Flag Pins & Faith We Can Believe In

I have been sick of the presidential elections since the early part of the primaries, but that doesn't mean I won't prolong the discourse myself on occasion.

Just so you know where I'm coming from, I don't recall ever having voted for a major party candidate for president, but I do vote sometimes. My perspective is more or less anarchist, and I don't have a lot of interest or faith in mainstream political candidates.

That said, I did get kind of a thrill when Obama, a visible minority, was officially elected the Democratic Party's candidate for President. Still and all, the only person that would inspire a vote from me is Dennis Kucinich. Check out the transcript or video of his speech at the DNC. (Thanks, Tracy) As far as I could tell, his was the only one where you couldn't just change some names and it would do just as well for the RNC.

"Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, their homes, their health care, their pensions. Trillions of dollars for an unnecessary war paid with borrowed money. Tens of billions of dollars in cash and weapons disappeared into thin air, at the cost of the lives of our troops and innocent Iraqis, while all the president's oilmen are maneuvering to grab Iraq's oil. ...
"Up with health care for all. Up with education for all. Up with home ownership. Up with guaranteed retirement benefits. Up with peace. Up with prosperity."

A female political cartoonist, Mikhaela Reid has a cartoon and blog post that expresses much of my perspective on Obama really well. Obama Defends His Patriotism...

"...and takes a big old step to the center, Clinton-style. Yuck. As a big fan of the separation of church and state, his proposal to expand Bush's government funding for faith-based programs has me particularly pissed off. After the Bush years, I want LESS religion in my politics, not more, thank you very much!"

As many have observed, including the producers of the Daily Show, women aren't good with political humor, so good on you, Mikhaela! To that end, the Feminist Peace Network observes that the major minor female candidate for President (Cynthia McKinney of the Green Party) was left out of one of a Comedy Central candidate lineup. (from the WAM discussion list)

There was a hilarious Rocky Mountain News article about the protests. Basically the reporter seems to have just pulled juicy quotes from the DNC Disruption '08 website. The notion of "affinity groups" (quotes theirs) were of some concern (similar to the FBI's fixation on vegan potlucks and spying on RNC protest plans, I think).

"'With this action, there are many different levels of success,' the site says. 'First and foremost, the complete abolition of the state (Unconventional Denver will foot the bill on the after-party) is our goal. Barring that, we are seeking to disrupt the convention.'"

And while we're on the topic of protests, check out the lovely Radical Reference wiki that Lacey and other Twin Cities librarian/activists are working on.