Times like these

Living in America is unique for many reasons beyond the obvious. Like many other countries, your geographical locale within your own country will provide for a distinction found nowhere else. The people from "The South" have accents and burnt necks, those from the West are snooty and fake, while those from Jersey are.... uhhhh...... super!

New England is a place like no other in the country. Where else do you get a collection of states with their own unique name? Now of course you have "Tri-State Area" but those can exist anywhere. New England is neatly tucked up in the corner of our country and wrapped by the warm embrace of Canada, and the Atlantic Ocean. New England is home to the inventor of Basketball, the first ever underground subway (in the western hemisphere), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Harvard, Yale, MIT, the paper on your dollar bill probably came from mills in New England, an Arctic Climate Zone at the top of Mt. Washington (winds measured up to 231mph!!), the first ever planted potato, first free public library, first ever alarm clock, and many others.

Now we come up to the boss of New England, the big protector from the North that has produced such greats as David Malloy, the Professor. Maine also produces 99% of all the blueberries in the United States. But beyond the cool facts and interesting history of the state, lies the core of what it means to be from Maine.

Maine doesn't get a lot of attention, they don't have any professional sports, they don't carry a lot of electoral votes and they are necessarily the hot bed of jobs in America. However, when you spend a few years growing up in Maine, you experience something that is so powerful and everlasting, that it's often hard to explain. Luckily, I have learned to get my thoughts on paper (or the screen) so I think I can start to illustrate this to you.

With no big cities and popular attractions, outside of tourism, Maine leaves you building on your imagination. You have so much room for adventure and play, all you need is the right mentality. Now everyone plays hide and go seek, and kick-the-can... but how many of you have played a game of Capture-the-flag that spanned over a square mile of old castles and military bunkers from the 19th century? Every weekend, you could go up to Cape Elizabeth and see the old military strongholds tucked quietly in between 100 foot trees on the edge of a rocky coast lined with cliffs. The land seemed to rise straight up out of the water like a plateau - yet it was so neatly hidden by thick forests and dense shrubbery.

Just down the street lived my grandparents at the time. While my father wasn't around during this time, his parents were. They kept us apprised of what he was doing and where he was so that we would never forget him. They taught me a lesson I'll never forget one day, while my grandfather (Bubba), Peter (brother), and I hunted dinosaurs in the forest of "Peter Pan." The three of us would walk in these majestic woods with the trees canopied over head. 40 feet up from the base of the tree you'd find your first branch. The ground beneath us was calmly painted with orange and brown pine needles. Not a single bush or plant could survive in this area because almost no sunlight or rain ever touched this ground.

We walked all throughout these woods with Bubba as he told us old stories about his days in the Air Force. As we got older he would tell us stories about our father and his childhood antics. He told us that while they may not approve of my father's action, they will always love him and they will never stop caring for him. This mindset, this thought process that led my grandparents to love something they did not like helped me quite a few years later when I came into a situation similar to my father's.

But lets not stray from the beauty that is Maine. I learned many lessons during my tenure as a boy in Maine - the above being the most prevalent, but not the most significant. When you live in Maine you sometimes feel secluded. Any time something new happens, it rocks your world as you thirst for change. The local Police station had "Cop Cards." These were like the basketball and baseball cards of our generation, but they featured the local police, police cars and police dogs. Every week they would come out with a new Cop Card and the kids would run to the police station to get the new one. You had to answer a question about safety every time you wanted a new card and they wouldn't budge, even if you did cry like a girl (it wasn't me!!).

Each time a card came out, my friend Danny and I would ride our bikes to the station and rush back to his house to look over our newly acquired jewel. We laid out all of our cards and stared at the glorious collection that sat beneath us. A few minutes later we would gather them back up and go back to our lives.

Danny was a friend who lived near me and I don't really know how or when we became friends, but I can think back now and speculate. I was a bit of an outcast in my school, I was tiny and fragile, but as smart as they came. Danny was the complete opposite. He was a big kid (not fat just big) and not very smart at all. He was babied by his parents for so long that he developed a "clingy-ness" to them. Kids at school picked on the two of us constantly. It was easy to get away from them because we would both go to the "Quest" class and sit in bean bag chairs and play chess. "Quest" class was like sex-ed, drug-ed, life-ed all rolled up. The teacher was a breast cancer patient who devoted her life to her disease. She taught up until the day she passed away and brought smile and joy to every student who stepped into her class. For Danny and I, this was our little haven, a safe place for us to be without people hurting us.

