Ignorant Historian

Why do I get so defense when someone slams the President?  I hinted on Saturday that I’d be talking about this sometime this week, and here it is.

Any of you who’ve been reading this blog for a while understand where I stand politically, and if you don’t and are curious, feel free to click the tag “politics.”  As far as this post is concerned, only the fact that I disagree with our current president on many key issues is relevant.

Though I don’t agree with everything he did, my political beliefs are more aligned with President Bush.  It’s understandable why it would have irked me when someone ridiculed him (though I think this BNL song may be the best anti-Bush thing I’ve heard, it’s hilarious primarily because of the manner in which it was done). 

I think it annoys me as much (if not more) if someone treats Barack Obama in the same manner even if they’re on “my” side, or possibly because they’re on “my” side.

I’m all for meaningful discussion of the issues, and I don’t think the president is above scrutiny, I just think that as the leader of our country he deserves respect, though certainly not mindless, mute followers.  I will seek to hold him accountable for his actions and call him out on foolish decisions, but I won’t deride his character unless specific, verifiable incidents back up my accusations.

So, to sum up, I don’t disagree with people disagreeing with the president or any other leader.  I just disagree with doing it in inflamatory, slanderous ways.  Or maybe I’m wrong and we should be bring back tar and feathers?

We’ve all heard, reheard, and heard again that famous JFK quote, “Ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country,” right?  Well, it seems like we’re all for quoting it, but not for putting it in action.

Given my job, I hear a lot of whining about taxes.  The most common complaints is that the government just isn’t giving them enough money: whether they should have gotten more in the stimulus payment last year (one suggested $6,000 instead of $600), more back in their tax refund, tax breaks for veterinary bills (you’d be surprised how many times I’m asked about this one), or just another stimulus check.

I’m all for getting people the credits on their taxes that they deserve and the laws allow, but it seems like all people are interested in how they can benefit from the government.  Isn’t that what all the congressional pork is about, getting the constituent what they want, not caring about if it is in the interest of the country as a whole?

I can’t say that I’m entirely innocent on this issue, but it does disgust me.  I think the seagulls in Finding Nemo said it best when they said, “Mine!  Mine!  Mine!”

Yesterday was a historic day, wasn’t it?  I was so thankful that it was snowy and I had to work at home.  Thanks to Raleigh crazy drivers, I’ll be working from home again today.

I think it snowed about 3 or 4 inches here, something I definitely was not expecting when I moved here.  Though is crazy cold out there right now (15 degrees), the snow is melting in the sun.  I’m glad that my roommate and I had decided to go out and knock the snow off our cars yesterday when it would still be easy to get it off.  I just wish I had had the foresight to grab some Diet Dr. Pepper from my car (that’s where I keep it).  I’m going to have to bundle up here in a few minutes, which requires me to get out of my pj’s, and walk out to my car to retrieve the frozen Diet Dr. Pepper.  You wouldn’t expect me to go without, would you?

I had planned to write a post about the inauguration, so many of you have already done that and I don’t want to bore you poor readers.  I’ll just say that while I’m not crazy about several of Obama’s policies, I recognize the immense achievement this is for race relations in America.  I hopefully look forward to the future of our country, yet know that that is not where my hope lies.

So I’m off to work; have a wonderful day!

Last week I talked about how I’m going to get more involved in politics. My first step was to write congratulatory letters to the 4 top officials that were elected from here: president, governor, senator, and representative. Several of you asked to see these letters, so here they are! I’d love it if you would join me in writing letters or emails to these men and women (or those that are represent you). In the interest of full disclosure, I didn’t vote for any of these 4 individuals. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever voted a more losing ballot.

I addressed each letter to the office that they are currently in. The address for mailing a letter to a US senator is:

Office of Senator (Name)
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

So that’s where I sent Barack Obama’s letter. Here is what I wrote:

Click the picture to see it bigger. Sorry these are a bit blurry, but I don’t have a scanner. As you can see, I hand wrote the letter. I didn’t use their appropriate titles in the letter (though I did on the envelope) since I felt weird since none of these people have officially taken their new offices yet. If I were to do this again, I would use their titles out of respect.

I also included my last name and address, though I took the picture before I wrote them in. I wouldn’t want my mailbox would be stuffed with fan mail from you all!

