Jackson Free Press

I confess. I am a liberal elitist. Not only that, I'm a white, bleeding-heart Democrat, pro-choice, anti-death penalty, pro-government regulation, MasterCard-carrying liberal elitist.

But at least I know why.

Hard on the heels of last week's big investigative cover story about Sarah Palin and women's issues, my sister sent me an e-mail. It started innocently enough, with her taking a friendly dig at Mississippi by sending a photo of Jiffy Pop nailed to tacky kitchen wallpaper, titled "Redneck smoke detector."

I should have known better. But it happened before I could stop myself.

"Sarah Palin's house?" I typed, and hit send.

"I like Sarah Palin," came the almost instant reply, "and I think her husband the Iron Dog champion is terrific, not to mention sexy (and a Native American, which even you libs should appreciate)."

What?

My sister, with an Ivy League master's degree and a law degree from a top West Coast law school, is a really smart woman (I have lots of evidence for this), but to my constant consternation, she's also a conservative Republican. Until last week, I managed to avoid the subject of politics with her in this election cycle. We can't talk politics; it just ends up pissing us both off. But I just couldn't let it go. Mea culpa.

"So I should vote for a woman because her husband's sexy and a Native American?" I wrote, the soundtrack in my head getting shrill.

"Who's talking about voting?" came the reply.

And we were off.

She's tired of the hate campaign against Palin, she wrote, and can't understand it. But when I outlined exactly why I dislike her (including Palin's own hate campaign against Obama), she just dismissed my entire argument as a rant.

In retrospect, it's telling of this entire campaign on both sides: People whose minds are already made up have long ago stopped listening to each other.

Last week, I talked to a woman who's a big muckity-muck for one of the major political parties in Mississippi. Party headquarters directed me to her to talk about the issues. She hasn't read her party's platform, she told me, much less the opposing one, yet she didn't hesitate to speak with me about her political "choices."

My friend John, who sends me all kinds of anti-McCain, pro-Obama e-mails, sent me an audio clip from Howard Stern's radio show. Now, Stern is pretty much a sensationalist jerk as far as I'm concerned, so I wasn't expecting much.

It seems that some guy named Sal went to Harlem with his tape recorder to do an experiment. Sal found at least three Obama supporters to interview. Then he reversed Obama's and McCain's views on issues for his questions.

"Do you support Obama because he's pro-life or because he thinks our troops should stay in Iraq and finish the war?" Sal asked.

"I guess both," a woman—an Obama supporter—answered.

"Now, if Obama wins, do you have any problem with Sarah Palin being vice president?"

"No. Not at all."

What?

OK, let me revise my previous statement. People don't listen. Period.

I felt the same frustration when George W. Bush was running in 2000 and 2004. "He's the kind of guy I'd want to have a drink with," I heard repeatedly from people—regular Americans—who apparently based their vote on that observation.

Now, my standards for drinking buddies are a damn sight lower than my standards for the leader of the free world. I'm not too particular about my drinking buddies, even though, Lord knows I've solved the world's problems many times sharing a couple of bottles of wine with some like-minded friends. (I'm pretty sure if we could just remember our solutions, the world's problems would have been resolved years ago.)

Personally, though, I want someone in the White House with a brain so big her skull can barely hold it in. I want an expert in foreign policy and someone who can keep her cool under pressure from Boris Yeltsin. I want someone with economic policies that will actually benefit the majority of Americans, and who can explain them in sentences with subjects, verbs and objects.

But then, I'm a liberal elitist, remember?

I've called a truce with my sister. I love her, but I can't help but wonder what part of her brain decides her vote. Or where the decider is located for my drinking buddies. (Rumor puts it a little further, um, south.)

This election is about our country fighting two wars and our economy being in the crapper. It's about deciding priorities for energy, education, health care, climate change and immigration policies. And it's about how we're going to afford the society we want to live in.

If you're not informing yourself about the candidate's platforms, if you're voting based on the party you've always voted for, who you "like" or out of fear, you're going to miss the point.

Please, don't stop paying attention. Don't stop listening. Vote with your brain, please, not that other decider.

