As opposed to what my dad believes. Srsly, I'm enjoying myself, proud to be an American for one of the very, very rare times in my life [could count how many times I have felt that way on one hand] and my dad's there grumbling, saying BS about Obama. I mean, I finally had to tell him to shut up, and I don't know but for the first time ever, he didn't yell at me for saying it [potentially because I'm an adult now, potentially because he realised he was being disrespectful...and just plain ridiculous]. So yes, I couldn't quite enjoy the inauguration to its full potential but still loved it.
This was the first time I have ever, ever heard a speech that mentions equality among the faiths that actually mentioned the non-believers!! This was the one part of the speech that nearly brought me to tears because for the first time, I did not feel excluded on account of my understanding of the world, because of my beliefs. I noticed many times throughout the morning that unfortunately, this is still seen as a Christian nation [despite the fact the country was founded by deists] - It is a nation ruled by religion. I know it could be worse and today, I have seen change. We're getting there, world. We're getting there.
Oh! And Barack Obama is a lefty!! Add that to the reasons I love the guy. He is a fellow lefty.
Final word: No, guys, he did not mess up the oath - The fella having him repeat the oath screwed up, switched up the words, and threw Obama who was a good pres and knew that was wrong.
Actual final word: After eight years of misery, I can finally, finally say it...
farewell, dubya! GOODBYE, BUSH.
SEE MILK!!! It actually hasn't won anything yet, but hopefully it will at the Oscars! Also, if you see the movie, you might have a better idea of where I'm coming from with this whole protest issue.
ReplyDeleteyou're right. in our society today, protests aren't a constructive way of bringing about change. but the reason for this is not because protests in general aren't effective, it's because of the way they're organized today as opposed to the way more effective protests were in the 60s and 70s, which none of the young people of our generation were alive to see, so therefore they do not see firsthand the effect on change that they had.
first of all, protests today need to happen in places where it's actually going to do something. for example, protesting proposition 8 in massachusetts, where gay marriage is legal, is not going to make as much of a statement as people from all over the country who are opposed to prop 8, who have the means to travel (like they did to dc on tuesday), trekking to california and joining together in a huge mass THERE to protest it.
second of all, not enough people get involved in actual activism today. even if a protest was unorganized and chaotic, it would be effective because the other party, i.e. government officials, would at least see the reality of a mass of angry people demanding the system to change.
**the system is what's fucked up, not necessarily the individual president (although they sometimes have their own fucked up issues, but generally it's the system of government and power that corrupts people). the system is what needs to change.**
third, the government regulates protesting and demonstrating WAY more than it did back when protesting effected change more easily. standing in a blocked off area designated for demonstrating/protesting is not going to do shit. if people opposed to your views want to ignore you, they simply won't go near your little designated area. as long as protesters aren't physically harming anyone or infringing upon individual people's personal lives or personal property, their right to protest shouldn't be restricted to a roped-off area.
blahhhh.