The next letter I wrote was to our newly elected US senator. Her current address is:

Senator Kay Hagan
NC Senate
300 N. Salisbury St, Room 411
Raleigh, NC 27603-5925

Here’s what I wrote:

Next up was our newly elected governor, Bev Perdue. She’s North Carolina’s first female governor, but strangely, she’s my 3rd (I lived in Kansas under governors Joan Finney and Kathleen Sebelius). Anyway, this is her address:

Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue
20401 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-0401

I just realized I spelled her last name wrong. Whoops. Don’t do that if you decide to write her. Anyway, this is what I wrote:

Finally, I wrote a letter to my representative, Brad Miller. He’s the only candidate here that was actually reelected, so I was able to send the letter directly to his congressional office. His address was the hardest to find; I guess they think that you just need to email your representative. It took me several tries, but finally Google helped me out:

The Honorable Brad Miller
United States House of Representatives
1722 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3313

Here’s what I wrote him:

I hope you find these letters helpful as you seek to be an encouragement for your elected officials. Feel free to use any/all of my letters you find useful. Let me know if you decide to this!

This post is a part of Works-for-Me Wednesday. For more great ideas, stop by Rocks in My Dryer.

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I’m thankful for all those that work for the public good. It’s such a blessing to have reliable emergency services!

I don’t have a lot of time as today is so crazy busy. I like crazy busy, but my body just wants to sleep. The crazy thing is, I’ve gotten a good night’s sleep every night for at least a week, yet my body is so worn out from all the thinking (paper writing requires a lot of brain power) and going, going, going. I’ll write my last paper tomorrow, so I hope things will slow down after that…until I have finals and move.

So, first thing this morning I went and voted. Since I’m basically in class all day, I wanted to make sure I made time for this. The polling place was busy, but there was no line, just a lot of people coming and going. I imagine there will be a line later today, but they have about 8 different booths which will cut down on too much waiting.

It was definitely different than my experience voting in Kansas. I’ve always voted (even as a kid doing the Kid Voting thing) on an electronic system, so I was a little taken aback by the paper ballot I was handed. They had pens in each of the booths tied to strings, but I didn’t appreciate having to scower to find a voting booth with the longest string just so this leftie could use it too. I probably should have said something, but I suppose I could have used my own pen if I wanted.

It felt good voting for Mike Huckabee, even though he’s no longer in the running. I’m just glad to have the opportunity to do it. I’m so unfamiliar with state politics, that I had to memorize the names of the other individuals who I was voting for, since I hardly know them. I hope I made the right choices!

Well, I better run since the notes I was printing are done. Tell me, what is your funniest voting experience?

Ah, it’s finally our turn. On Tuesday, people statewide will be going out to vote in the presidential primary, gubernatorial (yep, had to use spell check on that one) primary, and other primary races. In some ways, this feels like my first grownup time to vote as I’m not in a different state. It’ll only be my second time to go to the polls, as I’ve primarily have had to vote using advanced ballots because until recently I haven’t lived in the same state I was registered to vote in.

We’ve started getting phone calls from the campaigns of a couple of the gubernatorial candidates (I have to use that word again now that I know how to spell it). Today when I came home, there was a message from a race car driver for one of the candidates. Let me tell you, there’s probably not an endorsement I care about less than a Nascar racer’s, but nevertheless now I know who this stranger is voting for.

As I was driving by the historic downtown of this small town, there were about 50 bazillion police cars (we may have only 12,000 residents, but a quarter of them are police officers) and a bunch of vendors packing up Hillary Clinton gear. Nothing like an election to bring out the salesmen.

I thought that maybe Chelsea was in town for a rally earlier today (certainly Hillary or Bill wouldn’t come and me not know it, right?), so I looked it up online. Sure enough, it was Hillary herself who came for a rally. I’m been following these things pretty close, so why didn’t I know? I might have thought about stopping by and checking out the atmosphere.

For those who are curious, it’s been pretty clear for sometime that Barack Obama was more popular in North Carolina. In the last couple of weeks, though, I’ve been seeing a lot more Clinton things. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was able to pull off the win, bolstering her chance for the nomination. Crazy.

I have several serious, thought provoking things to write here, but here’s a question for you…is it a bad idea to write about such a subject on a Friday? Is it a rule for Friday posts to be casual like the attire and attitudes? Will anyone read it if I post my cure for the common cold or my recipe to end world hunger?

Well, I think I’m going to go for it. The last time I wrote a serious post was for Earth Day. I’ve let another whole holiday (May Day) pass since then without causing my readers to think. I think you all deserve better, so here goes.

Yesterday I went to get my North Carolina tag, which was a relatively smooth, painless process. I love when our government works like it should. There was just one thing that rubbed me the wrong way about the whole process. Inside the office, there were vanity plates on all the walls for sale. I was already a little on edge, as I don’t think the government should be in the business of selling things, but then I spot a plate that offended me.

They, the state government of North Carolina, were selling a plate with the Confederate flag on it.

