What Would Albert Do?

“Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18.” Albert Einstein

When I came across this well-known quote by Albert Einstein recently, it struck me that most of us pick our political candidates based on what we perceive as our “common sense.” My common sense, if Albert is right, was formed as the daughter of a fighter pilot during the 50’s and the 60’s. I was witness to the collateral damage inflicted on a military family by the wages of war. From Korea to Vietnam, my father’s career as a warrior was the central fact of our life and all else was secondary.

My early prejudices against war came about from my sense that anything that took my father from me was a bad thing. 

Many of my relatives grew up with their lives intact. Their fathers were home each night. They didn’t have to watch their stoic young mother wait by the phone for a call that often never came. They didn’t habitually watch the chaplain make his way down the street in front of the quarters, holding their breath to see which house he would approach with his sad but predictable news. Yet these are the very people who today are still supporting Bush’s war in Iraq. Were their prejudices the result of pain-free entitlement?

One has to ask how each of our candidates acquired their “common sense." All of them grew up in very different circumstances from one another, and all have had considerably different experiences as adults.  They are each the sum of where they came from and what they have done. As a voter I believe my job is to support the candidate that will have the sense to lead the United States away from our current imperialistic path and back to a constitutional democracy where the welfare of the people is placed ahead of corporate desire for global domination.

 -Citizen Voices blogger Candace Suerstedt is a filmmaker and a mother of three who lives in Coronado.

The Wisdom of King Solomon

Wow, I’m kind of impressed. Mitt Romney has left the race.

 “In this time of war,” he has decided to “stand aside for the good of the country,” and the good of the party so that the Republicans can defeat the Democrats.

You’ve got to admire that. True, he suffered a crushing blow on Super Tuesday with John McCain’s decisive lead, but I’m trying to be less cynical and believe that this was, at least in part, a selfless act. 

McCain has lost a formidable opponent, but he is still opposed by a passionate conservative political movement in his own party.  Hillary Clinton knows a little about that, since a passionate anti-war movement opposes her in her party, a situation that should only strengthen Barack Obama’s position.

Now, if the Democrats can learn something here. I pray that Obama and Clinton are able to conduct themselves with civility as they continue down the rock-strewn path of campaigning. If only they can step over those rocks and resist the temptation to throw them. John McCain is suddenly looking very presidential and both Democrats must immediately drop any inclination to pettiness or smallness of spirit. (And Hillary, stop the eye rolling and smirks; they do not become you, Dear.)

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The Morning After the Democracy Party

Having been working at the polling station at Escondido's Pioneer Elementary School from 5:30 a.m. until we left to turn in our ballots at 9:30 p.m., I can attest that yesterday was certainly an Election Day. On the other hand, the exhaustion and soreness this morning all point to a highly successful Mardi Gras celebration.

Mind-numbing paper counts and the stickers, stickers, stickers attitude lead to morning-after effects very similar to the more traditional Mardi Gras activities.

The worst part of the day was putting this news junkie into a news blackout zone for most of Super Tuesday. The TV was turned off. There were no publications around that might politicize the environment. The occasional news update message to the Blackberry served as more of a tease than to satisfy any actual cravings for good, hard news, and small doses of KPBS coverage over the car radio while running errands on my breaks were all I had to keep from going into complete withdrawal. 

From my standpoint, Touchscreen Inspector for a precinct that only had one electronic ballot cast, the election went smooth.

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