I was at the event when Bill Clinton came to Rutgers at the height of Barack Obama's election campaign [when I was still a Rutgers student]. I met/shook hands with Barack Obama when he came to FDU. Not to mention I met Nelson Mandela as an elementary school student in Canada when he visited Toronto, Ontario. Rutgers has hosted others that I attended as well including Rachel Maddow and Nicole Wallace.
a blurry picture, but whatever.
Last night, Rutgers hosted Cory Booker (newly elected to the US Senate). Not only did I get to hear him speak in person [like with the others], but this time there was an added benefit: I got to interact directly with him. An amazing opportunity for someone like me who is so into politics.
It started off as a simple tweet expressing my disappointment that questions would supposedly be limited to students from a certain American government class at Rutgers. Booker addressed it on twitter, asked about/for me [by name] right when he walked in to the room and later addressed the question. Which I appreciated very much so.
It's just something else when you get the opportunity to interact with someone in public office that genuinely wants to make a difference in the community. And let me tell you: his personality shines even more in person. If you follow him on Twitter or follow the news, you already have an idea of how "hands-on" involved he is in his community. How many politicians actually do that? Not many. And when they do, they need to be recognized, appreciated, and used as examples as for what the constituents deserve.
For all that he has done for Newark, I look forward to him extending that and applying it to New Jersey as a whole. It's not just Newark he represents now, but like he said himself several times last night: he now "represents the entire state" of New Jersey.
My heart aches for the family and friends of the 27 deceased that were viciously murdered this morning. Especially the innocent 20 children who suffered and endured what no one should have to go through. Let alone at a school!
It sickens me how evil some people can be. The ache I feel inside of me is indescribable. I can't even imagine what the families of the victims are feeling.
Theaters, malls, schools. Is any place considered a safe haven anymore? What kind of a society are we leaving for the children of the next generation?
Massacres like today's are occurring not only more frequently, but they are also becoming more widespread. Tragedies like today are becoming way too common in our society, and it needs to change. It needs to change NOW!
There are too many evil people in this world. How many more innocent people must die at the hands of a tragedy like this before we stand up as a society and say enough is enough?! It seems like the only time we move one step forward in discussing gun control laws is in the aftermath of a situation like this when we are all emotionally charged. Days later, however, we seem to take two steps back as it seems to go right back to the back burner. The end result being yet another statistic and the tragedy forgotten until another disastrous event strikes.
It must not be forgotten because THEY the VICTIMS must not be forgotten. Don't we owe them that much? We must stop making it about the perpetrator, and instead focus on the victims.
We need better gun control laws and we need them now. Why is it so damn easy to have access to guns in this country? Why in the world are people legally allowed to have access to guns? The murderer in this situation had easy access to FOUR guns because his mother legally owned them.
People always argue "guns don't kill people, people kill people". Well, you know what? Guns sure as hell make it a lot easier.
Those that make ridiculous arguments like "cars kill people so let's ban cars too then": cars are not designed/made to cause harm... or the purpose of a car is not to inflict harm upon others.
For those who say it's too early to talk about gun control laws in the aftermath of a tragedy like this? I beg to differ. I think those directly effected by today's massacre would say it's actually too late.
Will better gun control laws solve everything? No. Will people still find loopholes? Don't they always? Will it make a difference? Hell, yes it will.
We can't feasibly stop everyone. Sick and evil people will always find a way, but we sure as hell shouldn't make it easy for them. People will always find a way around it, but that doesn't mean that as a society we stand by and let things happen. We're better than that and we deserve better than that!
You know what else we need to do? We need to stop playing the blame game and making excuses. Every time something like this happens, we need to stop simply blaming it on a "mental health" issue. Sure, one must be mentally disturbed to do something so atrocious because no one in their right mind can do something so horrendous, but simply pinning the blame on a mental health disease isn't getting us anywhere! It makes me cringe every time I hear "he committed [so and so crime] because he had [insert mental health disease of your choice here]". Whether it is the institution that has failed them, or whatever it is... we can't make excuses anymore. We need to work on solutions, not excuses. Better gun control laws are a part of that solution. Better screenings is a part of that. Changing the connotation of mental health disease and help for them is a part of that.
We need to stand up for what's right. Stand up for each other. Our loved ones. The kids of the next generation. We need to stand up for what's right so what happened today and what has happened way too many times lately doesn't happen again. We need to stand up so another innocent life isn't taken away prematurely.
