are being investigated as anti-American.

If there’s one thing that bothers me most about Pres. Bush, it’s that he treats Americans as if they are gullible. Almost every policy announcement can be traced to an effort to court voters. If we are upset that we haven’t captured Bin Laden, he goes after Hussein. Medicare prescription coverage with privatization keeps the financial support of industry while courting the ever active senior citizen voter group. Pass abortion legislation that has no clauses for rape or life of the mother and watch the Christian right become your lapdog despite the fact that the legislation will get struck down as unconstitutional. What about his proposed immigrant worker program or constitutional ban on gay marriage? Why doesn’t he talk about the millions of jobs lost during his term that haven’t returned with the economic recovery? What about the lives lost in Iraq? Does he ever go into the rollback on civil rights in the Patriot Act? You have to love legislation that claims to preserve the Union by denying rights. That’s a classic. I cringe to think what this man could “accomplish” given another term.

I can’t tell you how to win the race, only why you must and advice for when you take office. Don’t dumb down the issues. Raise the level and quantity of political discourse. Leave the office with the country better for having had you occupy it.

Good luck and God bless,

MiscKaren

random update

Okay, this isn't my typical post, but I want to make sure to get something online tonight, so I'll talk about my weekend.

It was a rather interesting weekend. Friday night and Saturday morning were spent nervously freaking out over the job interview I had on Saturday afteroon. The interview itself went well enough. There were a few questions that I felt I could've have handled better, but overall, I was satisfied with how I did considering how long it's been since I've been on a job interview. It was a first interview, so hopefully I will be hearing something this week about a followup.

Saturday night, my boyfriend ever so sweetly got me drunk, on pina coladas and tequila rose no less. Once tipsy, I asked him why he had been so determined to get me drunk. Apparently he didn't wanted me stressing out over the interview anymore. It was a sweet thought, but I don't know if alcohol was the proper choice.

Today, of course, was my LA Times day. The b/f even bought it for me. While we were at the bookstore, I started browsing through some HTML and found a few tips that should help me as I get started. I've now got a nice canvas with which to experiment.

Hopefully tomorrow, I'll get a proper entry in. I've had a few ideas floating around my head while trying to get to sleep.

Raising the E-Mail Standard

I think I'm about to start war in my family. This afternoon I received another political e-mail from my mom. Generally my mom knows not to send me e-mails that disagree with my politics because I know enough people who do that already, leaving me lots of e-mails that anger me. My usual response is to politely bite my tongue as I delete them. There were days that I'd fear I'd lose my tongue. I've deleted many e-mails about gift certificates and other scams. I usually reply about why not to delete the file with the teddy bear icon.

Today, I had an epiphany. My mom sent me an e-mail with a subject heading of "AGREE OR DELETE." I won't go into the details other than to say that I didn't agree with the arguments made. I thought about e-mailing my mom to tell her not to send me anymore e-mail of this content or tone and then realized it would appear rude as the e-mail requested that I politely delete it if I disagreed. It was articulating, ableit in nice words, what so many e-mails before had implied, agree or delete. I had a feeling like I was being systematically silenced and preached too.

I'm not the only one.

I'm putting the word out that things are going to change. I sent my mom an e-mail indicating that I didn't like the options agree or shut up and put her on notice that the next time I will not only share my mind with her but everyone else she sent the e-mail to. I will send a similar warning to every well meaning friend and relative. I will then follow through if they persist.

I'm not doing this to be cranky or angry, young woman. My philosophy is if people send me these e-mails, they want to raise the subject. My problem is that it is implied that I will agree or politely ignore it. I say "Forget that." Make e-mail meaningful. If they want to raise the subject, I will share my views. If they don't want my views on the subject, then I don't want theirs. I'm sick of being held hostage.

I would put forth a further challenge. Don't pass on mass forwarded e-mails. These things make people far too passive and don't constitute a meaningful correspondence. I will admit, I have even been prone to these e-mails. I remember getting (and passing on) one giving tips for women on ways to avoid becoming a rape victim. Last month, I found a website that analyzed this e-mail and its variants in consultation with experts and demonstrated a lot of the information as false and on a few items more likely to result in rape. Ouch. I had liked this e-mail and even it had problems.

New resolution: Don't forward these forwarded e-mails out of habit.

For those containing "factual" information, read it and validate the information indepently before forwarding it and including the validating information. If you lack the time or resources to do this, write back to the person who sent it to you and ask them to validate the info. Do this enough times and they will get the hint and either stop sending you these e-mails or start critically reading and validating the e-mails themselves.

For those e-mails that can be described as "cutesy" or "sentimental," one really hates to argue about someone sending those. Instead, if you want to forward it to someone, let them know specifically why the e-mail made you think of them. It makes these e-mails much more meaningful. Sure, it's not as easy as clicking the forward button and then adding a list of names to the send or copy box. However, this is e-mail, it's not that hard. You are saving a ton of time already. Use the time to personalize the message.

