tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17605299122273732072024-03-12T19:25:41.149-07:00Dear Mr President 365Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.comBlogger369125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-80338451692566090362011-10-28T13:46:00.000-07:002011-10-28T13:46:03.727-07:00Updates and a few favors:<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Hey all! <br />
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So just a quick update on my book: <i>Dear Mr. President</i> is still going to be printed, the editing process was stalled when my lovely and very very talented copy editor and friend got a new job at <i>The Stranger</i>. (Yay Anna!!) I'm looking for a new editor (my lovely and very very talented graphic designer and friend who is responsible for the beautiful cover art is helping me out in this area- Yay Kitri!!) and when it is finished the book will be infinitely better and more readable because of Kitri and Anna's help, so thanks for being patient and I promise you I will let you know as soon as you can buy it.<br />
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My mother recently brought to my attention that the campaign to re-elect President Obama is hiring writers and editors. (For more info check out the listing on <a href="http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/writers-and-editors-job-application?source=20111027_FB_BO">mybarackobama.com</a>) I'm planning to apply but I need several writing samples to send in. I'll be combing the blogs I've kept, the school assignments and writer's group pieces I've done, but if you happen to recall a letter/post that you thought was particularly well-written, I could really use some suggestions. Also, despite the clown car that is the Republican primary, I think 2012 is going to be a tough campaign and will need great writers! If you or any one you know is right for this campaign, pass along the listing and encourage others to apply!<br />
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</div>Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-51133009066718285062011-06-02T22:52:00.000-07:002011-06-02T22:53:20.311-07:00The book!A first look at the lovely cover art by Kitri Wood:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U2KJb3FKQd8/Teh2VLUSoII/AAAAAAAAAI8/WYmiaCxaJbE/s1600/photo%2B%252813%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U2KJb3FKQd8/Teh2VLUSoII/AAAAAAAAAI8/WYmiaCxaJbE/s400/photo%2B%252813%2529.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Detail:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZqY1IZs2hfI/Teh2gDsE_xI/AAAAAAAAAJA/13hNl458jLs/s1600/photo%2B%252814%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZqY1IZs2hfI/Teh2gDsE_xI/AAAAAAAAAJA/13hNl458jLs/s400/photo%2B%252814%2529.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Right now the printer that will make the inside of the book is down, so I'll be posting ordering details, pricing and all that jazz as soon as it is back online....Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-84472714073273814142011-01-02T21:35:00.000-08:002011-01-02T22:40:07.025-08:00Reflection, FAQ, and EspressoI'm not sure that I've been away from my blog long enough to really reflect effectively. For one thing, these last two days have been full of work adventures and more than my share of celebration New Year's Eve. But I do want to sum up the experience for those who are interested, and offer some suggestions for those who'd like to read other blogs. I thought I'd start by answering a few questions I hear pretty often:<br /><br />Q: Does the President write back?<br /><br />A: Sadly, no. I've gotten about 40 form-letter responses ("Dear Friend, Thank you for writing about _____. The President thinks _____ is important/complicated/challenging/essential. blah blah blah. Signed, The Autopen") I don't mind this, actually. The President gets 40,000 e-mails and letters every day. If mine never made it past the secretary's secretary's desk, that's not entirely surprising. <br /><br />Q: Are you going to keep blogging?<br /><br />A: Maybe? I'm certainly not going to continue with Dear Mr. President, if only because I can't commit to writing every day with school and work and my 2011 resolution to train for a marathon. That being said, I don't imagine I'll be able to give it up entirely, and maybe in a month or so I'll start a new blog. If that's the case, I will post it here. <br /><br />Q: What is an Espresso Book? Do I want one? Can I get one?<br /><br />A: The lovely University Bookstore has a machine named Homer, also called an Espresso Book Machine. This small press is used to self-publish or to print public domain titles. Because I'm a bibliophile and because the internet won't fit on my bookshelf, I'm going to print an Espresso book containing every letter I wrote this year. It will have no extras, nothing that you cannot get 100% free on this site. That being said, if any one does want a copy (and if you are my mother or my sister or taught me in Elementary school you are already getting one and no you cannot pay for it,) please e-mail me at pincek@uw.edu. I'm going to charge whatever the cost of printing is ($20-40 depending on the number of pages and the number of copies)- I won't be making a single dime on this, I promise- and the more copies I print the less each one costs. It probably won't be ready until February. It will not hurt my feelings if you do not want to order one so please don't feel obligated by friendship to order. <br /><br />If you are interested in the EBM I encourage you to check out the <a href="http://universitybookstore.blogspot.com/">Shelf Life Blog</a> for more information. <br /><br />Q: Are you happy or sad to be done?<br /><br />A: So much of both. I've never completed anything like this before, and while I'm tremendously proud of what I have written, I'm also exhausted and ready for a break. I think this has more to do with the obsessive political news-reading routine I had going. It can really take it out of you to read some of these stories and some of this spin over and over again every day. That being said, I'm not a big fan of "story fatigue"- it has to be way worse to live some of these stories than it is to read them. So, while I am taking a break from seeking out the tragedy, the outrage, the injustice, I'm not going to live in ignorance of it. I just need a week or so to be a student. And about 36 straight hours of sleep. <br /><br />Q: I need new reading material!<br /><br />A: My suggestions for daily/frequent reading:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/">Daily Kos</a> is a very mainstream democratic blog that has some very talented writers, diaries from dozens or hundreds of fellow dems every day. The site can be too conservative for me on some issues and recently the Israel/Palestine censorship issue stirred a boycott from many pro-Palestinian bloggers. For all of its faults, Dkos offers insight and analysis that you won't find in the mainstream media as well as many powerful personal stories from bloggers around the world. I encourage all of you to check it out. If you're interested in political blogging this is a great site to get started on- you'll get honest feedback and tons of support from the community. <br /><br /><a href="http://wildwildleft.com/">Wild Wild Left </a> is a smaller community than Dkos, and much further to the political left. This site is managed by a really remarkable woman who supports a family, struggles with a really appallingly unfair amount of tragedy for one life, and still manages to maintain her blog and promote other bloggers. She's been incredibly supportive of me and my writing and I'm always grateful for her comments and opinion (even when we don't agree.) This site is home to a number of eloquent, impassioned writers and a great place for debate and discussion. <br /><br />My friend George is working on his own 365 project, called <a href="365spins.wordpress.com">365 spins</a>. He listens to one album a day and writes about it. Music lovers of all stripes will enjoy his reactions to everything from Nick Cave to Mariah Carey. <br /><br />Book-lovers should check out my friend Brad's blog <a href="http://usedbuyer.blogspot.com/">UsedBuyer 2.0</a>. Reviews, readings, quotations, essays, and caricatures from life and literature- what more could you possibly ask for? <br /><br /><a href="http://thousandstoriesandonestory.blogspot.com/">Jason Vanhee</a> is a great writer. His short story blog, A thousand stories and one story, is updated twice weekly (Monday/Thursday) and always a good read. He encourages reader suggestions for story ideas and also has more than a few great novels up his sleeve. <br /><br />My blog list of links in the side bar --> has a number of other great writers, great news sites and interesting things to check out. Enjoy!<br /><br /><br />Q: WHERE'S MY BONUS LETTER? <br /><br />A: Oh yeah. I got a great letter from a lovely guest blogger, which I'd planned to use to give myself a night off around the Holidays. That felt too much like cheating, so I decided to post it here. Please enjoy this letter from Chev, a frequent subject in my writing herself, and if you enjoy it check out her blog at <a href="http://jesuisunvagabond.wordpress.com/">Jesuis un vagabond</a>. <br /><br /><i>Dear Mr. President,<br /><br />My best friend has written a letter to you every single day this year. I find this an amazing feat. In a country where we are actually allowed to criticize as well as praise our leaders, too few of us take advantage of that right. Some think she's crazy for choosing to "thinking about politics all the time" (I'll bet you wish you had the luxury of that choice, huh?), but I'd argue that she's taking claim of her rights and managing to stay on top of what's happening in this world. Which is not always easy.<br /><br />I'm emulating her with my own letter to you. I'm not sure of my ability to comment on current events or offer intelligent policy suggestions, the way my friend does. The most recent news article I read was in a Time Magazine from August. What I do feel qualified to write about is my identity as an American, and how you've impacted that. In fact, I think I spend more time thinking about "America," the ideal and the reality, than most politicians.<br /><br />I work for you, though you don't know me. I'm a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa. Being so far from home, in a country that can feel so different than home, I think endlessly about home. I am surrounded by people who are obsessed with America. They all have shirts adorned with your face. They don't always know that America isn't in Europe or that we don't speak French. What they know is that America is a magical, wonderful place in which there are endless jobs and money. That America is a place where people don't have malaria and babies don't die from diarrhea. I spend a lot of time arguing for reality, explaining that we don't all have multiple cars and TVs and we don't all live like Akon (the eternal symbol of West African success in America). I've been trying to explain the abomination of health insurance. I spend a lot of time insisting that this country has a lot that America can't offer; neither one is "better", they're just so different.<br /><br />But the truth is, I miss America. A part of me is glad that I get to live here just for two years and that I have America to return to as my home when it's all done. Some of it is because the grass is always greener on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Some of it is simply because, in a way I never could have imagined before one fateful night in November of 2008, I love my country.<br /><br />The country I currently live in is about to have an election. The people don't really have a choice. This is a complex issue with a lot to be said about it but it comes down to this: we all know who's going to win. However heartbroken I was by the 2004 election, however ashamed I am of my country people for how they used their choice in this last midterm election, I have always remained proud that we have a choice.<br /><br />Your election represents to me a moment when Americans made the right choice. No amount of CNN analyses or Glenn Beck rants or disappointing midterm elections can take that away. It brought to me the idealism and joy and energy that made me truly fall in love with my country. In your election I discovered within myself an overwhelming optimism and hope for our world which I thought had died. I discovered in others shared dreams.