Call your local politician. Make your voice be heard. Make a difference. Stand up for what's right. You owe it to yourself. You owe it to the future.
As always, this is a friendly reminder for you all to go vote tomorrow in the United States as it is finally Election Day 2012!
At the end of the day, I don't care who you vote for, just don't forget to vote and remind your friends and family to do the same. Side note: I actually do care who you vote for, but it's not my opinion, it's yours that matters.
I want to remind you all how important it is that you cast a vote tomorrow, even though you may think your state is "strongly democrat" or "strongly republican" and your vote does not even matter...exercise your right to vote! Not only is the presidency at stake, but local competitions as well.
It always irks me that the ones who don't vote are usually the first ones to complain about everything and when I ask them why they didn't vote - they don't usually have a reasonable answer. Have your opinion be counted tomorrow.
For those of you on the east coast and directly effected by the wrath of Hurricane Sandy: don't let Sandy be an excuse for you not to vote. Instead, it should actually be yet another reason for you to vote! As it turns out, funding for FEMA is one of the topics the two major candidates differ vastly on (Romney said in a debate in June 2011 that he'd cut funding to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and send its power to the states and the private sector). Tell me how a state that is hit and devastated as badly as NJ is currently by Hurricane Sandy is supposed to get by without federal help?
While it may be a bit more challenging than normal for you to vote this year (lack of power, voting locations changed, etc.), take the extra effort and make your voice count. The three hours you stood in line to fill up gas in your car? The time you took driving around to find a place to charge your electronic device because you don't have power at home? Set aside similar time to go and vote tomorrow!
Detrimental issues like healthcare are at stake!!
Not only does your future depend on it, but those of the future generations.
With today being the start of the presidential debates for this election cycle, their validity and importance has been discussed recently.
I have heard, today in particular, that it's nothing but a show of who can best present their prepared lines. [Aside: although I have to admit, that the Onion's article on it is hilarious.]
But you know what? These prepared lines HAVE to include their vision, their stances, and what sets them apart from the opposing candidate in some way or form.
And that's what the undecided voters who are tuning in are looking for, aren't they? The democrats are more likely than not going to vote democrat and likewise for the republicans. It's the undecided voters that will ultimately decide the election.
It's not like the rest of the campaign season where the candidates can just bash their opponent, or sideline from the questions asked about the real issues. I'd like to think that the moderator will hold them accountable during these debates.
Because you know what? The American public deserves answers.
Not just the undecided voters. I am know who I am voting for, but that doesn't mean I know what the next four years will hold or that I don't have questions.
Oh, one last thing. If this election really is going to be based off of the question "are you better off than you were four years ago?" as these news journalists keep emphasizing from the Romney campaign... then, I don't even know what to say. I don't think it takes much more than common sense to realize that four years ago we were dealing with the aftermath of a presidency that left the country in turmoil financially and otherwise. It's not like Day 1 of the Barack Obama presidency is where all the issues started. They have built up over time.
And you what, I AM better off than I was four years ago.
I am still covered under my dad's healthcare plan. Four years ago, without Obama's healthcare plan, that wouldn't be the case. And if it wasn't, I can't even imagine how much in debt I'd be because of the curve balls life has thrown my way this past year.
Now off to watch the first debate, one dealing with domestic issues. As you can imagine, healthcare and employment is on the top of my list of issues I care about.
Now that a few more days have passed since, here are some of my expanded and more coherent (hopefully) thoughts on the matter. The second half will discuss tonight's memorial in Arizona, which was appropriately themed as "Together We Thrive: Tucson and America".
There are so many aspects that I could talk indefinitely about, but of course that is just not feasible.
As someone who is greatly interested in politics and has interest in someday possibly being more involved, this whole thing frustrates me. It frustrates me because Gabrielle Giffords' "Congress on your Corner" was something Giffords did to directly talk to her constituents and hear what they had to say. One of the arguments/complaints (whatever you want to call it) I hear is that politicians don't know what the public wants and/or that they don't care.
In the aftermath of last Saturday, a few congressmen have already said that they too will start carrying guns for their protection. Furthermore, I read this article earlier that says:
Congressional law enforcement agents advised staff on Wednesday to run and hide in the event a shooter attacks, but as a last resort, police said: “Attack.”
Will all of this scare constituents from going to meet their representatives and getting their voices heard? Will politicians stop or at the very least be more hesitant to hold these "Congress on your Corner" types of events? I certainly hope not.
