I'll stick your bumper!

While waiting to pick up Obama Rally tickets, I saw the usual assortment of bumper stickers. "Don't blame me; I voted for Kerry." "Rebuild Iraq; then come home and rebuild our schools." "Give peace a chance."



But the best bumper sticker, the slogan I wish I'd thought of myself, was this one.

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Election Day Memories

Favorite bumper stickers:
"I'm pro-accordion and I vote."
"Republicans for Voldemort"
"A Child is more than a Test Score"


The last one isn't precisely election related, but it does make a strong statement on current policy.


Best sights to see:
Long lines at the polls (Active participation in Democracy! w00t!!
Campaign signs
"I Voted" stickers on multiple lapels
A thriving and busy campaign office


And this:




Update: Memories? This was the most amazing election day ever. I am so, so proud today.

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Overheard

...while volunteering at the local Democratic Party Headquarters


Please sign in.
Stacks of 25, please.
When McCain picked Palin, that was the end.
I need more of the Congress pamphlets. I have enough for President.
Are there any pens that aren't chewed on?
Hello, my name is Jon, and I'm a volunteer at the Democratic Party for Change.
We couldn't run this campaign without volunteers.
How long will that phone cord reach?
Is the nine to twelve shift all right?
Here, kids, go get Starbucks for all of us.
Thank you.
How many hours until the election?
Here's the address where you'll be meeting.
It's important for my kids to see the process.
Let me get that for you.
Thank you.
We need a lot of people to keep this machine running.
Data entry? I can do that.
I'm confirming your shift for "Get out the Vote" on election day.
Do you need Energy Plan brochures or Economic Solutions?
Share the excitement!
I remember you. I talked to you last night.
Can a voter register if she moved here in July and still has a Hawaii drivers' license?
Where are we? What's our address?
You can register up to the fourth of November. On the 5th, you're no good to us.
Yes, you can register at the polls on election day with the proper ID.
We couldn't run this campaign without volunteers.
Thank you.

It's just an empty storefront re-furnished with desks, tables, chart paper, shelves, and temporary wall signs. Nothing is new. Even the phones on the phone bank are old fashioned telephones with cords. Laptop computers are adorned with bumper stickers and campaign buttons. Handmade posters share space with professionally printed pieces. Scripts for the phone bank hang on the wall with tape, sharing space with additional information like the address of HQ and a map of the polls. But amidst the murmur of voices and the clicks of the telephones, there's an underlying energy that fuels the crew.

We all know it's no longer a matter of days. It's a matter of hours. This election matters. At this late date, all we have left is hope.
Ah, yes, and the most important tool: we have our votes.

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"Are you watching the convention in Denver?"

"I'm still getting over Hillary."

Spoken by a teaching colleague, one with whom I'm so alike that I'm not sure we weren't twins in a previous life, this statement started my afternoon on the first day back to school.

Political talk is an under the table kind of thing in schools. We shouldn't use email for anything election-related, actively campaign, visibly support candidates while on school property, or even discuss politics if we might be overheard by parents or community members.

You know how I feel about the word "should." Should, of course, is a bogus concept.

The reality: we quietly discuss politics among ourselves. We teachers often become politically active outside the classroom, put up signs at home and bumper stickers on our cars. We attend meetings, make donations, interview candidates in the name of our professional association, and we write letters. We write blogs!!

So when I saw our congressional representative outside the building shaking hands as more than 1,500 teachers and other school staff walked into our opening day meeting, I smiled. No, I more than smiled. I walked up to him, shook his hand, and thanked him for running for re-election. I wished him good luck in November because we need him in office.

In another hushed hallway conversation, a union rep and I talked about the need to have pro-education people in office at the local, the state, and the federal level. Like it or not, teaching is political. Decisions in Madison, decisions in Washington, and decisions made at City Hall affect the what we teach and how we teach it.

I could go on for a long, long time with a list of examples, but I have desk tags to make and a charter school board meeting tonight. So in closing, here's a Should to summarize.

Teachers should be able to teach without politics.

Reality: Education is political. It is often driven by public perception. Government decisions affect everything we teach.

End result: Teachers need to be politically active. In order to be effective advocates for children, teachers need to vote for pro-education candidates. And in order to elect pro-education candidates, well, teachers need to step out of their classrooms and .... well, you know the rest.

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Glory, glory, Gloria!

"Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere."

Said Gloria Steinem, a woman who knows feminism because she defined it, grew it, nurtured it and helped it bear fruit.

