Archive for June, 2011

What now?

Published: 25 June 2011 11:27 PM UTCPosted in: National, Politics
What now?

I just finished watching the movie version of Andrew Ross Sorkin’s bestselling book, “Too Big To Fail.”  For the millions of us who are yet to read it, I recommend you begin by watching the movie –if your time does not allow you to read the book– playing now on HBO, and actually, produced by HBO. For one, the cast is a round-up of first class actors, many whom you’ll recognize as they play the disliked CEOs of the financial institutions that are in great part to blame for this mess we’re still in three years later.

Autum of 2008 feels as if it were only yesterday. Unfortunately, the mess of that time is still quite present for so many. Andrew’s book no doubt, points to the many factors that led to that terrible state of things, the magnitude of the catastrophe that was really avoided, and the players who still have had a hand, and continue to have a hand on our economy. Trying really hard not to sound partisan, as much as it looks like every one had a part on this mess, including us the consumers, the story clearly indicates that the greed of the few that ran the financial institutions, protected by mainly Republicans, had a big piece of the stake in this mess.

Prior comment aside, clearly, partisanship is not going to get us anywhere. Clearly it has led us to undesired places. So, I will make every effort here not to point the finger at the ones I want so badly to continue pointing the finger to. Perhaps just this once is worth having done so we don’t allow these people back in power, perhaps so we’re reminded and don’t make that mistake again. Last year, the rise of the so called “independent” Tea Party movement, clearly financed by the Republicans who want to return to power at any cost, is not fooling the rest of us, true independents.

We do NOT need anymore finger pointing though, as tempting as it is, and so easy to dwell on. It is so, so easy to fall into that.  God knows how much I want to. But mine is only one of the million voices in this country, who have such little weight, without the multimillion donation behind it, that would have an impact on the vote of our so called “political representatives”.

Despite that, as all these economic, global and political issues crowd my head, there are no calls for partisanship from here, to go further to the left or the right, or blame a certain group for our economic woes. It is tempting, but we can no longer afford this luxury.

We are going through such challenging times at this point that the only option we have as voters, is to set our differences aside, for the sake of our common good.

We can no longer afford to let our differences and ideology divide us. Those who want to remain in power would love that, and will make sure to invest money in doing so in the upcoming election. They will make sure to bring up hot-topic buttons such as abortion rights, gay rights, immigrant rights, gun rights, taxes, etc. They’ll invest millions of dollars to keep us apart, so that their politician of choice –or better said, their high-ticket political representative– will vote for their interests, even if that vote goes against the interest of the people.

I would like to call upon each of us, to look into our hearts, our minds and step up to participate more actively into the political process, not necessarily to push for our own personal agendas, but setting aside those and looking to contribute to the collective good, even if at times we may not agree. The one rule we must respect is that we cannot trample on each other’s personal rights. We cannot. How can we fight so hard for the rights to own guns, yet fight so hard to keep women from making decisions over their own bodies? How can we fight so hard to keep taxes low for the ones in the upper income levels, yet allow the middle class to carry the burden of our country’s infrastructure? We need, desperately, to set aside our differences, find areas of agreement, and take it from there.

Life is too short to waste not contributing to the common good. We all have  a purpose that goes beyond ourselves. We need to start looking beyond our immediate wants and needs, and lend a helping hand to our communities in some way, doing something positive that will bring us together. We are fortunate to live in an amazing country that still defends the rights of the individual, a country with abundance of ideas and talent. We just need more good will, more community good will. For that is what will save us from empowering those few who suck the blood from our true democracy and capacity for middle class prosperity.

Let’s not fall for the single-issue campaigns, the one-line slogans. Let’s be smart enough to read through the lines and discern the lies, the hot button manipulations. I don’t see anything wrong with having an agenda that does not necessarily have party “purity”. Enough of that purity crap!

Though I advocate for bipartisanship, don’t be surprised if in my future entries you’ll find me railing against those campaigns (Republican or otherwise) that clearly do not represent the voters and the common good. I won’t hesitate to speak up, not necessarily against a party, but more against whatever ideology is likely to hurt the voters, if in power.

