Post Presidential Election - 2008

Now the real work begins. We've seen how candidates of the past are quite different than their campaigning personna. It will be important for Obama to hit the ground running with a powerful, smart team and a 90 day action plan. Any amount of floundering will let the Democratic congress run over him and drive the agenda for the next 4 years.

Regardless, I expect that Obama is going to incur the most scrutinized, difficult Presidencies in American history. We will see how thick his skin is... expectations set in electing him have put him on such a high pedestal that it will be difficult for him to avoid falling. In addition, I think the elections revealed a deepening polarization of America (as seen in the varying . This, all in addition to the domestic and international issues that would be a challenge for anyone occupying the Office next!

It is going to be an interesting time ahead... the next 6 months will set the course for the next 4 years. The whole world is optimistic.

Writing: Capitalization in Titles

So, rather than my ad hoc approach to title capitalization, I finally looked it up. It is a lot more complex than I knew (I think I was stuck somewhere between elementary school and eighth grade (according to the first article):

http://www.writers.com/tips_titles.html

If your school grades in English were similar to mine, then you might need some examples to clarify:

http://www.writersblock.ca/tips/monthtip/tipmar98.htm

Hi Mom, Where are you?

I miss my mom.

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After everyone had gone and Dad and I were cleaning up some of your stuff... the house seemed oddly quiet... I think it was the void you've left.

I felt a tightness in my body... maybe I wanted to cry.

I'm afraid that I will forget the nuances of you.

You filled my world when you were alive... Having grown up in the world you created, I didn't recognize the uniqueness of you. I thought that is how the world was.

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I miss that you took interest in everything I had to say, no matter how trivial.

I miss you because you were my biggest fan.

No one could be as honest with me as you.

No one knew how to talk to me in such a non-confrontational way.

I miss that you could talk about a TV show as if it was real.

I miss that you never took anything too seriously.

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You collected coupons. You always sought a deal. You even kept track of deals that others would benefit from.

You always looked at the positive side of things... you didn't even remember the negative things.

You loved people... the more the merrier--especially if it is family.

Generosity was never enough when it came to family.

You always shared your bonuses with the whole family.

Helping others was never a chore.

You were never overtly judgemental.

You had an a great talent for organization-- you may have been a pack-rat, but no one would have ever known it (unfortunately, I inherited your penchant for collecting, but not your skill at organizing)

You always knew the latest airline deals.

You never let things or people get you down.

You were one for getting things done.

You always knew where everything was without looking.

You embraced new experiences.

You revelled in my life.

You were always modest; never demanding the spotlight.

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You taught me to separate each utinsil type in the dishwasher so that they are easier to put away.

You taught me to respect others.

You taught me to smile.

You taught me the value of family.

There is still so much I should have learned from you.

How does the US elect a President?

Even with all my smart, educated friends, I am having difficulty finding anyone who knows how our Presidential election system works! So, I’ll be updating this entry with information to try to sort this out.

Topics to be investigated:

• How primaries work. The main parties (Republicans and Democrats) changed their primary process in the ’70s which moved influence away from the party heads to a broader audience (listen to “The Presidents: Campaigning and the Primary System,” American Experience).
• Primaries, party conventions, delegates (and super-delegates), The Election... what is the relationship between all these stages?
• Electoral college (what?! we the public does not elect the President?!!)
• Funding? Who can take money from whom?

“CNet's Top 5” has a list of web sites:

• State government. Most states’ voting is handled by each state’s secretary of state, so they maintain non-partisan information
• Smartvoter.org — run by the League of Women Voters, a lot of information about how elections work.
• votesmart.org
• politicalbase.com — list “issues” and allows commenting on them.
• Glassbooth.org — “quiz” style approach to helping with choices, along with information resources.

Bugs Bunny

The story on NPR’s Sunday Edition today about the impact of Bugs Bunny on culture woke me up. I realized that my life—my implicit guide for how approach life—has been influenced by Bugs Bunny's irreverent, rule breaking modus operendi. See/listen to “Bugs Bunny: The Trickster, American Style”.

Note to self: Copy Art

Note to self: Quite often when I see some kind of interesting artwork, I think, “I could do that!” but of course I don’t. I’m sure I have dozens of reasons, but one of them is that, “I don’t want to copy someone else.” The thing is... even when I have “copied,” it always ends up becoming unique, independent of the “original.” Maybe it’s because I am a lousy copier or maybe it’s because I can’t not do something different. The thing is, there are so many things I think about doing and I don’t because I “don’t want to copy.”

I gotta start copying a lot more.

More Rumsfeld noise

A side note in the aftermath of the resignation/firing of Donald Rumsfeld from his Secretary of Defense post. He will have exceeded Robert MacNamera’s tenure as Secretary of Defense as the longest serving person in that role.

Is it any coicidence that both of these long serving Pentagon civilians have involved this country in each of the most politically damaging and divisive wars in this country’s history?

Perhaps there should be some kind of term limits on Secretaries of Defense.