Why I’m a Democrat Reason #3 Wednesday, Oct 17 2012 

politics thisgaudygildedstage 11:56 am

Today’s Facebook post generated a lot of comments — all about abortion rights:

Reason #3 why I’m a Democrat: My friends and family have benefited from Planned Parenthood’s services, which include vasectomies, cancer screenings, HIV testing, contraception, and educational programs, which constitute 97% of Planned Parenthood’s services. President Obama supports funding these activities; Mitt Romney would end federal aid to Planned Parenthood.

It’s also been interesting that, while I don’t debate the issues with my family via Facebook, my friends and former graduate students respond to their comments wit great vehemence. It’s lovely to watch!

 

Why I’m a Democrat: Reason #2 Tuesday, Oct 16 2012 

politics thisgaudygildedstage 6:40 am

Just posted my second reason on Facebook:

Reason #2 why I’m a Democrat: I went to college and graduate school, becoming the first member of my family to earn a PhD, in part due to receiving Pell Grants and low-interest Stafford loans. Under the GOP plan, 1 million students would no longer be eligible for Pell Grants, remaining grants would be reduced, and the interest rates on Stafford loans would double, making higher education even more difficult to achieve for those of us who can’t just borrow money from our parents, as Romney recently advised poor and working class students.

Let’s see if it generates as much discussion as reason #1 did!

 

Why I’m a Democrat Monday, Oct 15 2012 

politics thisgaudygildedstage 5:16 pm

Between now and the election, I’m going to post one reason each day explaining why I’m a Democrat. I was raised in a conservative, Republican family, and my parents and sister remain conservative Republicans.

But my experience as a gay man from a (barely) working class family who is now an academic has given me a very different perspective on things than my family. Since they’re always posting Republican and Christian items on Facebook, I thought I’d start posting liberal Democratic perspectives too.

In this vein, I posted my first reason for being a Democrat this morning:

Reason #1 why I’m a Democrat: Just when Ronald Reagan tried to reclassify ketchup and relish as vegetables, I ate a healthy, free lunch every day through the National School Lunch Program. While President Obama continues to fight for this program, Gov. Romney is proposing a nearly $100 billion cut to it.

The first response was from my partner’s mother, who wrote:

Some of out here are helping to feed those kids and we know who & what kind of parents they have. Work to get their butts in the work force and not giving them free hand outs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As PJ noted, she was basically calling my parents lazy bums who were living off the government dole. Several of my friends chimed in, mostly in support of my position. Ironically, my mother and PJ’s mother ended up agreeing with one another — they think we should cut these programs because too many people just want a free hand out. It was a fascinating exchange that developed into a debate in which our friends challenged our mothers’ points of views. I hope my future reasons garner as much attention!

 

Election ’08 Part 1 Tuesday, Nov 4 2008 

literature and politics thisgaudygildedstage 6:40 am

Perhaps Walt Whitman sums today up best:

If I should need to name, O Western World, your powerfulest scene and show,

‘Twould not be you, Niagara – nor you, ye limitless prairies – nor your huge rifts of canyons, Colorado,

Nor you, Yosemite – nor Yellowstone, with all its spasmic geyserloops ascending to the skies, appearing and disappearing,

Nor Oregon’s white cones – nor Huron’s belt of mighty lakes – nor Mississippi’s stream:

This seething hemisphere’s humanity, as now, I’d name – the still small voice vibrating -America’s choosing day…

(Borrowed from Dailykos.)

 

Donna Brazile Is Amazing Wednesday, Oct 8 2008 

politics thisgaudygildedstage 5:37 pm

This video of Donna Brazile speaking recently about race in American politics today. She is simply amazing.

I too want the best. I too want the brightest. I too want somebody to take us where we’ve never been as a country. I agree that we’ve been too stuck in the past, but I’m really hopeful that we can move forward. I hope that the next month is about ideas, about inspiration and strength of character, because if they are then Barack Obama will be our next president.

I can barely imagine how proud and excited I will be if our country does move forward and elects Obama on November 4th. Like most Democrats I know, the more hopeful I get that we’re going to win this election, the more nervous I become that it will all be taken away. We are living in a historical moment. I really hope that we as a nation reach forward and grasp that history. (And I hope that in eight years we elect the first female president — if not Hillary, then some other Democratic woman.) I’m so excited that inside I’m screeching like Howard Dean after the Iowa caucases in 2004!

Let’s go forward!

 

An Amazing Speech Saturday, Jun 7 2008 

politics thisgaudygildedstage 9:57 pm

I thought Senator Clinton’s concession speech today was simply amazing. It was the right mix of history, reality, idealism, and the future. I was really impressed with her ability to move her supporters in the audience from being specifically her supporters to being Democrats and then to being Obama supporters. I think he still has a lot to do to woo some of her supporters to her side and his decisions in the next month or so will do a lot to either bridge the distance between himself and some of these voters or expand the gulf. I’ll definitely vote for him in the fall regardless, but my wallet is closed until I see who he’s putting on the ticket as vice president.

But the moment that moved me the most in Senator Clinton’s speech was the one in which she included gays and lesbians.