Previous Commentsshow

Good job, Ronni. I'm a big fan of yours, but I can't stomach that sister. Stop having anything to do with her. She been bought off, caught off and now needs to be thrown off your list of favorite people. She's not your only sister, is she? Repalce her with a friend. LOL If my "ignant" brother who deals with republicans for financial reasons votes for a repugnant republican I will never speak to him again and will fail to aid him in last sickness, should he reach that point before me. I'm older than him though and will likely go down first. Well-known law schools don't ensure good sense or decency. I hope she reads my post. I bet she's a corporate lawyers or some other kind of lawyers working for money instead of the good of all mankind.

Walt

Oct 22 2008

Ronnie, i really enjoyed reading this. I know exactly how you feel. Sometimes it's like what world are these people living in. Especially family members. It makes you wonder how you could be family with someone and they be so drastically different than you in opinions. Even when things seem so plain and clear to us, still, their opinions are so outlandish and insane. Bottom line is, Sara Palin is a token. She was placed in this race simply to offset the publicity that accompanied the Democratic party with the first female and the first black candidates. It's an attempt by the republican party to seem human and relevant to all....it has failed terribly, but that was the intent originally. I am sickened by this idea that we'll accept Palin because she's a woman. As a woman I find that to be just as insane as assuming that all black people will vote for Obama because he's black. We get so little credit as citizens in this country. I have found that when I'm riding down the street and I get behind a car with a McCain/Palin sticker, I HAVE to see who's driving. If the driver is over 50, I let them make it....they get a pass because I'd expect them to be set in their ways regarding being republican and white....sure, McCain is your guy. But if the driver is under 50, I find that I am immediately offended and wonder if this person has been living under a rock for the last eight years. How broke do you have to be?(shout out to my buddy you said this to me last night) It's simply ridiculous that we are just NOT SEEING the bigger picture here. The republican party is really making a joke of our entire election process. It's so sick that it's not even funny, its actually embarassing - as a woman and as an American.

Queen601

Oct 23 2008

Family is tough, y'all -- the people you love always seem to be able to make you madder than anyone else. But, Queen, you're so right. Sometimes I feel like I must have been switched from my real family at birth. If all of us didn't look at least somewhat alike, I'd be doubly suspicious. Personally, I don't give anyone a pass on ignorance if they have the tools to get themselves educated--and that can be books, magazines, TV (if you're not stuck on one channel), the papers, the Internet, your church, your friends, classes, whatever. Age is no excuse for not being curious (especially since I'm in that "certain" age group you mentioned ), and neither is race or income or any other "reasonable" excuse. Our politicians have us afraid to question them for fear of being called "unpatriotic" or "un-American." What b.s. When we stop questioning, we might as well stop breathing. "Then I'll get on my knees and pray / We don't get fooled again." How broke indeed...

Ronni_Mott

Oct 23 2008

Whew, Baquan, I'm about done with "interesting." It's like the old Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times. There's a point where "interesting" becomes "painful." And I do believe we're there.

Ronni_Mott

Oct 23 2008

Ronni- Don't you know you never debate politics and religion with your family. :) Queen- Why would you be offended by someone exercising their right to vote for who they want to. Not being ugly, but basically it's none of your business who,for what reasons,whether you think they are right or wrong, that they support or vote for. It's their right and their choice.

BubbaT

Oct 23 2008

Keep her cool under pressure from Boris Yeltsin? I'm pretty sure his body has been preserved in a bottle of Vodka in Red Square for the past eight years.

QB

Oct 23 2008

Harry has a point, Ronni, although I don't get the "eight years" part. Yeltsin died last year.

DonnaLadd

Oct 23 2008

BubbaT, I am not offended at all by your question. Contrarily, it is my business. I am not taking it personally but in my opinion anyone who is willing to vote for Palin at this point to me has some issues with race - period. She has prooven to be UNWORTHY of being VP of this nation. She is an embarassment. Her household is in complete chaos, yet she deems herself capable of running an entire nation or at least being second in command. She spends what one person makes in an entire year on clothes, yet she is capable of regulating the budget for an entire country. She was governor of a state, not president of a local corporation, but she has no professional attire and had to spend thousands of dollars on wardrobe. Why is that important in the grand scheme of things? It doesn't matter to me if she wore the same suit every time she appeared in public if she was suited for the position. How can she represent for the majority of Americans when she's spend money so frivilously? How can she advise young America on morals and values when her own kids are not displaying any? In my opinion, a person who is aware of all this and has an alternative, but still chooses to go for that and to display it publically simply is voting for her/him for other reasons and being best for the job ISN'T one of them. So yes, as a person who thinks she's a foolish attempt at filling the VP spot, anyone who would cast a vote for her is insulting me as a citizen. And it is their personal choice, but their personal choice affects my future and my children's future. SO it's not as cut and dry as you telling me to mind my business. It is my business. It's not like I'm going to pull her over and tell her to take off that sign...sure she has the right to choose whoever she wants and I have the right to think she's an idiot for choosing Palin. PLUS, this reminds me that America has not come as far as one would think we have....