<br /><br />I voted for you not because I expected you to fix everything or because I expected to agree with everything you do. In fact, I knew very well we disagree on some major issues. I voted for you because you are an intelligent, reasonable man who can defend his beliefs. Because I knew that when I was halfway around the world I'd be proud instead of ashamed to tell people "I'm American" if you were my president.<br /><br />Clearly, it hasn't been easy. It's a tough time for our country. It's a tough time for the world. There's been a lot of criticism - some of it justified, most of it not. I don't want to dwell on what's been good and what's been bad at this moment. Maybe I'm just in more of a position to gloss over the imperfections than most. It's like the relationship most young adults have with our parents: maybe we're embarrassed to say "I love you", maybe their habits get on our nerves and we roll our eyes at them, but when we're away from home, when we're sick or scared, we just want the comfort and protection of them more than anything. That is how I now feel about America. Time and an ocean have given me perspective on what it means for me to be an American, what it means to be patriotic. I now can realize that I have a culture, and I miss it. I miss the American people, I miss the ease of interactions with people from my country. I miss my land.<br /><br />If I am to make any entreaty it would be to ask you to never lose your remarkable ability to treat the American public like people capable of making decisions who deserve to know the truth. Sometimes we don't act the part, but we're grown-ups. When I walk into my bureau in the capital city, I see a picture of you. It always fills me with pride. You aren't perfect, your presidency can't be perfect, but I respect you and, finally, I feel able to respect my country.<br /><br />What I really wrote to you to say, then, was this: Thank you.<br /><br />As we say here when facing something formidable, "Bon courage."<br /><br />Most sincerely,<br /><br />Katie</i><br /><br /><br /><br />Well said, friend. I miss you more than words can say. Stay safe.<br /><br /><br />I suppose that's all I have to say. I really can't thank all of you enough for reading, commenting and supporting me while I did this. I hope that you write your own letters (or e-mails) to President Obama or to any of your elected officials the next time you want them to know they're screwing up or doing a good job. The most important thing we can do for our country is to participate in our democracy and communicating with our leaders on the 364 non-election days every year is just as important as showing up to vote. <br /><br />Thank you so much. It has been a truly amazing year. <br /><br />Yours with love, respect and gratitude, <br /><br />Kelsey <br /><br />PS<br /><br />If you're a reader in the Seattle area, you should know that frequent-commenter (and Libertarian, but we won't hold that against him) Matt has offered to bring beer to blog party to celebrate this all being over. I won't hold him to his promise, but he does have a point about the occasion for celebration. I'll post details for that when I get it planned-perhaps once the book is done? Anyway, I'd be honored to have you all in one room and share a few drinks. I'll feed you all well, I promise.Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-57696980979989230762010-12-31T19:11:00.000-08:002010-12-31T20:20:55.483-08:00Day 365- The last letterDear Mr. President,<br /><br />After 365 letters I suppose I should be running out of things to say. Is a year enough distance to gain any perspective on all that has changed and all that still waits to? Tonight I hoped to make sense of it all; the personal and the political, the minutiae, the mundane, the profound, all of the things I've written about this year. As I look back through this year of letters, of one-sided conversations about issues and actions that defined 2010, I don't have any clue what it all means. I am still tired, still frustrated, still impatient with the progress we've made and the way you govern. But I'm still more like the girl I was in November 2008- stone sober and still too drunk off of election night euphoria- than I ever thought I could be. For all of the disappointments and frustration I have been so proud this year to call you my President. I don't imagine your job is easy, nor do I think I could do it better myself. I am often wrong. I am often too emotional. I use far too many commas. <br /><br />For all of my shortcomings, I am still a voter and still a citizen and still, I believe, entitled to tell you what I think. Personally, I feel that the great tragedy of the disconnect between the people and our government in this country is not the disparity of money or even power but the way we converse. You do not speak or listen to people like me. When you do talk to me it is in form letters and speeches and talking points- language so polished as to be devoid of any real meaning. We do not have frank conversations. We do not hear one another. I listen to your Sunday addresses, your press conferences and your speeches and all I can say I know for sure is what you want me to think or feel, not what you actually think or feel. Perhaps the most important domestic issue is what you called the deficit of trust. This year has shown me, more clearly than I ever might have seen otherwise, how little trust our government has in the people or we have in it and how damaging this deficit is to all involved. <br /><br />Deep down I still think that you are well-intentioned. If your caution and moderation do not always sit well with my hot head or bleeding heart, I can accept that you at least believe you are doing the right thing. That is what prompted me to vote for you, to phone bank for you, to write you 365 letters and to hope that I might cast my ballot in 2012 for you, again. Beyond your good intentions, I believe that you are capable of great things, that, should you overcome your fear and find the courage to make really the necessary, difficult decisions that will save this country from some of our worst tendencies, you will be re-elected and likely remembered well. I would not say that I'm a person with any tremendous amount of faith in anything, but I do have faith in you. 2010 didn't change that, and I hope to say the same about 2011. <br /><br />Happy New Year, Mr. President. Good Luck. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />Kelsey <br /><br /><br />To all of my awesome readers: <br /><br />Thank you so much for all of your support this year. I will have a much more articulate and coherent reflective piece in the coming days, as well as some suggestions for reading, a bonus letter to President Obama from a guest blogger and information about the Espresso book I'll be making. I hope you all have a fun and safe New Year's Eve! See you in 2011!Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-56324011044978287282010-12-30T21:03:00.000-08:002010-12-30T23:11:24.430-08:00Day 364- The things you miss from the motorcadeDear Mr. President,<br /><br />Tonight when I got on the bus to go home the driver saw the book in my hand and said "The two highest compliments I get from any one who rides my bus is falling asleep and reading." He said he'd try to drive smoothly so I'd have an easier time with it. I've never seen this bus driver before (or, maybe I have and, like so many bus riders let my eyes slide past him without committing anything to memory) so I don't know if he enjoys his job or hates it, if he's gay or straight, republican, democrat or anarchist. The only thing I know about him is that he is kind and approves of my two favorite activities (sleeping and reading) and seemed to approve of me, as well. This remark buoyed my work-weary and cold little spirit, a small kindness that made my whole night a little brighter. <br /><br />Lately my friend's trip home for the holidays has made me the temporary owner of a car. The freedom that comes with this is incredible; I can drive where I want to go without concern for route or schedules or fare or transfers, I can play music and sing (badly) as loud as I like, I can transport really amazing amounts of groceries. But I usually wind up angry at the rest of the drivers on the road, drivers who go too slowly or break rules or don't use turn signals. While riding King County Metro doesn't always give me hope for humanity- smelly drunks, screaming children, twitchy addicts and the general impoliteness of high school kids in large numbers are just a few of mankind's shortcomings I've been known to complain about- I do at least have to keep my anger to myself, as we're not all insulated by our little glass and metal vehicular bubbles. Reluctantly, often grudgingly, I connect with people on the bus; from the young aspiring DJ asking for my number (and mistaking my right-hand ring for a wedding band when I said no) to the tiny girl playing peek-a-boo with pink plastic beads in her fuzzy braids, to the old man who wanted to discuss international humanitarian law after seeing my textbooks, I find myself having conversations, interactions or observations of strangers every time I ride the bus. I think that, even at its most tedious, riding the bus leaves me feeling a little more connected to my community. <br /><br />While I will continue to take advantage of Eric's car as long as he lets me, I think I will forever be a bus rider rather than a car owner. This isn't just because I can't imagine attaining the financial security necessary for car ownership in a city, or even because of my environmental objections to frequent driving, but because I think relying upon the bus keeps me from isolating myself behind my ideas of other people and forces me to observe and interact with individuals of ages and backgrounds I might never otherwise encounter. I'm surely romanticizing the entire experience (and will laugh at this, the next time I'm crammed into a standing-room only commuter route through the tunnel with eight teenagers blaring music through their headphones or a crazy crackhead lighting up in the aisle) but for now I'm smiling to myself at the kind words of an old man who approves of me, even if he doesn't know a thing about me, not even my name, except that I read on busses. <br /><br />Mr. President, I know this seems like a strange thing to tell you on the second to the last night of my year of letters to you, but I started this project for a number of reasons and among them was this; I wanted to share with you the only thing I can offer that no one else can, and that is the small experiences of my average existence. You will probably never ride a public bus again, especially not as a stranger, and so I like to imagine that you might find some value in the story of a girl, feet aching from work and caught in a surprise cold front without a coat, boarding a city bus and being thanked just for doing the thing she loves most. That you might understand why such an experience matters. Maybe it's just the optimistic holiday spirit sweeping me up, but tonight I think the world is not so bad. I hope you think so, too. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />KelseyKelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-21620218814475294682010-12-29T21:03:00.000-08:002010-12-30T00:50:29.141-08:00Day 363- "On the brink of genocide"Dear Mr. President, <br /><br />The Cote d'Ivoire is, according to UN ambassador Youssoufou Bamba, <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2010/12/20101229203149192560.html">on the brink of genocide</a>. Ideally, I would think that the impending social implosion of an African nation a good reason to use US military power to protect civilians caught up in the violence. Of course, as we've overextended ourselves in Afghanistan, Iraq and our forays into Yemen and Pakistan, we simply don't have the military assistance to offer. We can hope that the UN or the African Union are able to keep peace and protect the innocent, but there is little, practically, that the US can do. <br /><br />Perhaps it is naive of me to think that we should only use our troops to protect civillians, avoid genocide and keep peace. Perhaps chasing Bin Laden & the Taliban through caves is, in fact, a more effective use of our might, but I don't think our current military strategy has made us safer- indeed the number and complexity of our military engagements abroad seem to have left us in a strategically weakened position. <br /><br />I'll admit that the proximity of The Cote d'Ivoire to Burkina Faso is heightening my anxiety about the crumbling political situation. I might not be so afraid if my best friend wasn't right next door. Still, I think that military force is best used to protect the weak preyed upon by the strong, to prevent the innocent from suffering whenever possible. I would rather see our troops in Cote d'Ivoire and Haiti than in Afghanistan and Iraq, where more stability could be achieved through education and infrastructure investment than any amount of troops and bombs. <br /><br />I will hope that the Ambassador Bamba is incorrect in his assessment of the outlook for The Cote d'Ivoire, but should he prove correct it will be all the more frustrating to watch, helplessly, while my country is able to do nothing to stop it. