I really like this photo. Not because I'm a "Brangelina" fan nor approve of unmarried celebrities having huge families but because of the multiple ethnicity of this particular one. It brings to mind lyrics I have drawn on before - from South Pacific - "You've got to be taught to hate and fear...". I don't think that thought has ever occurred to Pitt or Jolie and for that I applaud them.
What brought this to mind is a conversation I had with a young 20 something acquaintance about Obama and the need for her peers to get out and vote. "No one I know even likes Obama," she stated rather emphatically. I was stunned.
She is from a small town in central Idaho. They have Indians, she told me, and no one minds them, but no one can abide blacks. Why? If you've never lived with them, never even met one how can you harbor such a dislike for them? My mother-in-law was much the same way. She grew up on a ranch in south eastern Montana. She was probably an adult before she even realized there were such people!
Back to the voting issue. Her explanation that she'd vote for McCain if she was going to vote because she hadn't done any research on Obama and had heard so many negative things about him was worrisome. To choose not to do that research. But then she's not going to vote anyway because she's busy with her studies, McCain is a Republican and in Idaho it's likely he will win the state.
Where does such thinking come from? We adults. How many have said the same thing in states that are heavily Republican or Democrat. My vote doesn't make any difference - so-and-so is going to win anyway. Wow.
Obama's organization may have energized a whole new generation of potential voters but they aren't necessarily for him! And they won't necessarily actually vote. There is certainly work still to be done. Energizing the bunny makes no difference if it's really only a parrot.
6 comments:
You're right, scary as hell, isn't it?
You've put your finger right on my concern.
In my county, we are only opening the Democratic Headquarters on Friday afternoon and Saturday this year, because there are no hotly contested races and because the whole county is too racist to vote for Obama. It makes me ashamed of the people among whom I have lived for so many years.
Ouch! That makes the Zogby prediction that McCain could win in a landslide of electoral votes a real possibility. If that should happen because of no other reason than race I will be ashamed of my whole country.
"If that should happen because of no other reason than race I will be ashamed of my whole country."
Amen to that Dogwalking....
One should ALWAYS vote...it gives you bitching rights...
Anyone who spouts off after, I asked did you vote? If they say no, then I tell them their opinion is useless, and walk away
Well said, Dogwalkmusings. I have elderly relatives who would cut off their noses to spite their faces by voting for McCain. They swear, instead, they will simply stay home.
On the other hand, young people like Brangelina have great tolerance for ethnic and racial differences. I pray that we can get enough of them registered and to the polls. Now more than ever youth is indeed the hope of our nation.
Post a Comment