Posts on politics

Of course, I did end up watching the election returns after all. We turned on the TV at nine o'clock and clicked back and forth among our various and sundry local channels (we've got our new digital receiver thingy, don't you know, so it's not all-snow-all-the-time anymore), waiting for those electoral vote numbers to update. And they didn't change and didn't change until suddenly, at ten, came the announcement that Obama will be our next president.

Wow. Just, wow. I'm incredibly happy about that, but I'm still waiting for it to sink in. It still doesn't feel quite real, but then, neither have the last eight years. ("Seriously? W's president? We're in all these huge messes at home and overseas? You mean that wasn't just a bad dream?")

This was my fourth presidential election, and never before did the choice seem so stark between hope and fear, between progression and stagnation, between unity and division, between something-new and same-old-crap. McCain said it well in his concession speech: "The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly." We get a lot of things wrong, but never have I been so sure that we got something right.

The crowds in Grant Park were stunning, but I was very glad to be cozy at home. I scanned the faces for my brother and some other friends who were were down there, but I didn't see them. The one time I said, "Hey, is that my brother?", Joe informed me they'd just cut to McCain's Arizona event. Oops. Not so much.

One of the greatest things about the election, for me on a personal level? Looking at Facebook and LJ and Google Reader this morning and seeing the universal joy of my friends across the country, as they updated their statuses to reflect their euphoria at the outcome of the presidential race.

I'm not universally happy. I'm concerned about various local decisions that have yet to be sorted out, notably California's Prop 8. And I know Obama getting elected is not a magical fix for what ails us. But as in Alcoholics Anonymous, I believe the first step is admitting you have a problem. And in electing Obama, America has admitted it has a problem and is ready to work to make it better.

ETA, 11/5/08:
Here's a smile-maker: the dozens of elementary school kids in the school yard across the street chanting, at the tops of their lungs, "Gobama! Gobama! Gobama!" No surprise, really. Chicago's been ready to elect Obama president for years.

I waited in line over two hours to vote today, but I gotta say... totally worth it!

Yeah, it would have been nice if the voting stations had been set up at 6 AM instead of, oh, 6:45.

And if the electronic ballot machines had been working from the get-go.

And if that ancient election judge who, every election, manages to co-opt the registration books didn't take forever and a day to pull people's cards. (I wish someone would pay this guy to not be an election judge!)

But I got to have a very nice conversation with a 7th grade social studies teacher about this and that. Yesterday, the 7th graders at her school participated in a mock election. Obama beat McCain, 583 to 9. How's that for a landslide?

She was a Lisa, too, incidentally. So was the woman immediately behind me. How's that for weird?

As frustrated as everyone was by the long wait, there was a positive energy to it all. Nobody stomped off yelling, "Screw this, I'm not voting!"

How many things are so important that we're willing to put aside everything else and stand in line for as long as it takes? When we have the choice? I wouldn't wait two hours in a grocery line, or amusement park line, or anywhere else I can think of.

I'm proud of all the voters, those who braved long lines the past few weeks, who decided nothing was more important than standing in line for as long as it took to cast their vote.

I haven't decided yet whether I'll watch the returns come in. I think I might watch Heroes on Hulu instead!

I didn't have to work yesterday, which was great for several reasons. First, I'd been working since Sunday, so I was more than ready for a break. Second, I didn't have to come up with a Halloween costume. I'm still recovering from the Halloween I wore blue jeans, a Western shirt, and a cowboy hat to work. All day, people of all ages asked me, "Oh, you're a cowgirl! Or are you a cowboy?" Um... let's not make this harder than it needs to be, folks!

Anyway, third: the weather was absolutely gorgeous, so I went down to the beach and sketched for a couple of hours. I do love to draw and wish I did it more often. I wish I played music more, too. Actually, there's a lot of things I wish I did more. But the way I look at it, I've only got time for one obsession right now. And writing has won.

Here's the least embarrassing of my sketches. I'm still learning how to use colored pencils. Seriously, it's harder than it sounds! I've got more experience with acrylics and pastels, where you layer from dark to light. Colored pencils and watercolors, you have to go light to dark. Conclusion: Prismacolors on black paper cannot look anything but awesome.

