President Bush in NYC

After spending a few days in NYC I realized when the president arrives, the city suffers. It trickles down through traffic and ultimately affects everyones attitude. Yesterday, I was in a cab coming from Union Square back to my hotel at 53rd & Lex. What should have taken 10 minutes, 15 max, took nearly an hour. Then, upon my arrival I only tipped $2 because the cabbie took the LONGEST way possible. When he commented I told him those exact words, and what he heard was "LONG ASS way possible." After letting him go off for 30 seconds I informed him I said "LONGEST way possible," blushing, he sort of apologized. My point? President Bush was stressing him out. This was not the only repercussion of his visit. Cabs were nearly impossible to obtain, cabbies were P-I-S-S-E-D off, and traffic was unbelievable. Later that evening as I stepped out of Starbucks for a little boost, I was nearly killed by the racing police line of 50 or more police cars provided to protect our 43rd presidents security. Undoubtedly needed, but I wonder, what chaos is ensuing because of the lack of police security for the people that live here? I ponder, when the 44th president takes office, will it be worse or better? Does the hatred for Bush require more security or will the controversy over Obama make all the difference?

Generation X, stand up!

On the dawn of a new day I awoke with a sense of pride. Not just for my country, but for my generation. We, the "Generation X," have stood our ground. We are the generation of refusal to conform to the norm. We are a generation of creativity. We are the generation that refused to go inside on a beautiful day to be trapped in a cubicle. We revolutionized working from home. We demanded expansion of the world wide web, we urbanized cities. But most of all, we were the very first generation to be taught that its not the color of your skin which determines your worth, but the intelligence, drive and willingness to accept others that makes each of us the people we are. We are the first generation of women to stand up first in line, to raise our hand in class to be the first to answer, we are the women who are shattering the glass ceiling.
We "Generation Xers," are the future. Last night WE elected a president for a change. WE showed the world that we will not stand behind prejudice, we will not stand behind warfare, we will not stand for injustice. WE, the accepting, the open-minded, the unafraid to stand up for what we believe in, Generation X, the time for change has come. If each of you, Republican or Democrat, did not wake up today and realize what we had done, I request you watch the speeches of each candidate from last night. Our country was founded on the glory of acceptance. We are the "melting pot" of the world & finally the world can see that we stand not divided, but a union of people with a common pride for their country & democracy that will not falter.
For years, I have not be proud of my country. We have been the butt of jokes, the hypocrisy of nations, & loathed throughout the world. Today, I stand proud. Not just for the new president-elect, but for my generation. My generation will change the world & today I feel proud that I can be a part of that change. Stand up Generation X, today is a new day, a new world and OUR time to change the world.

My Gran's response 2 the question of Why Party...

There was a time when a "Party" really expressed the ideals of a distinct portion of the nation and people voted straight tickets in order to put that group in power in order to get legislation passed which helped them. Eugene Debs had great programs for the Socialist Party, probably too far ahead of his time, but US citizens thought his ideas were too "European"(many of those programs have become fact today). The Libertarian Party has some good ideas but many of their programs would not work in today's world, so their candidate gets some air time but not much support. It's really a waste of a vote to mark one's ballot for any but the two major parties. Voting a straight ticket is ridiculous and a no-brainer; there are good and not-so-good candidates within both parties and doing one's homework to select the best person is the hardest job of the voter, but must be done in order to have checks and balances within the system. No need for term limits if the public does their job and gets rid of incompetent politicians.

Questions of Party...

I have been pondering a thought since this monumentous election has begun. Why party? We all know of the Republican & Democrat parties. How about the Independent, Libertarian, or Socialist parties? I know you are probably thinking, "seriously, the Socialist party?" Its not about the party particularly, but why it is a joke that a competent candidate should rise to the level of a presidential candidate from one of them. Did you know there is a candiate from each of those parties running for president?
What happened to their chance? They aren't linked to either of the most powerful parties and they are relatively unknown. When you were voting for your student body president in high school or the president of your major in college, did you associate them with a particular party?
So why, when the most powerful leader in the free world is elected by our country does he or she have to be an elephant or an ass?