2008 Election

The 2008 Presidential Election is over.  Honestly, I am glad.  I am sick of hearing and seeing the endless commercials and ads.  They annoy me to no end.  I don't like how candidates use them to bash each other.  It seems immature and childish to me.  Yet everyone does it; it is just a part of politics.

As far as the results of the election.  It did not go as I had hoped.  I was a supporter of McCain and an even bigger support of Sarah Palin.  I am republican and conservative.  Therefore I agree with McCain/Palin on nearly all of the issues. They got my vote.  I waited in line for three hours to cast my vote, and I am disappointed in the results.

With that said I realize that Barack Obama will be my president for the next four years.  I will support him even though I don't agree with all of his views.  It frustrates me how extreme some people are acting towards him.  I understand they do not agree with him, but he is still going to be the president of their country.  He wants and needs their support as much as anyone else's. 

Despite the fact that I was frustrated that I had to wait for such a long time to vote, I am encouraged that so many people voted. I think it is great that so many young people voted.  I am glad people took the time to wait in line.  I hope it will continue to be like this in elections to come.  People need to realize that their vote counts and take the time to practice the right of voting that so many people have fought for in the past.  People who do not vote upset me.  It is not that difficult and it is extremely important. Therefore I think everyone should vote in every election!  Thats the end of my rant. 

In conclusion I am hoping for the best these next four years, and I hope the rest of the McCain/Palin supporters will stand behind Obama despite their views. 

Westboro Baptist Church and the Patriot Guard Riders

I was intrigued by the discussion about the Westboro Baptist Church, and their protests, that we had in class today.  As I was reading through their website I became more and more frustrated to the point of being absolutely disgusted. I don't care what your religious or political beliefs are; there is NO reason to protest at someone's funeral. That is extremely disrespectful. As if the family isn't having a hard enough time already why not make it worse.

I am also extremely frustrated by the actions of the Westboro Baptist Church because of the fact that they are Christians.  Yes the Bible says homosexuality is wrong. However nowhere does it say it is our responsibility to protest periods; especially in such extreme ways.  In fact the Bible clearly tells us not to judge others, as well as, not to force our beliefs on others. 

Religious beliefs aside it is just terribly rude and inconsiderate to make a scene at someone's funeral. It makes it even worse that they are singling out soldiers.  These men and women have fought for our country. HELLO! They have sacrificed their lives and gone through awful things to make sure we remain free.  They deserve our utmost respect.  In no way do they deserve a protest at their funeral.  Many of them have nothing to do with the issue of homosexuality, but yet people show up at their funeral to "make a point."  This just makes absolutely no sense to me. Clearly I am frustrated with this beyond belief, and I hope that the Westboro Baptist Church comes to their senses and realizes the extremely bad portrayal of Christianity that they are sending out. 

Iron Jawed Angels

I was excited when Dr. Tuttle told us we were going to watch a movie in class, but I did not expect to actually enjoy the movie.  Despite my expectations I love the movie.  I haven't seen many movies on women's suffrage and the ones that I have were not this interesting.  The fight that Alice Paul and the rest of the women have amazes me.  I would like to say that if I had been in the same position I would have reacted the same way, but I am pretty sure that is not the case.  There were so many times when it would have been much easier to give up.  The movie does an awesome job of portraying how hard these women fought and the amount of time and work they put into it.  It just makes me respect them even more.

As for the romance part of the movie, I was pleasantly surprised by it.  In my opinion a little romance always makes for a better movie.  I just was not expecting it due to the prudish stereotype given to women's rights suffragists.  

I really enjoyed the movie so far, and I am excited to watch the rest of it in class tomorrow. 

"Women's Right to Vote" vs. "Ten Point Plan"

Both of these pieces obviously have very strong opinions about what they want to happen.  However their styles are very different.  "Ten Point Plan" uses a much more forceful language.  It makes the reader threatened.  It is a list of demands without a lot of evidence, and the Black Panthers' are not too concerned with proving their point to the white people through evidence.  They use the tactic of asking for way more than what would be considered reasonable in hopes to get at least part of what they want.  At the end of their list, point number 10, they do use solid evidence.  They quote the "Declaration of Independence" word for word. They use it as a warning and this is a smart move on their part because of the history of the document, but this is the only time they use such historical evidence. 

However, Susan B. Anthony's "Women's Right to Vote" is full of evidence all throughout the piece.  The first smart move she makes is to write for her audience.  In this case it is men.  She is fully aware that they are not going to agree with her, and she thinks through what their arguments are going to be.  She then provides evidence to support her side.  She cites all kinds of good sources making her piece very credible.  She uses different laws, the "Declaration of Independence", "The Constitution", and "The Bible."   She also makes other solid points.  The one that struck me the most was when she pointed out that the laws are written using the pronouns he and him.  Those laws still apply to her and everyone else despite their gender.  However the pronouns he and him do not apply to everyone when it comes to the right to vote.  This is not fair, and it does not make sense.  I have a lot of respect for Susan B. Anthony and the way she presented her argument.  Her piece is by far more persuasive than that of The Black Panthers'. 

Walking away from the Omelas

Why do the ones who walk away from the Omelas walk away? The ones who walk away are obviously disturbed by the child in the basement.  One reason they may walk away is because the do not approve of treating the child this way, and it is easier to walk away than to try and change what the Omelas are doing. Therefore they take the easy way out and just get away from it all. This makes them sound like terrible people but that is not my point. In one way they are taking a stand against the actions by making the choice to leave, and they are certainly doing more than the people who see the wrong doing and just continue living their lives without any change at all. 

Writing the Citizenship Narrative

When this assignment was first presented to me I was extremely confused.  Even when I sat down to write it I was still unsure of exactly what I was supposed to be doing.  Then I looked over the assignment sheet and  through the examples we had read and realized that there was not a right or wrong way to approach the assignment.  I finally settled on telling about an experience I had while at a parade in my hometown.  The paper was difficult to write, but I ended up enjoying it simply because I was reliving that experience.  I still am not positive that my paper is exactly what you are looking for; however, I am fairly confident in the fact that it is at least close to what you are looking for. 

First Blog

I have never had a blog before of any kind.  I haven't even done the random blogging on myspace or facebook so this is completely new.  I guess we will see how it goes I think it could be pretty interesting.