Email #5 arrived today. To be fair, this scheme is similar to one being run by the Romney campaign (Meet Mitt's Choice For VP). According to the Obama email and website, you can enter to win (no donation necessary) a chance to join President Obama for his birthday celebration. If you read the fine print, you will notice that only 2 winners will receive the prize package. Romney's campaign is awarding 1 entrant a chance to meet his running mate. 

I have received one email a day from the Obama campaign since I signed his birthday card (without any forewarning that I was submitting my address to a fundraising database). I have yet to receive anything from the Romney Campaign even though I did enter my email on the home page.

Before I begin, I would like to pay a small tribute to one of the victims who lost her life Friday night. I think it serves to remind us that these were real people with real lives, and tragedy (and in this case irony) are not strong enough words to describe the loss of these lives. She wrote a poignant piece on her own blog about the gift of life, " After Saturday evening, I know I truly understand how blessed I am for each second I am given" (**). Rest in Peace Jessica (Redfield) Ghawy .

 
As is true of many Americans, the recent shooting in a Colorado movie theater has rocked my world. No, I do not have any personal connections to the city of Aurora. I did not know any of the victims or witnesses. But as a living, breathing human being, I still feel intense grief and shock. I am horrified by the details as they emerge. How can one individual so callously end the lives of 12 people and harm numerous others? How can so many innocent people attending a movie screening end up in a situation like this? What if it had been me or someone I loved? 

Whenever such a thing happens, these questions come to mind, as they should. Horrible events serve to remind us that we are mortal beings, often vulnerable to tragic circumstances. There is no way to explain how or why, which creates even deeper pain and fear in many people's minds. And despite our best efforts, there is no way possible to explain away the pain and fear or understand it. It is an irrational act by an irrational individual and defies all logic. Period.

Yesterday, as I watched the news, I found myself at a loss for words. I was filled with a profound sadness and even shed some tears as I listened to witness accounts on the news. I am not a religious person. Nevertheless, my heart still filled with sympathy, and I said a few silent prayers for those who were directly affected. What else could I do? 

I expect that many Americans felt the way I did. I believe that we all were doing a little soul-searching and reflecting on our own lives and loved ones. I was pleased to see that the majority of our local and national leaders made it a priority to set aside their political agendas to extend condolences and express deep sympathy to the people of Aurora. Both Obama and Romney suspended campaign efforts, set aside their negative attacks, and kept their responses short and devoid of blame or negative rhetoric. Many other officials echoed the sentiment. I read through 57 comments gathered by the Huffington Post (4), and each expressed deep-felt sympathy. This is the way it should be in the wake of a national tragedy. It provides some measure of comfort to the American people and shows respect for those affected. Nevertheless, not all leaders followed suit. There were some who decided to take advantage of a tragedy to serve their own political agenda less than 24 hours afterwards. They could not even wait for 24 hours!!! This to me is vulgar, disrespectful, and just proves how callous and insensitive these individuals/ groups are. 

A prime example of this is one politician who has proven again and again that he is a selfish, narrow-minded zealot, Michael Bloomberg. The man could not wait to espouse his view and barely acknowledged any of the victims before launching into his diatribe. He was joined by the mayor of Boston and the president of the Brady Campaign.

There are many disturbing teen trends these days. We are made more aware of it by the easy accessibility of social media. However, perhaps the most disturbing to me is the growing issue of groups of teens who are acting out in public venues with absolutely no regard for others. Their actions vary from civil disobedience to theft and violent beatings of innocent people. One of the most disturbing factors to me is the brazenness of the individuals involved and the lack of any productive consequences.

This is not a new trend. It has been happening more and more over the past couple of years. Nevertheless, there is so little coverage by the media that stories remain local, which gives the impression that the incidents are not very common and only happen in certain areas. After I did a little research, I found that this is simply not true. There are stories from all over the country. One individual has complied a timeline and list of events with links to sources. It is quite an eye-opener. I have read through some of the stories for myself and posted links to examples below. To see the full list go to violentflashmobs.com. 

Yes, throughout American history there have been riots, mobs, and protests dating back to the 1800's (the Anti Abolitionist Riots and New York City Draft Riots). Some had a purpose such as during the civil rights movement. Some were violent such as those in L.A. after the Rodney King beating. Some defy logic such as those that occur after a big celebration following a national playoff game (ie, Montreal mobs loot stores after Game 7 win in the NHL playoffs). Nevertheless, one common denominator that all of these events have is some instigating factor; whereas, teen mobs in current events are mostly random, without purpose or direction, and carried out by young people.