Moving over to tonight's memorial event in Arizona:
I found it to be absolutely beautiful.
At first, I was kind of hesitant to the constant sounds of cheering at such an event... but you know what, they deserve that right after such a week. And it WAS more of a celebration... and as pointed out rightfully so by several people -- this certainly was not a funeral. Fair enough. I might not have agreed with it right away, but I accept it.
It was great to see Daniel Hernandez, the intern that is credited with perhaps saving the life of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, receive a standing ovation/the gratitude he rightfully deserves. He was repeatedly deemed a hero, as he has all week. Hernandez, humbly, said he was not a hero... to which Obama later responded with the notion that 'you may deny it, but we have all decided you are a hero'.
Hernandez gave an amazing speech (WITHOUT a teleprompter or a written speech in front of him). I wish him well in all aspects of life as I'm sure he's healing from what he encountered on Saturday still also.
Onto Obama's speech: the speech was leaked as usual, but I kept myself from reading it in advance because I wanted to hear it. I did, however, have it open during his speech. Inspirational, uplifting, genuine, and apolitical are some terms that come to my mind immediately.
The only part he added from the script that was released was the astounding news that Giffords opened her eyes several moments after Barack Obama and Michelle Obama visited her in the hospital today. How amazing is that? Modern medicine is absolutely amazing and it's so great to see her recovering so well. I would have never thought someone who had a bullet wound to her head would not only survive, but be able to follow "commands" within a day, make movements, breathe on her own, and now open her eyes four short days after such a devastating injury.
I wish her nothing but the best in her road to recovery... as well as all the other victims.
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
I have so many thoughts on this issue, but I can't seem to put the sentiment of it all together. By now, I'm sure you have read online or watching news on TV about the fact that a 22 year old shot and killed 6 people (including a judge and a CHILD) and wounded about 12 others (as reported last) including Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona.
It is absolutely remarkable that Giffords survived a shot to her head that passed through her brain.
There are two major aspects of this that bother me. The actual events and the way the media portrayed it.
It's frustrating. It's demeaning. It's demoralizing. And most of all, it's SCARY to think that there are so many people out there who think or use violence as a solution to what they perceive to be a problem. That's not a new sentiment as it has been happening for a while, but it seems to be a growing trend.
Violence solves nothing. Period.
My first tweet on the matter earlier this afternoon was "When are we as a society going to grow the hell up? When/how does shooting someone solve anything?" and that feeling/question remains.
You don't agree with the political views of someone or a party? Fine, use your freedom of speech and let it be known and especially WHY you don't agree. You have every right to do that. No one, however, has the right to take someone else's life!
How heartless does someone have to be to deliberately take the lives away of innocent people, especially a little child! It's disgusting and sickening.
Now on to the second part -- the way the media covered the story in the early aftermath.
In this day and age of a 24 hour media cycle where each of the major media organizations are trying to be the first to report the latest, many times wrong information is delivered to the mass public. How about being the first one to report credible and correct information??
For every major news source (Reuters, NPR, MSNBC, CNN to name a few) to report that they have "confirmed" news from "reliable sources" telling them that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has passed away and stick with that story for over an hour at least only to later retract that because we all find out that Giffords is actually in surgery and alive is very demeaning!
Who are these "reliable sources" and how can you report "confirmed" news that is obviously not true? To report the death of someone when that is utterly false is absolutely absurd!
You want to be the first one to break the story? Fine, then about saying that you are getting reports from sources saying so and so and that you are waiting to confirm it!
Someone tweeted earlier that "Trashing the media for not knowing Gifford's status is absurd. Imagine if Twitter had existed in the era of JFK." While that is a fair argument, you can't report CONFIRMED news when it obviously is not confirmed! Besides, I'm not just arguing about reports on twitter - I'm talking about all of the major news organizations reporting it on TV, their websites and on their social networks sites like Twitter.
Keeping the wounded in my thoughts and prayers, along with the family and friends of the deceased.
You can read a later post, an expansion, of this by clicking here.
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
Earlier this week, she had a piece on John McCain's contradictions on basically EVERY policy. While I think it's fine for politicians to change their minds from time to time (because EVERYONE does change their minds here and there), one who changes their opinion on EVERY issue is just a hypocritical moron.