Queen601

Oct 23 2008

On second thought maybe I should have said it pisses me off moreso than offends me. or maybe I could have said it saddens me. Or, maybe I could have said it sickens me. Or maybe I could have said it's interesting....maybe my wording was a little off....but hopefully you get my drift.

Queen601

Oct 23 2008

Ya got me, Fat Harry. Yeltsin is dead, although he died in '07, so I'm not sure about your "eight years" reference either. I should have said Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev, who is the current president of Russia, or at least Vladimir Putin, who succeeded Yeltsin in 2000. Of course, I could put the ole spin on it and say I was just speaking in figurative terms about "a Russian leader." Good thing I'm not running for vice-president. If nominated, I will not serve. ;-) she has the right to choose whoever she wants and I have the right to think she's an idiot for choosing Palin. Well put, Queen! I couldn't agree with you more: It's all of our business when people vote before putting their brains in gear. Haven't we had enough of that already?

Ronni_Mott

Oct 23 2008

EIGHT IS ENOUGH!!!! (....sorry, i couldn't resist) :-)

Queen601

Oct 23 2008

don't know if y'all read -- a recent issue of conservative Economist magazine ran an article based on which candidate economists thought had the better policies...their choice: OBAMA. :-) not surprised, of course.

jxngrl03

Oct 23 2008

Ronnie, at least you and your sister know when to stop talking about politics. The weekend of my wedding my mother (a bleeding-heart liberal like yourself) was having dinner with my now father-in-law (a staunch republican)and she proceded to talk to him about politics and why mccain and sarah palin is so wrong for our country...he got so upset he left the restaurant. I had to ban her from talking about politics for the rest of the wedding weekend.

jxngrl03

Oct 23 2008

To be fair, jxngrl, if the story you're talking about is the Oct. 2 Examining the Candidates it's not exactly a ringing endorsement: the writer admits the survey was heavily skewed to Democrats. It does make these interesting points, however, and is well worth reading. "There is an apparent contradiction between most economists' support for free trade, low taxes and less intervention in the market and the low marks many give to Mr McCain, who is generally more supportive of those things than Mr Obama. It probably reflects a perception that the Republican Party under George Bush has subverted many of those ideals for ideology and political gain. Indeed, the majority of respondents rate Mr Bush's economic record as very bad, and Republican respondents are only slightly less critical. "John McCain has professed disdain for 'so-called economists', and for some the feeling has become mutual," says Erik Brynjolfsson, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management. "Obama's team is mainstream and non-ideological but extremely talented." The Economist published The Rise of the Obamacons today, about the many conservatives now leaning toward Obama. Good reading as well for all of us "elitists": The rise of the Obamacons is more than a reaction against Mr Bush's remodelling of the Republican Party and Mr McCain's desperation: there were plenty of disillusioned Republicans in 2004 who did not warm to John Kerry. It is also a positive verdict on Mr Obama. For many conservatives, Mr Obama embodies qualities that their party has abandoned: pragmatism, competence and respect for the head rather than the heart. Mr Obama's calm and collected response to the turmoil on Wall Street contrasted sharply with Mr McCain's grandstanding.

Ronni_Mott

Oct 23 2008

All I can say is thank goodness this thing will be over in 12 days. Elections can really bring out the ugly side in otherwise intelligent, nice people.

QB

Oct 23 2008

If everything goes as planned and desired the ugly side will lose and America will become the America it once wuz - a model of greatness, the land of the free and the home of the brave, where we fight only necessary wars, and where people come before profits, greed and coroprations.

