Politics are boring.
Posted by Bake & Destroy on September 23rd, 2008. Filed under: Do the right thing, off topic.
When my grandpa was a kid he tore all the elephants out of his circus coloring book because he was already such a staunch Democrat. When his dad had to go to the Republican Building to pick up his paycheck, my grandpa refused to go inside with him. These may or may not be lies. Either way they’re stories my grandpa told me when I was little and I still remember them over 20 years later.
There’s something my grandpa told me more recently, however, and I want to share it here, despite it having little to do with cake or frosting. (Which is why I’m featuring photos of Obama cakes from The Bleeding Heart Bakery, more on that in a moment.)
I was getting upset and the number of people I knew- people my own age- who said they weren’t voting for Obama because he’s a Muslim. But I have a tendency to lash out, it’s been called the “say the worst thing” syndrome by those who know me. So I called my grandpa, Don Rigazio, and here were his soothing words:
The U.S. is not, and never was, intended to have a theocratic form of government. There is a wall- a separation between church and state in this country- and an atheist, Mormon, Jew or nominal or devout Catholic or Protestant should have equal access to the highest elected position in the land. The Muslim inference is an underhanded fear arousal, a card that conservatives [read...Republicans] have successfully used in the past two presidential elections and especially post-9/11. To use a colloquial expression…”That dog don’t hunt anymore!” These Neanderthals always have to have a boogeyman, Natalie. Hitler had the Jews, the Reps used Communism until the Cold War ended, now it’s terror. We have wasted 400 billion in Iraq fighting a “tactic.” Can you picture a “tactic” signing a surrender document? We desperately need CHANGE, Natalie, and Obama is that instrument of change!
So on that note, I wanted to bring two really easy ways to be an instrument of change to your attention. If you’re in Chicago, stop by The Bleeding Heart Bakery for an Obama cupcake or cake between now and the election and two dollars from the sales of each one will go to the Obama/Biden campaign. If you’re not in Chicago, or even if you are, consider logging on to Planned Parenthood and making a donation- big or small- in Sarah Palin’s name. Use the address:
McCain for President
1235 S. Clark Street 1st Floor
Arlington , VA 22202
Make sure you use that link above or choose the pull down of Donate–Honorary or Memorial Donations, not the regular “Donate Online.”
The winds of change are a hurricane!
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:13 am
First: Your grandpa sounds awesome.
Also: the biggest problem with the “not voting for Barack because he’s a Muslim” line of thinking is the simple fact that Barack Obama is not a Muslim. Granted, it shouldn’t matter if he was, but that’s just another lie (in a long series of them) that the McCain Propaganda Machine has been feeding to people.
Also of note: Barack Obama is also not Muslin.
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:35 am
What a nice post! And I’ll be making a donation “in honor” of Sarah Palin as soon as my financial aid kicks in. Awesome.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:33 am
Yes, I’m doing the donation as well. Keep up the good work, lady!
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:25 pm
I love what you are doing and your grandpa sounds like an amazing person.
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Well said, Natalie’s grandpa Don.
I think that Obama’s a Muslim thing came from one of those ridiculous mass email that also said that he doesn’t wear a flag pin and won’t salute the flag. Ugh. People need to stop getting their political information from email chain letters. And… stop watching FOX news and do a little of their own research.
Here’s another link to go with the one Justin posted above. I don’t know how to do the fancy html thing and make the words the link. So here’s the link.
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_barack_obama_muslim.htm
September 24th, 2008 at 2:29 am
my dad is so awesome. there have been several occasions when i wasn’t sure how to express something and called on him to lay it down. he always delivers.
did he tell you he spoke on the phone to a woman from moveon.org for 45 minutes sun. night?
September 24th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I read somewhere that making a donation in Palin’s name was a bad idea because…I can’t remember. Something about how when donations are made in someone’s name, they send out cards which cost them money…and some other reason. D’oh. I’ll have to track it down, because when I read that, it made perfect sense.
Also, your granddad rocks. All the people I know of the older generation are staunch conservatives (not unexpected when you marry into an entrenched Texan family!) so it makes me happy to read about an older person who hasn’t bought into the “liberalism is for the young” crap.
September 24th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
OK, sorry to post twice in a row, but I just found the article about donating in Palin’s name. Here ’tis.
“Okay, guys, we’ve been getting a lot of emails about a campaign to “fight back against the McCain Campaign’s hateful policies toward women” by donating to Planned Parenthood in Sarah Palin’s name. Megan has this to say: “The problem with this idea is that Obama forewent public financing on the basis of relying on donors — big and small — to continue giving him money. If people give the $5 or $10 to PPFA instead and send cards to McCain’s office, you’re just notifying him how much money Obama is losing. Heck, I wouldn’t put it past a Republican operative for starting the chain, especially since it doesn’t encourage donations to PPFA’s PAC, which can spend the money to run ads about the candidates/reproductive rights, but to the organization itself, which cannot. Please be careful about forwarding this along. If something like this really went viral, it could do a lot of damage.” Maybe we should save the donations/cards in case the GOP gets elected? Weigh in in the comments.”
Link: http://jezebel.com/5051413/
September 24th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Yay for Obama cupcakes!
September 24th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Your grandfather sounds a lot like mine. Yellow dog dem. Go gramps! belleplain does have a point, but any donation to Planned Parenthood, for whatever reason, that’s a good thing. Also the organization is smart enough to catch on and not send hundreds (if not thousands) of cards to the McCain address.
September 24th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Wow your grandpa sounds great!!
I received the chain email that listed all the reasons a Muslim is not a good American, and therefore could not be a good President, and therefore Obama would be a bad president!! Even though he’s not even Muslim. WHATTTTTT! Well I guess if carrots were oranges and grew on trees then paper cuts would kill and we’d never be safe from our enemies on mars!
The bottom of the email said that the Marines want everyone to know about this so to please forward. OF COURSE, bring the troops into it. It made me so mad, and your grandpa is right that its a sneaky republican tactic, send this out assuming people won’t investigate, they will just read it and get scared and go along with what you want them to do. ARRGGGHHH!!!
October 15th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Great post! I’m an English professor in a community college and I get the “Obama is a Muslim” e-mail all the time because the students tend to forget I’m in their mailbox when they send the forwards to everyone they know. I’ve taken it upon myself to make them anaalyze the argument in two editorials: one about Obama (Caroline Kennedy’s “A President Like My Father”) and one about McCain the name of which I totally forget. At least they’ll get a tiny dose of fact amidst all the crap.
Love the donation idea. Might have to do that one! And I love your blog. I’ve already added you to my blogroll.