Here's a clip from her show:
Here's a clip from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart on the same topic:
How often does it happen to work out that the President of the United States visits your town... to visit a sub shop at that! Next to never?
That's exactly what's happening this afternoon! Obama is traveling to good old Edison, NJ -- to "Tastee Sub Shop" to be exact... which is like only a few minutes away from my house. It just happens to be located at the worst intersection known to mankind so I can't even imagine what the traffic will be like today with road closures and what not (considering how annoying it is to cross that intersection on a normal day).
I've been to a few rallies where Obama has been the key guest, most notably last October where I got to meet and even shake hands with President Obama (and see Bill Clinton a day earlier at my university). And while today might be another good opportunity to "see" him, I'm not sure I want go through the hassle considering it'll be kinda hard to beat last October.
Just a funny thought though - Obama is in town to promote small businesses but him being in town is going to limit and close small businesses in the area for the day for security reasons and whatnot.
But oh well, I can still say: Obama came to my town. to eat a sub!
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
"Leaders of the Republican Party, they called the passage of this bill "Armageddon. Armageddon. End of freedom as we know it.
So after I signed the bill, I looked around to see if there any asteroids falling or some cracks opening up in the Earth. It turned out it was a nice day. Birds were chirping. Folks were strolling down the Mall. People still have their doctors."
A combination of loud neighbors, sirens going off all night outside, and just being in a new place equaled a sleepless night on Monday. As much as I love the city life, I definitely don't see myself living in one.
On the agenda for the second day: the Department of Justice/Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Rutgers Federal Relations and the Haitian embassy.
Thankfully, there were no cancellations that day (at least that we were made aware of) and things ran a lot more smoothly. Without a doubt, the faculty member we traveled with and her supervisor had realized how annoyed we were at how the previous day had gone by (especially considering the fact that they have done this for so many years).
One of the things the man we spoke to at the department of justice talked to us about was how he has four brothers and all are either in prison currently or in the process of going back to prison and ironically this man works for the department of justice/federal bureau of prisons. This came up as we discussing peoples' backgrounds and where they grew up and how your upbringing effects what you do in life. His point basically was that even with adversity, it is what you do that effects what you become in your life.
At the Rutgers Federal Relations office, we spoke to two Rutgers alumni's. We talked about the budget cuts that would be effecting education and its impact on schools everywhere, especially Rutgers. I've talked over and over again about how I feel about education, and it is so sad that tuition fees keep going up, yet resources and classes that are offered (amongst many other things) keep getting cut.
Our final stop was the Haitian embassy. As we were walking there we passed the embassies of so many different countries, so that was pretty neat (especially trying to figure out what country some of the flags represented).
Anyone with half a heart has to be beyond devastated in the aftermath of the earthquake that struck Haiti in January. Such a large natural disaster can create havoc anywhere, and for it to effect the poorest nation - one can only imagine!
Of course, the number one question on everyones' mind was 'what can we do for help?'. The man used the example of bottled water. One of the things that people continue to donate is bottled water - because if you think about it, their rational thinking is probably that water is a necessity and Haitians need it. Well, they are partly correct - they do need water, but instead of exporting water there... what they need is money to build things up once again so they can provide things for themselves.
He also told us a chilling story that gave me goosebumps. A friend of his (person A) works in an embassy (I think - I might be misremembering the place, but that's not really important) in Haiti and it was a frantic and busy day at work. While he was doing his work, a friend of his (person B) called him and said he really needed help down at his office and if he (person A) could please come down right away. Person A told Person B that he was really busy and that he would come down later, but person B kept insisting and said 'you would be a lifesaver' if you came down and helped. Person A finally annoyingly agreed and as he was on his way to person B, the earthquake struck. The outcome was that Person A's office was completely destroyed and everyone died... but person A survived because of person B!
Person A told the guy we spoke to how guilty he felt and also how person B had said 'you would be a lifesaver', yet person B had saved person A's life. It's amazing, yet so sad. The situation was completely out of his control, yet you can't help but realize how torn the man must feel. Thankful and fortunate that he survived, yet feeling horrible that all of his colleagues died.
After visiting the Haitian embassy, we headed back to our hotel to get to our van and head back home (not before the faculty member and her supervisor wasted another half hour though).
It was pretty weird that we went to Washington D.C. and didn't even see the White House or the monuments and memorials, considering that pretty much defines D.C.
