woman of war

I won't limit my war to just the one thing. But I've noticed that as my blog changes, I think it reflects what I find most imperative to share on my own soapbox. As of late, these things are my wars. I've been keeping my peace close to my heart. If this blog is all you know of me, it's been a long time since you've heard about what makes my mornings good and what makes my evenings peaceful. You're not hearing much about my contentment, because I've been busy sharing my discontentment. It's strange, because when I first started this blog, I was surprised by the reactions I was getting - reactions to my expressions of what made life good. It is as if this blog is now being written by a different person. It is. I am not the same glory I was even three years ago.

I'm cool with it.

Stagnation is death's close kin.

That said, I kinda miss sharing my peace here. Part of the blessing in doing that is that blogging becomes a moment in which you still yourself and reflect on what brings you joy. Sharing it with others plays the multifaceted role of acknowledging the goodness in your life and reminding others of the goodnesses in their lives. Shout out to Melette, TJ, and Diva for sharing those things with me... whether or not you know it, it inspires, ministers, and heals. I'm not saying I'm going to boomerang back to 2005. I can't make any promises about this forum - I have finally learned better. But I know that right now, I am inspired.

helping or hindering

Meet The Press transcript for May 25, 2008. Comments between Tim Russert and Maureen Dowd. Source: MSNBC.

MR. RUSSERT: Maureen Dowd, "misogynist," "gender bias," it seems as though the Clintons are being--trying very hard to lay that out as a premise for Hillary Clinton's difficulties in this primary contest.

MS. DOWD: I think it's poppycock, really. I mean, Hillary Clinton has allowed women to visualize a woman as president for the first time, in the way Colin Powell allowed people to visualize an African-American. And she dominated the debates, she, she proved that a woman can have as much tenacity and gall as any man on earth. We, we can visualize her facing down Ahmadinejad. But the thing is, Hillary hurts feminism when she uses it as opportunism. And she has a history of covering up her own mistakes behind sexism. She did it with health care right after health care didn't pass. She didn't admit that she was abrasive or mismanaged it or blew off good advice or was too secretive. She said that she was a Rorschach test for gender and that many men thought of a female boss they didn't like when they looked at her. And now she's doing the same thing, and it's very--you know, in a way it's the moral equivalent of Sharptonism. It's this victimhood and angry and turning women against men and saying that the men are trying to take it away from us, in the same way she's turning Florida and Michigan and riling up and comparing them to suffragettes and slaves. And it's very damaging to feminism.

following up - potpourri

Old Business:

Barnes and Noble don't want my business. I got a response back saying that I should go back to the store and speak to the manager, who is in the best position to address my question... except they told me in that store to contact corporate. Sounds like the run-around to me.

So far as fear is concerned, I still worry about the comings and goings of my honey and probably always will. But the police chief fired four of the officers, and disciplined the rest. I expect at least four to eight of the officers will be arraigned on assault charges. We'll see what happens with that... and I'm sure the families of the victims of that beating will have their day in civil court as well after the criminal proceedings... It'll be a while before we see how this all turns out.

New Business:

I am one of those people who doesn't want to be labeled as a member of a political party. I don't like either major party. Whether or not I'm liberal or conservative depends on what issue you ask me about. That said, anticipating that I will not be voting for McCain, I re-registered to change from independent to Democrat just so that I could vote in the primary, and I voted for Obama. I have also contributed to Obama's campaign. At the outset, I was adamantly opposed to his campaign. I figured that he was a mere flash in the pan and that he would waste time and money and not even come close to getting the nomination. I figured that he was too inexperienced and would be a distraction. He changed my mind. I fought him off, speech after speech, soundbite after soundbite. But I couldn't help myself. I read the candidate's positions. I looked at their backgrounds. I saw more similarities than the minor differences I found. But what really made the difference for me was that, all other things being pretty much equal in my eyes, the differences between the campaigns themselves and the effect that they were having on my neighbors and myself says a lot.

It has been my position, ever since deciding to vote for Obama that if Hillary Clinton wins the nomination I will vote for her as a vote against McCain, because I agree more with her positions than I do with McCain's. But it won't be any thanks to how her campaign was run. For someone who has all but had the nomination wrapped up for the past three years, her campaign has turned out to be a miserable failure. Obama should have been steamrolled a long time ago. Her campaign should be poised to afford a general election contest by now. I shouldn't have had to constantly question myself about the motives behind some of her statements, especially in recent weeks. I am so very disappointed with her. I expected her (and her husband) to do better.

On the other hand, for as much as I expected Obama to perform dismally, I was pleasantly surprised by how his campaign has gone. There is an energy and a drive in his campaign's operation that surprised me. I was one of the estimated 35,000 who joined him for a campaign rally in Philadelphia - that was an amazing experience. I have seen him bounce back from some fair and unfair criticism, articulate his views in a way that seems mindful of the limitations he faces as well as optimistic about the potential in our citizens... There is something about him that has nothing to do with his melanin. I like his judgment. I like his vision. And I like how when you ask him a question, he answers it without bobbing and weaving.

