The election of the Republican candidate is upon us. To me this is a pretty serious thing- I mean one of these men could be potentially the President of the United States! Ok, I must admit that I really have never paid much attention to...well, any election. But I am 23 years old and dangit I am going to start voting for who I really want instead of the guy my dad says is the best. As I have started watching the debates and reading the New York Times, I can see first of all that Mitt Romney is, for lack of better words, in first place, with Santorum, Huntsman, and Paul close behind (kind of...), and Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich pulling up the rear.
Recently Romney won both the states of Iowa and New Hampshire, which is a first ever for a non-incumbent Republican. If you, like me, don't really know what incumbent means, than I advise you to google it. Anyway, I have seen something that really bothers me as Romney pulls further and further ahead, especially in Gingrich's campaign. It seems the more desperate the candidates become, the less they focus on real political issues (like, I don't know.. maybe how to keep our country from self destruction and our national debt from surpassing whatever comes after the trillions), and the more they result to backstabbing and trash talking, which is a word I never thought I would use when referring to possible Presidents of the United States.
But it gets worse. So Gingrich's friend/billionaire/casino owner funded a pro-Newt Gingrich super PAC called Winning Our Future, which has invested 1.6 million dollars in producing a 30-minute campaign ad that labels Romney as a money loving "vulture" that only eliminated jobs at the company at which he was CEO, Bain Capital. Now that the next election is in South Carolina, the super PAC plans to litter both the television and the radio with the ad in their attempt to sabotage Mitt Romney and his campaign. In the end, it makes me sick knowing that over a million dollars was just spent solely for the purpose of defaming another man. Wow. Excuse me while I go throw up.
But so why do you think Mr. Gingrich has abandoned all attempts at being civil? Well, in a CNN interview he said that "Romney attacked him first". I'm pretty sure that I used to say that when I was ten. I suppose what really depresses me is that these men are in a position to present a plan for change, a plan for better times. They could be talking about how to end the recession or decrease spending or at least figure out what troops are (or should) be doing overseas. And that money! My goodness, think of the charities and hospitals and non-profit organizations that could have used it toward something that actually matters.
But let's step back for just a moment. As much as I'd like to make this just about Gingrich, I can't. Interestingly enough, Romney did do the same thing in the 2008 election, running similar ads to give himself the advantage, and Rick Perry did it when he was running to be governor of Texas. Sadly, this tactic has become a normal part of politics. And for what? To get ahead a little? To save face? To get revenge? So much money has already gone down the drain at our expense. Wasted. All I have to say is that we don't have to support this kind of petty political childishness. I will never vote for any man who spends his time and money putting others down. I don't want anyone like that anywhere near the Presidential office. Let's support only those that teach, uplift, and inspire. Let's vote for only those that offer us plans for improvement and hope for a better future, not those that will only use their millions to put you down when you get in their way. It doesn't matter that it is what people do. We do no have to support it.
The price of victory is not worth more than our integrity.
Friday, January 13, 2012
It's Tebow Time
For having never seen a Broncos game in my life, I think it's pretty amazing that I've seen almost ever one of Denver's football games this season. I can't quite believe it now that I think about it. I'm a professed Cowboys fan, but I guess not enough to actually watch the games...
But I still remember that first Sunday in my new apartment. My roommates, Dan and Dave, who happen to be from Denver asked me "Do you have a team?". "Well I'm a Cowboys fan, myself.", I replied. From what I remember, their response was something like "get out". Yeah, that's right, they're that hard core.
But I soon realized that it was not just the team that they were rallying behind, but a man, a quarterback newly drafted from Florida, named Tim Tebow.
My roommates wanted the Broncos to win but they wanted that man to do it. Somehow they knew that victory for the Broncos would only be at his hand. How? I had no clue. I had never even heard of the guy before. But for three games, his name was all I heard. How the coach didn't like him and refused to start him, how he was equally loved and looked down upon by hundreds of thousands of people, and how he was the future of the Broncos and many even the NFL. They talked him up so much that by the time the coach got tired of losing and put Tebow in, I was genuinely curious as to what this man had or did that made him so popular yet so controversial.
Maybe he's killed people, I thought. Or maybe he's like Lady Gaga and wears revealing/edible clothing on the weekends. It had to be something like that. I was sure of it. Making a spectacle of themselves is all people seem to know how to do these days, especially if they want attention from the media. But I suppose I was wrong. Very wrong. As I watched a very normal person stride onto the field, I understood it all as I saw him take a knee, close his, eyes, and bow his head in prayer. It didn't make any sense. I had never seen any football player, much less someone in the NFL, pray so openly before a game.
To make a long story short, they won that game. And the next game. And the next and the next. And it seemed like everyone had something to say about the man. About how he played, how he lived his life, and especially how open he was about his Christian beliefs. I knew Tim Tebow was a big deal in Colorado but I underestimated quickly just how popular and widely known he really was. After that first game, it seemed like everyone was talking about him. One week my religion professor even asked us if we had heard of him. "Really? Are you serious?" I thought. I couldn't help but wonder how my roommates had gotten to him so quickly. He then told us that a reporter had contacted him because he had seen that my professor had published a few articles on the New Testament AND that he had been a quarterback at his college. Apparently, the reporter was doing an article on Tim Tebow and he wanted another religious quarterback's opinion on whether religion had a place in football.