You would think driving a four and a half hour drive (one way) and spending two days with four other students (I did know one of them from last semester) and two faculty members you have never met before would be awkward, but luckily the other four students were easy to get along with and even in the car ride - we all were talking from everything from movies to political events (we were all political science students after all!). I think who you are with makes all the difference, so it was definitely a good thing.
All in all, we got to speak to several people who gave us great advice and were quite informative, so at the end of the day - I'm glad I went.
P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.
Tuesday night, I got back from a two day trip to Washington D.C. with four other students from Rutgers through a program called 'Politics and Possibilities'.
We were to meet bright and early at 6:50 A.M. on campus on Monday - what a great way to start off the week of spring break :(. Anyhow, the Rutgers faculty member we were going with was late getting there and one thing or another delayed us from leaving for almost forty minutes.
The fact that the first stop was scheduled to be the Supreme Court (the one place on the itinerary I was actually looking forward to) and were on a tight schedule had me nervous the whole ride there. As if the fact that we were running late already wasn't bad enough, we stopped at a service area and the faculty member and her supervisor turned the ten minute stop into a 30+ minute stop (while the five students made it back in the allotted time).
Oh, and then the time on the rented van was behind an hour and twenty minutes (an hour of which we could blame on the fact that day light savings time began Sunday and I guess no one bothered to change it) so the lady thought we were doing okay on time for some reason even though a) we kept telling her the real time and the fact that we were late b) we left late to begin with, and were late from leaving the service area...
See a pattern developing here? Lateness.
It pretty much defined Monday for us.
Usually it's the students who are blamed for being late... but not this trip.
By the time we finally got to the Supreme Court, we had missed our scheduled tour time. While we still spent a few minutes walking around downstairs, all five of us students were very disappointed we missed the tour. Our attempts to convince the faculty member to let us take the next tour which was to begin in about twenty minutes failed. She kept insisting that we would be late to the next thing on the agenda and whatnot.
We head over to the next to the National Bar Association to meet someone else (a Rutgers alumni actually), but they were having furniture delivered or something and it was decided that he would meet us at the Convention Center. Little did we know we would have to wait over two hours for this guy!!!
I don't know what part annoys me the most - the fact that we missed the next tour at the Supreme Court to hurry over to make our appointment with this guy, the fact that we had to wait for so long, or the fact that this trip seemed to be the most disorganized program ever. To think this lady has done this for the last fifteen years - I just don't get how.
The guy treated us to late lunch/early dinner at a Spanish restaurant called La Tasca, which was an experience in itself. My food smelled horrible (and tasted even worse), one of the orders was duplicated, and one guy was told that the chef thought his food smelled funny and wanted him to place an order for something else (that definitely did not help anyone else's appetite). I've never had Spanish food before, so I don't know if its not keen to my taste buds or if this place just sucked. Thank goodness for fast food near our hotel!
So it's been two weeks since election day, but i didn't get a chance to blog about it until now.
first, my personal opinion on the results:
saying i was disappointed would be quite an understatement. I've said it before and i'll say it again: by no means am i a supporter of Corzine. However, i oppose many of the core things Christie sides with. Like i said before, healthcare and education are two of the big issues! I just can't understand how anyone would be against mandating health insurance companies to cover mammograms when breast cancer is the number one cause of death for females in the United States. And then to the education aspect - Christie wants to cut funding for early education because he thinks preschool is "babysitting". come on, people... seriously?
and now, comparing the results and our prediction for our class assignment for Somerset County. to refresh your memory, from an earlier post:
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we predict a tight race between Christie and Corzine in Somerset County, with the following percentages:
Jon Corzine - 47%
Chris Christie - 45%
Chris Daggett - 8%
for the voter turnout aspect, we predict: around a 55% turnout rate of the REGISTERED voters (not voting age population). There are 193,345 registered voters right now in Somerset county, so 55% of that would be: 106,340.
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we based our predictions, mainly, on past statistics and the trends. While Somerset County used to be the heart of the republican party in New Jersey, the margins had been decreasing tremendously each election cycle and had become quite competitive and close between the two major parties (in all sorts of races - governor, senatorial, presidential). With the Obama factor, democrats won in the county last year and we (wrongly) thought Corzine would be able to carry on the hype from the Obama factor
in reality, what happened in Somerset County was:
Jon Corzine - 34.29%
Chris Christie - 56.21% (so obviously Christie won. BIG TIME.)
