25 October, 2016

The depressing state of politics in southern Oregon

I could count it as another way I've been spoiled by growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, in addition to the food, diversity, culture, music and art scenes, local shops, and temperate weather—intense political activism. I grew up with a political-mindedness, and my parents didn't even have to brainwash my vulnerable baby-brain to do it. Awareness and advocacy of issues and policies and ideologies of things political is kind of part of the air when you live in the SF area, perhaps due to a combination of contextual history and the necessities demanded of a diverse population that exhorts inclusiveness but continues to to struggle with social/economic oppression.

I moved to southern Oregon 19 months ago, and the political landscape struck me as somewhat similar to California, if on a smaller scale—the larger cities are more liberal while rural areas are more conservative. I've benefited from Oregon public policy, namely the Oregon Health Plan, which has provided me stable health insurance for the first time in years. But I didn't realize how unpolitical things are until I began exploring my electoral options for mayor of Medford.

Two old white men who seem politically similar, neither of whom are very appealing to me, one of whom ran for mayor unopposed four years ago, and who are, actually, friends with one another. What the hell is wrong with this picture?


10 October, 2016

About that 2nd debate...and LDS missionaries

I was not looking forward to watching this debate, and if I hadn't accidentally flaked on a friend, I would have missed it (I fell asleep, since chronic insomnia has turned me into a pseudo-narcoleptic). But I decided it was my civic duty and tuned in anyway.

I was mostly prepped by various articles published online throughout the day (I check The Guardian, Slate, The Atlantic, and CNN often, the latter for a more mainstream, false-equivalence narrative). Trump's plan seemed to be to attack the opposing presidential nominee for her husband's actions, which just reinforces the misogyny inherent in Donald Trump, aside from that whole "grab them by the pussy" business.

It seemed Mr. Trump was prepped by professionals and a healthy dose of Ativan this time, though it was still more of the same—the absolute inability to answer whatever he's asked, making shit up and insisting it's true, ignoring the presence of reality, rudeness, bluster, and banter, blah blah.

The one aspect that made this feel different was the town hall format, which lets candidates move and walk around, presenting a physicality that was less apparent in the first debate. Quite frequently, the Donald loomed behind Clinton to the point where I half expected him to suddenly whip out a sword, scream "BOOOONNNNSSAAAAAAIIIIIII!!!" like a maniac, and lop her head off. But, no—he just interrupted a lot. Again.