Political Potluck

Saturday morning we had a Political Potluck, A was there and Yirko showed up later with some cake that I’m sure he’s going blog about. You might be wondering what a Political Potluck is? Well, it’s a chance for people to gather together and share their views and research on issues that are going to be on the ballot on November 4. Oh yhea, and everyone is supposed to bring something to either eat or drink so it’s a really yummy political experience. In California there are 12 propositions on the ballot for the entire state and then local measures for LA County. Some of the propositions aren’t as easy to digest as chocolate covered glazed donuts, as we learned during the potluck. Many things get put on the ballot that are there to trick and fool the people. It was really exciting and at the same time depressing thinking about all these propositions and all of the dialogue and research we were having and how millions Californians aren’t going to know anything when they go to vote and just read a blurb and think that’s good, and vote yes.

Some of the propositions are: A high speed commuter train from LA to SF (I assume like the ones in Japan, awesome!), parental notification on under-age abortions, ban on gay marriage, 2 “green” measures that aren’t really “green” and benefit big companies further ravaging of the environment, police and law enforcement funding (which is a super crazy unbelievable proposition that’s around 16 pages long and some highlights are changes to over 30 state laws and giving the police an unbelievable amount of power and almost an extra billion dollars annual.)

So we’ve got a lot to think about on November 4. Not just the election of a President but, also decisions on our way of life in California. I know this election is the most important one in my life. Listening to the radio and seeing people out on the streets, you can feel the collective energy that’s out there. It felt so good to sit around with other caring Americans and one English woman and share our thoughts and views collectively. Unravel the bureaucratic nightmare of the propositions and look forward to a new President on November 4 and hopefully have some propositions pass and others fail. We’ll just have to wait and see. . .