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />KelseyKelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-46419116523194921342010-12-28T16:53:00.000-08:002010-12-28T21:19:26.573-08:00Day 362- Two years laterDear Mr. President, <br /><br />It's been two years since Operation Cast Lead, since the Gaza war, since the brutal asymmetrical violence that left thousands dead, injured or homeless. This will likely be my last letter to you about Gaza, at least for 2010. I haven't heard any practical solutions for the people of Gaza from your administration, nor have I heard much in the way of insistence that Israel find an alternative to the utterly unlivable status quo. The peace talks that have now fallen apart, at their most ambitious, their most hopeful, did not include a framework for Gaza. The people of Gaza cannot continue living as they have been, they cannot be expected to raise yet another generation to call a prison camp home. Two years of endless stalemate haven't made Israel safer and they haven't made Gaza any more livable. <br /><br />I wonder if you have asked yourself how this ends. How it will look when the war is finally over and the lines on the map are final. When every one has a flag and a seat at the UN. What will that entail? What will it look like, how will it be fair, what role will we play? Most importantly- how do we get there? If we already know these things, why aren't we doing it? It will be hard. People will be upset, compromise will not be easy. Friends and allies will be offended and alienated and you will be called any number of nasty names for your trouble. But it has to be done. Progress has to be made. The situation cannot stand. <br /><br />Looking into 2011 and 2012, I know that re-election will overshadow any foreign policy goals that might not play well on FOX news. I wonder what you would do if no one were watching, if what they said didn't matter, if all the voices were silenced and you had only your own conscience to answer to. At some point, it isn't about <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11696.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+electronicIntifadaPalestine+(Electronic+Intifada+:+Palestine+News)">the past</a>, it isn't about <a href="http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/take-action-two-years-after-cast-lead.html">politics</a>, it isn't even about <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11697.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+electronicIntifadaPalestine+(Electronic+Intifada+:+Palestine+News)">racism</a>, it's just <a href="http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/open-letter-from-gaza-two-years-after.html">people;</a> people killing, hurting, starving, oppressing other people and the people who look the other way and let it happen. <br /><br />I don't want to be one of those people. I don't believe that you do, either. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />KelseyKelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-11556709324081177622010-12-27T17:04:00.000-08:002010-12-27T22:11:09.955-08:00Day 361- You've been randomly selected for additional screening at the back of the bus.Dear Mr. President,<br /><br />A few months ago, in the rapid decline of my optimism about internet dating, I agreed to go on one last date with a man from the dating site I'd been using. One last chance, I told myself, and then I could safely give up this endless series of awkward, uncomfortable encounters and sulk, self-satisfied, assured of the hopelessness of dating and single men in general. When I arrived at the coffee shop at the appointed time I was already convinced that this encounter would be no different than the last, preparing already the excuses I would make after an hour or, if I could manage, even less. Ten minutes later, I might have been laughing at the irony of this, had I not been too busy attempting to scrape my jaw off of the floor and work the dumbstruck expression off of my face. My date was not only black americano-drinking, charming and easy to talk to, he was clearly intelligent, compassionate, adventurous and funny. (It didn't hurt that he was heart-breakingly, out-of-my-league-by-miles good-looking either.) We talked for hours. Nothing romantic may have come from this date, but we stayed friends, passing e-mails and brief comments on the latest news. He suggested a number of topics for my letters to you, and helped me better understand a few stories I didn't fully grasp. Our friendship since has been casual, but it certainly helped convince me not to completely give up on the idea of meeting men online. <br /><br />Today my friend, returning from a trip abroad to visit family, was unreasonably held up in an American airport by security. I don't know the details of this, what it entailed or how he finally managed to get on a connection to come back home. Unfortunately, because my friend is also Arab, I know that this would not have happened to him if he had a different last name or a different skin color. The whole situation makes me sickeningly, blindingly angry. When I expressed this to others I heard more stories of friends or relatives or coworkers or friends of friends being held up in the absurd, racist so-called security system in American airports. I remembered walking through Israeli checkpoints, the separate lines for me and for my Palestinian friends and being so naively grateful that such a thing would never happen in MY country. All day I've been thinking about airports, how standing in line to get through security with my white face, American passport and generically WASP-y name while my Arab and Muslim (or, really just sufficiently brown-skinned) friends will be "randomly" given additional screening and I keep thinking of the same metaphor. I'm sitting on a bus in Alabama watching silently as they are made to file past me to the back. <br /><br />You've experienced first-hand what it is to be thought of as Muslim and/or Arab in this country. Even as President you've seen the ugly, racist way some in this country still view some one with your skin color, your name, or the religion falsely ascribed to be your own. You've heard the crazy woman screeching at John McCain "he's an Arab!", the state representatives demanding to see your birth certificate, the 20% of Americans who think you practice Islam. If any privileged outsider is able to understand the treatment Arab-Americans and American Muslims have experienced in airports since 9/11 I would think that you might be. And while the TSA monopoly on air travel and the necessity of covering great distances quickly may prevent a Montgomery bus-style boycott of airplanes, I suspect that eventually the American people will not stand to see our friends and neighbors and loved ones treated this way in the name of our own safety. <br /><br />Life isn't safe. I don't feel safer knowing that my friend is being profiled, harassed, or even inconvenienced solely because of his race. I feel sick about it. My patriotism is not a brittle, small thing, but it is based on the principles this country is supposed to stand for even in the face of fear. How am I supposed to love my country, to feel pride in it, knowing that these principles can be so easily betrayed by those sworn to defend them? <br /><br />My friend, who has, in the course of our political conversations, proven himself to be calmer and more even-tempered than me on many issues, said to me today that "being Arabic and in a US airport may as well be a crime." I don't know what he's feeling or how he'll respond to this incident but I am outraged that he has to feel it, respond to it at all. And it isn't just my friend, it isn't just this airport or this incident. This is happening right now, it has been happening for too long and it will continue to happen until enough people with enough power are brave enough to stand up and say it isn't right, it isn't American and it isn't keeping us safe. <br /><br />Until we stop boarding the bus and say we'll be walking to work for the foreseeable future, thank you very much. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />KelseyKelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-39503269710103754512010-12-26T10:19:00.000-08:002010-12-27T00:29:29.101-08:00Day 360- Betsie GallardoDear Mr. President, <br /><br />When I read about a <a href="http://michiganmessenger.com/45116/indiana-mother-wants-dying-hiv-positive-daughter-released-from-prison">woman dying in a Florida prison</a>, refused release on humanitarian grounds and facing a slow death by starvation, I wanted to navigate away from the page, to forget the story and to write about something else tonight. But I can't. <a href="http://wildwildleft.com/diary/1272/on-death-and-clemency-or-heres-a-real-christmas-story">Betsie Gallardo</a>, born HIV+ and impoverished in Haiti, was sentenced in 2008 to 5 years in prison for assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon, a charge based on the fallacious premise that she could spread HIV to a police officer by spitting on him. Gallardo had been repeatedly sexually assaulted by a police officer in Haiti and had an intense, emotional reaction to the arrival of an officer at the scene of a car accident. She had no previous criminal record. She has since been diagnosed with terminal cancer and is no longer able to digest food. The state has <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/23/1987175/woman-may-die-in-prison.html">refused requests from her family</a> for release on humanitarian grounds and also refused to allow them to be with her when she dies. <br /><br />Mr. President there are rapists and drug dealers and no shortage of white-collar criminals who serve far less than 5 years in prison for far worse crimes. The outrageous nature of this charge, which was certainly exacerbated by Gallardo's HIV status, is compounded with the truly cruel treatment of a dying woman and her family. How is this justice? How is a system that can look so dispassionately at the suffering of a human being the best that we can do in America? I don't approve of what she did, but this sentence (especially in light of her cancer) is stark evidence of the racism and irrationality that infect our criminal justice system. How am I supposed to feel good about sending the shoplifters I catch to a system so obviously broken? How are we supposed to criticize Iran or China for human rights abuses when we allow things like this?<br /><br />You might throw up your hands and say it's a state issue, but you probably have a more direct means of reaching Governor Crist than Gallardo's family. Pick up the phone and ask him to pardon her, allow her to die at home with her family and her freedom. No reasonable human being believes she deserved a death sentence, but that is exactly what her punishment has become. The entire system needs reform, and that will take time, but right now one woman deserves a different fate. Please do the right thing. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />Kelsey <br /><br />If I have readers in Florida, I urge you to contact Governor Crist and the rest of the Executive Clemency Board:<br /><br />Charlie Crist, Governor of Florida <br />(850) 488-4441 <br />E-mail: charlie.crist@myflorida.com <br />http://www.flgov.com/contact_governor<br /><br />Bill McCollum, Attorney General <br />(850) 414-3300 <br />Click here to e-mail Mr. McCollum <br />www.myfloridalegal.com/contact <br /><br />Charles Bronson, Commissioner Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services <br />(850) 488-3022 <br />commissioner@doacs.state.fl.us <br />http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/<br /><br />Alex Sink, Chief Financial Officer Florida Department of Financial Services <br />(850) 413-3100 <br />Alex.Sink@myfloridacfo.com <br />http://www.myfloridacfo.com/Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-67041803948602733512010-12-25T19:24:00.000-08:002010-12-25T20:39:26.568-08:00Day 359- Christmas in Beit LahmDear Mr. President,<br /><br />Your faith teaches that today's celebration is marking the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Christians from around the world will be making pilgrimages to the tiny church of the Nativity, lighting candles and saying prayers, passing through the apartheid wall that confines Palestinians in the West Bank. When I visited this church in the shimmering heat of high summer, we walked past walls still scarred by bullet holes from 2002 gun battles between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters. Perhaps, not being Christian myself, I failed to experience the reverence I was meant to feel for the site of Jesus' birth, but I could not separate my horror at the grotesque oppression (and it's violent legacy) of the residents of Bethlehem from my respect for the teachings of Christianity's central figure. <br /><br />For all of those American Christians who are today sitting in churches, saying their prayers or singing carols, I hope that the harsh restrictions on the freedoms and opportunities of those, like Jesus, guilty of the unforgivable crime of having been born in Bethlehem are not forgotten. It seems so unjust that Christ's disciples are happily celebrating his birth when the citizens of his birthplace, Muslim and Christian alike, live under occupation in fear and confinement. Christmas may be a time of celebration, but I would hope that remembering the reason for this holiday and the ongoing (and overlong) fight for basic human rights for Palestinians might not be so easily disentangled. <br /><br />I hope that you have had a good and peaceful holiday, despite the burdens of your office. As an individual with rather more control over the fate of those living in Bethlehem, I hope you, at least, have not forgotten them today. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />Kelsey<br /><br />Two well-written pieces on this can be found at <a href="http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=345198">Ma'an news</a> and at <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2010/12/20101224233225830240.html">Al-Jazeera</a>. I urge all of you to read them.Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-59259341584584712142010-12-24T21:54:00.000-08:002010-12-25T01:41:29.144-08:00Day 358- AncestryDear Mr. President,<br /><br />Tonight my family had our Christmas celebration a bit early to accommodate our various work schedules. Around a non-traditional (and largely gluten-free, out of respect to my mother and sister's new dietary guidelines) assortment of gourmet foods we kept up the family tradition of being, to a man, loud and incredibly opinionated. Asher, my 2-year old nephew and the only child in our immediate family, seemed to sense that this day was mostly for his benefit, and ran around happily watching cartoons and playing with toys while the grown-ups mulled over boring assessments of roast chicken, maple-glazed squash, mushroom quinoa pilaf and scalloped corn. Gifts came after dinner (but long before the dishes) and we gushed over beautiful new sweaters, intriguing new books and appliances that had the adults even more excited even than Asher at the sight of his giant stuffed dragon.<br /><br />Spoiled by generous siblings and our mother who never fails to make Christmas just as magical as it was when we were Asher's age, I got a poker chip heart;<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QZS4axv0FdE/TRW3KomB2sI/AAAAAAAAAFk/fEY6zN2fakk/s1600/IMG_0518.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QZS4axv0FdE/TRW3KomB2sI/AAAAAAAAAFk/fEY6zN2fakk/s320/IMG_0518.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554547108754873026" /></a><br /><br />Beautiful new scarves and shawls and sweaters:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QZS4axv0FdE/TRW3VSOUa1I/AAAAAAAAAFs/-BphdjaFNDI/s1600/IMG_0523.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QZS4axv0FdE/TRW3VSOUa1I/AAAAAAAAAFs/-BphdjaFNDI/s320/IMG_0523.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554547291728407378" /></a><br /><br />The tools to marry my two great loves:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QZS4axv0FdE/TRW3pldiP2I/AAAAAAAAAF8/wirY4iXqiBA/s1600/IMG_0521.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QZS4axv0FdE/TRW3pldiP2I/AAAAAAAAAF8/wirY4iXqiBA/s320/IMG_0521.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554547640489885538" /></a><br /><br />even my macbook got a little something:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QZS4axv0FdE/TRW3zi4948I/AAAAAAAAAGE/b2g-AOSoGVo/s1600/IMG_0519.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QZS4axv0FdE/TRW3zi4948I/AAAAAAAAAGE/b2g-AOSoGVo/s320/IMG_0519.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554547811598328770" /></a><br /><br />but the most unexpected gift was a simple family tree from my older sister, and photos of ancestors I'd never even heard of before tonight. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QZS4axv0FdE/TRW4AuZ5eJI/AAAAAAAAAGM/5XrVyy_hCyc/s1600/IMG_0524.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QZS4axv0FdE/TRW4AuZ5eJI/AAAAAAAAAGM/5XrVyy_hCyc/s320/IMG_0524.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554548038027540626" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_QZS4axv0FdE/TRW4N96H6-I/AAAAAAAAAGU/S-osbx5eVc8/s1600/IMG_0525.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_QZS4axv0FdE/TRW4N96H6-I/AAAAAAAAAGU/S-osbx5eVc8/s320/IMG_0525.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554548265527536610" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QZS4axv0FdE/TRW4aDKhxMI/AAAAAAAAAGc/qjain0eca6s/s1600/IMG_0527.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QZS4axv0FdE/TRW4aDKhxMI/AAAAAAAAAGc/qjain0eca6s/s320/IMG_0527.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554548473096946882" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QZS4axv0FdE/TRW4jnsz31I/AAAAAAAAAGk/CBDAqy1ap1Y/s1600/IMG_0528.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QZS4axv0FdE/TRW4jnsz31I/AAAAAAAAAGk/CBDAqy1ap1Y/s320/IMG_0528.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554548637523238738" /></a><br /><br />The men and women in these photos are strangers to me. If there are traces of my own features in eyes or noses or cheeks I see no evidence of it. My ancestors came from Germany, Bohemia and England. They married and bore children and died in Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Some settled the west, some owned slaves, some arrived with the Puritans in Massachusetts. My sisters and I kept remarking in surprise at how shockingly American the whole story is. To know that these formally-attired, stiffly-posed subjects of photographs are connected to us is strange for me, especially in my urban tribe of familial bonds forged by forces stronger than blood. What significance, if any, do these lives have on my own? Staring at so much small-scale history makes me feel dizzy with the implications, so much more personal than the characters from my textbooks. <br /><br />I hope that Christmases to come will feel this way, bright and warm and full to bursting with affection for the people near me. In a few generations, when my sisters, brothers and mother and I are all just tiny branches on some one else's family tree, I know they won't understand nights like this one. They won't know about the way we teased and laughed and talked too loudly as we passed around plates of food. They won't know that three cats and two dogs tread happily around our feet, or sulked angrily under beds. They won't know that my mother's Christmas tree had one string of lights in off-white instead of snow-white and why, exactly, that would bother her. They might see photos of me in my strange clothes and find nothing to connect them to me besides the sharing of some significant amount of genes. I think this gift, more than any of the others, reminded me to pay attention, to take in the details before they were lost in whatever next century's black and white photos will be. To look around at my family and feel connected to them, for all of our differences and for all of our faults. My ancestors' Christmas celebrations looked and sounded very different than my own and certainly meant something very different than this night means to our family now, but I hope that they felt a similarly overwhelmed by the love of those around them.<br /><br />I hope that you have a good Christmas, Mr. President, and that even your job allows you a few hours of beautifully mundane moments like this to remind you of the sustaining love for and from your family. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />KelseyKelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-924207648644698602010-12-23T21:42:00.000-08:002010-12-24T01:52:37.646-08:00Day 357- Busses and bulldozersDear Mr. President, <br /><br />I wrote a few days ago about the upcoming ad campaign in protest of the Israeli occupation of Palestine on buses here in Seattle. Even as I expressed my trepidation at the prospect of seeing my opinion represented I was hesitant about, I was, in a small way, a bit thrilled to see the campaign taking up the tools of our opposition to spread awareness. Since then, however, several things have happened. First, the David Horowitz Freedom Center (the name likely offers all the necessary explanation as to the group's purpose, but for my readers unfamiliar with David Horowitz, he's the despicable mind behind such classics as "The 101 most dangerous academics in America" and other twists on the idea of freedom.) proposed matching the 12 pro-Palestine buses and raising it to 25 busses bearing signs that say "Palestinian War Crimes: your tax dollars at work." Then King County Metro decided maybe the whole thing was a terrible idea and <a href="http://www.king5.com/news/local/Israeli-Palestinian-ads-wont-run-on-buses-Metro-says--112405224.html">banned all non-commercial ads</a>. <br /><br />Ok. I have to get my head around the fact that David Horowitz is a bigoted, racist scumbag. I need a minute. All right, I'm mostly over that. His disciples, in inverting the message of the original ad, have not only created something that doesn't make even a little sense, they've demonstrated exactly why I don't like this form of outreach. One of my coworkers put it quite well tonight, saying that the venue didn't allow for the nuanced discussion necessary to change any one's mind. Beyond that, while I'm disappointed to see the city caving to backlash, I understand why public transit might not be the best battleground for the Israel/Palestine debate in America. <br /><br />My frustration is mainly with the feeling that support for the Palestinian cause, something that can't be found in the White House, the State Department, congress or on any ballot, that has been stigmatized to be tantamount to anti-semitism, terrorism, extremism, is so inflammatory it can't even be presented to the public without causing a controversy. The Israeli occupation is bolstered when we go shopping, when we pay our taxes when we cast our votes. Israel is the 16th wealthiest country on the planet, the largest recipient of US foreign aid (more than the rest of the world combined) protected by US veto power at the UN, and still a sign on the side of a bus (or 12) in Seattle is too much of a threat for the occupation's fiercest advocates to permit. <br /><br />So the busses will keep selling us movies or clothes or hamburgers. The bulldozers will keep demolishing houses. The settlements will sprawl. Maybe an ad campaign can't change that, either, but I don't believe that silencing discussion and dissent is going to help solve a situation that cannot continue for long. As President, you probably don't care what's happening on local transit advertisement, but I think that this incident speaks to a larger, national fear of approaching this issue. So long as our White House continues to stifle frank conversations and to lead with the example of avoidance, impotence and spineless complicity in the human rights abuses carried out by our ally, I don't see how individuals or grass roots organizations will ever find the an appropriate forum to say what needs to be said. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />KelseyKelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-27806076037678222352010-12-22T23:35:00.000-08:002010-12-23T00:53:41.239-08:00Day 356- The narrative of the momentDear Mr. President, <br /><br />Yay! You're officially a comeback kid! Did you wake up this week feeling suddenly more powerful than ever before? I ask because the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/12/22/gergen.obama.turnaround/index.html">media is abuzz</a> with<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/23/opinion/23collins.html?ref=opinion"> the story</a> of your late <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/22/obama-press-conference-pr_1_n_800425.html">legislative victories</a>, and I can't get rid of this wry smile at the sudden change in narrative. Last week you were ineffective, stymied, your Presidency basically over. Now you're leading congress to more legislative accomplishments, repealing DADT, getting health care benefits for 9/11 first responders, saving the world from the threat of nuclear war with START. You're such a badass. How did things change so quickly?<br /><br />Thing have not, of course, changed, but the way they are discussed on TV had to change. I'm not sure if this is a reflection of the American public's attention span or just the way the media feels about it, but it can't be a coincidence that every one changed their stories at once. It rings falsely to my ears, anyway. One of my favorite local writers, <a href="http://paulconstant.tumblr.com/">Paul Constant</a>, agrees, asking that the media "let Bill Clinton's tired "comeback kid" trope molder in the 90s, where it belongs. Things are more complicated now. <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/12/22/the-problem-with-political-reporters">Don't we deserve a more nuanced media, too?"</a><br /><br />Mr. Constant is right when he says "anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that you don't measure a presidency in inches, but these little victories and defeats are what keeps all these unworthy jackasses employed." . His media criticism reminds me of Jon Stewart, who has perfected the art of splicing news clips to show the absurd way one story can be discussed in identical terms. I don't think that you're a different President, that you're working any harder or that you've made any dramatic changes to your approach in the last week. I won't be even a little surprised when, a few weeks or months from now, the narrative changes again and every op-ed writer and pundit is lamenting your stalled/failed/vague/poorly articulated/tone-deaf agenda. As some one with a really unhealthy obsession with political news, I probably find this more annoying than a person who doesn't live and die with these narratives, but I think this practice contributes to our national discourse in an overwhelmingly negative way, encouraging reactionary, short-sighted emotional responses to decisions and events that require more context and perspective. <br /><br />Just so you know, Mr. President, I'm not buying in to the idea of you being suddenly effective as a leader. For all of my angry, disappointed or nagging letters I've sent this year, I've never stopped appreciating your deliberate, measured approach to things (even when it frustrates the hell out of my hot-headed impulsive side.) I think you're great, but I thought you were great last week, too. I'm proud of what you've achieved and I recognize the magnitude of the work still to be done. This is no time for a victory lap or for complacency. So I hope that you soak up the good press while you've got it, because you know it won't last long. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />KelseyKelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-68048695135850860932010-12-21T22:01:00.000-08:002010-12-22T01:22:07.719-08:00Day 355- Bubble Tea and cannibalismDear Mr. President, <br /><br />As a small child there were a number of foods I convinced myself I didn't like. Broccoli. Pizza. Tomatoes. Really it would be faster to list the foods I did eat than those I didn't. It took me years of insisting I didn't care for a variety of foods I'd actually never tried before I finally began to question this mindset and experiment. While I gradually grew to like many of the kinds of food I'd convinced myself never to try, I've held out on certain things. Tonight I finally tried bubble tea, a drink that most people in this city love and that I've long insisted not to like. It was absolutely delicious. (If my best friend is reading this I am in so much trouble.) Every time this happens to me I have the disconcerting experience of questioning my other long-held beliefs. My friend who changed my mind on bubble tea is also married. What if this means I might like that, too? <br /><br />So while I've been thinking most of the night about all of the things I've convinced myself I don't like or that I can't do, changing my party affiliation would have to top the list. I could no sooner identify as a Republican than I could wake up tomorrow with normal sized hands. When I read <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/21/arlen-specters-farewell-speech_n_799893.html">Arlen Specter's farewell speech</a> I chuckled at his characterization of the tea party insurgency as "sophisticated cannibalism" but I couldn't get my head around the idea of an ideology that could sway so easily from Republican to Democrat. I'm so fiercely and consistently liberal that I just can't conceive of such contradictory ideas being contained in the same mind. But, if I can't identify as a Republican, must that also mean I could never compromise with one, work together with one, or even hold a rational conversation with one? I don't think it must, but I do see how the labels make this difficult. I've certainly heard (and parroted) the comparison of primary politics to cannibalism before today. I'm not sure if I'm more sympathetic to the party-purist cannibals calling for more partisanship or the centrists like Mr. Specter decrying it. Centrism and caution certainly have a role to play, but with voters increasingly frustrated with congress' inability to get anything done, I'm not surprised that more liberal Democrats and more conservative Republicans are gnawing at the bones of their compromising incumbents. But who is to say what is liberal or conservative enough? Who is to say if this enthusiasm for either extreme is actually a hinderance to progress and change in the way it polarizes those who govern us together? <br /><br />As you can tell, the revelation that I like bubble tea has really shaken me up. I'm not sure I'm really sure about anything any more. Perhaps this state, this rejection of certainty and reexamination of opinions based on new information is really what we should look for in candidates. The more I learn about our political system, the more I wish we could do away with political parties all together. I think that the party system engenders laziness in the electorate, who no longer have to discover for themselves where a candidate stands, but can decide votes based on the parenthetical letter after a candidate's name. I think it also creates a falsely combative state, implying that the Senate and House have 2 (or, generously, 3) competing opinions rather than 535. That an allegiance to party is more important for funding and re-election than an allegiance to voters or even to a politician's personal views. For example, the Republicans holding up health care funding for 9/11 first responders aren't answering questions about why, and I think that's probably because "the party leadership told us to" doesn't spin well as justification. The party system encourages this, and each side's talking-point explanations sound more and more like my own childish insistence that I hated things I'd never even tried. <br /><br />Maybe getting rid of political parties wouldn't rid us of extremists, but I think it would encourage honesty (and courage) in a system sorely lacking it. What do you think? How could our system be improved to ensure that public servants (most of whom I believe to be well-intentioned) are better able to serve the people? You've been accused of extreme centrism and unforgivable liberalism (often for the same position.) Does your identity as a Democrat compel you to support or oppose issue you might not personally? Would you rather be seen as an ineffective centrist or an authoritarian extremist?<br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />Kelsey <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Thanks to Jessi for the Bubble Tea :)Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-10583611968724330842010-12-20T22:26:00.000-08:002010-12-21T01:05:05.754-08:00Day 354- LunacyDear Mr. President, <br /><br />On my way to work this morning I read a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/20/health/20campus.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=mental%20health&st=cse">New York Times report</a> on an increase in serious mental illnesses on college campuses and corresponding budget cuts which limit the amount of help students can receive. While my own college experience certainly corroborates this, at least anecdotally, my thoughts went first to a mentally ill man we'd recently caught shoplifting at work. When my coworkers and I stopped him he seemed docile enough (if completely delusional) but once in custody he apparently became quite agitated and made threats against the lives of the arresting officers. A man with a similar illness recently committed a murder in my neighborhood, and so the idea of this shoplifter being released worries me for the safety of those who might cross his path once he's released. <br /><br />There is an old police superstition about the increase in crime and craziness around the full moon. I've heard it from my parents, from other cops, and from the family of law enforcement. I don't know if I believe this. There is a certain amount of mystery to law enforcement I suppose; there have been times when just looking at a person has told me that they're going to steal. I know my coworkers have experienced this, too. I like to think our brains are perceiving something-the aggressive gait, or the furtive looks- that our conscious minds can't identify. But, absent proof of this, I have to at least consider the possibility that maybe there is some small supernatural aspect to understanding when people are ill-intentioned or dangerous. Maybe the full moon means something. (If so, tonight's lunar eclipse is going to make the whole city nuts.) <br /><br />I don't think that crazy people can be dismissed as solely a celestial phenomena. Our city (and our state, and our country) need to do more to treat the mentally ill-both to ensure public safety and to help individuals function in society. That this area seems to be the quickest to be cut during budget battles is unsettling. Reading this article about the struggle to keep students in crisis alive, I couldn't help but wonder what could possibly be more important than treating those who pose a risk to themselves or others. As I talk to my peers and appreciate how many of us are frustrated at living life constantly struggling just to get by, I can't help but sympathize with those seriously ill I encounter who aren't even doing that well. Because if it's the economy or stress or the full moon, if it's college kids or homeless schizophrenic shoplifters, we all have an interest in understanding, treating and minimizing the harm of mental illness. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />KelseyKelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-89580535932478415202010-12-19T22:11:00.000-08:002010-12-20T00:19:33.682-08:00Day 353- Spring Break!Dear Mr. President, <br /><br />This week I'll be applying to join the <a href="http://ustogaza.org/">US Boat to Gaza</a>, (the ship you probably recall is named after your book.) It may not be the most conventional way to spend spring break, but I think that it's exactly as self-indulgent as I'm willing to be. I have no idea what the odds are of me being selected to actually go, but I suspect that I'll always regret it if I don't at least apply.