Chris Daggett - 8.71% (extremely close to our prediction!!!!)
and for the voter turnout, 102,922 (approximately 53.23% of the registered voters casted a vote in the Governor's election from Somerset County. our predictions were pretty accurate for the voter turnout aspect.
we attributed the Christie win to several factors - a low democratic turnout (incumbency bias, free-rider problem); the anger and frustration felt by many in the state with the politicians because of the corruption and scandals in the state and people just wanting a change; the national problems we are facing that trickle down to the states and how many attribute it to the party in office currently, not the one that was the root of the problem; let's face it - most of us know at least one person who has lost their job; negative campaigning (omnipresent in EVERY election) - it's a double negative because not only does it work, but it also works the other way because some people are totally against them and use that against the politician; and of course the notion that many were expecting a miraculous overnight turnaround in the problems the nation is facing with the election of Barack Obama and are quite displeased that none of the "changes" have seemed to occur. things don't just happen overnight... they take time, but most of the general public doesn't see that of course.
So as i said in my earlier post from this morning, my project for my 'Elections and Participation' course at Rutgers this semester was to predict the voter turnout rate and who will win in Somerset County (and with what proportion).
I just submitted our prediction, and we predict a tight race between Christie and Corzine in Somerset County, with the following percentages:
Jon Corzine - 47%
Chris Christie - 45%
Chris Daggett - 8%
for the voter turnout aspect, we predict: around a 55% turnout rate of the REGISTERED voters (not voting age population). There are 193,345 registered voters right now in Somerset county, so 55% of that would be: 106,340.
I'll update later in the week with our explanation for the basis of our prediction as i'm still organizing all of our information. Or perhaps when i take a look at the actual results for comparison. I forgot to mention in the earlier post that that is also part of our assignment. When we present next week, we also have to include the actual results, and how much the actual results varied from our predictions and possible reasons and whatnot. So at this point, our assignment is only partly over.
This was (is) definitely a fun, interesting (and hard!) assignment, and I'm quite anxious to see the results tomorrow.
On a general state level prediction, i think Corzine will end up winning (but with a very small margin) the election.
again, a quick reminder : don't forget to go out and vote tomorrow!
UPDATE (7:45 AM on 11/03/09): the grad student that teaches our course sent out the overall predictions from our class, summing up all the counties. Here's the data:
The class expects to see approximately 2,643,282 votes tomorrow (51% of registered voters) and the final tally to divide statewide: Corzine: 45.95% of the vote Christie: 41.65% of the vote Daggett: 6.21% of the vote
It'll be interesting to see how close we got as a class - as political science students!
Based on an anonymous class vote taken in class yesterday: 80% expect Corzine to win the election 20% expect Christie to win the election
And: 65% would vote for Corzine 20% would vote for Christie 14% would vote for Daggett 1% would vote for Evgeni Malkin (i asked my brother who this was.... because i had no idea... and it's apparently a hockey player).
just a friendly reminder that TOMORROW is Election Day!
Don't forget to vote and remind your friends and family to do the same. Just because it is not a presidential election does not mean it is not important for you to cast your votes!
I am definitely interested in what happens in the Governor's election here in New Jersey, and it's implications! To make things even more interesting, my project for my 'Elections and Participation' class is to actually predict the voter turnout and who will win in the governor's election, and with what proportion. We were divided into groups, and our group has to predict for Somerset County, New Jersey.
I don't know how many people get to say that... or when i will ever get the chance to meet even ONE other president, but the last two days have been amazing for someone like me who LOVES politics and who is such a big fan of Barack Obama!
by the way, i'm going to throw in the past two days in one HUMONGOUS post because otherwise, one or the other would never get done... as i've been getting about one post done per month for the last few months. I have a post that i barely started two weeks ago still sitting in my drafts that i just haven't had time to write out! :( hopefully, soon... because i definitely want to get it done.
Anyhow, after being hesitant for a few days whether i was even going to attend the political rally where Bill Clinton was coming to rally for Corzine at my own school (Rutgers) because of a long and tiring day, i did end up going right after class... and i had a great time. The waiting line was decently long by the time we got there, and soon it had become much much longer! One thing that surprised me was there were no security checks (considering a former president was going to be present).
I know my brother Ayaz and i were discussing this, and many others feel the same way... but those rallying for Corzine seem to be doing a better job for him than Corzine is himself. and of course, Clinton is a great speaker as it is.
