Silly Girls In Dresses

It’s good to know I share genes with some one so incredibly bad ass.

Check out my mom (and the amazing Kristin Thomson) talking about net neutrality and music in the digital age here.

Panel starts around 1:22:00

Seriously? SERIOUSLY? 

Just a little insight into the mind of law students:

This guy knows how to draw the line. Except, I probably would have thrown in some punches for the guitars, too.

I had forgotten about this crazy amazing dance troupe, Pilobolus, that I saw on the Oscars one year. Luckily, a friend reminded me of their existence and I spent a good amount of time watching ridiculous videos of them on YouTube. This one especially got my attention, mostly because it reminded me of one of my FAVORITE pieces of art, a sculpture of hands by Rodin.

Here’s the video:

And here’s a picture of my favorite piece of art. I love this sculpture mostly because of its poignantly perfect name: The Cathedral.

Obama is President. 

America has elected their first black president, and it is truly a new day. I feel privileged to witness this moment in history.

But, for all of us, this election brings an extra reward. Electing a black man to the highest office is a powerful, beautiful, wonderful reminder that the spirit of this country is still alive: anyone can achieve their dreams. We all are one people and one country. This is clear. I don’t need to write about this. I am secure in this joy.

For the past few days, however, a set of lyrics have been bouncing around in my head:

“One hundred years from now when our grandkids have all had sex,
will they look back to the past and know what they’ve missed?
Will they think we had it better than the way they have it then?
Will they gaze at a strip mall where a field had once been?
Will they think they’re born late like the way we now do it?
Or will they curse at the present and lend credence to it?
Will they hear all the old songs and think they’re all true
and hate all their own songs and everything new?
Well I’m here to tell you something that’s known,
from someone who’s lived it from someone who’s grown,
the somebody who somebody once loaned a home to.
The grass is always greener, the past is always cleaner,
the present is crap and everyone’s meaner.
They say we’re moving towards something
but I think we’re moving from something.” *

 I used to listen to these words and really feel them. I’d listen to this song and see my world: strip malls instead of fields. I hated the present and I feared for the future. I was ashamed to be an American, the only identity I’ve ever owned. I was in middle school when the Lewinsky scandal broke. I was a freshman in high school when Bush began his first term. Terror, pain, lies and anger are the only kinds of ideals I’ve seen embraced by American politics. This song, its yearning for the past, its condemnation of the present, rang so true in my experience. We were moving away from something, and all I wanted to do was stop, put on the brakes, bury my head and fade into history.

On Tuesday, this song died. 

We are no longer moving from something. A new force has returned history to its natural trajectory: forward! The future is no longer bleak. Our relationship with human events is no longer this anhedonic acceptance of the inevitability of torture, war, fire, death, lies, selfishness, racism, apathy, illiteracy, pain. Instead; we move towards something. We move towards something better, we move towards something stronger, we move towards new songs, greener fields, cleaner times, and a security that even when things are bad, even when we are oppressed, even when the world is terrible, there is a future. We can see the horizon. Hope does not have to be tied to the dead weight of the past; we can create something new and fresh.

We are not doomed to nostaliga. 

And I am finally, for the first time in my life, proud that I am an American. This is the added joy of Obama’s election. We made history by electing a black man as President; but race, as we all know, is not a determination of personality. You can be white and mean. You can be white and good. You can be black and mean. You can be black and good. We elected a black man, but Obama is also a good man. The combination of these two qualities is what makes this moment breathtaking. Tuesday was an ending and a beginning.

I cannot wait for the rest of our lives.

*Livin’ A Dream by Dr. Dog

Bluebooking has taken over my life. I never thought I’d agree with anything in The Volokh Conspiracy, especially something supported by law and economics (the bane of my existence) but….yea. This is pretty awesome. 

The Law and Economics of the Bluebook Market Failure

As much as I love the NY Times for letting in some conservative opinions (just to keep it balanced!) this must be the most ridiculous op ed i have ever read. The reasons Kristol gives to comfort distraught liberals in case of an Obama defeat is ASININE. I’m especially fond of the one that says an Obama defeat might mean a Palin Presidency (seriously?! But it’s ok if she is vice president?)

Read it here.

Tuesday is election day. I’m really not excited for two reasons:

1) I have to go home to vote, meaning I need to take a 9pm train monday (my last class is at 8pm), vote at 7am and then hop a bus that will get me back to New York before my Contracts class at noon. All this because I was scared my absentee ballot might get thrown away.

2) Because I don’t know if Obama will win. Granted, I have an escape plan if McCain becomes president: I will only be accepting sumemr jobs outside of the US so that all my contacts will be international and I can get a job in Europe or South America or somewhere after I graduate. However….Obama just really really really needs to win. I cannot comprehend the thought process of a McCain voter.

This particular article really fucking terrified me. The reasons some of these people give for supporting McCain baffle me. Here are some gems:

First: “I’d say I’m leaning towards McCain,” she said. “For as awful as things are with this Republican administration, there’s something about the whole conservative thing that appeals to me.” Um…what? You’re voting based on some vague sense of comfort with conservativism? At least TELL ME what that is! Do you like the idea of tax cute (which Obama will give you)? Do you support laissez faire economics (we all know how well that’s been working recently)? Are you a conservative Christian who believes in ‘family values’ (I hate you)? Or….are you just racist (yea, I said it)? Jesus Christ (no pun intended) I HATE people who just kinda vote based on their “feelings” about something.

Second: “We are of the Jewish faith,” she said, “and I don’t really know his stance on the Middle East and Israel.” Ok, well, I’m Jewish and I’ve heard this one a lot, since I attend a Jewish law school. It’s bullshit. I definitely think accounting for the candidates positions on Israel is very important, especially if you are Jewish or Palestinian; however, if that is the only issue you are voting on, then just move to Israel. It should be factor – large factor, small factor, whatever – in your decision, in addition to concerns about health care, social security, taxes, education, etc. Also, its not that hard to find out Obama’s position on Israel: just go here. Clearly, this person has not bothered to do the research.

Third: “Ms. Wolpo said there was probably a 60 percent chance she would support Mr. McCain. She does not buy the Obama campaign argument that Mr. McCain is just like Mr. Bush. ‘McCain knows in his heart that Bush is a loser.’ “ Oh my god. Oh my god. No he doesn’t. He does not think Bush is a loser. He voted with him 90% of the time. If you seriously look at McCain’s record, you will find he believes in the same policies as the Bush adminstration. Not only that, he comes from the same background: he was an idiot drunk womanizer who rode his father’s fame into high-level positions. He only cares about himself and his friends: just like Bush.

Last: “Ms. Wolpo said her decision did not keep her awake at night. ‘I have enough to worry about,’ she said, explaining that her youngest son, who is in his 40s, suffered a stroke last spring. He has good days and bad days, she said, and that puts everything else in perspective.’This other thing is just an election,’ she said.” IS IT?!?! IS IT REALLY JUST AN ELECTION, MS. WOLPO?!?! Because, yknow, elections don’t really effect whether or not you’re son will get complete health care coverage. They don’t effect FDA regulations taht make sure the drugs your son takes are safe. They don’t effect whether or not insurance companies will provide effective coverage of preventative care and underlying condition (something the Obama camp is proposing) so that nothing else will go wrong with your son and so his insurance company can’t refuse to pay for his care if he had an underlying condition that caused the stroke.

Really.

Please don’t vote Ms. Wolpo. In fact, please move. You don’t deserve to live here.