One last thing before I pedal off to work: no National Novel Writing Month for me this year. After a lot of thought, I decided I need to focus on my newish project so I don't lose all momentum. I'm still in that rocky transition period between projects, where my mind is still half on the last one. I need to concentrate my focus.

But I know quite a few of you are tackling Nano, and I wish you the best of luck! In the words of César Chávez, "Sí, se puede!" Yes, it can be done.

(Speaking of which, has anyone else noticed the similarity between Chávez's slogan and Obama's "Yes, we can"? No wonder the rich bosses are worried!

"Sí, se puede!" was also the motto of the Chicago elementary school I spent the most days subbing, back in my crazy subbing days. What a great motto, huh? They said it every day, right after the Pledge of Allegiance. Made me smile every time.)

I'm thinking about voting early. I've heard from several people who have done so, and they've all had waits of 45 minutes or more. Given how crowded my polling place was during the primary election at 6 in the morning, I'm a bit fearful of what it will be like next Tuesday. I've still got to do my research, though.

If you live in Cook County, Illinois, be sure to check out the invaluable Vote for Judges.org. See what various bar associations think of the decisions handed down by judges up for election or retention. Here's what the site says about who's behind the ratings:

The Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening is comprised of the Asian American Bar Association, Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago, Chicago Council of Lawyers, Cook County Bar Association, Decalogue Society of Lawyers, Hellenic Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago, Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois, and Women’s Bar Association of Illinois working collaboratively to improve the process of screening judicial candidates in Cook County, Illinois.

Sometimes a judge will get a universally good or bad score. Most times, it's mixed, and then you can make your choice based on the values of the association that gave its thumb's-up or -down.

At the state level, the big referendum is whether Illinois should hold a constitutional convention. The Illinois Library Association has spoken against it. There's some more extensive and balanced discussion on Illinois Issues. Right now I'm leaning against it, if only for the enormous cost, but I want to do some more research before I vote.

At the national level, the Human Rights Campaign has published its 110th Congressional Scorecard. You can see how U.S. senators and representatives voted on various pieces of legislation of relevance to the GLBTQ community. Most of the decisions go along party lines, of course, but it's still worth checking out if you've got folks up for reelection in your district.

I spent this weekend in Racine for the SCBWI Wisconsin's annual retreat (really more of a whirlwind conference/sleepover). It was my first big writer-type event and totally worth it. Highlights:

• The usual assortment of inspiration, information, and encouragement you would expect from the presenters. OK, also some nausea-inducing assessments of the "toughness" of the market these days, especially now what with "economic downturn." And a nothing-to-fear manuscript critique from the gracious and funny Holly Black.
• Meeting my agent Steven Chudney and his Wisconsin clients Julie Bowe and Deborah Lynn Jacobs in person for the first time.
• Meeting many other (mostly Wisconsin) writers and illustrators, all of whom were incredibly friendly and supportive and reassuring and welcoming to this Illinois interloper. A special shout-out to Pat Schmatz and Jennifer Motl, who, in addition to the above folks, were my main buddies for the weekend.
• Getting only one hour of sleep the first night because I was so keyed up. Silver linings: finishing The Hunger Games (so now I know why everyone's talking about it), raiding the abundant snack table at 3 AM, and being up in plenty of time for...
• Walking the labyrinth as the stars faded and then going down to the beach to watch the sun rise and skip rocks. I got a few five-skippers! (i.e., Really good for me.)

  (Aside: it was funny, being as close to Lake Michigan as we were, because my apartment is only slightly farther from the shore. I could have dog-paddled 75 miles up the coast to get there if I'd wanted. It made me feel cozily at home. Of course, how often do I go to the beach to watch the sun rise? Um...never? Accursed writing time!)

• Cafeteria food that reminded me of (a) summer camp and (b) being a vegetarian at summer camp. No, I'm afraid there were no vegan biscuits and gravy waiting for me this morning, nor veggie and tofu stir-fry last night. I'm looking forward to ingesting protein that doesn't come in the form of cottage cheese!
• Not thinking about the presidential election for nearly 48 hours.

  (Aside: You know you're not in Chicago when you see as many McCain as Obama signs on people's lawns. I mean, my building's on the edge of an historic neighborhood of freakin' multi-million dollar homes, and they've all got Obama signs! Come on, Wisconsin... Gobama!)