On a sidenote, after the event my brother and I met a reporter/fellow tweep (one uses twitter) Mike Memoli and it was so interesting to meet someone you communicate with online! We saw and talked with him at the Clinton/Corzine and the Obama/Corzine event (and met his sister and nephew there too).
Until attending the Clinton/Corzine rally, i was 100 percent sure that i was absolutely not going to be attending the Obama/Corzine rally the following day at FDU because of work, school work, and whatnot. But then, after the Clinton/Corzine rally...i realized no matter how much else was going... they could all take a back seat, because who knows when i would get such an amazing opportunity again in my life (or if i would ever!).
Luckily, i have no classes on Wednesday and was able to get someone to cover my shift at work on campus. I am SO SO SO glad i convinced myself to go!
Ayaz and I left home around 12ish (it was about 40 - 50 minute drive without traffic to get to Farleigh Dickinson University) and doors opened at 3 PM. We got there around 1:15ish i would say, and somehow, there were no real lines of any sorts and we were lucky enough to get to the front of the line!! To think that i wasn't even going to go, and then i ended up in the front row!!! (Can you tell how great of a time i had? :) )
One of the many speakers before we finally hear from Obama, was freeholder/reverend Vernon Walton (the first African-American to serve as a Bergen County Freeholder). He was a great speaker and he was amazing at getting the crowd going and was definitely a tough act to follow. he was probably my favorite speaker, aside from Obama of course, from last night.
Oh, and a last minute addition to the rally was Caroline Kennedy. most of the crowd had no idea she was also going to be one of the notable speakers that we would witness, but my brother and i got a heads-up from the reporter Mike Memoli that we follow on twitter. While Weinburg teased the unknowing audience about the "she" that was about to speak, we already knew all thanks to technology. :)
Caroline Kennedy received a much deserved standing ovation. Like so many others, I've had a natural interest in the Kennedy family and the tragedies that have struck their family. and no matter what your political philosophies are, Caroline Kennedy comes of as "real" and comes off to be just one of us. Furthermore, what Ted Kennedy did throughout his life for healthcare was amazing, and hopefully the fight will continue.
It's scary/sad to think of how many people are not covered by health insurance... and how many of those people are little helpless kids! Education and Healthcare issues are two of the main ones that i am especially concerned with. It's nice to hear the politicians hear about what "they are going to do", but it'll be even nicer to see some action being taken.
I'm no huge fan of Corzine (i haven't researched him enough to be one) but some of the things Christie is against, is so hard to believe! I can't believe anyone would be against things such as having a 2 day hospital stay for new mothers, having mandated mammograms, and funding for education. If we elect Christie, that's taking some major steps backwards. Christie wants to make it not mandatory for healthcare insurance providers to cover mammograms!!!! can you believe that?? who could be against such things! especially when breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death for females!!! not only that, but Christie also wants to cut funding for early education... because he thinks preschool is "babysitting". can you hear my frustration??
Anyways, getting back to the rally, talking about Caroline Kennedy reminds me of one of the funny moment as we waited for the "real" speeches. one of the secret service agents brought out a black portfolio to the podium that i am assuming was carrying Obama's speech and the crowd was so anxious, that the secret service agent got a huge ovation from the crowd for simply bringing the portfolio out to the podium and walk back to the back area. the agent just smiled, shook his head, and headed back out. The pretty cool DJ promoted a second wave of cheers/applause from the crowd for him too. :)
here's Caroline's speech:
Loretta Weinberg spoke before Caroline Kennedy and Jon Corzine spoke after Caroline Kennedy. Weinberg's speech was the same as the one from the night before at Rutgers. Corzine started off by saying he'll keep his speech short because he knew the real reason we were all here was to listen to Obama. Obama, of course, spoke last. i think one of the best techniques Corzine has been doing lately is linking Christie to Palin - that's ingenious right there and anyone with half a brain will negate them. the latest polls (from today) show Corzine leading by a three point margin (very small)... but this is the first time he's been leading for a while. all of the powerful speakers this week have definitely helped Corzine, undoubtedly.
by the way, did you guys know Corzine's mom is a registered republican?? i had no idea until Corzine mentioned that yesterday!
Obama came out to a loud and cheering audience, of course... and the atmosphere was amazing. and it only got better as Obama spoke. I've said it many times before - Obama is a great, inspirational, and eloquent speaker... and even more so in person! Ayaz and i were so lucky to meet him from so close up, and shake hands with him! I truly believe he has the potential to make a big difference for the country.