Thinking back on those times, it is easy to see how I became a half-introvert and half-extrovert. By the time I grew up, physically, I was such an introvert that most people didn't even know my real name, they called me Chip throughout most of high school (now we are in New York). It took me quite a bit of time to come into my own and to realize that all of those years I spent curled into a ball playing chess, I had spent thinking. I never stopped thinking because I rarely had someone to talk to. Nobody around me could challenge me intellectually, and the teachers were afraid to give me the extra attention I needed because they knew it would lead to more teasing and bullying. In 5th grade they actually thought about keeping me back because I was "too small" to go to middle school. They were afraid I'd get my ass kicked by the big kids for being so itty bitty!!

Anyways, all of those years I spent thinking about the world, books, games, sports, people, the sky and everything else... I had really developed a strong and powerful mind. I feel like I was working out in a gym for 20 years and I'm now rolling up the sleeves to see what all my hard work has accomplished. In this case, I've spent years rolling around ideas and having internal arguments and debates. Now that I've gone to college and worked a little outside in the real world, I get a chance to roll up my sleeves and see the work I've done.

I don't believe I would've been able to exercise my mind as extensively and thoroughly if I had lived in New York. New York has so much to offer, but there isn't much time left for inflection (which I believe is the most powerful tool we have). Every time I think back to my times in Maine, the images are wrapped in a soft tone and glowing smiles. The colors are vibrant and lively, jumping out at me and invoking another stream of soft toned memories. When I think back to my times in New York, I have the great memories, but they are strictly confined within their borders. The colors are bright and not so much vibrant (this isn't to take away from my times in New York, but the atmosphere is incomparable).


When I think back to Maine, I think about the weekend trips to LL Bean and the coziness of the warm sun shining on my face as I was wrapped in a soft sweater, kicking orange and yellow and red leaves. When I think back to Maine, I think about the frigid water creeping up to my toes as I stood on rocks covered in barnacles and sprinkled with muscles and crayfish. When I think back to Maine, I think about my bus stop, at the corner of the police station and a park - directly across the street from the ocean. The ocean breezes in Maine never seem to end. The sun shines bright and powerfully through to the clean trees and grass beneath.


When I think back to what it means to be from Maine, I think about how lucky I was to be in such a beautiful place, even if only for a moment. I thank my lucky stars every day that I have the mindset that allows me to thank my lucky stars every day. Thank God I can appreciate what I have, and still thirst for more. It is exactly what it means to be from Maine.

As we are about to embark on a new House and potentially a new Senate; be careful not to get too nostalgic about the "good ol' days." Why it may seem like I disagree with every single action taken by our President and his office - I can't help but imagine how the next two years could be a set up for the next scariest thing in the world (next to George W changing laws which would allow him to run for the Presidency again) - Jeb.

Those of you who watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report may be familiar with the fear that I speak of. The two comedians, Stewart and Colbert, put on a brilliant hour of political humor so neatly intertwined with blatant, yet intentional, partisan views. Where else can you watch a liberal character put on a show based on politics and have that show followed up by a conservative character also commenting on the current political atmosphere?

The point is, these two comedians brought up a great point the other night. The Democrats were handed the House and Senate the second George W's approval rating hit 30% in most states. 30%. 3 in 10 people approved of the President and his course of action. 3. Out of 10.

Unreal

The Democrats don't really have a clear course of action as of yet. They pretty much just oppose everything the Republicans do, and that wins them the favor of our "lefty" friends. In the coming months, Saddam Hussein is going to be hung by the neck, using a rope - while patrons look on and throw tomatoes and heads of lettuce. The sheriff will slap the horse in the butt, and the horse will run away pulling out the floor beneath his feet and he will fall to this death: snap. The crowd will cheer and the fun will end - when outraged Iraqi's bomb the living shit out of people in retaliation.

How would you expect a country to react if their leader (evil or not) was hunted down for a year, cities bombed, families killed, and then your fearless leader is pulled out of the ground and hauled off to court. In a short year he is found guilty of crimes against Humanity and not only is he punished by death, but he is punished by a public hanging!!