I cannot even begin to speculate about the cause or nature of this type of behavior. Is this is sign of our deteriorating society? Is it one of the negatives of advances in technology? Is it symptomatic of something sinister? Who knows? It is easy to blame the immature thinking and behaviors of teens, racial factors, parenting problems, and pop culture. Obviously there is a larger issue at hand, one that should create deep concern within all Americans, black, white, urban, suburban, etc. It is not just a problem in one city or within one cultural group. It is something that has the potential to affect us all. Something that could instantly alter a life, or many lives, forever. 

**On a side note, I wanted to also express my disgust and concern with the blatantly racist comments left on some of these websites, especially Youtube. In my opinion, it is inexcusable and deplorable behavior of the worst kind, and shows just how ignorant people can be. (i.e. "Crackerazz honkeys ", "No wonder those monkeys were actin' all da' foo'!", "lazy entitled ghetto trash.", "yall white trailor trash azz"). SIMPLY APPALLING!

I must admit that I am somewhat torn by the current debate over whether or not Mitt Romney should release more tax returns. I have listened to arguments on all sides, and I feel somewhat divided on the issue. The one conclusion that I have drawn, however, is that many of the politicians calling for the release of his tax returns are quite hypocritical.

The argument that the opposition is putting forth is that anyone who runs for the office of president should be transparent. In addition, they claim that it is tradition for presidential candidates to release many years. Many top Democratic officials have gone so far as to imply that Romney will not release his returns because he is hiding something nefarious. Some have not gone quite that far but are willing to speculate that there are years when Romney did not pay any taxes or that he is avoiding paying taxes by "hiding" his money in offshore accounts. It is all speculation of course, laced with the worst kinds of innuendo designed to discredit and paint the Republican candidate in a negative light. 

One example of this practice is in a statement by Obama's campaign manager, " 'The President and the Vice President released their tax returns today so that Americans can review their personal finances, understand how they earn their income and ensure there are no conflicts with the interests of the nation...But on the eve of April 17th, Governor Romney has yet to provide tax returns from the period in which he made hundreds of millions as a corporate buyout specialist, or as governor of Massachusetts, the experience he says qualifies him to be president' "(3).  Senator Reid gave a speech to the Senate in which he asked, “ 'We’d like to know what’s in those tax returns that he refuses to show to the American public. Did he pay any taxes?' ” He has even gone so far as to suggest that "Romney’s refusal to release more than two years of tax returns would make him ineligible to serve even as dogcatcher" (9). Another example of the innuendo is when "Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee,...harangued Romney for refusing to release more tax returns, calling it a 'penchant for secrecy' ” (9). 


On the other hand, Romney supporters argue that this issue is just a way for Democrats to distract the voters from the real issues at hand such as the economy and President Obama's poor record in office. According to John D. McKinnon, "Democrats see a way to deflect voter dissatisfaction over the weak economy and diminish the GOP’s advantage on tax issues by attacking what they describe as tax breaks that have unfairly benefited wealthy people and big corporations and drawn jobs and investment away from the U.S." (5). Supporters also claim that even if Romney did release more returns, it would not be enough to silence the opposition, and the returns would become a tool that the Obama campaign would use to manipulate Romney's image as a fat cat who only cares about the wealthy. The tax code is so complicated that even if the public did review Romney's returns, it might not understand many items such as investment dividends, which would make it very easy for the opposition to distort.  " 'In the political environment that exists today, the opposition research of the Obama campaign is looking for anything they can use to distract from the failure of the president to reignite our economy,' Romney told Costa. 'And I'm simply not enthusiastic about giving them hundreds or thousands of more pages to pick through, distort and lie about' " (6). An article in The Washington Post states, "Florida GOP Chairman Lenny Curry said that by calling for the tax returns, Obama “wants people to be jealous of and resent wealth” and that the president “is without question wanting a street fight in this campaign.” (7) 

and I now present you with a personal message from Michelle...

Just received another "send money to Obama" email... 

At least this time if I send at least $3.00, I will be entered to join him in Chicago. It's almost as good as Publisher's Clearinghouse.

I am so excited!! I was checking my inbox for important information regarding a bachelor's program I will be starting this fall, and instead I found my very first email from the Obama campaign. Actually, I was slightly disappointed that it took 2 entire days from my signing the online birthday card to receiving an email. Here is what it says and my observation afterwards:

So you like the President. He's a likable guy, right? And online there is an opportunity to send a nice thought his way, or so it seems. Just sign a card with your email and zip code (required) and your name (optional), and you are done. There are even different versions available from which you could choose. What could be easier than that?