Thursday, November 4, 2010

Setbacks

I know I said I wouldn't talk about politics much, and I won't generally, but we just had an election and I've got feelings about it. In Michigan, both houses of the legislature and the governor's office are in Republican hands. For some reason I'm not too concerned about this. Gov.-elect Rick Snyder has been declared a "Champion of the Arts" and wants to reinstate all lost arts funding. He also wants to support Michigan's cities to develop new approaches to land use, including limiting development in virginal forested tracts and transforming existing lots to farms. These are definitely ideas I am on track with, obviously. But I didn't vote for him.
I voted for Virg Bernero because he has done an amazing job in Lansing. This is the liveliest I've ever seen this town in the 11 years I've lived here. But there is something crooked about him, I agree. He reminds me of Rod Blagojevich. And yet I voted for him. I had to throw my voice into the ring of losers, I guess, that we don't all accept Republican policies and vision.
In fact, I'm dumbfounded why so many people voted Republican nationally. I do not understand how people could not see that the last administration's hands-off approach to regulation has driven us to this mess. And isn't this mess their ultimate intention? Help the rich stay rich and leave the poor with no pathway out? And I just love it when they claim that letting the tax cuts expire on the wealthiest 2% is "class warfare." They are masters of framing the debate. They're miles ahead of us lefties.

On the homefront, my three main pursuits for the week have fallen through. Someone else claimed the free cold frame I was after. The gentleman interested in felling our dead tree as a trade for the wood informed me that he's not insured. It reached freezing and started snowing before I could put my yard "to bed" and clean out my compost bin.
I figure this is how most of the project will go. 3 (or more) setbacks for every 1 success. I'm in great competition with other community members for these free/recycled/cheap resources, and most of the time I will lose. But I'm also taking care of my baby. And it's hard for me to do yardwork with her when it's so frizzing freezing outside. Maybe this could be a metaphor for fixing our political mess.
Because we can't stop trying. There is no other choice but to keep fighting. The next season will come, and we need to have our beds made.

2 comments:

  1. Persevere you daughter of a Taoist momma. Ti adoro! XXXooo

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  2. Yeah, I hear ya. This year's gubernatorial election seemed like an exercise in gritting your teeth and voting for the person you disliked the least. Never a happy situation. I'll admit that not a single one of my cast votes ended up in the "winning" slot, from governor to state supreme court justices to members of the state board of ed. It's not important to me to be a political "winner" in that sense, but still…not even ONE?!? Ah well.

    And yes, it amazes me that people who expressed their rage at current conditions typically voted for the same party that, over the 8 years of the previous administration, vastly expanded the size and scope of the federal government and presided over the biggest de-regulation that's responsible for our current economic climate. Yeah. That's it. Take out your anger by voting for…more of the same. *shrugs*

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