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Posts Tagged ‘ Election ’

Hockey Moms, Prayer Nazis, and Why I Love But Fear People Like Sarah Palin

Remember that really nice girl who greeted you warmly as a potential friend when you first arrived at college? Remember how she conscientiously invited you to dinner, or to study, or to her Christian fellowship activity? Remember the conversations about religion that you thought were a precursor to sharing secrets among friends? But then you expressed a different opinion, or you joined a liberal club, or you started to explore your sexuality, and suddenly, you felt a sharp pain in your back?  Betrayed by some evangelical whom you thought was a friend?



“Yes We Can” and The Politics of Transformation

One small viral video likewise typifies this longing for transformation, the will.i.am music video, “Yes We Can.” This musical alteration of Barack Obama’s speech, itself a riff on Dolores Huerta’s classic “Sí se puede,” promises change in the moment that we move to the ballot box and vote for Senator Obama. Parts fascism and Internet youth culture, the video moves us to conflate the solitary moment of a vote cast with instantaneous transformation into the change we seek.



Evidence of Things Hidden Behind the Voting Booth

As the 2008 Democratic primary season ends with Barack Obama as the presumptive nominee, I want to reflect back on some of the political themes, realities, and pundit theories that have shaped and invigorated the United States of America over the last year. Some could say citizens of this nation faced three major questions leading to the Democratic nomination.