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You all know how I feel about awards. Now I find myself on the horns of a dilemma. There's a blog out there who's owner has a voice I have come to respect and admire a great deal. I mean, you can't write that kind of poetry without a spirit in you that is clean and honest and pure. You have seen her comments here, her nom de plume is Shadow and her blog is One Door Away From heaven part II. In the post from yesterday (which is here) she presented me with an award. So do me a favor, go to her site and read her post giving me the award. In fact, make it a habit of going to her blog. Her poetry is beautiful. So, in fact, is her mind.
Yesterday I voted for Barack Obama. As I write this, the whole issue is undecided. It will be undecided, I suppose, when it's time to go to bed. I had, as you know, decided not to use my blog as a pulpit to espouse my political views. It was, and is, my opinion that everybody has the right to make up their own mind and it is not within my purview to try to persuade you to my way of thinking. That said, I have answered questions asked of me, privately, honestly. I came to my decision regarding my willingness to discuss politics out here late - I wish I had done so sooner and been more consistent.
If I were to start a political movement in this country, I would encourage the following philosophical approach: That decision making should be taken with an eye toward the greater consequence, that in all aspects of the decision making process the greater good must be not only considered but accommodated.
My party would work for publicly funded national elections. No more private money. No more PAC money. No more Party money.
My party would work for strict term limits. One. Four years in the House with the fifth year spent training the newly elected representative.
Six year term in the Senate. With a seventh year spent training the new guy.
Having been elected to the House or Senate, you must give up all Party affiliations.
Single purpose bills, offered for vote without admendments.
One man. One vote. No more Electoral College.
Other than that, I wouldn't change much.
Oh, yeah, one more thing. What I would always work for ....
Peace.
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26 comments:
I've similarly avoided on my blog saying who would get my vote but have put it out there in other places not as a secret but also not using my blog as my pulpit. Almost half of America disagreed with me, and that was theirs to do. Still, I'm overjoyed with hope that the person I believe in has won. And I hope I'm right. And that we can all start to heal after the division of an election. And I love your ideas. I'm writing you in for next time. ;)
First thing I did when I woke up this morning was to watch the news on BBV World and CNN. In a few seconds I knew he has really been elected as president. I saw the crowds cheering ... people celebrating... I think American people can be proud to be Americans again.
It concerns us Europeans too, who gets to be the American President.
I'm so glad he's won!
I would vote for you as president :)!
hiya! thank you for those amazing sentiments!!! and i did say, please don't hate me... i know how you feel about awards, but i DO so love your blog. don't have too many sleepless nights about this. i wouldn't want to be the cause of that!!!!!
and you know, you have some wonderful ideas on how politics should be. but, ahhhh, reality....
CONGRATULATIONS, America!
Last night it was proven - yes we can!
I went to bed this morning filled with a sense of hope from both Obama's victory speech and Mc Cain's concession speech. He was gracious in defeat and for that I am grateful. Obama would've had my vote if I were American but I've made that quite clear for some time now.
A nation, a world moves forward with hope today.
I knew at 11:00 PM which man had won. It was not the person whom I voted for, but that is ok. America has spoken. We will see if things change for the better or yes, even for the worse. I have opinions too. I live in one of the few red state. :)
I wish we could get many of your proposed changes made. I'm afraid those who really have the power won't agree to any of them though. But a person can dream -- isn't that what this country is made of dreams. Let's keep dreaming.
Maggies Mind: I have a lot of respect for you. Let's start the Peace Party.
Jientje: So am I. I am so proud of the American people.
Nicole: Thank you, Nicole. That's flattering.
Shadow: Yes. Reality. When it sets in it just never feels as good as you hoped it would.
Nan: Yes!! I haven't been so proud of my country, and my countrymen, in my life.
Tash: I was very proud of John McCain. Truly a classy man. Yes. There is hope all over the world now. And that is just amazing.
Patsy: That's just the thing. My 'proposed changes' ARE possible. All it takes is the will of the people.
It was an amazing night last night. I worry that the new President-elect has a lot on his plate and this country is not in the greatest shape. He has a hard road ahead of him. All the same, I feel hope and that is an amazing feeling.
I know that the changes President-elect Obama wants to bring about will be difficult, but I have hope that the huge vote he received will help him move forward with the changes that many many Americans think need to be made. While I write about the economy and the markets, that is only a piece of the picture that needs to be rebuilt in America. I agree with Tom Friedman that Obama's election ends the American Civil War. We have black quarterbacks and now we will have a black president. It is not about race, it is about getting the job done. We have a lot to do. He will need our hopes and prayers. Let the work begin.
Lou, I think you make a lot of great points. Some of them wouldn't work on a practical basis but I know where your heart is.
Today, our country begins the day with great hope that we are setting off on course that will return us to greatness. That feels really, really good.
I like the idea of a training period for newly electeds. I also support term limits, that should have been in place generations ago.
Hockeychic: Yes, he does have a hard road. He won't be able to do it alone. We, the people, have to help. To get involved and STAY involved.
Moneythoughts: The key thought there - "We have a lot to do." WE, as in the plural "I" - you and me and all of us, WE have a job to do.
Ayewonder: Thanks, Mike. And yes, it does feel good.
Tara R: Yes, absolutely, term limits. then we might actually get people focused on legislation rather than re-election.
Writing in LouCeel in 2012 . . .
I was thinking of you at 9pm my time when the word broke, wondering if you were glued to the tv as I was. My eyes got all teary when he promised his girls a puppy to take to the white house. I went to sleep with a profound sense of HOPE. HOPE that this Chosen One will be able to do what he's promised. And HOPE that it won't bankrupt my family in the process.
You know I've avoided politics & you also know how I voted. I must say the one thing that I am more disgusted by than anything else? Was reading for EACH vote, $8 was spent getting it. That is ONE BILLION DOLLARS. How many starving children could we have fed with that? Millions.
I would love to see the Electoral College abolished in favor of the popular vote. But, I don't see that happening anytime soon.
Doesn't that kind of ideal seem more possible this morning? It does to me.
I am brimming with hope, and I can only echo what Maggie and Tash have already said here. Because I feel the same :)
I really like your party. I think the electoral college is an idea whose time has come and gone.
I love the idea of term limits. Alaska seems to have decided that a convicted felon is preferable to a Democrat as their Senator (the race has not been called yet, so we don't yet know if Stevens was in fact re-elected.)
We all have come so far, and yet still have so very far to go...
I agree -- no more Electoral College.
I don't belong to a party because I think the two-party system shortchanges our country.
I avoid politics as well on my blog but I did vote for Obama, of course.
You're right about the poetry. And congratulations on the award. :)
Yes it has dominated the news here in the uk, he seems a nice guy, the world is changing fast now I have good feelings for the future now we have a decent guy in power over there.
Lou, I avoided bringing politics into my blog for a long time. But this time was about so much more than politics. Our situation had become so dire, and we have been given one more chance to make things work for the first time in my memory.
So I said the hell with it and put up my Obama button, and gave voice to my feelings. It lost me a few readers, but in the end, it will be OK. We have to find a way to take the things we do agree on and begin working with them toward a better world.
I know it shouldn't matter but I am SO glad you voted for Obama. ♥
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