One High School girl, who cannot vote, reaches out to all of us.

Discussion in 'Elections' started by Mel Brennan, Oct 18, 2004.

  1. Mel Brennan

    Mel Brennan PLANITARCHIS' BANE

    Paris Saint Germain
    United States
    Apr 8, 2002
    Baltimore
    Club:
    Paris Saint Germain FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Raising America
    Bethany Woolman
    Monday, October 18, 2004



    If I told you I was a patriot, what would that mean to you? Would it mean that I consider my country to be superior to all others? Would it mean that I support President Bush, and the war on Iraq? Would it mean that I've boycotted French's mustard and snobbishly ordered freedom fries at the local McDonald's? Or perhaps it means that I support the sacrifice of the New York firefighters -- that, in translation, I proclaim their bravery to have been an American value, not a human one.

    But those who know me would surely not describe me as the stereotypical patriot. I don't support President Bush, and I don't support the war on Iraq. I would never dream of boycotting French's mustard, and I'm frankly embarrassed that we managed to turn french fries into an international symbol of protest. Though I was awed and humbled by the courage of the heroes of Sept. 11, I don't believe they did what they did because they were Americans, and I resent that their sacrifice was turned into a rush for pre-emptive war.

    Patriotism does not have to blindly wave the flag. In my mind, all that is required of a good citizen is a respect for the democratic process, and, most important, a healthy dose of constructive dissent.

    A friend of mine flies the American flag on a pole outside his front door. But he, along with 40 percent of the nation's eligible voters, will not vote in the election Nov. 2 -- if the trend from the 2000 election holds. While thousands of people are dying in Iraq, my friend chooses not to form an opinion on anything outside his realm of reality. He fails to realize that his opinions, or lack thereof, wield enormous power, and that the consequences of a choice not to vote are just as big as the consequences of a choice to vote. He can't see that his apathy is another man's nightmare, and that he is taking for granted a right that many before him have died to secure.

    If someone you know will be able to vote this November, but isn't going to, tell them to vote on my behalf, because I can't. Or, better yet, tell them to vote on behalf of all the other people who won't get a voice in this election. Tell them to cast their vote for their child, or for the homeless woman on Shattuck Avenue, or for the citizens of Iraq. Tell them to vote on behalf of the trees being forested, and the children being left behind. Tell them to cast their vote for the hundreds if not thousands of voters of color in Florida, who were wrongly blocked from voting in the 2000 elections because they were supposedly "convicted felons." Tell them that if they don't want to vote themselves, they can vote for you. Because our country is too powerful to be in the hands of only 60 percent of the voters.

    I don't pretend to think my country is flawless. And I am not "proud" to be an American. I am fortunate to be an American. My patriotism does not wave the flag and bury its head in the sand. Rather, it stems from the belief that it is possible to regret parts of your country's past, but love the opportunity you have to shape its future.

    I once heard someone say that conservatives look at America the way a 3- year-old looks at its parents, and that liberals look at America the way an adult looks at its parents. I'm not sure that either situation is ideal, or even true. After all, ours is a country of the people, by the people, for the people, and if we want to keep it that way, we can't look at America as an authority figure -- we have to look at it as a child we are raising.

    Right now, we are raising a nation caught in its "terrible twos." But as we know, all children have the potential for greatness -- all they need is a little direction.

    Bethany Woolman is a senior at Marin Academy in San Rafael, CA.
     
  2. Knave

    Knave Member+

    May 25, 1999
    ... That's my old high school! ...

    I'm very impressed by that piece of writing.

    And I'm not just saying that because I'm Marin Academy alumnus.
     
  3. JG

    JG Member+

    Jun 27, 1999
    I stopped reading there. Clearly Taliban.
     
  4. Mel Brennan

    Mel Brennan PLANITARCHIS' BANE

    Paris Saint Germain
    United States
    Apr 8, 2002
    Baltimore
    Club:
    Paris Saint Germain FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It's $24,915 a year; Taliban can't afford it, even with Bush's aid in 2001, their re-emergence everywhere but Kadhahar and Kabul, and the increased opium production...
     
  5. afgrijselijkheid

    Dec 29, 2002
    mokum
    Club:
    AFC Ajax
    awesome, that's one smart girl
     
  6. Knave

    Knave Member+

    May 25, 1999
    You're right. Holy ******** tuition has skyrocketed since I graduated. :eek:
     
  7. lurking

    lurking Member+

    Feb 9, 2002
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I was up with her until she said people should vote for the trees. Yes, I should vote for the fricking trees, because they cant vote for themselves. Because Trees should have representation too. Hey guess what, we got a TON of trees out here, I want equal fricking representation for the FRICKING TREES. Screw the current electoral college, Oregon should have a fricking BOATLOAD more votes than they do, because if nothing else, there are trees all fricking over the place there. Well Western Oregon at least.

