Midterm Elections Drive Me Nuts

Watching the midterm election results makes me squirm for a number of reasons.

1. Republicans are making gains. Stupid Republicans, to be more specific. Crazy Tea Party Republicans, to get right to the point. Rand Paul, ophthalmologist and advocate for eliminating the Federal Reserve and Department of Education, is an elected Senator. What?!

2. I just heard Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn fail to answer the question, "What is discretionary spending?"

3. Ben Lowe is going to lose the Illinois 6th District. Peter Roskam, incumbent Republican from the 6th, despite saying he was taking his opponent seriously, refused to engage him in a public debate.

4. MSNBC just reported that, as was expected, the Republicans have regained control of the House. Gridlock, amplified? You betcha.

5. Way too many Republican seats were uncontested.

About the Extra Cent

Why would you want my extra cent?

Because I’ve got a unique perspective that’s educated, logical and easy to relate to.

I’m a single mom. I’ve got a two year old, and I’m basically broke. I know what it’s like to be struggling to find work, facing a bout of hard luck and trying to make ends meet. I know that, for many of us, our kids are our world. I want the world for my daughter. I know family comes first. I’ve lived in some pretty run down areas, and I know things are tough right now.

I wasn’t always broke. I grew up in a very affluent neighborhood. While my family didn’t have money when I was very young, my dad started doing pretty well for himself when I hit high school. I was never a trust fund baby (never will be), but neither was he. Hard work = eventual success in my mind.

I was raised going to a Catholic and Evangelical Church in a super religious town. The roller coaster of frustration I experienced in being stretched between those dogmatic ivory towers lead me to atheism, agnosticism, exploration and back to Christianity, leaving me with a healthy dose of respect for all forms of faith and its absence.

I’m a fabulous communicator and very up to date on current events. I participated in competitive public speaking and debate for eight years, and have been coaching students in those events for two years now. I have national titles to my name. Research has become second nature for me.

That doesn’t mean I haven’t made some very stupid mistakes, because I have. I’m far from a saint, and will never claim infallibility.

The point is, I’ve experienced enough to know that most of life isn’t black and white; we live in shades of gray. My 3 Cents seeks to seek out the truth that swims in these murky waters in an effort to make some logical sense out of our day-to-day lives.

Expect me to write on politics, social controversy, business and pop culture. Why? Because all of these components shape us and our loved ones in some way. Gleaning a small bit of understanding can’t be a bad thing.

But that’s just my extra cent. Because 2 isn’t enough.

The Insanity of the Rally to Restore Sanity

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are geniuses. Not only have they been able to draw in an audience of millions while reporting on current issues and keeping people informed, they have now been able to mobilize the masses in a manner that makes even the Obama team drool.

That's right. I'm talking about the March to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.

It all started in August when the Congressional Black Caucus planned to hold a rally for "Reclaiming the Dream" on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous march on Washington. The rally was intended to celebrate progress so far in creating equality, and to inspire people to continue the fight. In response, political commentator and general idiot Glenn Beck decided to host a rally called "Restoring Honor" for the Tea Party supporters in America. While those in charge claimed the Honor rally was not intended as a direct foil to the emotional tone of the Dream rally, the two were set up as dueling ideas by participants and the media alike.

In short, it was stupid.

In response, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert starting promoting a spoof of the madness that took place with the Dream/Honor face-off. They called it the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. Stewart propagated the event as a rally for Americans too busy to involve themselves in other political rallies, making a jab at the sometimes over the top rhetoric of other political grandstanders. Colbert, using his near patented sense of irony, argued that we must push for fear, as fear is necessary in all aspects of life. The whole rally was intended to be a big screw you to the political establishment, and a plea for more logical, reasonable individuals to take the helm in politics.

In theory.

See, the rallies were supposed to be a joke. What no one anticipated was that they would become reality. 12 hours after the airing of Stewart and Colbert's rally sug"jest"ions, Facebook pages sprung up in support of the event. Now, the articulated attendance is rivialing what Beck had before his rally, and is expected to grow. DC isn't going to be the only venue, either. Some venues are predictable- like Chicago. Others?

Tel Aviv, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, London, Montreal, New Zealand and Mt. Everest, to name a few.

What started as a joke has transformed into a movement world wide. People are tired of politics as usual, and can you blame them? The majority of sound bites that come from politicians are the lowest form of argument. They are distortions of truth, hyperbole and outright lies nine times out of ten. Am I surprised by the outcry? No. I am, however, hesitant to celebrate it.

It's fantastic that all these people want to participate, as long as they do just that. Participate, I mean. Going to a rally is fantastic, but until we start openly calling out politicians for their communicative faux pas and actively voting for candidates that make sense... well, then I guess the joke will be on us.