I've established my liberal leaning, my support for Hillary Clinton, my choice of local candidate for state assembly, and more. I've even shared my favorite bumper stickers. When Barack Obama chose Joe Biden as his running mate, I worried a little. Biden has the credentials, the intelligence, the experience in D.C.'s trenches. He's been on the campaign trail enough to know how it functions. I worried more about the perception of the Old White Guy, the image of Obama picking someone to appeal to the political center.

Then John McCain picked Sarah Palin. Stylish, presentable, and female, the choice seemed to pander to the women who might leave Obama's camp for someone of their own gender.

Unfortunately for McCain, it's just not that simple. All politics may be local, but national politics do more than trickle down. What happens in Washinton, D.C. doesn't stay in Washington, D.C. It floods the nation. Women get that. We know that leadership at all levels needs to be in competent hands, whether male or female, whether black or white.

Michelle (Scribbit) and I have had many a civil conversation about our political differences, and none of those conversations even mentioned Palin's gender or appearance. Senator McCain doesn't get that. He doesn't understand that women vote with their brains, their thoughts, their philosophies. Women don't automatically pull the lever or punch the chad for the one who wears heels.

A Palin presidency (and make no doubt, it's possible) would be devastating to women's rights. Palin in or near the Oval Office would mean one giant step for one woman, but one giant step into quicksand for women.

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Random Sights on Election Day thus far

At the polls:

• a long line (Yippee! People taking seriously their responsibility to vote)
• voters of all ages, from college on up
• professionals on their way to work, dressed in their office best
• everyday folk, dressed in their jeans and sweatshirts
• a few carrying coffee cups
• a voter carrying his bike wheel (one of those with the detachable front wheel to prevent theft, I think)
• a mom and dad with their sleepy toddler in a stroller
• a man in his pajama pants, big t-shirt, and slippers
• two firefighters in uniform
• a lot of friendly, talkative people who didn't mind waiting in line

Bumper stickers:

• If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
• Proud, patriotic, and pagan
• I'm pro-accordion, and I vote. (<--my favorite)

And more:

• The man in his pajamas was the first voter in line at our polling place. He came out the door, saw all of us still waiting, lifted his arms in the air and announced, "I'm number 1!" and proceeded to stick his "I Voted" sticker on his forehead. Yes, we laughed.
• A residence life staffer from a nearby college told me that they're running shuttles at regular intervals to all the polls that serve the campus. This young man also let me go ahead of him in line while he waited for a friend who was registering.
• I teach in a school building that is also a polling place. We had 5th graders dressed in red, white, and blue holding doors for people as they came into our building. The kids got a great view of democracy in action, and the voters got a chance to meet some good kids.
• The poll workers at our school request the location (are you ready for this?) because we provide them with comfortable chairs for the day. Many workers are elderly, and they work long shifts, so those of us with good quality office-style desk chairs loan them out for the day. It's the least we can do to support these wonderful people.

I posted early this evening because I'm almost afraid to watch the results tonight. I'm quite nervous about the close races in our district. If they go the wrong way.... well, I won't think about it.

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It's not easy being green

Yes, compost happens. That's what I like about it -- it'll happen whether I take action or not. You see, I'm a lazy gardener. I love my garden, and I really enjoy harvesting the fruits of my labors in the fall, but I limit the amount of effort I put into it. My friends with their incredible flower gardens are amazing, and I envy them the aesthetics of their lovely yards. but truth be told, mine will never look that good. Alongside the vegetables are "helicopters" from the neighbor's silver maple, some ground ivy sneaking in between weedings, and the clover (that I can never quite get rid of) doing its job in the nitrogen cycle. I prepare the soil (with my own compost), plant, weed, water, weed, water, and then harvest. It works for me!

And for the compost part, it helps satisfy the Earth Mother part of me. I throw in kitchen waste, garden waste, grass clippings, even dry leaves in the fall, stir it once in a while with my mini-pitchfork, and it all decomposes steadily. It's fun (yes, I enjoy it!) to watch the whole process happening. Coffee grounds and the filters disappear within days. Banana peels? The same. The dirty paper towels after I clean up a spill? Not much longer. This is especially satisfying when I notice how much less kitchen garbage we produce in the compost "season", or our midwestern spring, summer, and early fall. Supposedly the big black container will absorb enough heat to keep the process going all winter long, but it hasn't worked for me. So... I feel a little guilt in late fall when I start throwing the coffee filters in the trash again, but I reassure myself that it's not easy being green, and I'm at least part way there.

And if you were looking for a different meaning to the phrase "compost happens", like the s*** happens bumper stickers of yesteryear, there's plenty of that in my life, too. I just prefer not to swear about it. I like to think my language capabilities are more creative than that.

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