Weekend Assignment #239: Imagine that you have the world's full attention (or your country's full attention) for a maximum of two minutes. What do you tell everyone? Your message can be a single sentence if you like, or a bit longer.
Extra Credit: Would you prefer your message to be broadcast on tv or radio, or published in multiple print media?
Here's my message:
Calm down. It's going to be all right.
Barring a major disaster, or voting-related shenanigans that dwarf 2000 and 2004 combined, Barack Obama will be elected President of the United States less than two weeks from now. The entire country is on edge, either worried that something bad will happen between now and then, or else that the black guy with the foreign name will use his power as President to do something terrible.
If you're worried that Obama might somehow lose the election, then be sure to confirm that your voter registration remains intact, and help make sure everyone who legitimately registered has an opportunity to vote and have the vote be counted. Aside from that, just keep going, and don't freak out.
If you're worried that Obama will win, then consider this. For many months, people have been lying to you, doing their best to fill you with fear of Barack Obama, his policies, or both, so that you will vote for the Republican - any Republican. The truth is, you don't need to be afraid. Barack Obama is not Anti-American, a Muslim (not that a Muslim is automatically a bad person), a terrorist, a Socialist, a Commie or the Antichrist. He is not about to raise your taxes, kill your baby or hand control of the U.S. Government to Osama Bin Laden.
So relax. It's going to be all right. Reject the politics of fear, and the potential violence that has already resulted in death threats, assaults on a reporter and an Obama volunteer, and even a kicked dog. Just be cool. Watch and wait. Soon you will see that the guy with the funny name is doing his best to look out for you.
How would I deliver this message? I think I'd like to deliver a speech. Just don't let Chris Matthews or Bill O'Reilly interrupt me, okay? But the written word is fine, too.
Your turn! Give us your message to the world, and we'll help to spread it. Write it up in your blog along with a link back here, and leave a link to your entry in the comments below. I'll be back in a week with a roundup of your responses.
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Last week for Weekend Assignment #238: What a Rip Off! I asked you to tell us of a time you've been ripped off - that is, stolen from or cheated in some way. Evidently most of you have never been ripped off, ;) but we did have three entries:
Julie said...
My first job after I got married was with a small ad agency. Long story short, the guy was terribly clueless about how things worked. I kept with it because I didn't have any prospect of another job, and I kept hoping things would look up. They didn't. I never got paid, and every time I asked for money the boss would quote the Old Testament to me. It was a bad situation, and I finally had enough and left after he spent thousands on camera gear, but had no money to pay me.
Florinda said...
The next morning we went out to the car to leave for church (I did do that regularly for a number of years) and discovered that I must have been so sleepy I had forgotten to lock the car doors - and apparently someone had noticed. However, while I had made breaking into the car easy for them, they must have gotten frustrated once they actually got inside, since they were unable to dislodge the car stereo. They were successful in stealing the knobs off it, though.
Mike said...
I took my Land Speeder and put it behind the air conditioner and said bye to my friends as I went inside. When I came home it was gone. I looked all over the deck, and I probably cried a little, but it was never found. I've always thought that one of my friends I was playing with took it, but I never confronted him. It still haunts me to this day.
That's it for tonight. Now it's your turn. The microphone is in your hands, and your favorite media outlets are waiting to hear from you. I know you have something to say. So say it! And don't forget to leave your links!
Karen
6 comments:
Here you go:
http://www.barrettmanor.com/julie/archive.aspx?ID=2334
This was fun! Mine is here
This was a real challenge for me - trying to be profound AND concise - but here's what I came up with.
I certainly hope that people chose who to vote for based on issues and not the email/tv garbage that goes on. I find it offensive that anyone would think if you don't vote for Obamba it was for the reasons you mentioned.
Barbara
Barbara--
Oh, I agree. I'm sure there are people who are voting for McCain because they agree with his foreign policy, and maybe even on the economy. Unfortunately, I get smear emails every day from a friend who uncritically forwards every anti-Obama email, however irrational or disingenuous, including one that makes false claims about the Bible to convince people Obama is the Anti-Christ. I see footage of Palin supporters calling Obama all those names I mentioned, and heard robocalls making all sorts of horrific claims.
Fortunately, like you, I believe that most Republicans reject the hysterical and false claims. But the people who believe this garbage are out there, and I worry about what they might do, aside from carving a B in their own faces.
I've run out of time to write my post. I was going to say: Can we stop with the guns? It seems every argument leads to someone getting shot lately. Is it really worth shooting someone because they bumped into you? That really happened in Chicago a short time ago. Actually, the guy missed his target and killed an innocent girl. It's out of hand and stupid.
That's all for now. I'm getting mad all over again.
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