Ten things I don't miss about the election

1. Joe the Plumber. I was so sick of hearing that phrase, and seeing that mook, and yelling at the TV every time McCain blamed Obama for his celebrity. Then people started showing up at rallies with t-shirts reading "[insert name] the [insert job/profession]." McCain was reading them back to a crowd of middle schoolers who had been bussed in for a rally in Ohio and came across one that read "Tom the Undertaker." He stopped reading them after that one.

2. Calls from the Obama campaign. Yes, you read that right. I volunteered time and donated money (what we could afford), but still I got upwards of 6 (SIX!) phone calls per day asking me to volunteer time or donate money. I have no land line and use only my cell. So every time I answered I was paying for the call. I know, I'm nit-picky, but we are graduate students living on ONE stipend (read that word as less than poverty level income).

3. Hearing the same stump speech by John McCain over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over (get my drift?).

4. Seeing the terrifying wife of John McCain. We couldn't decide if she looked like the wife of the crypt keeper or his sister. Either way, I am sure she is a lovely (?) person, but those dead creepy eyes and monotone voice ("bbbrrraaiiinnnss") scared the bejesus out of me. You can put lipstick on a zombie, but it's still a zombie.

5. Sean Hannity. Let's get something straight; I do not watch Fox news except for an occasional chuckle. But that in-bred's face got on the channels I watched ALL THE TIME because of the war between the media outlets. Which brings me to . . .

6. The constant bickering of the media outlets about who was in the "tank" for Obama. What does that mean, exactly? I got visions that they were herding all Obama supporters into some gigantic tank like the ones at Sea World, and there we would all wait, cramped and clammy, for the keepers to bring us our chum. I got really nervous when the Republicans started endorsing Obama because that meant they'd be in that tank with us. Oh, the horror of being crammed in beside that snooty Christopher Buckley, Douglas Kmiec, or Scott McClellan. THE HORROR!

7. Calls from the Obama campaign. I know I already listed that one, but it was really annoying.

8. Waiting for election day. God, I thought that day would never come. Now I feel that way about Inauguration Day (see my recent post titled "Waiting for Inauguration Day is like watching hair grow").

9. The repetition of the daily news (oh, wait, still . . .). Something mildly interesting or scandalous would happen and the media would latch onto it like it was the last morsel of food on Earth. It was the same story over, and over, and over (you get the idea). $150,000 in clothes-- need I say more?

10. Nancy Pfotenhauer (pronounced "bitch", I mean, "fo-ten-hour"). Liar; condescending woman who has the biggest stick up her bum. Go 'way now, Nancy.

Feel free to leave your thoughts on what you don't miss. I'd love to read what you have to write, too. I finally got the comment function fixed; thanks to all who let me know they tried to leave comments for the last few days and couldn't.

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Do we still have to see her?

I know how that sounds. But one of the things I was looking forward to the most on November fifth was not having to hear what coffee cup knowledge Palin was spewing, what designer clothes she was wearing, which up-do she was sporting. If you need to know why, check out this clip from huffingtonpost.com:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/05/palin-didnt-know-africa-i_n_141653.html. For some reason the entire link isn't showing up, but if you go to huffingtonpost.com, click on the navigation bar tab for "Sarah Palin", it should be the first video that comes up. Wow. All I can say is wow. We all know O'Reilly defends her because she gives him a woodie. Or maybe he's just turned on by a gun toting, beauty pageant contestant who likes moose stew? Sounds about right for Bill-O.

Yeah, and dinosaurs and humans were on the earth at the same time just like on the Flintstones.

So, to avoid a litany of complaint (from this point forward), today I want to reflect on the youth vote and the amazing turnout. The first election I voted in was Clinton's first term. I was in undergrad. In the haze of my underage hubris I believed he might win or lose depending on my vote. He won, and I know my ballot didn't matter too much in deeply blue Massachusetts. Yet, I am basking in the fantasy that my vote (in newly blue Indiana) did help make a difference. Obama won my county by only 7,290 votes. Obama won the state by 26,163 cast ballots-- that's fewer people than the university I attend and at which I taught.

I had a student in one of my freshman classes last year who was from just outside Manhattan. One class day, our discussion focused on the memorial at the WTC site, and some students started talking about the war in Iraq. I didn't point out the fact that these two things are mutually exclusive because that would have started a whole new debate. Anyway, this young woman of whom I write was sitting in the front row; she was usually engaged in class discussions, but on that particular day, she looked uncomfortable. In fact, more than a few students looked uncomfortable. In a lull in the discussion, I asked the class, "Is this a bad topic for our discussion? Should we be talking about something else?" Sally (name changed to protect her innocence) reluctantly spoke up: "I don't care about the war. I know that's not a popular position, but I just don't." I was trying to hide my surprise, when she then said, "Yeah, I lived outside Manhattan the day the towers fell. I didn't care then either. I didn't know anyone who was there, and I don't know anyone who is in Iraq."

Out of sight, out of mind is what I wanted to say.

Now, I am a teacher that firmly believes in NOT pushing my views on my younglings. Never had I needed to fight the urge so strongly than at that moment. Luckily, I can think on my feet (most of the time) and was able to divert my focus to the class and not my own reaction. I simply asked, "Does anyone else feel like Sally?" More than a dozen hands slowly raised. I admit, my heart sank. Another young woman said, "I feel so much better knowing I'm not the only one. I mean, it's like bad to not care about the war and stuff." (Again from another engaged and engaging student.) Some others volunteered that they didn't care about politics or world affairs in general. Many nods of assent to those comments.

I didn't teach this fall for the first time in five years-- alas, my funding ran out but I am still completing the worst paper I've ever written (i.e., my dissertation). I understand from the news that the youth vote was critical in deciding this election. I can't help but think that some small part of me sees why those students resisted thinking or feeling anything about our country and the state of world affairs. I might have felt that way on November fifth if Obama hadn't won. I don't need to be reminded of that potential outcome everytime I still see Palin on camera. One way I suppose to avoid my gag reflex is to watch Fox as much as I normally do--rarely, just for a giggle. I guess I should take a clue from my freshman foils and just mute the TV and close my eyes everytime Palin gets airtime.

Out of sight, out of mind. I'll let you know how it goes.

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