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Now I’m George H. W. Bush! Wednesday, Mar 12 2008 

academia and politics thisgaudygildedstage 6:18 pm

I recently read an article on slate.com entitled “What Psychological Personality Tests Reveal about Clinton, Obama, and McCain.” According to this writer’s speculations, Clinton is an ESTJ, or a “Guardian,” someone who is “steadfast, cautious, methodical.” Obama is an ENFP, or a “Champion,” someone who can easily motivate people around them through their enthusiasm and idealism. McCain is an ESTP, or an “Artisan,” someone who needs to have a piece of the action. (Coincidentally, the current president is also an ESTP.)

This reminded me of taking the Myers-Briggs personality test while I was in graduate school. It became a way to link composition students personalities to their learning styles, of helping them identify their own strengths and weaknesses as students. We instructors also took the test to try out the linkage for ourselves.

With this in mind, I took an online version of a similar test. According to this test, I am an ISTJ. Here’s how one website describes ISTJs:

ISTJs are often called inspectors. They have a keen sense of right and wrong, especially in their area of interest and/or responsibility. They are noted for devotion to duty. Punctuality is a watchword of the ISTJ. The secretary, clerk, or business(wo)man by whom others set their clocks is likely to be an ISTJ.

As do other Introverted Thinkers, ISTJs often give the initial impression of being aloof and perhaps somewhat cold. Effusive expression of emotional warmth is not something that ISTJs do without considerable energy loss.

ISTJs are most at home with “just the facts, Ma’am.” They seem to perform at highest efficiency when employing a step-by-step approach. Once a new procedure has proven itself (i.e., has been shown “to work,”) the ISTJ can be depended upon to carry it through, even at the expense of their own health.

ISTJs are easily frustrated by the inconsistencies of others, especially when the second parties don’t keep their commitments. But they usually keep their feelings to themselves unless they are asked. And when asked, they don’t mince words. Truth wins out over tact. The grim determination of the ISTJ vindicates itself in officiation of sports events, judiciary functions, or an other situation which requires making tough calls and sticking to them.

His SJ orientation draws the ISTJ into the service of established institutions. Home, social clubs, government, schools, the military, churches — these are the bastions of the SJ. “We’ve always done it this way” is often reason enough for many ISTJs. Threats to time-honored traditions or established organizations (e.g., a “run” on the bank) are the undoing of SJs, and are to be fought at all costs.

This seems to describe me fairly well. I can certainly seem aloof at first, and I definitely have a sense of right and wrong, especially when it comes to following prescribed rules and procedures. I also have an “institutional” way of thinking.

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I Am Hillary Clinton Friday, Feb 22 2008 

politics thisgaudygildedstage 11:25 am

I didn’t watch last night’s Democratic debate. I have to admit that I’m ready for the primary season to be over and to get on with the election. My friend James called after the debate and asked if I had seen Hillary’s final statement, which he liked very much. Since I hadn’t, I looked for it online this morning. Even the liberal blogs that I read are abuzz about it.

In many ways I think this speech demonstrates how Senator Clinton should have run her campaign all along. From day one, the campaign should have been about the American people and nothing else. While I still intend to cast my vote for Hillary in the March 4th primary, I think Senator Obama will likely win enough support in Texas and Ohio to end Hillary’s campaign and to win the nomination, politically if not numerically.

I’ll admit that I’ve been wavering a bit in my Clinton support lately. I haven’t liked some aspects of her campaign and I had hoped she would make a better case for herself. So, why am I voting for her? Two reasons immediately come to mind.

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Barack Obama and Gay Rights Tuesday, Oct 30 2007 

politics thisgaudygildedstage 6:33 pm

So far, I’ve studiously avoided writing about politics on my blog. I have friends who write about political events and issues, but I’ve felt a little weird about doing so myself. Partly this is because my blog started as primarily an academic outlet for me rather than a place to comment on current events. I also know that some of my students and former students read my blog from time to time, and I don’t like to feel that I’m exposing myself too much here. (I’ve also avoided a lot of other topics for this same reason.)

But maybe that’s being too careful. Too sheltered and defensive. So, I’m reconsidering that exclusion.

This reconsideration is partially the result of what’s been happening in the past week or so between Barack Obama‘s campaign and gay rights activists. As just about everybody who follows politic knows, Obama has gotten into trouble for allowing a gospel singer, Donnie McClurkin, to sing at one of his events in South Carolina this past weekend. While other musicians at the event are also on record as opposing gay rights and issues, McClurkin has especially drawn the fire of activists, since he is “ex-gay” and routinely talks about homosexuality as a “curse” that homosexuals should be delivered from. Keith Boykin has a great article about McClurkin and his views. Americablog has also been reporting on this story. And finally Atrios has also covered it. McClurkin has also contributed to the Exodus International website. (Exodus International is an organization that claims it can cure gays and turn us straight. As an aside, one of the best articles I’ve ever read is Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Queer and Loathing” in Spin Magazine, June 1996. It’s a great look at a convention sponsored by the organization.)

So, to sum up, Obama’s campaign allowed this man not only to sing but also to speak about his views on homosexuality during this campaign event. When the campaign came under fire, they assured their critics that this was an attempt to open a dialogue between gays and the African American community, between gays and religious conservatives. The campaign argued that the Democratic party needs to be a “big tent” where we can all come together, debate our position, and most importantly defeat the Republicans. Activists insist that the inclusion of McClurkin was a huge political mistake and that Obama will lose support for this.

He’s certainly lost mine.

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