I've heard the "fired up" story many times before, but i heard it again last night live as Obama ended with the story (and i was wearing my 'fired up' shirt too!). it's one of those things that never get old. Obama said the moral of the "fired up" story was that "one voice can change a room...and if can change a room it can change a city... and if it can change a city, it can change a state...and if it can change a state, then it can change a country...". Obama, intelligently, connected this with urging each of us individually to go out there and knock on some doors, call some people, get our friends/family/neighbors out to vote, etc because we could make the difference.
this next image shows just how close we got:
also, during Obama's speech... near the center in the front row alone we had three girls "faint" in the same general section. i found that really weird, but the secret service just came in and carried each of the girls out as it happened.
here's obama's speech btw:
I know i would have regretted it later had i not gone to either of the events (ESPECIALLY the Obama event)! This is a pretty long post as it is, but i'll probably add more thoughts to this as i remember more things.
These past two days have been pretty amazing... and one of those things i'll remember forever!
UPDATE: this post is as long as a 5 page essay! to think how productive i could have been school-wise today! :( :)
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die." -- Senator Ted Kennedy, 1932-2009
Around 1:30 A.M. this morning, i was suprised and deeply saddened to receive "breaking news" text messages from several different news organizations alerting me that Edward Kennedy had passed away due to brain cancer at the age of 77... fifteen short months after the diagnosis.
Edward Kennedy was not only one of the most influential politicians, but a true humanitarian which was quite evident through his vast efforts for healthcare amongst many other things.
He is irreplaceable - but whoever takes on his roles... has a very tough job ahead of him/her.
It is hard to fathom that exactly one year ago, Edward Kennedy gave yet another inspirational speech at the DNC. While he seemed fragile and ill, his will seemed as strong as ever.
Edward Kennedy - you will be missed by many, friends and strangers alike.
It's been a little over a week of summer vacation and i am LOVING the down time. It's nice not having too constantly stress over deadlines... and these past few days have been a lot of fun especially.
This past thursday was shazia's and zehra's graduation. because they graduated from different colleges within Rutgers and the timing overlapped, i went to shazia's graduation. it was a pretty long ceremony (and about 2,675 graduates), and it was pretty hot, but still a lot of fun. Later that night, we went to zehra's for a BBQ dinner to celebrate (and the food was delicious - i LOVE bihari kakab and bbq chicken!)
then on friday, the girls went out to dinner at red lobster to celebrate shazia's graduation. afterwards, we went to finally see the movie Angels and Demons... and my goodness was it gruesome! It was good overall, just not my type of movie.
sunday, we had another one of our monthly game nights (at imran's) and then a couple of my cousins and i ended up sleeping over there. monday (yesterday) morning was another crazy morning as we got everything ready for zehra's surprise graduation picnic party. the weather was HOT but it was a lot of fun and i'm SO glad the surprise wasn't ruined!
i have had next to no sleep these past six days and so it has been very tiring BUT so much fun! i definitely want to enjoy this summer as much as a possibly can. All the planning and craziness for the parties paid off, alhumduillah and everything was a lot of fun.
Congratulations once again to Shazia and Zehra (and all the other graduates)! I'm so proud of you and your accomplishments!
this past friday i also FINALLY registered for the LSATs for the upcoming september, which means i REALLY have to start studying now! I can't believe I'm graduating next year!
On a completely different note, i woke up this morning to realize that Obama has chosen federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be nominated to be a Supreme Court Justice. She's a women obviously and i knew he was going to pick a women (he better had). And many speculated it would be a hispanic... and with Sotomayor, Obama chose the first hispanic and she's still a woman. The last few days have been so busy, that i haven't even read the news lately - so i didn't even realize Obama was about to announce his nomination. Oh well.
Apparently, it takes a global health scare (swine flu) to get a health and human services secretary because this evening, the senate confirmed Kathleen Sebelius as the health and human services secretary.
Earlier, on a different note, veteran Pennsylvania senator Arlen Specter switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party... bringing the democrats one step closer to the 60-seat majority (if Al Franken wins the ongoing Minnesota Senate race, we will be at 60).
I'm a recent Rutgers University graduate, where I majored in Psychology and minored in Political Science (May 2010). I love reading, and am interested in politics - local and elsewhere.
Click here to read more about me and why I started blogging!
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