One year ago from today, children, students, and adults gathered in the heart of Dover Plains to campaign for then-Senator Obama, as he ran for President against Republican John McCain. The aim of the gathering was to be noticed. The young people wanted to show the world that even in firmly conservative town of Dover Plains, in the unshakably blue state of New York, students found a reason to be excited for change.
With the of some very good friends, organizing Register for Change was my last action in Dover Plains before heading off for college. To this day, it’s the personal project I’m most proud of. Watching students stand on street corners, yelling desperately at the top of their lungs, hoping to overcome eight years of mistakes from the Bush administration, is an image that will never leave me.
One year later, I’m re-acknowledging the accomplishment and re-thanking my friends. Without the truly motivated and resourceful people who organized the event with me, we wouldn’t have helped Dover register for change.
It is our responsibility as lawmakers and educators to make this system work. But it is the responsibility of every citizen to participate in it. And so tonight, I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma. And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It’s not just quitting on yourself, it’s quitting on your country – and this country needs and values the talents of every American. That is why we will provide the support necessary for you to complete college and meet a new goal: by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.
These are some off-topic thoughts I had while writing up a post for my New Media, New Politics? class. I know I haven’t been posting much, and that’s entirely my fault. So much as happened in my life, I don’t know where to begin. These thoughts will have to do for now.
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Over the long weekend, I had three quick thoughts that I wanted to pass along.
One. Last week, Chicago Public Radio’s darling, This American Life, did the world a favor by running an episode carefully explaining the current financial crisis. If you have any doubts in your mind about what caused the crisis, listening to the show will be one of the most helpful beneficial things you’ll do this month. The This American Life website says the hosts will, “…explain what happened this week, including what regulators could’ve done to prevent this financial crisis from happening in the first place.” I highly recommend it; it’s both entertaining and intellectually rewarding.
Two. The level of hatred in this race really saddens me. When I look at some comments or rallies on both sides of the fence, I don’t see civil and democratic disagreements. In fact, I don’t see anything. I feel disturbing levels of hatred and malice towards the opposing candidate. Hate isn’t a partisan issue. Lies aren’t political. They’re despicable. The trends, frankly, are disturbing, and I hope that both candidates try to turn it around, whether or not they’re actually able to.
Three. Tomorrow, Apple CEO Steve Jobs will announce updated laptops. Besides being an avid follower of politics, I follow the technology industry. In my observation, no one is better at stealing the news cycle than Steve Jobs. He puts any political campaign to shame. Just watch for that tomorrow, in addition to the banter between the Obama and McCain campaigns.