Walt

Oct 23 2008

I'll be glad when it's over, too. It has brought out a level of ugliness I never thought I would see from McCain. I didn't know anything about Palin, so I had no expectations either way. While I think seeing those angry white McCain crowds is useful to remind people how far we still have to go on race to , it is extremely stressful to watch McCain try to divide our country out of political expediency. Fortunately, it looks like the majority of Americans are rejecting it this time out, and we need to do that in a collective, public way. But it's still painful to watch and hear. My favorite part is regardless of how many ads, robocalls and Palin-yelps about terrorist friends and "socialism" the McCain folks try to throw at Americans, Obama does not respond in kind with hysterical mailers and robocalls about G. Gordon Liddy, even though he could, and they would be more factual than McCain's Ayers-scare. But Obama is smarter and calmer than most of the rest of put together and that's exactly he's the right choice for president. As Colin Powell said, Obama will bring a generational shift. And boy do we need to mothball last-generation politics of lies and destruction. Not to mention greed.

DonnaLadd

Oct 23 2008

Sho you right, Donna Kaye. Even an old fool like me who is usually too happy to trade in kind tactics with the enemy agrees with you on this.

Walt

Oct 23 2008

If everything goes as planned and desired the ugly side will lose and America will become the America it once wuz - a model of greatness, the land of the free and the home of the brave, where we fight only necessary wars, and where people come before profits, greed and coroprations. ~ Walt When was this? I musta been asleep and missed it.

WMartin

Oct 24 2008

Before Reagan. LOL. Don't you remember.

Walt

Oct 24 2008

I gotta admit life was good then but I was like 12 years old. LOL

WMartin

Oct 24 2008

Oh yeah, the Nixon,Ford and Carter years were wonderful. Vietnam was such a necessary war, we shoulda stayed another ten years. Going to the funeral of one of my older sister's friends and seeing his flag draped coffin and the soldiers firing 7 gun salutes and playing taps, seeing all his classmates there that got deferments cause they came from rich farm families and he didn't. Yeah them were some wonderful years. I really want to go back there.

BubbaT

Oct 24 2008

Bubba that war was bad. We lost a star trumpet player from my high school and and I saw several people from my neighborhood who had never touched drugs or alcohol become drunk and drug addicts as a result of serving in that war. It was altogether different then.

Walt

Oct 24 2008

Walt- I don't think we can go back to what America was, all we can to is go forward and make America better.

BubbaT

Oct 24 2008

Bubba we can embrace the good will and principles that made us stand out. We've lost our way the last 2 or 3 decades or so and arguably do less good than bad it seems many people think. Arguably, we did more to further mankind when we had big time and real competition from Russia, communism, socialism or the Soviet Union. It seems that once our competition was put of the way we declared ourselves world victors and became all about wealth, profits and cornering the financial market. Greed without good deeds makes too many others bleed. Even Alan Greenspan admitted yesterday he underestimated free market capitalism ability to regulate and control itself.

Walt

Oct 24 2008

Speaking of elite confessions, there is a report of Joe McCain, John's brother, calling 911 because there was too much traffic in his way on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. He allegedly called twice and was rude to the dispatcher who tried to tell him the real purpose of 911. I could never be a republican or conservative because the greedy broke leg dog saw his shadow in the water, then jumped in the lake and drowned because he wanted that bone too.

Walt

Oct 24 2008

I don't really know where to put this, but MSNBC is running a column, Mothers, Daughter Battle Over Politics. It says, more or less, that mothers and daughters (Democrats I assume) were on the same page when it came to Hillary Clinton, but once Obama won, mothers (old) went right (white) and daughters (young) went left. Although this is not true in every case, I like the idea of this statement and hope it's true. If it is true, it tells me daughters are beginning to throw off the debilitating and racist influences of mothers and their common allegiance to the mantra that white is usually or always right, and finally to think for themselves beyond the limitations of race. We're going to need 400 more years for the white male to come along too. LOL. Not all though, in fairness to those few enlightened white males.

Walt

Oct 27 2008

In fairness to so-called independent older white women, I suppose going right (GOP) could be slightly attributable to the fact that the Gone Off Politically party is running a pit bull in lipstick, therefore opting for sex appeal and not race hatred. How any decent woman could choose Palin as vice-president or president is beyond me? But I know many would.

Walt

Oct 27 2008