I can't imagine the outrage and terror that is going to spread as a result of this. The only thing we can hope for, the appeals process is successful and he is put in jail for life. But here is the real ass-kicker: What happens when Saddam is hung, and the Iraqi's react with terrorist-like acts? The Republicans will jump up and start pointing the finger, right at the Democratic Congress. Allow me to demonstrate the conversation that will ensue:

Elephant: The Democratic Leadership in this country failed us again. They allowed known terrorists to bomb our land and kill our people. We need leaders in this country, people who are willing to get their hands dirty to get the job done and protect our borders. Vote for Jeb Bush.

Donkey: The Republican Leadership over the past 12 years has done nothing to secure our people and our safety. It was on their watch that America suffered the most tragic and painful terrorist attack in our history. It was their call to go into Iraq and abduct their Leader to put him on trial. Don't let the Republican Party fool you into believing they are fighting terrorism, if they are; then where is Osama? Why do the Canadians make more progress on finding him than we do?

Elephant: It was the previous incumbent's lack of devotion to national security that led to the attacks on 9/11. While he was busy having an affair with interns, the terrorists were busy learning how to fly planes in our schools, in our country.

Donkey: The Republicans will do anything they can to draw your attention to this war on terrorism and distract you from the most embarrassing and disgusting acts of perversion occurring right in our own White House.

Elephant: If you allow a Democratic White House to lead this country, you will find yourselves locking your doors at night to keep out the terrorists. Every day you go to work, you'll hesitate before you driver over that bridge or into that tunnel. You won't be safe with them. Stick with us if you want to live.

Donkey: If you allow a Republican White House, this country will continue to divide itself. No President in history has had lower approval ratings than your current President. If you allow anyone associated with him and his policy to lead this country, they will lead it into the ground; all the while making money for them and their companies.

Elephant: Do you want men marrying men? Do you want men adopting unwanted children and raising gay boys for their sick and twisted sex games that all those gays play? Do you want this country overflowing with gayness and evilness and sin? If you do, vote Democratic.

Donkey: Do you want your son or daughter or brother shipped overseas to fight a war with no purpose beyond the procurement of oil? Do you want the fat cat corporate exec's to get more tax breaks while your taxes are hiked and then spent on continuing a failing war? If you do, vote Republican.

Clearly, neither of these sides have any real issues or plans of action that have anything to do with the sole purpose of government - serve the people. Last night I heard crazy Dean talking about the Democratic Congress would immediately look into hiking up the Federal Minimum Wage (getting closer to an actual living wage), alternative fuel research, and a plan to provide insurance to every person in America under 25. All I really wanted to hear was, "We are looking to put the same money we put into war, into our schools and health care." Trillions. Our current government has put Trillions of dollars into this war. If we put just 5% of that into public education, every school could have new books, supplies, stronger and safer infrastructure's, higher paid teachers (which makes them motivated teachers).

But then again, it's easy for us people down here to look up at the disaster and identify what needs to be fixed. We don't have to worry about losing our jobs if we don't do exactly what our contributors say. We don't have to worry about being "villainized" for actions that people in our office take. We have to impress our boss and get our job done - which is pretty easy to do.

I used to believe I was a strong liberal. Then college came around the corner and I became even more leftist. Now that I am living life, renting and paying taxes up the yang, I start to disassociate myself from any political party because they are all... lying scumbags. Every single one of them is a lying scumbag. I would like to believe at some point they had motives to improve the lives of those around them, and they just got sucked into the machine and spat out as a lying scumbag robot. The frustration that mounts in my skull from thinking about this is enough to dissuade me from wanting to participate in any electoral event.

However, it is at this point that I realize my voice is more important than it ever was. I've always said that I'd rather people just vote for a party they feel best represents them. Now I believe we need to vote for the people that appear to be the least evil and scummy. No single party or politician represents everything that I want to change in this country. The only people who share similar views are theorists, friends, and the occasional random person. It's my responsibility to use my knowledge, spread that knowledge and encourage others to learn first, then vote. Take that extra minute to ignore the slanderous TV commercial and read about the politician you want to vote for. Open a newspaper, go to Reuters.com, just do something other than watch TV and vote for the guy with the best hair or smile.

Last term it was "Vote or Die." This year, we should all wear t-shirts that say "Vote = Change."