Again, all in all, a really terrific time. Some people asked me, will I go again next year? If I had to decide right this second, I'd say yes! I'll just have see how life and finances stand when registration rolls around next summer...

As anyone who's been following YA lit blogs this week knows, last week YA author Maureen Johnson launched a social networking site, YA for Obama. And I've been trying all week to decide how I feel about it.

Political attitudes and beliefs are not born in a vacuum. We're influenced by our families and friends, by the media, by our education (worldly and academic), by our personal experiences. Ultimately, a person's vote may legally be personal and private, but there's no reason for us to keep our mouths shut about our personal political stances and let other people do all the talking for us. Not if we don't want to.

TadMack prompted a fascinating discussion over at Finding Wonderland regarding the YA for Obama site. She worries that it might constitute "undue influence" for YA authors to team up and urge their young readers into supporting a candidate simply because it's the "cool" thing to do. Colleen adds her thoughts on the matter over at Chasing Ray. The comments on both posts, and on both sides of the issue, are well worth reading.

My feeling is that YA authors taking a political stand does not constitute undue influence; I don’t see an imbalance of power in the author-reader relationship that constitutes anything resembling coercion. Authors, as any person or institution, should feel permitted to act as role models in the political or personal realm. Teens are of an age that they can sift through the opinions flying at them from every direction and come to their own conclusions. They do all the time.

And I’m glad that more authors, especially Democratically-aligned authors, are becoming vocal about this election. In the past ten years, the Dems have invited the characterization of being quiet and wussy, letting themselves be out-shouted by the Republicans. We need voices on both sides. I’m biased, of course, but I feel like sites like YA for Obama are lending balance to, rather than skewing, the discussion this election year. Impassioned and articulate articles by such YA authors as Judy Blume and John Green are worth the consideration of any person struggling with this presidential election.

I do have two main reservations. First is that YA for Obama was started by YA authors, and while people of all ages and political stances are invited to participate, YAs are not the driving force behind the site (as the name suggests). Maybe I’d feel more comfortable if the site were called YA Authors for Obama.

Second—and this was mentioned in the comments of the above-linked posts—there’s too much misinformation and vitriol flying around in the forum for my taste. I feel sick to my stomach when I read misinformation coming from either campaign. Maybe it's the librarian in me, but I believe that information not only wants to be free but accurate. When either side spreads lies about the other side, the integrity of the election suffers; everyone suffers.

Anyone who's taken Intro to Psychology knows a fact can take a moment to learn but a lifetime to “unlearn.” Once you’ve heard, “X is true!”—even if it’s followed by a thousand well-reasoned contradictions—even if the speaker turns around and says, “Actually, I was wrong, X is not true after all”—people will have, stuck in the backs of their minds, the impression that X is true. No matter how smart you are, it’s true what they say about first impressions. Damage has been done.

So, while I hate hearing Republican lies about—for example—Obama’s (nonexistent) ties to the Chicago Machine, I also hate hearing the misrepresentation of Sarah Palin’s so-called book-banning crusade repeated again and again by Democrats. She didn’t ban books, she “tested” whether a librarian’s loyalty lay with her mayor or with the First Amendment of the Constitution (a/k/a our nation's fundamental freedom). Isn’t that at least as loathsome as the lie—and all the more powerful because it's the truth?

I’d like to say I’m done discussing politics for the rest of the fall (I get way too upset about it, and I prefer to keep my blog’s focus on libraries, books, and writing), but I make no promises. I’d like to close this post on a lighter note, with a quote about the presidential election from fantasy author Justine Larbalestier:

Seriously if I had made up a tenth of what’s been going on and put it in a novel no one would credit it. They’d be all, “The characters keep changing! They don’t make any sense. And one of them seems to be a malfunctioning robot! Also there’s a zombie! I thought this was meant to be realism. What the hell?”

I think that sums it up pretty well!

ETA 9/27/08:
There's been a lot of discussion and soul-searching in the Kitlitosphere, actually, about whether to address personal politics in blogs dealing primarily with children's literature. Different bloggers have decided on different approaches. Two posts I particularly enjoyed:

• Laurel Snyder decided she couldn't keep politics out of her blog while staying true to herself.
• Liz B. of A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy decided to keep politics out so as not to alienate or prompt division among her readers.