Musings

I do not want this man representing me to the world. How could I want this man standing for America and the principles it upholds? Don’t I want someone who is articulate and understands the ways of the world? Don’t I want someone who doesn’t have to try to convince his potential supporters that he didn’t sexually harass multiple women?

These are not questions America should be asking itself when they go to the polling booths this time next year. We shouldn’t have to think about that. We should be focused on who’s been trying to help us out of this disaster of an economy and perpetuate the liberty we’ve enjoyed for the last 250 years.

Clearly, Herman Cain is not who can represent the American people.

“As I sat in my hotel room with a couple of my staff members, as they got to the microphone, my first response in my mind and reaction was ‘I don’t even know who this woman is.’” Cain stated today at the beginning of his press conference.

As a twenty-one-year-old woman in Manhattan, I am harassed everyday. I can’t step out of my apartment without someone saying something to me. I could be in sweats and still be sexually harassed. The men may not remember me or their actions as the days go by, but I sure do. As time goes on, I have become desensitized to it. However, it never ceases to amaze me how uncomfortable someone is able to make me feel at 8 am on a random Tuesday. I remember their face most of the time. They certainly don’t remember mine. Who’s to say that Cain is any different from these men?

Multiple accusers have come forward saying Cain has sexually harassed them. Four, actually. How can this many women come forward and this not be true? There have been whisperings—and by that I mean Wolf Blitzer mentioned it after the press conference—that the accusers may have a joint press conference of their own to go into detail of their experiences.

Cain said that the one accusation that he remembered was dealt with by the National Restaurant Association—mind you he was the president at the time—and was “personally resolved” not “legally settled in court.”

If there was a real issue to resolve regarding the National Restaurant Association’s president, the Association would no doubt to everything in their power to resolve it out of court.

“And now that I’m running for the highest office in the land, accusation after accusation. some anonymous, some not-so-anonymous are now coming to light. This is not a surprise. It was expected.” Cain said.

There are dozens of other presidential candidates that have run without being accused of sexual harassment. You must have been expecting these accusations for a reason. Most of the sexual harassment accusations that have come forth during campaigns are true. Need everyone be reminded of John Edwards?

So, no worries Mr. Cain. You’re just another philandering politician and business man. Unfortunately, we need someone exceptional to be able to run this country.

Photo courtesy of The Telegraph

Today, as many as 400 people were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge after being lured there as justification for the arrests by the NYPD as reported by the New York Times.

These people were apart of the movement Occupy Wall Street and were doing one of the most American things someone can do—protest.

This is evidence for the system breaking down. It was reported on Twitter that several policemen were hestitent to follow through with the arrests. They had every reason to feel this way. They were not apart of the elite. Therefore, Occupy Wall Street is fighting for them and their families.

They are not the congressman who knows the CEO from grade school or the banker who is family friends with the senator. They are breadwinners for their family. Their wives are hairdressers, teachers, and sales clerks. They work hard to ensure comfort for their families, just like the rest of this country.

The elite tax these people who work two or three jobs to make ends meet because they don’t know that life. They call them lazy or free-loaders. A single mother holding down three jobs at Wal-Mart, Outback, and CVS so she can put food on the table for her children is not a free-loader.

There are many who continue to vote for the representatives who vote for tax cuts that benefit themselves and not their constituents. Sure, by looking at the numbers it seems as if it works out but taking 25% of a single mother’s income of $34,500 a year is a much bigger dent than 35% of $2,000,000 a year. The number’s from this are on page 38 http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15.pdf

Instead of the major news outlets revealing the truth, they continue to perpetuate the, as Walter Lippmann referred to them, “pseudo-environments” created by stereotypes.

Today, there has been very little coverage of the injustices on the Brooklyn Bridge. Unless the media risks upsetting their precious elite no one will ever understand that we have become the America we didn’t want to turn into.

Many say that Occupy Wall Street doesn’t have a clear goal. This is not true. Frustration is their woe. True equal opportunity and less disparity between classes is their goal. What we all want for America. However, we have lost sight of what this country is by focusing on or being distracted by the petty arguments across the aisle between our representatives.

Occupy Wall Street is bringing us back to reality and revealing the true nature of what our nation has become. This is just the beginning.

Photo credit: Alan Taylor for The Atlantic

I find this so sad that this is where we’re headed. I understand the advantage of Kindles and Nooks but nothing compares to the real thing.

Books you can toss around. Throw them in your purse and not worry about them breaking. Get them wet without worrying about them frying. Take notes in the margins. Open them wider as the plot thickens. Smell the pages. Flip through them. FEEL how far you’ve gotten rather than look at the percentage you’ve read.

I think it’s great that these inventions have seemed to spark a new interest in reading. I suppose that’s the real advantage. Nothing compares to the smell of my books and looking at them on my bookshelf. Seeing the worlds of someone else’s imagination I explored with my own rather than knowing they exist in a hard drive. Books and their pages will never die. At least not for me. 

If my roommate for next year didn’t already have a cat I’d be on the hunt for one of my own right now. I’m going through serious withdrawl of being a cat owner and the MacDonald’s cat is far from satisfactory. She doesn’t come and sit next to you or sit on your lap. She’ll maybe let you pet her, if you’re lucky. Most cats love me. My relationship with that menace, though improving, has been less than warm than most of my encounter’s with felines.

In the fall, I’ll have a new buddy to cuddle up with. Yay!

(via atomos)

I just finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao last night. I felt like I was getting a glimpse, however small, into the Dominican culture. I wish I could say it made a big impression on me though. It didn’t. While I was reading it I found it entertaining and intriguing. However, I don’t find myself thinking about it as much I would like to after I finish an amazing book.

So, basically, I enjoyed it. But it didn’t make the impression on me I wanted it to. I felt like there was a point in the story where there could be no happy ending. And while this is often true in real life, I found it frustrating in this novel. Who knows? Maybe I just like trite endings. But I get frustrated with those, too.

Perhaps it was the fact that I could, in no way, relate to Oscar. A white girl from Connecticut with hippy tendencies can’t relate to a nerdy Dominican from the ghetto in New Jersey. I can relate to life going badly no matter what. But that’s life, not a curse. Right? Well, maybe in that families case.

Conclusion:

Definitely worth a read.

Now for something light with Eat, Pray, Love.