For those e-mails containing a "persuasive" or "opinion" related focus, critically read it and reply to the sender. Do this whether you agree or disagree. If you feel for whatever reason that you want to forward it to others of your acquaintance, include what you like and dislike about the e-mail and invite the recipients to share their views with you. When you get a response, acknowledge it and continue the discussion. Let the recipient know that their views are of interest to you regardless of their relationship to your own views.

Ultimately, I want to see the quality of e-mail correspondence improved. Everyone raves about the convenience and how it brings people together. Really think about the e-mails you send and receive. Do you feel they effectively communicate to friends and family in a meaningful way? I think this new resolution can not only save people from "AGREE OR DELETE" but lead to more thought provoking and meaningful e-mail communications.

As a kid, I always loved the Sunday edition of the paper. Mainly I liked the coupons, the large selection of comics in color, and Parade or USA Weekend depending on the current favorite of the publisher. My dad was always trying to get me to read more of the paper. I eventually worked Ann Landers and my horoscope into the regular reading.

Then I hit college and the Sunday paper became a thing of the past because the student newspaper was free and only on weekdays. There was also a lack of variety in the comics.

It wasn't until a recent move to California that I once again embraced the Sunday paper. I must admit that I look forward to my Sunday engagement with the Los Angeles Times. The comics selection are kind of weak especially considering there are two sections, albeit very slim selections. They are still in color.

I still love the coupons and the ads, and while I do a lot of skimming, Parade is generally good. I personally love three crossword puzzles in each issue. However, I now find that I really like the articles and essays. I can't help but feeling my brain work in a way that's rare since I became unemployed. It's not unlike what I experienced when I found NPR, that oh-so-grown-up feeling.

My senior year at the University of Notre Dame there was an incident with the senior class. When the commencement speaker was announced that spring, the Lt. Governor of Indiana, a few of the class officers did a very foolish.

They went to members of the local media complaining that this man was not what they considered to be the caliber that they felt a graduating class of Notre Dame warranted. I'll admit that when I found out who the commencement speaker was, I was disappointed too. I, however, had the good sense to share my views with only a few friends and not a few media outlets.

These few officers brought the wrath of the community and alumni alike upon our class. It turned out the Lt. Gov. was an alum of the university, a POW in the Vietnam War, and the mayor of South Bend, home of Notre Dame, quite successfully and popularly for nine years. Oops. Local media outlets reported the response of an angry South Bend who considered our class to be a bunch of snobs with no class or proper sense of respect. Alumni wrote letters to the editor of the student newspaper agreeing with the locals and indicating that they were not pleased that we would soon be joining their ranks. Upon further recollection, who was I to argue? The real salt on the wound was when it was revealed that the committee of seniors given the task of nominating the commencement speaker had basically botched the job and we were lucky we got anyone. I'll admit that I don't remember the speaker's name but I still remember some of the advice he gave in his fine speech.

Earlier this year, it hit the press that a group of ND alum had written a petition to the university about the flailing football program and the athletic department's poor leadership in hiring Tyrone Willingham as the head coach of this program. The petitioners caught more flack than Willingham and were decried as whiners. I myself had proclaimed the letter an embarrassment on a ND message board.

Tonight, I found a new post on the message board and a link to the original letter encouraging the message board members to read it themselves rather than the media response. I couldn't really argue with that. So I went to the link and now you can too at

As I read it, I could feel myself growing more upset over it. Angry upset, not worry upset or sad upset. Afterwards, I began to think back to those senior class officers. While there are more than 412 members of the class of 1998, I'd like to think we learned our lesson and few, if any, of our ranks are represented in that number. While it is distressing that this time the number involved has grown since the '98 incident, it is encouraging that the number is relatively small considering the pool from which it was drawn.

In the meantime, I can't help but pondering the following things. 412 people all but profess themselves the saviors for a crumbling university. Instead, 412 people embarrassed a much larger number of the alumni population. 412 people have given me reason to write to the head football coach, the athletic director, and president of ND and explain all the ways in which I think that these 412 people don't really reflect my views regarding the university and how I'd rather not be grouped in the same category as them. 412 people have proven great fodder in getting my weblog off to a roaring start.
I wonder if those 412 people are glad that they wrote/signed a whiney letter and leaked it to the press. I wonder if those 412 people are ever going to read this.

Well, I've joined the masses and created a blog. I'm not certain if I'm cringing or beaming on this one. If nothing else, it's an opportunity to bring a little stability and regularity to my writing. A blog for regular writing? Ambitious (and perhaps a bit naive) aren't I?

Perhaps, I'm feeling like contributing to the internet after all the surfing I've done during this unemployment. Nah. I just feel like writing and having others reading.