It was in that moment, I realized this Tebow was changing the way the world (and by the world, I mean the United States of course) saw American football and even NFL quarterbacks. Professional football players are supposed to be those guys that are so rich they can have all the women, cars, houses, summer homes, expensive yachts, and illegal drugs that they can get their little hands on. But Tebow is different. He cares about his fans, he cares about the children that see him as their hero, and he cares about believing in something despite what people say about it. When reporters congratulate him for his wins, he always changes the subject and gives the praise to his team, his coach, his God, anyone but himself. He has shown the world that it is alright to fight for what you believe in, in places where you are alone in your beliefs. It's a funny thing, you know. All this hype, all these fans, all this publicity. It's just because the nation has found a genuinely sincere human being somewhere they never thought to look before.
Honestly, it just doesn't make sense. But at least to me, the greatest things never do.
But I still remember that first Sunday in my new apartment. My roommates, Dan and Dave, who happen to be from Denver asked me "Do you have a team?". "Well I'm a Cowboys fan, myself.", I replied. From what I remember, their response was something like "get out". Yeah, that's right, they're that hard core.
But I soon realized that it was not just the team that they were rallying behind, but a man, a quarterback newly drafted from Florida, named Tim Tebow.
My roommates wanted the Broncos to win but they wanted that man to do it. Somehow they knew that victory for the Broncos would only be at his hand. How? I had no clue. I had never even heard of the guy before. But for three games, his name was all I heard. How the coach didn't like him and refused to start him, how he was equally loved and looked down upon by hundreds of thousands of people, and how he was the future of the Broncos and many even the NFL. They talked him up so much that by the time the coach got tired of losing and put Tebow in, I was genuinely curious as to what this man had or did that made him so popular yet so controversial.
Maybe he's killed people, I thought. Or maybe he's like Lady Gaga and wears revealing/edible clothing on the weekends. It had to be something like that. I was sure of it. Making a spectacle of themselves is all people seem to know how to do these days, especially if they want attention from the media. But I suppose I was wrong. Very wrong. As I watched a very normal person stride onto the field, I understood it all as I saw him take a knee, close his, eyes, and bow his head in prayer. It didn't make any sense. I had never seen any football player, much less someone in the NFL, pray so openly before a game.
To make a long story short, they won that game. And the next game. And the next and the next. And it seemed like everyone had something to say about the man. About how he played, how he lived his life, and especially how open he was about his Christian beliefs. I knew Tim Tebow was a big deal in Colorado but I underestimated quickly just how popular and widely known he really was. After that first game, it seemed like everyone was talking about him. One week my religion professor even asked us if we had heard of him. "Really? Are you serious?" I thought. I couldn't help but wonder how my roommates had gotten to him so quickly. He then told us that a reporter had contacted him because he had seen that my professor had published a few articles on the New Testament AND that he had been a quarterback at his college. Apparently, the reporter was doing an article on Tim Tebow and he wanted another religious quarterback's opinion on whether religion had a place in football.
It was in that moment, I realized this Tebow was changing the way the world (and by the world, I mean the United States of course) saw American football and even NFL quarterbacks. Professional football players are supposed to be those guys that are so rich they can have all the women, cars, houses, summer homes, expensive yachts, and illegal drugs that they can get their little hands on. But Tebow is different. He cares about his fans, he cares about the children that see him as their hero, and he cares about believing in something despite what people say about it. When reporters congratulate him for his wins, he always changes the subject and gives the praise to his team, his coach, his God, anyone but himself. He has shown the world that it is alright to fight for what you believe in, in places where you are alone in your beliefs. It's a funny thing, you know. All this hype, all these fans, all this publicity. It's just because the nation has found a genuinely sincere human being somewhere they never thought to look before.
Honestly, it just doesn't make sense. But at least to me, the greatest things never do.
Monday, January 9, 2012
My Mission
"And all the things that I said I'd do, like make the world brand new and take the time for you. But I just got lost and stepped right through the dark and the world spins madly on."
The song "World Spins Madly On" by the Weepies is one of my favorites actually. But it's not simply about the pain of broken relationships and how we must move on after lost loves; I believe that this line speaks about far more than just relationships. Everyone begins life with the best goals, dreams, and intentions, but somehow as we set out on the journey that is life, I believe we all get lost in one way or another and are left to wonder how we never knew how many ways there really were to lose yourself. It is so easy to wake up and realize that the best times are only memories to be recalled and that you are someone and somewhere you never intended to be. But I say that it doesn't have to be that way. Through this blog, I hope to show the world that happiness is self-determined and strongly connected to the way we treat each other. My mission and desire is that all of us can examine the mental, social, physical, emotional, and spiritual parts of our lives so that we can become the person we meant to be. And hopefully, as we all begin to change the way we see the world and those that are in it, we will find our way back to before when we believed not only in ourselves but that we could make a difference.
The song "World Spins Madly On" by the Weepies is one of my favorites actually. But it's not simply about the pain of broken relationships and how we must move on after lost loves; I believe that this line speaks about far more than just relationships. Everyone begins life with the best goals, dreams, and intentions, but somehow as we set out on the journey that is life, I believe we all get lost in one way or another and are left to wonder how we never knew how many ways there really were to lose yourself. It is so easy to wake up and realize that the best times are only memories to be recalled and that you are someone and somewhere you never intended to be. But I say that it doesn't have to be that way. Through this blog, I hope to show the world that happiness is self-determined and strongly connected to the way we treat each other. My mission and desire is that all of us can examine the mental, social, physical, emotional, and spiritual parts of our lives so that we can become the person we meant to be. And hopefully, as we all begin to change the way we see the world and those that are in it, we will find our way back to before when we believed not only in ourselves but that we could make a difference.
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