No on Prop 4

I could go on for eons about why parental notification/permission laws are crappy.

But I won’t.

So I’ll put it this way:

For those of you who think forcing teens to have kids is a good idea, do me a favor---

Ride public transportation.

In the middle of the day.

Parenting is not romantic. It’s not for everyone.

Adoption is not romantic. It’s not for everyone.

Abortion is not romantic. It’s not for everyone.

Once you’re pregnant, those are the choices. While it’s nice for parents to actually parent, some are nitwits. Right now there’s a teenage girl who knows if she told her folks she was selling both her kidneys on the black market they’d let her know she was blocking their path to the Sudafed and they need to finish cooking this batch of meth.

Then there are those parents who don’t understand that discussions are pointless.

For those who don’t get my drift, answer this question: If I already know what you’re going to say and I don’t agree with you, is what’s going on a discussion or is it you yelling at me until your voice breaks or I do?

I’m pretty sure it’s the latter.

So if a teen, having (hopefully) lived with her parents for all of her life, doesn’t want to tell her folks she’s having an abortion, don’t make her. She’s not withholding the info because her magic 8 ball told her to do so. She’s withholding it because she knows how they’d react. Maybe she doesn’t want to disappoint them because they are such great loving people who would never understand. Or maybe, after years of putting up with their crap, she’s decided her best bet is to not make any waves and hightail it out of there the day she turns 18. Whatever the reason, since she has to live with whatever the outcome the rest of her life, she should be the one to decide instead of making her give the baby up or forcing her to marry some self professed redneck hockey player.

BTW, use condoms! Unlike what happens in serial romance novels, 99.5% of the time real life does not work out well for the innocent (stupid) woman who ends up pregnant from a one night stand. Instead of being swept off her feet, she'll be sweeping at the McDonald's where she's the night shift manager because her own mom works days.

Vote Obama!

The last two elections have been about complete and utter crap. We weren't focused on who could run the country better, who had a better vision, who wouldn't lead us into mindless wars. Instead, the far right decided it would rather have our country go to hell in a handbag, as long as gay people weren't inside of it with them.

Like I said, crap.

So this year I make a proposal:

Let's vote for someone smarter than us instead of voting for the person you would like to have a beer with.

How stupid was that last idea anyway?

When filing a lawsuit I didn't think, "Gee, I want the lawyer who would make a good drinking buddy." When I had someone do my taxes I didn't pick her based on her margarita making skills. And to this day, when I ask someone where they found their doctor, not once have they told me, "You know, I was at the bar, and when I saw him doing body shots and pass out on the floor, I just knew he was the guy I wanted to perform my surgery."

Can you name any other position in life in which being your drinking buddy is a prerequisite?

Maybe I've got it wrong. Maybe everyone else parties with their nannies and chugs a few back with their kids' teachers, and I'm an idiot who thinks we should select smart people to work for us. I know, we hate smart people. Sometimes I, too, am smart, and am on the receiving end of hatred. But here is the thing we need to remember about smart people:

For lack of a better word, smart people are...smart.

Smart people are hated because they make us feel stupid. But we need smart people. Think back to high school/college/KinderCare.

When there was any type of group project, who did you want on your team?

The smart people.

In college, who were your study buddies?

Bet it wasn't the guy going through his second year as a senior.

At work, who do you call when you have a problem?

Get the picture?

We need smart people. We need a smart president because of the implications of the position. No president is an island---the president gets to pick the team. In 2001, it was not just Clinton and Gore who left DC---all of their people had to pack up with them. The president picks his cabinet, Supreme Court justices, some lower court justices. Those people go on to select their own staff, and so on and so on. It is a big deal. You want a smart president who will pick other smart people to run things. You don't want someone who thinks the answers lie in waiting for God to do something completely unaided by His people, or someone who is waiting for the Magic 8 Ball to tell him what to do.

I'm voting for Barack Obama.

I am not going to discuss other presidential candidates on this blog. It is my feeling that too much energy is being sent their way. besides, talking about them is depressing. Am I the only one who feels like the weight of the world has been pressed onto them whenever I see a story about them? As if my only escape from the hell which would be their administration is either heavy medication, a move to Canada, or a shot of tequila?

Maybe that's why people were seeking a drinking buddy.

I say this is last call.