I don’t like the Confederate flag. While I support someone’s right to use it to express free speech, I don’t agree with what it stands for. I’ve never received what I would consider a good answer from anyone as to why they find pride in it. When I look at a Confederate flag, I think about someone who takes pride in rebelling against their country and oppressing and enslaving minorities. That’s nothing to be proud of. While a Confederate flag could also express Southern pride (or “hubris” as my Civil War professor would say) and states’ rights, these are overarched with the bigotry and rebellion associated with the flag in the past. While the person flying the Confederate flag may think they are representing these better aspects of Southernism, they are really proclaiming to the world their endorsement of the bad with the good.

I don’t care if a store sells Confederate memorabilia. If people buy it, why wouldn’t they sell it? While it bugs me every time I see it, it also bugs me to see T-shirts with profanity on them. It’s just that the government has no right selling Confederate memorabilia. Period. I would question their role in selling anything whatsoever, but that’s another post.

I hope I’ve made myself very clear in this post. I’m not trying to suppress free speech. I don’t think that Confederate vanity plates should be banned. I just don’t like the idea of my state government selling them. That’s not something I want my tax dollars supporting.

So, what do you think? Am I totally off-base here? Is this just something I’ll have to live with now that I live in the South? Is there another way of looking at this that I simply don’t see? I would love to hear your honest, civil opinions on this issue, regardless of whether you agree with me or not!

Dear Common People,

Today I write you as one of those people, one of the elite. I have had the kind of day where I’m non-stop busy (even now, I’m doing a million things) with nary a break. I got up early, went to class, went babysitting, went to class, went babysitting, and here in a little bit I’ll leave babysitting for class (again). I’ve had to eat on the run, talk on the run, and happily avoid writing my big paper one more day.

It’s not just that today’s super busy. That wouldn’t make me one of the elite. I was also interviewed by a columnist for a big paper (I’m talking The Washington Post, people). It’s not quite the day-in-the-life interview I’ve always wanted to do, but it’s probably the closest I’ll ever be unless I accidentally strike gold in the city park or discover I had the hidden ability to fly.

While I was interviewed, I have no idea whether or not anything I said will be included in the column. The ironic thing is she found me through this blog because I happened to write about the dream I had about Barack Obama. Intriguing, isn’t it? I’ll let you know when it comes out. Who says blogging can’t make you famous?

An elitist snob for the day,

Ronnica

Dear Mike Huckabee,

I wish you all the best as you continue to fight for conservative causes in our nation. I wish that you were still a viable presidential candidate but felt you bowed out of the race with grace and dignity.

One of my favorite things about you was that your stands on the issues stemmed from the same cause as mine: belief in God. Being a Christian impacts everything one does and most certainly should drive where he stands on many political issues. I like how you stood up for your values without wavering, even when those positions weren’t popular.

Some fellow Huckabee supporters are clamoring for John McCain to pick you as his Vice Presidential candidate. As I think you would make a great president, of course I think you would make a great VP as well. I, however, don’t necessarily think that strapping yourself to McCain’s ticket is the best option. Whether or not you are VP, I think you can do some good.

Thanks for what you’ve done for our country and what God will continue to do through you!

Humbly,

Ronnica

Dear United States Government,

Yesterday marked the day when our taxes were due. Though I filed mine back in February, yesterday’s ominous date reminded me of the taxes that we all pay in order to keep this government operating.

I don’t mind paying taxes, really I don’t. Since I never see the money I give to you, I don’t really feel like I’m giving it at all. It’s more like I’m just getting paid less for the work that I do. I know that the government needs money to do important things like protect us and I don’t mind paying my share.

That said, I ask that you consider if you are spending the money taxpayers give you wisely. You have a job to do with this money. There are all sorts of stories about government waste. The fact that our national debt is growing exponentially is a burden we should all feel. I don’t care if you are a Democrat or a Republican, you have no right to spend money you do not have, thus passing the bill off on my generation and the ones that come after.

I look forward to the day where true tax reform will be discussed and debated. Though I don’t know that the Fair Tax is THE answer, I like it a lot. It at least should be an option when considering how to overhaul the collecting of tax dollars.

More imporantly, how tax dollars are spent needs to be overhauled. The federal government since the days of FDR has encroached more and more on the territory that should be left to the state and local governments. It’s time to reconsider what belongs to the central government and what belongs to the states. Though some might throw a fit if you cancel the funding of their special program, you have to encourage the states to take the fiscal responsibility for those programs if they really want them. If they are not willing to foot the bill, then maybe the program isn’t worth the money that is spent on it.

I truly thank those who serve the citizens of the United States government for what you do for us. I just ask that you consider anew the purposes to which you are serving.

Thankfully,

Ronnica