    Otherwise some good points, but why do people say things like I should vote for the trees? Excuse me while I drive a nail into my head to make this headache go away.
     
  8. Ian McCracken

    Ian McCracken Member

    May 28, 1999
    USA
    Club:
    SS Lazio Roma
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Another liberal from Marin County. We should vote for trees. I'm not impressed. She even managed a few DNC talking points about the "disenfranchised" felons in Florida. There's a reason we don't let teenagers under 18 vote and this girl is a good example.
     
  9. biggyv

    biggyv Member

    May 18, 2000
    PGH PA
    The point was that that were not, in fact, felons. But you knew that.

    The part about the trees was silly though.
     
  10. dawgpound2

    dawgpound2 Member

    Mar 3, 2001
    Los Angeles, CA
    Pretty intelligent girl.

    Maybe she could agree to go to public school for a year and donate her tuition to homeless people or something...

    But, seriously, let's not get too riled up about the other 40%. If they don't feel like voting, I frankly don't want them voting.
     
  11. IntheNet

    IntheNet New Member

    Nov 5, 2002
    Northern Virginia
    Club:
    Blackburn Rovers FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Another liberal leftist at some radical California academy (Marin?) spouting the secular protest creed; if she really had conviction, which she evidently lacks, she would join the Armed Service rather than aspire to be a Greenpeace tree-hugger! She speaks of patriotism? What conviction is she going to dig up when she is confronted with terrorism? Will her Greenpeace buddies save her? This leftist broad speaks: "I am not 'proud' to be an American," well get on the ship Madam and leave post haste... I understand France takes your ilk!

    IntheNet
     
  12. Father Ted

    Father Ted BigSoccer Supporter

    Manchester United, Galway United, New York Red Bulls
    Nov 2, 2001
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic

    Damn it. They should have put that at the top and I wouldnt have bothered reading the rest.
     
  13. stopper4

    stopper4 Member

    Jan 24, 2000
    Houston
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It would have been more meaningful if her message was 'vote' instead of 'vote, and vote how I would be voting'.
     
  14. Casper

    Casper Member+

    Mar 30, 2001
    New York
    It probably would have been a stronger piece of writing had she done that, but it was not the editorial point she wanted to make. Her choice.
     
  15. speedcake

    speedcake Member

    Dec 2, 1999
    Tampa
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    good lord
     
  16. Yankee_Blue

    Yankee_Blue New Member

    Aug 28, 2001
    New Orleans area
    Marin County. Isn't that where that "American Taliban" was from? Where is that superdave avatar when you need it...
     
  17. Samarkand

    Samarkand Member+

    May 28, 2001
    And neither post even looks at the argument, both jumping to ad hominem attacks. God! This is so predictable.

    No matter what argument is put forward by someone with whom you do not agree, eschew it immediately, better yet take it ot the realm of the rdiiculous, disregard it and attack and impugn the person.

    Be so very careful because if you really gave ANY counter-argument the time of day, rather than racing quickly for Rove playbook and the latest talking points memo, you just might understand that life is not lived in black and white, but rather, in shades of gray. But be so very careful lest anything leaks in that will destroy the message.........Just so f**cking predictable.
     
  18. IntheNet

    IntheNet New Member

    Nov 5, 2002
    Northern Virginia
    Club:
    Blackburn Rovers FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Samarkand: Surface something that is even halfway coherent and I'll give it consideration; otherwise keep this liberal smack to the counter-culture protest dens of opium! Heck, the broad even said, "I am not 'proud' to be an American," sorry, that type of sentiment gets zero consideration and is exactly what the counter-culture is peddling now. Not happy? Good; leave! France seems a good spot to deposit such anti-Americanism and fodder for Taliban teaching; soon such radicals as this "Marin Academy" will be on their parent's nickel at Berkeley! Seems like a Jane Fonda novice!
     
  19. John Galt

    John Galt Member

    Aug 30, 2001
    Atlanta
    She is the Lorax.
     
  20. John Galt

    John Galt Member

    Aug 30, 2001
    Atlanta
    Comedy gold.

    Cast not the first stone. . .
     
  21. Smiley321

    Smiley321 Member

    Apr 21, 2002
    Concord, Ca
    Yes, at the last G-8 anti-globalism protest I said to myself "those leftists look at the US just like adults look at their parents"

    Just like the Menendez brothers maybe?

    I'll bet that this precious thing from Marin academy wrote this just after she got off the bus from a field trip to look at the hoi polloi on Shattuck avenue......
     

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