<br /><br />Even if I don't make it to Gaza in 2011, the discussion of the gaza blockade has taken to the <a href="http://www.king5.com/news/local/Israeli-War-Crimes-signs-to-go-on-Metro-buses-112108154.html">sides of city buses</a> right here in Seattle. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this. While I wholeheartedly agree with the message and support the intentions of those running the ads, I don't know how effective this is as a strategy. Is $1794 better spent on an ad campaign that might not change any minds, or would it have been better used to send help to the people affected by the policies being protested? The awareness created might be considerable, but I'm not sure it will lead to the public outcry necessary for any substantive policy change. <br /><br />When I lived in DC, the metro tunnels were routinely home to issue ads. One was the picture of a baby (presumably Palestinian( wearing a pro-hamas headband, and said "This child could grow up to be a: ( ) Doctor ( ) Lawyer (x) Terrorist" (The ad can be seen <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/8774312@N07/537346211/">here</a> thanks to flickr user louko.) The ad made my blood boil. I have visceral reactions every time I passed by it. Targeting the blameless children of this conflict seemed especially sickening, and to have it shouting at me from every wall every day of my commute ensured that I began and ended each work day so angry I could barely speak. The very nature of advertising made discussion or argument or dissent with the people placing the ads impossible. I think my intense reaction to these ads has made me hesitant to feel any joy at seeing ads supporting my views. I understand that the very effective (and well-financed) tactics of the Israeli lobby and PR organizations need to be balanced somehow, but I don't feel great about sinking to their methods. <br /><br />The most I can hope for is conversation. If it gets people talking, thinking, questioning the policies supported by their taxes (often without their knowledge) I will swallow my objections and applaud the efforts of the organization purchasing the ads. The argument that a controversial, thought-provoking ad like this one is at least better than another Macy's ad is not lost on me, either. Do you think this is a helpful or appropriate forum for foreign policy conversations?<br /><br />I should probably go work on my application. I know you don't agree with the mission of the US boat to Gaza and you could certainly never support it publicly, but I hope that, even if it is only in private, you find a moment to consider your own responsibility for the people who end up on this ship and for the policies that have made such an organization necessary. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />Kelsey<br /><br />I encourage all of my readers interested (and fully aware of and prepared for the risks) to <a href="http://ustogaza.org/application-information/">apply to the US Boat to Gaza</a>. If you don't want to go yourself, a financial donation will help purchase supplies to deliver to the people of Gaza, as well. Other great gift ideas for those concerned with social justice can be found in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/opinion/19kristof.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss">Nicholas Kristof's latest New York Times column</a>, or on <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/56795347/petite-palestine-necklace&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=App_Seller&utm_content=items&utm_campaign=fb_seller_item">etsy.com </a>Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-77174207585563309382010-12-18T15:16:00.000-08:002010-12-18T16:09:50.412-08:00Day 352- The next battleI just want to take a moment, before I start praising the efforts of those who have been fighting for the civil rights of men and women in the armed forces, to call out those who voted against those rights today, or who decided not to vote at all. <br /><br />The following Senators:<br /><br />Alexander (R-TN), Nay <br />Barrasso (R-WY), Nay <br />Bennett (R-UT), Nay <br />Bond (R-MO), Nay <br />Brownback (R-KS), Nay <br />Bunning (R-KY), Not Voting <br />Burr (R-NC), Nay <br />Chambliss (R-GA), Nay <br />Coburn (R-OK), Nay <br />Cochran (R-MS), Nay <br />Corker (R-TN), Nay <br />Cornyn (R-TX), Nay <br />Crapo (R-ID), Nay <br />DeMint (R-SC), Nay <br />Ensign (R-NV), Nay <br />Enzi (R-WY), Nay <br />Graham (R-SC), Nay <br />Grassley (R-IA), Nay <br />Gregg (R-NH), Not Voting <br />Hatch (R-UT), Not Voting<br />Hutchison (R-TX), Nay <br />Inhofe (R-OK), Nay <br />Isakson (R-GA), Nay <br />Johanns (R-NE), Nay <br />Kyl (R-AZ), Nay <br />LeMieux (R-FL), Nay <br />Lugar (R-IN), Nay <br />Manchin (D-WV), Not Voting <br />McCain (R-AZ), Nay <br />McConnell (R-KY), Nay <br />Risch (R-ID), Nay <br />Roberts (R-KS), Nay <br />Sessions (R-AL), Nay <br />Shelby (R-AL), Nay <br />Thune (R-SD), Nay <br />Vitter (R-LA), Nay <br />Wicker (R-MS), Nay <br /><br />are all cowards. The men and women on this list ought to be ashamed of themselves and their votes today. If any of my readers hail from the states represented by these Senators, I encourage you to e-mail them to express your displeasure at the way they have represented you and the other citizens of your state. It doesn't matter that the motion passed, that history has passed by these aging bigots and their old world views. These men and women, at least today, did not support American troops the way they deserve to be supported. <br /><br />Dear Mr. President,<br /><br />I was at work today when my phone alerted me to a new e-mail from you. It began: <blockquote>Moments ago, the Senate voted to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."<br /><br />When that bill reaches my desk, I will sign it, and this discriminatory law will be repealed.<br /><br />Gay and lesbian service members -- brave Americans who enable our freedoms -- will no longer have to hide who they are.<br /><br />The fight for civil rights, a struggle that continues, will no longer include this one.<br /></blockquote><br /><br />I think this is my favorite way to receive such good news. Not to live up to your accusation of the left being totally impossible to please or anything, but I can't help fixating on the idea that troops who are risking their lives to serve our country can't marry the people they love. We'll let them serve- now even openly- but we won't let them marry their partners. I know, I know, you and congress need a minute to breathe, to recover from this long-overdue fight, but this is too important to rest. It is unfathomable to ask gay and lesbian Americans to serve a country that still legally treats them as second-class citizens. <br /><br />So while you're celebrating this hard-fought victory, I hope that you are looking ahead to the next battle. I want to feel proud of my country today, hearing news like this, but I can't help lamenting the distance we have before us, the long way we have yet to go. <br /><br />Anyway, thanks for the e-mail. Keep up the good work. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />KelseyKelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-20590332878579041572010-12-17T22:53:00.000-08:002010-12-17T23:59:24.464-08:00Day 351- Celery<table style='font:11px arial; color:#333; background-color:#f5f5f5' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='360' height='353'><tbody><tr style='background-color:#e5e5e5' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com'>The Daily Show With Jon Stewart</a></td><td style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; text-align:right; font-weight:bold;'>Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c</td></tr><tr style='height:14px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;' colspan='2'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-december-16-2010/exclusive---mike-huckabee-extended-interview'>Exclusive - Mike Huckabee Extended Interview</a></td></tr><tr style='height:14px; background-color:#353535' valign='middle'><td colspan='2' style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; width:360px; overflow:hidden; text-align:right'><a target='_blank' style='color:#96deff; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/'>www.thedailyshow.com</a></td></tr><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><embed style='display:block' src='http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:368905' width='360' height='301' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' wmode='window' allowFullscreen='true' flashvars='autoPlay=false' allowscriptaccess='always' allownetworking='all' bgcolor='#000000'></embed></td></tr><tr style='height:18px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><table style='margin:0px; text-align:center' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='100%' height='100%'><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/'>Daily Show Full Episodes</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.indecisionforever.com/'>Political Humor & Satire Blog</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow'>The Daily Show on Facebook</a></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br />Dear Mr. President, <br /><br />Watching <i>The Daily Show</i> last night, I felt like cheering when Mike Huckabee suggested that Democrats were making health benefits for 9/11 first responders a political battle and Jon Stewart retorted "honestly, to their discredit, they haven't." Stewart goes on to compare the situation to the Democrats being handed a feast of a political win on a silver platter and refusing it in order to sit in a corner and eat celery. His entire show seemed to beg the question "hey, where's your outrage now?" of every 9/11-invoking Republican, FOX news pundit and mosque-protesting bigot. Because honoring those who died on (and continue to die from) 9/11 is about more than keeping Islamic community centers outside of a 10-block radius of ground zero. Mr. Stewart, after the rally to restore sanity, forcefully reminded Rachel Maddow that unlike pundits representing real news networks, he doesn't have any skin in the game, he doesn't play so much as shout drunkenly from the stands. I think yesterday's show demonstrated rather clearly why that isn't always true. It must be frustrating to watch a comedian out-articulate you with a message that Democrats ought to have been owning since the Republican filibuster began. <br /><br />Another silver platter story arrived in the form of the Republican opposition to the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/17/house-republicans-block-child-marriage-prevention-act_n_798382.html">International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2010.</a> House Republicans voted against the bill (even some who co-sponsored it) citing fiscal concerns and bizarre fears that such legislation could increase abortions. I just want to tear my hair out at the horrifying logic being used to justify this. Where is the family-values outrage now? <br /><br />(See that Cat? See the Cradle? )<br /><br />I understand the desire to live in merry bipartisan bliss, especially now that every one is in the spirit of the holidays. But Jon Stewart is right. Enough celery! Democrats ought to be finding every TV camera they can and repeating some version of the same line about honoring 9/11's heroes and protecting vulnerable children from exploitation in the name of marriage. The race for 2012 starts any day now (if not yesterday) and voters across the country need to know that voting Republican is tantamount to saying it's OK to let 9/11 first responders suffer and struggle and die, that it's OK to quibble about the global gag rule while 12-year old girls are forced to marry men old enough to be their grandfathers. <br /><br />Put down the celery Mr. President, it's time for a more satisfying entree. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />KelseyKelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-75028037319900478342010-12-16T23:02:00.000-08:002010-12-17T01:33:51.297-08:00Day 350- Old photographsDear Mr. President, <br /><br />Today I brought in one of my Senior portraits to show one of my coworkers who'd asked to see what I looked like with dreadlocks. A trip down memory lane always is good for a laugh, (especially when recalling my 18-year-old self's somewhat eccentric fashion sense.) This week, reflecting as I have been on the very different paths so many of my friends from those days have taken, I can't help but wonder if the girl with the purple dreads and the pink satin thrift-store dress over bell-bottom jeans would be happy with the way she's turned out. My wardrobe is certainly more subdued, my hair less exciting, but would she be ok knowing what I've become? What I've failed to become? I may not miss much about being 18, but she had a faith in herself and in her own ability to achieve that's been lost in the years since this picture was taken, and today I miss that faith tremendously. <br /><br />I've been struggling lately to remind myself that lives and accomplishments can't (and shouldn't) be held up for comparison. The decisions that have led me to my current state may haunt me in the evident joy of those who chose the alternate path, but I cannot evaluate my life against those of my peers. Our circumstances and struggles and goals are very different. It is ultimately the ways I've disappointed my own hopes, and not the ways the my life and accomplishments fail to measure up to those of my friends, that really bother me. <br /><br />Do you feel like you've lived up to the goals you set for your Presidency? While it may be just as unfair to compare your own achievements to those of previous Presidents, this context is used by media pundits and fellow politicians alike to lend context to your achievements and shortcomings. This may be even more unfair than judging my own life against other 24-year-olds, as <br />we've come of age in the same era while your predecessors had very different social, congressional and economic situations. I reject the comparisons to Presidents Clinton, Carter and Bush (I & II) but I do wonder about the ways you've disappointed your own hopes and expectations. Today's tax compromise cannot feel like you'd imagined running the country would feel when you were campaigning. <br /><br />I'm probably just projecting my own soul-searching onto you, but I think that such an ugly political defeat would have to make you reflect on the things you said you'd do once you got to the White House. I wish I had something cheerful or comforting to say, but I can only hope that both of us find the strength to face our reflections tomorrow morning. Our accomplishments, past and to come, mean nothing without it. And, be it because of the judgement of old photographs or the way we suffer in comparison to others, I think that there is some good, some hope, so long as we maintain the honesty necessary to feel our disappointment in ourselves. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />KelseyKelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-73899222146482456052010-12-15T22:11:00.000-08:002010-12-15T23:48:42.241-08:00Day 349- Undergraduate WoesDear Mr. President, <br /><br />I really have to admire the students in the UK demonstrating against rising University fees. I don't support acts of violence and I do hope that no one is hurt, but these youth have a right to be upset by their government's decision. While petty and spiteful individuals with experience in the American system of higher education might get some satisfaction seeing our British counterparts forced to face the unreasonable burden of educational expenses that we've been struggling with for a generation, I don't think gloating is particularly productive for either nation. The fact is that American students should have been protesting tuition hikes decades ago. The British students taking to the streets now may not get their way, but at least they won't look back and wonder why they capitulated without a fight. Here, the system has failed us, continues to fail us, but we remain largely silent. <br /><br />I'm lucky, this year. I qualified for excellent financial aid- not because of a drastic change in my financial circumstances, but because I finally became old enough for the government to stop expecting my parents to support me. A system such as this-one which willfully disregards the economic realities faced by most students and their families- cannot stand for long. A society is stronger and healthier when its people are educated. I don't think that making it more difficult for many and outright impossible for some to access higher education is a socially, fiscally or morally responsible policy. <br /><br />I appreciate that under your administration paying for college has gotten easier for American students, especially those from low-income backgrounds. Unfortunately, economic conditions and the poor priorities of those who write the Federal and State budgets have led to decreases in funding for public Universities across the country, forcing staff and spending cuts that decrease the value of the education provided at these institutions even as tuition steadily rises. Britain is joining the US in our struggle to balance the desire to offer the best educational institutions in the world and the inability of individuals (or, increasingly, governments) to pay for it. A British friend and I were discussing this today and he pointed out that the money raised by the increase in University fees might help British Universities hire better educators and provide more resources for those attending. Some good might possibly come of this, but it will inevitably be at the expense of the poorest students who will no longer be able to access these resources at all. In the end we both sympathized with the angry, rioting students who'd just seen their educational hopes and dreams lost to the recession. <br /><br />As I glimpse the light at the end of the dark tunnel that is finals week, I have to say I'm more grateful than ever for the assistance I'm receiving this year. I know I could not be in school without it. I can't say for sure that our country will benefit in equal measure once I get my degree, but I do know that without it I would feel stuck, lost, unable to live up to my full potential. <br /><br />So as I watch the news from the UK and hope against hope that students there don't end up struggling the way I did as a younger undergraduate student to pay their expenses, I can't help but wonder if those of us who aren't struggling to pay our tuition ought to be doing more to help advocate for those at home and abroad who are. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />KelseyKelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-69889612226191756322010-12-14T15:32:00.000-08:002010-12-14T18:31:51.541-08:00Day 348- Secrets and LiesDear Mr. President,<br /><br />I've never been a particularly good secret-keeper. My face gives away every emotion, every lie I try to tell. This might be why I've never had the stomach for any significant subterfuge. I've been another person's secret too many times and seen it end too badly for them and for me to have any illusion about the nobility of secrecy. If a decision cannot bear the scrutiny of others it is probably not a particularly good choice. Michael Moore recently posted bail for Julian Assange, and in <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/12/14/michael-moore-posts-assanges-bail#more">his letter</a> explaining his motivation for this decision he says <blockquote>Openness, transparency — these are among the few weapons the citizenry has to protect itself from the powerful and the corrupt. What if within days of August 4th, 1964 — after the Pentagon had made up the lie that our ship was attacked by the North Vietnamese in the Gulf of Tonkin — there had been a WikiLeaks to tell the American people that the whole thing was made up? I guess 58,000 of our soldiers (and 2 million Vietnamese) might be alive today.<br /><br />Instead, secrets killed them.</blockquote><br /><br />I think that what you once called the "deficit of trust" Americans have in our leaders is brought about by these lies we've been told throughout history. Wikileaks is not the answer to this; a government that doesn't hide behind lies is the answer. Instead of joining the chorus of voices from the right and left calling Wikileaks a terrorist organization, I think that you should take this opportunity to change some of the behaviors you've been so embarrassed to have the rest of the world discover. I think an important (though, for obvious reasons, unsavory) step toward this is to relinquish some of the sweeping expansions made under President Bush to executive powers. Aspects of the PATRIOT ACT, the power to assassinate suspected terrorists without a trial, even the new standards for screening by the TSA all contribute to the sense that the government does not trust the people. It can hardly be a surprise, then, that the people have developed our own system for dealing with a similar mistrust for our leaders. Some one has to blink first. Demonstrating a commitment to responsible, trustworthy leadership is the only way the government can regain our trust. <br /><br />A friend, while commenting on a previous letter about Wikileaks, pointed out <blockquote>most of the people whining are old politicians. Our generation has already seen these document releases happen with corporate and personal communication. We have an entire generation (the boomers) that have relied on "security through obscurity", and that doesn't fly in the technological world. This is a rude wake-up call for them.</blockquote> Perhaps the endearing anecdotes about your addiction to your Blackberry deceived me into thinking you'd be on our side of a generational conflict. Surely the age issue is as false a dichotomy as race or religion or any other of the teams we're told to fight for in life, but I think that my friend is right in identifying an old world view of security and the conflict between those who cling to it and those of us willing to view security in a modern light. Secrets and lies may have worked (at least for a little while) for previous administrations, the unprecedented level of individual access to information simply will not allow it to continue. Secrets and lies have created the current state of international affairs, the mistrust of Americans for actions our government has taken on our behalf and often without our knowledge. <br /><br />Michael Moore and Julian Assange certainly have their share of faults. They also don't have the complicated, difficult job of running a country or trying to keep the free world safe. But the burdens of your position don't justify the lying and they don't justify defending a system that is based on mistrust of Americans. Even if you can't publicly defend Wikileaks or Assange, you can take steps to change the way our government keeps its secrets and the way it spies on the American people. We can't trust a government that doesn't trust us, and it's up to you to change that. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />KelseyKelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-9599872547862452742010-12-13T21:28:00.000-08:002010-12-14T00:10:00.378-08:00Day 347-Richard HolbrookeDear Mr. President, <br /><br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/13/richard-holbrooke-dead-dies_n_796235.html">Richard Holbrooke</a>'s death is a loss for his family and for the international community he spent his life serving. Reports of his final words "You've got to stop this war in Afghanistan" left me wondering who he'd intended them for. Were those words for you, the one person who might be able to do it alone? Or were they for all of us, each person with our own, considerably reduced, ability to bring the conflict to an end. I had to consider the wisdom of this man, his life spent experiencing first hand the international drama I study in classrooms. Was he speaking to me, then? Did he believe that the war even could be stopped? <br /><br />I may not always trust my own naive beliefs about war, but I don't think that Mr. Holbrooke suffered from naiveté. His call for an end to this war joins a chorus of other well-informed voices demanding that we end this senseless, counter-productive and expensive conflict. I don't imagine that any last words, even those of such a distinguished diplomatic heavyweight, will change your position on the war so dramatically. <br /><br />If there is one thing that I am saddest about after all of these letters is that I no longer believe you're capable of listening to the anti-war voices in your rush to please the right. Even when those voices come from true American heroes, you seem to have accepted the argument that being anti-war is being anti-American. In the cacophony of discussion about strategic values, public perception and geopolitics I think the simple statement that this war is just wrong will inevitably be lost. <br /><br />As we mourn the passing of a great man who served his country well, I know that I, at least, won't be mourning just his death but also the sad knowledge his dying words have fallen on deaf ears. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />KelseyKelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-31974426858627975912010-12-12T19:50:00.000-08:002010-12-13T00:05:22.218-08:00Day 346- "Bigotry disguised as prudence"<i>It still seems an unwritten rule in establishment Washington that homophobia is at most a misdemeanor. By this code, the Smithsonian’s surrender is no big deal; let the art world do its little protests. This attitude explains why the ever more absurd excuses concocted by John McCain for almost single-handedly thwarting the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” are rarely called out for what they are — “bigotry disguised as prudence,” in the apt phrase of Slate’s military affairs columnist, Fred Kaplan. </i><br /><br />-Frank Rich "<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/opinion/12rich.html?_r=2&ref=opinion">Gay Bashing at the Smithsonian</a>" <br /><br />Dear Mr. President, <br /><br />Frank Rich's column in the New York Times is worth reading, and not just for the brilliant and characteristically eloquent way he takes down the hypocrites crying "hate speech" about the Smithsonian's exhibit including "A Fire in My Belly." Beyond the cold political outrage, Rich draws a parallel between the deaths of bullied gay teens and the deaths of so many artists and the ones they loved to AIDS. His words convey a palpable helplessness, the frustration of watching from a distance as so many suffer and die needlessly as those in power condemn them, of listening as the hateful bullying from the right once is once again allowed to marginalize the gay community without objection. <br /><br />I can relate to the way Rich feels. It's appalling to see the Smithsonian capitulate to the homophobic bullies on the right offended by art. And while Republicans in congress pile on their own objections, they continue to hold up repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell, and, as Rich notes, have yet to participate in the anti-bullying <i>it gets better project</i>. I think that common sense tells us a piece of art that some find offensive is far less deserving of the condemnation of members of congress than a national epidemic of homophobia and its attending death and suffering. I don't understand. I know I am removed from it, living in the privilege of a white-skinned heterosexual body. But I couldn't help but see the faces of my friends in the stories of the young artists dying of and losing loved ones to AIDS, of the boys giving up on life because they fear they will never live and be accepted for who they are. I see them in these stories and I ache for losing them and seeing their losses. Most of all, I feel angry. Angry that I cannot protect them from people like this, people with the power to help them who do nothing but make it worse and then have the audacity to get angry about their expressions of frustration. It is unsurprising that a religion wielded as a tool of oppression will become the target of criticism and frustration by those it oppresses. <br /><br />Heterosexual Christians wrote the laws of this country. They have determined who can vote, who can marry, whose lives are worth funding research to save and who gets to serve in the military. It is long past time for it to be ok to make and display and honor art that expresses the pain at the damage that their system has caused. The Smithsonian made a mistake, backing down in the face of this manufactured controversy. I think it is time that you (and more of those with the power to change our cultural acceptance of homophobia) stood up and said so. <br /><br />Mr. President you campaigned on the promise that life for gay and lesbian Americans would be better under your administration than under President Bush's. While there may be a limit on how many minds you can legislate into acceptance, there are unjust laws that are within your power to change. The alteration of this exhibit at the Smithsonian may seem like a small thing, but it is the latest in a long series of capitulations to the idea that not only is being gay unacceptable, being angry at the way the rest of the country treats you isn't either. <br /><br />Please read Mr. Rich's column, Mr. President, and ask yourself if you are still fine doing nothing on this issue. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />KelseyKelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-80537656871088825732010-12-11T15:56:00.000-08:002010-12-29T21:03:03.453-08:00Day 345- Family, Finals, and TolstoyDear Mr. President, <br /><br />I've been thinking a lot about family dynamics today. My aunt is visiting, and, especially with the holidays approaching, I'm observing the complicated way that my family and the families of those around me interact. This afternoon, as I returned from my final (by the way, can you issue an executive order forbidding Saturday morning finals? More on this later.) I was discussing college with a coworker and mentioned that as a younger person I'd dreamed of attending NYU. I lamented that, had I gone, my life would be different, I wouldn't be struggling as a 24 year old to finish my undergraduate degree and subjected to the indignities of Saturday morning final exams. It wasn't ultimately grades or distance or even money that kept me out of NYU- it was my father. And, while the wisdom of the intervening 6 years may have taught me that I likely would have made plenty of my own mistakes, or encountered obstacles and tragedies no matter what he decided about my college possibilities, I still resent him as the reason my life is what it is. It is a resentment that is wholly unproductive, of course, and no excuse for my own faults, but his discouragement mattered so much more at that stage in my life because he was family. I think of him more around the holidays, inevitably, but this year, at least when I'm not having my entire day thrown off by inexplicably scheduled exams, I'm not as troubled as I usually am. I have the love of those people who have supported and encouraged me, and that is so much easier to hold on to and so much easier to think of as family. <br /><br />No life is simple enough to blame all struggles and problems and Saturday finals on one person or once choice. Mine certainly isn't. Surely one of the essential things that we gain from these experiences are the skills necessary to interact with other humans once we're old enough to be more selective about who we spend our time with. I think the news story that brought all of this rambling about families on is probably pretty obviously the tragedy of Mark Madoff's suicide on the anniversary of his father's arrest, but I sort of lost the nerve to write about it. For one thing, I don't want to read any more, it feels like a private tragedy for a family, the kind that shouldn't be headline news. For another, I can't judge any one in this story. Families are complicated and messy and maybe the one thing that unites all of humanity. I'm sure fathers are screwing up their kids in Afghanistan and Portugal and Senegal and every other country on this planet, and the fierce love and protectiveness I feel for my own current family (blood and otherwise) is reflected in every human in every culture. We're all differently damaged by our families, of course, but I don't believe Tolstoy for a second that this is only true for the damage. Happy families are not all alike. Our happiness, the way we love one another, is surely as varied as our humanity. So I will not speak about the Madoff family, or any family, when it is only mine that I can begin to understand. <br /><br />My family is simultaneously small and sprawling, the product of choice and circumstance and happy coincidence. They put up with me when I grumble too much about finals on Saturdays. I am grateful for them and for all of their quirks and complexity. And while I challenge myself to put aside my resentful feelings towards the people in my past, it is the people in my life presently that make me appreciative of where I have been and what I have experienced. Perhaps it has more to do with the inevitable reflection caused by the end of this year drawing closer, but I am certain that, however different you and I may be and however differently we may feel about the events that brought us to our current lives, we're both experiencing our own gratitude for the presence of those we love right now in a perfectly un-Tolstoy-like way. So I hope that in the coming weeks you, too, have time to enjoy (and, more than likely at times, suffer through) the presence of family without worrying about anything bigger than that. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />Kelsey <br /><br />PS <br /><br />Please think about that Executive Order.Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760529912227373207.post-88412739593164676712010-12-10T11:11:00.000-08:002010-12-10T14:18:09.234-08:00Day 344- Approval ratings are overratedDear Mr. President, <br /><br />I should probably preface this letter with a warning; I haven't slept much at all this week, finals are making me crazy, and I'm currently getting my kicks by deliberately misleading the rude customers who keep approaching me in the cafe and treating me like I work here. (Ok, I do work here. But they don't know that. I'm just trying to study and drink coffee in peace. I am not a directory.) I'm a little off today, and more than a little sick of most of the human race. Perhaps it is this black humor that has me so enjoying the latest <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/10/stewart-obama-angry_n_794870.html"> Daily Show segment on your approval rating</a> of the American people. <br /><br />That's right. Your rating of us. Right now it has to be pretty low. We're capricious, apathetic, lazy (physically and intellectually) we want you to do everything and we don't want to have to pay for any of it. Also, we're all right, all of the time. Even when we disagree with each other (and ours past or future selves.) While Jon Stewart & crew's point seems to be about public whims over health care and taxes, I read an op-ed today from Roger Cohen that says <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/opinion/10iht-edcohen.html?_r=1&hp">basically the same thing about foreign policy</a>. "President Barack Obama had virtually no domestic constituency for his attempt to denounce the continued growth of settlements as unacceptable and as undermining a two-state peace at its core: land." <br /><br />While I do think that some of the blame belongs to you and probably even more belongs to congress, I'm a big fan of the blame-the-voters-for-being-idiots strategy, too. And not just because they keep confusing the cafe counter with the information desk and being rude about it to boot. Because our economy couldn't possibly be this bad, our military this extended into wars this ridiculous, our jails this full and our reality TV shows this popular if a significant part of the population wasn't quite so dumb. (Before my libertarian friends get all upset, I know there are "good liberals" in the stupid category as well. I've met them. One of them called me a fucking zionist whore in comments on this blog.) So, yes, it's our fault, too. You probably shouldn't take our opinions or our approval too seriously, since clearly we don't know what the hell we're doing. We can't even distinguish a counter full of people eating and drinking coffee from a staffed information desk. <br /><br />Ok, this letter has clearly veered far enough outside of seriousness for me to go back to studying. I guess what I mean to say is don't let the stupidity, the caprice, the apathy and the ignorance get you down. It could be worse; you could be working retail. <br /><br />Respectfully yours,<br /><br />KelseyKelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17334125940384418444noreply@blogger.com0