Primary Colors

"I've never heard a president use words like destiny and sacrifice without thinking, "bullshit." And, O.K., maybe it was bullshit with Kennedy too, but people believed it. And, I guess, that is what I want. I want to believe it too."

So Sudiptya's right (big surprise) - it's been way too long since my last update. So what have I been up to instead of blogging? Well, for starters, I spent last Saturday volunteering with Planned Parenthood going door to door telling people about this:
Attention Georgia voters!
When you see this on your ballot in November:

Shall the the Constitution be amended so as to provide that this state shall recognize only the union of man and woman?
( ) YES
( ) NO

What you'll actually be voting on (as if the above weren't bad enough) is the following:

Paragraph I. Recognition of marriage.
(a) This state shall recognize as marriage only the union of man and woman. Marriages between persons of the same sex are prohibited in this state.
(b) No union between persons of the same sex shall be recognized by this state as entitled to the benefits of marriage. This state shall not give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other state or jurisdiction respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other state or jurisdiction. The courst of this state shall have no jurisdiction to grant a divorce or separate maintenance with respect to any such relationship or otherwise to consider or rule on any of the parties' respective rights arising as a result of or in connection with such relationship.

This is vague and misleading and essentially strips away any sort of legal protection or recourse same sex couples may have had in the state of Georgia. And it's just plain mean and wrong.

In other political news, I have this interesting piece of information thanks to April:

a new PIPA-Knowledge Networks poll finds that Americans who plan to vote for President Bush have many incorrect assumptions about his foreign policy positions. Kerry supporters, on the other hand, are largely accurate in their assessments. The uncommitted also tend to misperceive Bush’s positions, though to a smaller extent than Bush supporters, and to perceive Kerry’s positions correctly. Steven Kull, director of PIPA, comments: “What is striking is that even after nearly four years President Bush’s foreign policy positions are so widely misread, while Senator Kerry, who is relatively new to the public and reputed to be unclear about his positions, is read correctly.”

Majorities of Bush supporters incorrectly assumed that Bush favors including labor and environmental standards in trade agreements (84%), and the US being part of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (69%), the International Criminal Court (66%), the treaty banning land mines (72%), and the Kyoto Treaty on global warming (51%). They were divided between those who knew that Bush favors building a new missile defense system now (44%) and those who incorrectly believe he wishes to do more research until its capabilities are proven (41%). However, majorities were correct that Bush favors increased defense spending (57%) and wants the US, not the UN, to take the stronger role in developing Iraq’s new government (70%).

Kerry supporters were much more accurate in assessing their candidate’s positions on all these issues. Majorities knew that Kerry favors including labor and environmental standards in trade agreements (90%); the US being part of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (77%); the International Criminal Court (59%); the land mines treaty (79%); and the Kyoto Treaty on climate change (74%). They also knew that he favors continuing research on missile defense without deploying a system now (68%), and wants the UN, not the US, to take the stronger role in developing Iraq’s new government (80%). A plurality of 43% was correct that Kerry favors keeping defense spending the same, with 35% assuming he wants to cut it and 18% to expand it.

Many of the uncommitted (those who say they are not very sure which candidate they will vote for) also misread Bush’s position on most issues, though in most cases this was a plurality, not a majority. The uncommitted incorrectly believed that Bush favors including labor and environmental standards in trade agreements (69%), the US being part of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (51%), the International Criminal Court (47% to 31%), the land mines treaty (50%), and the Kyoto treaty on global warming (45% to 37%). Only 35% knew that Bush favors building a new missile defense system now, while 36% incorrectly believed he wishes to do more research until its capabilities are proven, and 22% did not give an answer. Only 41% knew that Bush favors increased defense spending, while 49% incorrectly assumed he wants to keep it the same (29%) or cut it (20%). A plurality of 46% was correct that Bush wants the US, rather than the UN, to take the stronger role in developing Iraq’s new government (37% assumed the UN).

Which makes me sad. I mean, if people are going to support Bush, they should at least support him because of actual positions that he holds and with which they agree. Everyone deserves to be an informed voter. But I guess if you're too lazy to get reliable information, you deserve what you get? I don't know, that still doesn't sit well with me.

And not to beat a dead horse, since I've already mentioned this several times here, but here's more info about the class action suit being brought against NYC on behalf of all the folks arrested during the GOP convention. And the reason I keep bringing it up:

"We must right these wrongs," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which brought the suits on behalf of several plaintiffs. "If someone is wrongfully arrested, it leaves a scar. It leaves a scar on that individual. But when hundreds of people are wrongfully arrested for exercising their right to protest, or documenting it for the public, or being on that street doing their own thing, it does untold damage to our democracy."

And because April keeps talking about moving back to Boston, and I miss Boston, I offer up this Times article "36 Hours in Cambridge." Maybe it's because it was the first city I visited by myself, but Boston was the first (and thus far only) city where I felt like I was home, even though I've never lived there. Other people I know have described that feeling upon going to NYC for the first time, just feeling this draw as if they were meant to move there. I remember very vividly stepping off the plane at Logan at age 14 and feeling like I was where I belonged. And even though my last visit was far from ideal, considering that I was there for a memorial service and nearly got stuck in a blizzard and was stressed out about finals and all...it was still a really lovely weekend. Dinner with Anne's extended family, with everyone telling stories, well, that's precisely the way I would want to be remembered. And making snow angels in Harvard Yard at around midnight with Brad and Steve. All things considered, it was actually a pretty good day.

In other political news, Bush once again witholds money from the UNFPA, despite Congress allocating the funds. If you have a dollar to spare, surf over to these fine folks and toss it their way.

Personal Stuff

Well, what else have I been up to and neglected to share? Much to my relief, I'm much more hopeful these days. I have no idea if it's due to actual events or simply because my personality doesn't tolerate despondency for long periods of time, but either way, I like myself a lot better when I'm not so cynical and bitter.
The camping trip I briefly alluded to a few posts back was fantastic (even if the getting there was less so). Walking on the beach at 2 am, waking up to sunlight filtered through trees...why oh why do I always forget how much I love that kind of thing and fail to make more of an effort to spend more time outside?
Salman Rushdie lecture and reading on Tuesday was excellent, definitely more motivated to read his stuff now. He offered some awesome imagery involving the wrapper of a toblerone bar, but I'll mess it up and make it sound less interesting, so I'll just leave it at that.
Ok, must convince myself to go get some work done at school before watching the debates tonight so that I can afford to blow off a good chunk of the weekend for Andy's birthday celebrations (brunch featuring all the mimosas I can stomach on Sunday, followed by Kerry fundraising dinner (not directly associated with birthday celebrations), followed by cooking out and more drinking at the boys' place, then brewery tour on Monday. whew).

I know I've said it before, but from one of my favorite episodes of The West Wing:

Josh: I don't know, Toby, it's election night. What do you say about a government that goes out of its way to protect even citizens that try to destroy it?

Toby: God bless America.

What happened to that America? I don't even think we protect the citizens who criticize this country, much less try to destroy it.