Tomorrow it will be five years ago that I was in Brussels, celebrating my 23rd birthday and my first day as an intern in the European Parliament (with my local conservative member, I have learned since ;)). Only one day later my birthday would forever be the day before 9/11.
Tomorrow I will turn 28 and not only has the pope just arrived in Germany to tell me why I live in sin and should not be allowed to marry. No, now ABC and Disney have to ruin my birthday as well. Thank you, but no thank you! Disney, I don’t like my birthday present. Yank the film already!
Right after 9/11 I have witnessed days, weeks and months of unprecedented solidarity with the United States only to watch it all being destroyed by the scandalous behaviour of the Bush administration. This is why I, a former exchange student from Germany to the US, want to see Democrats win in November. This is why I write here and why I started my blog Turn Tahoe Blue because it’s the only way I can help change the status quo.
As a foreign national living outside the United States I am not allowed to contribute to candidates (oh, how much money of my college student budget I would have given to all the wonderful candidates if I could). And since I am busy with my studies I can’t come over and volunteer either.
Instead I have started a blog covering the area around Lake Tahoe, where I was an exchange student more than ten years ago. I’m covering all campaigns relavent to both the California and Nevada site of Lake Tahoe – congressional, gubernatorial, state offices.
Just this week I published my first ever interview with a politician on Turn Tahoe Blue. Rob Haswell, candidate for the California Assembly in the 4th district talked with me about the Bush administration, public financing for electios, preserving Lake Tahoe, gay marriage and much more. Here are some quotes from the interview:
– My race is relevant in national terms because, in some ways, it’s a microcosm of what’s happening at the Federal and State level. In the 4th Assembly District, big-city mega developers wield all the political power. Developers have invested, literally millions of dollars in state and local campaigns here. My opponent alone has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from developers. This is an example of the undue influence the big corporate and special interests wield in today’s politics. It’s a big reason why we can’t have meaningful healthcare reform, while big pharmaceuticals and big insurance companies and big HMOs keep turning record profits while the rest of us pay more and get less, or don’t have health insurance at all.
– Having grown up just a few miles from the lake, I can tell you how much I value it as a natural and recreational resource. We need to ensure that the decision making done in relationship to Lake Tahoe and its surrounding areas for the coming decades is in the service of the preservation of the lake, first and foremost. That means that development in the area must be done with great care and with a defined long-term vision for the lake.
– I am a supporter of marriage equality. All people should be treated equally under the law.
– Well, one of my top priorities is public financing for elections and that’s why I ardently support Proposition 89. Our election system is the most important facet of our democracy because it is the People’s voice. Currently, we have a system that is heavily favored to the wealthy and the powerful. We need to level the playing field so that regular people can once again run for office. I also believe ardently that we must take great lengths to secure the vote and to count the votes accurately and securely. I’m for open source voting machines that are auditable. To that end, I endorse Debra Bowen for Secretary of State of California. Debra has made election integrity one of her main issues as a state senator.
You can read the entire interview here.
As you can imagine, I am sick and tired of seeing this country which I has become my second home being torn apart by this administration.
It is sickening to now see ABC and Disney do to the memory of the victims of 9/11 what the Bush administration has done before them: fictionalizing this day and misusing it for their own purposes.
And it is saddening to see that members of the progressive blogosphere have to spend a lot of precious time fighting ABC and Disney and lose the time to fight for the candidates we believe in.
As I have said before, I am not allowed to contribute to candidates. If anyone of you would wanna give as little as $5 to one of the candidates I am fighting for at Turn Tahoe Blue (among them Jack Carter, Phil Angelides, Charlie Brown, Debra Bowen, Jill Derby and of course Rob Haswell) that would be the best birthday present anyone could give me this year. You can do so through the Turn Tahoe Blue ActBlue page.
Hey, Disney, I don’t like your birthday present! Yank it!