A great example of bipartisanship is the bipartisan vote to pass same-sex marriage legalization here in our great state of NY. Kudos to all those who worked hard to make it happen, and for those political representatives who looked beyond their own personal agendas and ideology, and voted for what’s best for the people. Having seen this last night, gave me hope.

So, stay tuned and don’t hesitate to voice your opinion here as well. Looking forward to your comments here and on Twitter.

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The State of Things Today – Part 2

Published: 17 June 2011 12:05 PM UTCPosted in: National, Politics
The State of Things Today – Part 2

Thank you Mr. Anthony Weiner for doing the right thing for the party and the voters. By having resigned you got out of the way of the media train, and are allowing them to focus on the shenanigans of the Republicans, again.

While they cameras were on you, the Republicans had the nerve to introduce a bill to privatize social security.

How dare they?

Mr. Weiner, you will always have my support, because in the end, after the mistakes, you did the right thing. Whatever you decide to do next, many of us will be wishing you the best and looking out for you. We hope you continue to fight for us.

Now I turn to you, my dear reader, a likely voter.

We need to start paying more attention to the issues that touch our lives. The one today is the privatization of social security. What are the Republicans thinking? Actually, they know what they are doing. They are taking advantage of the media circus around the latest scandal in Washington, to skulk in and slip in an ominous bill that will rob the people of the United States.

We have barely come out of a horrendous ride where our 401Ks took a major hit, and this shameless group of sell-outs in congress, who claim to represent us, but in truth we know they are representing those who line up their pockets, have the nerve to slip in quietly this bill, to give more millions of dollars to their true constituents, the financial institutions.

We cannot let this happen. Please spread the word and call your congress representative, and tell them you won’t stand for that.

If we follow the path the Republicans want, the middle class will cease to exist, and the gap between the rich and the poor will be as great as the distance between California and China. We will then be no different than any third world country, with no programs in place to help the citizens rise to a better place. That is where the “pull yourself up by your boot straps” mentality exists. And you see how bad it is. Druglords take over, poverty and crime become the standard of living.

I don’t support the Republican agenda. Not because I’m a “liberal”, as some people have labeled me on Twitter. Personally, I don’t mind. But know this, I am an independent, not registered with any parties. I don’t follow blindly along party lines, and won’t hesitate to stand up for that which I believe is unfair, regardless of party.

Right now, the Republican party is shamelessly doing things to divide us, separate us. They stand to gain much by appealing to the dark side of us, to our fears, our hate, our insecurities.

Let’s do everything possible to keep those politicians, who truly do not represent the citizen on Main street, in the minority in government. They don’t deserve a seat on the grown up table, because they are sell-outs, for the most part.

As an independent, though I may not agree with everything the Democrats stand for, I prefer to support their more inclusive agenda, which strives to help Main street. I hope those Democrats who have also become sell-outs, also get voted out of power and true representatives of the people replace them. Too bad for Mr. Weiner. He was one of our champions, but had to screw it up. Well, no one is perfect. But if given a choice between a John Boehner or an Anthony Weiner, I’ll take the latter any day, over the former. At least we know Anthony’s dirt.

Let’s get our true democracy back. Vote for true representatives of the people. Let’s look at ourselves in the mirror, for it could be one of us reading this column.

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The state of things today – Part 1

Published: 15 June 2011 9:31 PM UTCPosted in: Local - NYC, Politics
The state of things today – Part 1

Almost 9 months later. Finally, I find a free moment to share with you, dear readers.

A lot has happened.

For one, I am now, officially, an American citizen, and as much as some people may not see it they way I do, this is a HUGE deal for me.

For so long I have been caring about what happens in our world, our political state of things, but have been unable to participate in the voting process here in the top democracy in the planet. Now I feel like not only can I voice my opinion, but also participate in the process completely.

A few months ago, between my 60+ hour job and school demands, I was so busy, that I neglected to keep up with my sites. Today, my sites are up and running again, and I promise to write more often here. There is so much going on at this point. So much going on in the world, to share with you.

Tonight, I want to share with you, as an independent, how I view the current situation with someone whom I’ve admired for a long time, congressman Anthony Wiener.

