Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Is there a way to Palin-proof the country?

So let me put my cards on the table - I see the entire world through the lens of a new mother. My world view has changed in the last seven months, and while sometimes I think of apologizing, I ultimately decide screw it. I'm a new mom

Yesterday I came home from work and my apartment had been child-proofed. I’m not inclined to trust myself on such an important matter, so I hired “Safety Matters” to come and go ceiling to floor and do whatever needed to be done. I'm not sure if it was to protect Ryan from the dangers of my condo, or to protect it (and us) from him. All I know is that when I got home I couldn't touch my television, open my kitchen drawers, or wait until the last minute to go to the bathroom, lest I risk an accident. It was so bad that I broke the drawer latch trying to get out a fork.

As I examined the broken spring-loaded device, I realized that this was kind of interesting. When you applied indiscriminate strength, the lock would resist for a long time and/or break - loudly. Instead, it invites and insists that the user think critically about how to operate it correctly. In particular, the lock on the toilet takes two hands to operate. You have to focus! Honestly, I think this is an excellent model for us to attempt to replicate as we go forth in this election.

I’d like to protect our country from the possibility of having a President and Vice-President who has absolutely no position on the economy. Because I feel like that’s the extent of the Mcain/Palin philosophy. Basically, “Whatever works, just let it work. And if it doesn’t work, that’s fine too.”

If there was a one-way latch to put on our energy policy, I’d encourage us to buy it. Let’s find a way to ensure that whatever the next president does, it can’t expand our use of fossil fuels. Otherwise I’m scared of what could happen with complete focus on “drill, baby, drill” and not advancing our energy plans.

Mostly I’d like to find a large prophylactic to put around either the Republican ticket or the country itself. Either way, I’d like to make sure that the allergic reaction to thinking that Palin seems to have is not passed from her to any individual in the country. We already have enough problems with our education system without our leaders undermining, belittling even, the importance of being educated (meaning basic noun verb agreement).

Basically, I’d love to hire a “Safety Matters” organization to protect the country. I guess I have to hope that the Democratic ticket can serve that role. Either that, or that someone finds out that Palin is actually black. Because we know that as a black woman, her ignorant mess wouldn’t be tolerated.

1 comment:

Nelda Brown said...

Perhaps the ultimate protective device any democracy has in place is the VOTE. Thank goodness we all have the chance to fool-proof our nation on November 4th.