I think that if he made it to the Oval Office, he could do it, not only as well as Hillary can, but even better. This isn't just based in hope or change rhetoric. It's also based on my opinion that Hillary can't pull off universal health care - not with that price tag, she can't. It's also based on my feeling that Obama will be more open to varying viewpoints instead of loyal yes-man consensus, which I believe Hillary would demand in the Oval Office, based on her campaign (which is scary to me because that's how Bush is running his administration now).

That said, I think Hillary should stay in at least until the primaries are over. I think that if she dropped out now it would divide the party even more than if she stayed in, because all of the Hillary supporters who already think she's a victim of misogyny will draw the line at her being "pushed out" of the race. It will be harder to get them to vote against McCain or vote at all if they feel as if their candidate had a shot but it was stolen from her. That bitterness is as real as how Democrats feel after Gore didn't take the 2000 election, and that sentiment has STILL not gone away. Look, Obama has the numbers. Let Hillary play this thing out. I suspect that the longer her limping campaign drags on, the more she talks herself out of the nomination, anyway.

I am not in favor of a joint ticket between Obama and Clinton. But if I'm only given that option, I'll still vote for it.

See, I don't believe in protest voting. I think that sitting at home because you don't like either guy is asinine. That is the equivalent of voting for the other guy. I also think that voting for someone whose positions don't reflect your preferences (McCain) just to spite the fact that your original candidate lost the nomination is worse than asinine. It is poisonous. Like littering, or not paying taxes, or destroying public property, all of which are and should be punishable offenses.

I respect Hillary supporters. I think that they have made a good choice - she is smart and capable. I tend to disagree with the notion that she has more meaningful experience than Obama, but I understand why they think so and respect that. What I am hoping is that between now and November, if she doesn't get the nomination, that they come around. I've been hearing a lot of protest vote talk, and it is spiteful, petty, and of no help to this country.

Upcoming Events:

Last year, because I was getting my grind on, I missed spring and most of summer. But this year, I am going to enjoy the weather, play on beaches, slap at mosquitoes, eat burnt hot dogs, and log a lot of walking time. This is the time of year that makes the rest of the year just a prelude. Happy Memorial Day weekend, folks, and enjoy.

Fear

First, some fools robbed a bank and one of them used an assault rifle to kill a cop who was tailing them. The officer has left a widow and three children behind. It breaks my heart that this family man was killed in this way. It has been reported that his last words were that he loves his wife and his children. I'm tearing up just thinking about it. My city is in mourning.

But in case that wasn't enough, tensions are rising. There is a manhunt for one of the suspects involved in the bank robbery. The police are hunting for the bad guy - it's been half a week now, and they still don't have him. I hope he turns himself in, because if they find him first, I hope he survives the encounter...

Because this is what's going on in my city now.




And I'm fearing for my honey's life, as he goes to and from, praying that this doesn't happen to him, like it did to these murder suspects, who were snatched out of their car, kicked and beaten.

Arguably, they're murder suspects, so maybe that's why the police went off on them... but it still looks like excessive force to me. It looks like maybe all of these emotions - this rising tension in the wake of the slain officer's death, is making it dangerous to be on the streets.

Barnes and Noble's response

I received this response from B&N's customer service:

> Date: Thu, 1 May 2008 11:59:58 -0400
> From: service@barnesandnoble.com
> To: glory's email address
> Subject: Re: General Question (KMM21013458I15977L0KM)
>
> Dear Customer,
>
> Thank you for your e-mail.
>
> As booksellers, we carry thousands of books whose subject matter some
> may find offensive. Over the years, we have received countless requests
> and demands to stop selling everything from The Merchant of Venice to
> The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Rise and Fall of the Third
> Reich, even The Living Bible.
>
> At Barnes & Noble, we take our mission very seriously - to be a valuable
> resource to our customers, bringing books and ideas to the public. We
> live in a diverse culture, and that diversity is reflected in the wide
> range of interests, philosophies, and lifestyles of our customers.
> The guiding principle we use is to offer every book in print and allow
> our customers to decide what to buy and read. After all, freedom of
> choice is at the very heart of our democratic society. It is
> understandable that some people may strongly oppose the content of a
> particular title and choose not to purchase it; we respect their
> opinions. In return, we ask that our customers respect our
> responsibility to offer a selection of reading materials as diverse as
> the society in which we live - the very society that grants the freedom
> for these materials to exist.
>
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Robin
>
> Customer Service Representative
> BarnesandNoble.com
> http://www.bn.com/
>
>
>
>
>


And here is my response:

Thank you for your timely response, Robin.

However, this response does not address the suggestion that I posed. I do not object to the merchandise being sold. I instead suggest that it be shelved differently so that customers can more expediently find the books that they want to find without having to weed through unrelated books. Is there a possibility that this can be done, and if so, please let me know if, as a customer, I can assist with this effort.

Thank you,
[glory's gov't name]

Please notice that I gave my name and was responded to as "customer," and that my issue was not actually addressed. I suspect that the message I sent was scanned and certain buzzwords triggered a form-letter-type response. Not good enough. I'd rather have a "no" than a non-answer.