It’s taken me two weeks to go from shock, denial, disbelief, to even more shock, disappointment, and now, a feeling of betrayal. I have always admired and loved Mr. Wiener’s passion, as he fought for us in congress. I enjoyed so much that moment that gets played over and over again when he refuses to yield his time, in frustration over the GOP’s denial of healthcare for the 911 heroes. If you haven’t seen the short video, please see it and be reminded why Anthony Weiner continues to have support, even in the face of the current situation. That made him the hero of many of us New Yorkers, especially me. I relished in his feistiness. I was sure this man was our champion in a congress that for an unfortunate good part, is made up of sell-outs who only care about pleasing their large donors, their next election, and forget about the people, the common citizen that with great hope, at one point, gave them their vote.

On a flight from Paris to Madrid, a couple of weeks ago, the plane had an old flick called Mr. Smith goes to Washington. The flight landed before I saw the ending, yet, though the movie was written decades ago, it certainly points at what we all fear goes on on in some powerful circles in politics. To me, Anthony Wiener’s refusal to yield in that famously replayed moment not so long ago, was a representation of our refusal to yield to the corruption that runs in some of the offices of our beloved congress.

For a time I used to be envious of Anthony Wiener’s constituents. I used to think they had an undefeatable champion. What most of us weren’t counting on, however, was on the fact that Mr. Wiener is as imperfect as any other powerful man who lets his “you know what” get the better of him.

What is it about powerful men and sex?? For goodness sake! Mr. W., did you have such a restrained youth that now that you are powerful, you think you can live your unfulfilled teenage sexual fantasies?? How can you forget about the possibility that you’re supposed to be a public figure, a role model??

Look, I count myself among one of the most imperfect people you’ll ever meet. I’m sure most of us have done our share of the things you may have done in the privacy of your home. But I am NOT a public figure! Someone commented in a blog entry at the Huffington Post, that if people were to be fired because of the things they do in their private lives, barely anyone would be working.

I give you the fact that you’re a human being, more importantly, that you’re a man and have an obsession with your penis. I understand that is a common thing. Fine. Where I am hugely disappointed and feel the sense of betrayal is two-fold. As your former admirer, I would have preferred that you own up to the pictures, the sexting, warned us that yes, it is a weakness of yours, that you’re working on it, but in no way it affects your ability to perform your job. I would have respected that and even admired you more for admitting to a personal issue, and seeing that you’re this human.

But dear Mr. Weiner, vehemently denying it, so forcefully and angrily, to come out and give a 180 degree turn on your stand a week later, completely affected your ability to perform your job. You lied. You lost credibility. You lied so adamantly that we, your supporters believed you as well, and even stood for you, all to feel sold out in the end. Now we all wonder, what else could you have been lying about?

Someone reminded me that you are just another politician. I believed you were different.

Now, your refusal to resign, giving the Republicans ammunition for 2012, shows you’re not thinking about the big picture here. Now it’s time to think about your party, and the overall outcome of the political battles looming ahead. We all know your situation will play a factor.

The other way I feel betrayed, is as a woman, putting myself in the shoes of your lovely and beautiful wife.

Why??? Why???? Being married to this great individual wasn’t good enough for you, that you had to go seek other women? I cannot imagine, as a woman, how awful you must have made her feel upon the public revelation of your pictures. Fine if you were single and uncommitted. But committed and with a baby on the way?

No doubt, my dear Mr. W., I am among the most easy going of your now betrayed admirers. After failing to be honest and not admitting to your “habits”, after failing in your commitment to one woman for the rest of your life –and so soon after your wedding–, after refusing to bow down gracefully, the only thing you can do to redeem yourself in my eyes, to allow me to see your humanity and maturity, is for you to resign, allow the democrats have a fighting chance on the “morality” issue, which the hypocritical Republicans so happily take on every time to divide us. Please don’t give them anymore ammunition. I’m sure many of them are doing their own share of sexting and sending flirtatious indecent pictures to strangers who are willing to keep their secrets. I’m sure they are not above you. But for the sake of the big picture, and for the salvation of our country, please resign and allow people to forget about your situation. We cannot afford to have anymore Republicans in charge and continue hurting the American dream. They are counting on the fact that voters have short memories.

Let your party have a fighting chance for 2012. Once you are gone, I hope with time we will remember the champion we once had in you, and forget about what made you so human.

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