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Citizen Voices is a blog about election politics, written by people like you. Six San Diegans give their personal take on the issues, candidates and propositions.
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Citizen Komplain
Start up a conversation with your neighbor about your local government and it will quickly become a whine session about what the city isn't doing right. Right?
Do you really know how your city works? You may have a teenager who is required to perform a certain number of community service hours in order to graduate from school, but what have you done for your city lately? Dialogue is great, but I'm so sick of the whining.
Complaining is only worthwhile when it leads to action.
Beyond Electability
"Bored Now." That immortal quote from Willow Rosenberg pretty much completes my thoughts on the state of the race to be president. Voters from two more states voted on Tuesday to decide, or not decide, who might represent the Democratic Party in November.
If it were a fight about issues, I might be interested. If the two remaining candidates had competing visions for the future, the race might earn some attention. Rather, if anything, the primaries have become a battle of electability, and that doesn't serve the country well.
Floyd Morrow, Taxes, and Elections
In local news, Democratic San Diego mayoral candidate Floyd Morrow appeared on These Days this morning. Mr. Morrow pulled no punches with the interview, and was rather scathing in his attack on the corruption, in his eyes, of some of the other candidate's campaigns. He also spoke wanting a city-wide health care system as a stepping stone to universal health care. Once again, I still can say nothing bad about this candidate. He wants affordable housing, to help the people of the county, and isn't being shoved in my face by the mass media. Overall, it was an interesting interview.
In other news, Hillary Clinton and John McCain are both urging for the 18 cents of taxes to be removed from gasoline for the tax season. Well, today they heard about it from economists around the world. All of them screamed, "NO! What are you thinking!?"
Snobs-R-Us
Have you heard the story about the Prius-driving, latté-sipping Democrat?
It goes something like this: an elitist, upper-middle class, pseudo-intellectual snob goes into a group of his or her peers and begins spouting advice on how to fix their inbred, uninformed, and sad little lives. Not funny? No, it really isn't too funny. But for many non-Democrats (such as, Libertarians, Republicans, neo-cons, the apathetic masses, the creators of South Park, etc...) this is the vision of a liberal.
So, is there any truth to the stereotype? Does John Edwards' $400 haircut amidst New Orleans' ravaged Lower Ninth Ward signal what's wrong with liberalism? Or does the unseemly image of a bleeding heart Democrat preaching to the poor masses fog up the lens of perception?
Vocational Warriors?
Last week, San Diego residents learned that Blackwater Worldwide has rented a large warehouse in Otay Mesa, allegedly for the purpose of training military and police officers.
The controversial company received a permit in March for a training site in Otay Mesa when it became apparent that Potrero was not going to allow them to build a facility in East County. They were able to gain a business permit from the Development Services Department by using the name of a subsidiary, Raven Development Group, and describing their business as a vocational training facility. (Raven has been in the business of designing and constructing facilities for Blackwater since 1997.) The permit was awarded without public hearings, in spite of the recent evidence of public resistance to such a facility.
God Bless America?
Did you know today is the 57th Annual National Day of Prayer? Oh, stop rolling your eyes. Our country desperately needs all of the prayers it can get right now. The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. What? Are those crazy Christian fanatics at it again? No, this annual look to the heavens was actually created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress (PDF), and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman.
"What about separation of church and state?" you worry (or in the case of Florida, the separation of church and plate). Where in the Constitution does it say as a nation we can't pray for divine guidance? Since the first call to prayer in 1775, when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation, the call to prayer has continued through our history. Benjamin Franklin observed "the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men... and if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?"
I would submit that a nation can certainly fall without it. Some would say that America is on a precipice right now, very much in need of inspired aid.
Sucking On Chinese Toys and a Humble Suggestion
I recently returned from three days at the Coachella Music Festival in Indio. Three days in the desert; music, musing and dancing in a herd of thousands. Body and mind are worn – as I write this, I feel like I’ve been sucking on Chinese toys all weekend. Still, live music for three days and nights straight invites the mind to wander down many a path. Some thoughts...
Thousands from around the state, the country and the world attended the festival. Most youthful, most liberal – but surprisingly few showing their political colors. A few Obama jerseys were spotted, never caught sight of any Hillary shwag - but as always, festival icons Leonard Peltier and Che Guevara were in full effect. Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters sent a blood spattered dirigible pig floating over the crowd emblazoned with a sword wielding Uncle Sam Death Head, “Don’t Be Led To Slaughter” scrawled alongside. The pig’s underbelly was stamped with a disconcertingly hopeful message: a ballot check marked next to Obama’s name. Not exactly the sort of endorsement that warms a politician’s heart – but still, a shout out from Roger Waters is a shout out from Roger Waters. Prince said he was so sick of debates – he couldn’t stand it anymore. Hillary and Obama as the bickering parents in “This is What It Sounds Like When the Doves Cry”…
Gave a jump start to some Mexican kids in their twenties from Calexico – all studying to be lawyers. They shared their beer and we did the Spanglish thing for a while. We drank to Mexico and the U.S., neighbors and friends – they raised their beers, but were hesitant to really believe the friend part. They wished it was so, but I had to agree that most of our national gestures appear to be those of a perturbed neighbor rather than a friend…
Surviving the Housing Crunch
Last Thursday, April 24, 2008, State Assemblymember Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego, 76th District) hosted a Home-Ownership and Mortgage Resource Fair held at the CalTrans building on Taylor Street. Assemblymember's Saldaña's seat is up for reelection on the June 3rd ballot, although she runs uncontested this election year.
With every major presidential candidate forced to speak all over the country about the economy, (i.e., NAFTA, ethanol and corn crop production in conflict, rice shortages, food prices rising, gasoline prices soaring), the housing crisis could arguably be called, along with high oil prices, a major component in why the country faces a tough economic road ahead.
I was pleased to see a local Democrat take initiative and organize an informational event such as this, even though it might not affect me personally the same way as it will those people choosing to remain in California. (My husband and I plan to move out of California to improve the cost of living.) Still, the event impressed me enough to convince me to cast my affirmative vote for Assemblymember Lori Saldaña.
Something for Nothing
Just listened to San Diego mayoral candidate Steve Francis be interviewed by Tom Fudge on These Days. It was interesting to hear Francis's views on what San Diego needs and how he'll improve the situation.
All We Are Saying, Is Give Peace Officers A Chance…
I was proud to see that San Diego's firefighters got their raise last Tuesday. As the son and sibling of people in law enforcement, it had disheartened me to see our local police and firefighters paid so little.
I can understand that we are in a budget crisis, but this is something we should never skimp on. Where would we have been last fall during the fires, without dedicated firefighters risking their lives to protect us? How many times have the nearly stretched thin police of San Diego helped to keep the city safe from criminal elements? If you ask me, paying these noble people so little is the real crime in San Diego these days.