As Above, So Below

Writing and covering politics, I pretty much end up on everyone's campaign fundraising list during election season. No one ever asks, one day I simply just get a new email that sounds similar to every other email screaming about how if no one donates money now the Koch brothers will own us forever or just a little more dough will make a huge difference to the campaign and "don't you want to see real change in (insert city/state/country)?"

Sorry guys, just because I covered the time you showed up to a march somewhere or said something mildly interesting that had more substance than a 20 second talking point once doesn't mean I want to open my barren wallet and give you the dust, lint and crumpled business cards inside. Forget about money, I'd much rather eat tonight and your fundraising dinner with the bag boiled vegetables and bland chicken is worth less than the frozen pizza in the back of the ice cabinet at the liquor store.

With that in mind, here's a piece that hits the nail on the head.

"If Democrats acted like Democrats, they might enjoy the same level of support from their own base...but instead, the people are presented with this eternally timid "Please Don't Hurt Me" coalition, afraid of the word "Liberal," and certainly addicted to the Wall Street/Defense/Petroleum money swelling their coffers. You ain't broke, despite that barrage of emails to the contrary.

You support fracking while giving lip-service to climate change? You want Keystone XL approved, despite the fact that it will run the world's dirtiest fuel through our breadbasket and over our main aquifer in a pipeline that is dead-bang guaranteed to leak? You endorse the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement? You're satisfied with the barren lack of accounting meted to the Wall Street brigands who stole our future? You're down with a third war in Iraq?

Wait, you don't support all that? But you won't stand against it, because you're afraid of losing votes or campaign money?

My heroes."

The College National Republican Committee released an ad this week aimed at six state gubernatorial elections (including mine - Illinois) aimed at women in the way that only republicans apparently know how - through stereotypes. While the CNRC's President Alex Smith (the first woman elected to that position) says the campaign is a way to target voters "in a culturally relevant way," the campaign reinforces a bevvy of gendered and sexist ideas, which I suppose is par for the course for entirely too many political campaigns in America.

As Chuck at Chicagoist points out: "Apparently, their version of "culturally relevant" means having a token sassy black friend at the fitting, and a mother pooh-poohing "Brittany's" choice in wedding gown. If anything, the CRNC's ad buy has renewed a discussion about traditional gender roles in society—women relate to weddings and are always on the hunt for a husband, so let's make a commercial framing their election choices that way."

The New Republic points out the median age of "yes to the dress" viewers is 44. Sadly, this means we've got at least another generation or so to go where these types of roles are considered "culturally relevant," and probably a hell of a lot longer thanks to their perpetuation across the media and consumer landscape.

Meanwhile, a good pal of mine on another social network did point something worth noting as far as the similarities between voting and weddings:

"Compare voting to picking out a wedding dress?

You mean choosing among several essentially identical options and spending far too much money to attempt to express your personality through how much you can spend on an outward symbol of an anachronistic ritual?

You mean standing around a packed room with a crowd of virtual strangers to perform this curious ritual, all the while knowing that despite all the time and money spent, no one will remember a damned thing about it all in a week?

If that is so, then I can see it for sure."

Protesters lined both sides of 87th Street in Chatham, while demonstrators in Cicero staged a sit-in in a busy intersection in front of a cluster of fast food restaurants.

Just FYI, the kids have never been alright. Every new generation ruins it for the previous one.