I rarely read blogs even though I write one.  I faithfully read the New York Times every morning and watch BBC news every evening.  I figure I get enough political news.  I rely on friends who are blog consumers to forward me juicy articles.  Now, however, that the Obama Administration is about to become a reality, I may turn to political blogs for the inside scoop.

Some Political Blogs

To see what I might be missing, I tuned in today, December 24 -- definitely a slow news day politically -- to three blogs I often hear about from political junkie friends.

Huffingtonpost.com -- I generally respect Ariana Huffington and share her political biases.  What could her blog come up with on a slow political news day?  It was all trash.  There were pieces on: the 10 Inaugural Balls the Obamas will attend; what the Obama vacation home looks like; what Obama looks like topless, i.e. in a bathing suit.  I was interested that Obama attended his grandmother's memorial service.  I wondered about him throwing her ashes in the Pacific -- we're not supposed to do that in California but, of course, we do.  Perhaps, the most important thing I learned is that I, too, could rent the Obama vacation home -- for $3000 a night.

Dailykos.com -- This site started with a piece about Norad's Santa Tracking station.  Merry, merry.  At least DailyKos had some good political news -- the GOP's Agenda for 2010 (as if anyone cared) and Franken's lead in Minnesota by 48 votes.  That was exciting.

Politico.com -- I did listen to Obama's holiday message on Politico, reproduced from Change.com.  I found it disappointing -- it mentioned Christmas but left out Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.  As for the slideshow of Presidential vacations, well, I got to see all our recent presidents in bathing trunks.  I won't even discuss chubby Clinton.  Obama was by far the most fit and he also had the most conservative trunks.  My kind of guy.

At least, on December 24th, poltiical blogs are all gossip and human interest stories -- a big waste of time of computer-sitting time.  I will continue to wait for my blog-fiend friends to forward me their favorite goodies.  As for the New York Times today, at least it had some serious news -- how Jews feel about Mr. Madoff.

My Blogs

Having said all those negative things about blogs, I must admit I spent the last two weeks creating a second blog!!!  This one is for the California Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

The process of making the blog was arduous.  First, I taught myself the Google blog system on blogspot.com.  The directions are quite clear and I had Jim's help.  It still took me a long time.  Then the Brady Campaign told me they wanted California's blog on their server.  So, I had to learn a whole new software -- fortunately, having a young man in the Brady Washington office walk me through the formatting step by step.

So, please take a look at http://cablog.bradycampaign.org and bookmark me!!!!

Holiday Wishes

Being more ecumenical than Obama, I wish all my readers a peaceful and joyous Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and Festivus (a non-denominational holiday to be celebrated by those frustrated or jaded with the commercialism and pressure surrounding the Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa season.)

See you again in 2009.

Many Americans say they believe in diversity.  I wonder how fully they practice what they preach.  Yes, they were willing to elect an African-American as President, but how willing would they be to live next door to a minority family?

In the US, What Kind of Diversity Is Accepted, at least, Verbally?

A Pew Research Center poll, "American Say They Like Diverse Communities" found that "about six in ten Amercians say they like the idea of living in politically, racially, religiously or economically mixed communities.  About a quarter take the opposite view: they would rather live in communities made up of people mostly like themselves."  

Here's what people said about preferences for the commmunity they live in:

                         favor living with different political views .... 63%
                         favor living with different races..................65%
                         favor living with different religions .............59%
                         favor living with different economic group ..61%
                         favor living with many immigrants.............24%

Verbal support for diversity was widespread, except for immigration.

Differences Among Subgroups in Acceptance of Diversity

                       
Not surprisingly, liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans had the biggest divides over diversity.
 
"I would prefer to live in a community of people who represent a mix of..."
                                                        Lib Dem          Cons. Rep.
                         political views ................ 65%               49%
                         different races................ 73%               52% 
                         different religions ...........73%               44%
                         socioeconomic class........ 71%               59%
                         many immigrants........... 44%               14%

Other interesting phenomena in the data were: blacks and Hispanics had a higher preference for racial diversity than whites; people who seldom or never attend church services regularly had a higher preference for religious diversity than churchgoers; upper income people had a higher prefence for economic diversity than lower income people (perhaps because upper class folks don't live with poor folks); Hispanics had a higher preference for immigrants than blacks or whites.

Finally, the survey examined the percentages of people who gave pro-diversity responses on 4 out of 5 questions.  The most pro-diverse groups were liberal Democrats (65%), college graduates (62%), blacks (59%), Democrats (58%) and Independents (57%).  The overall average was 51%.

The Pew Center Survey suggests that Americans, especially progressives, find it morally or politically correct to advocate diversity.

Sonoma County, California

I'm sure that in Sonoma County, California, where I live, most people, especially progressives, express a great deal of support for diversity.  I work with an organization called Listening for a Change that promotes "understanding and acceptance of human diversity through education, oral history and the arts."  

Although Sonoma County projects an image of itself as a wine-growing region with gorgeous scenery from the Pacific to Napa Valley (our wine-growing competitor), our county is also home to people who do more than grow wine.  We have urban areas and urban problems, wealthy and poor, a dominant community of white middle class people and non-dominant communities of immigrants, foreign-born, gays and lesbians, students, service workers, seniors, disabled people, rural farm workers, and unemployed.  Life is challenging for many in Sonoma County, although that is not the picture the dominant community likes to project.

Listening for a Change supports a Community Listening Project in which community members take oral histories with someone from a different background.  Our oral histories suggest the community is far less accepting of diversity than we would like.  From our survey, we learned that minority and non-dominant groups in the community experience hostility and intolerance, exclusion and alienation.  Clearly, we need to make acceptance of diversity more than a verbal statement.

The difference between our talk and our walk in Sonoma County made me wonder how other Americans deal with diversity.  What about your community?  How are you doing verbally... and actually?


                       

Sadly, and not unexpectedly, Thanksgiving weekend had its share of gun violence -- two men murdered in front of a Toys 'R' Us store in California and a New York Giants football star shooting himself accidentally in the foot with an illegal gun, and undoubtedly 10, 20, 30 others killed in firearms homicides, suicides and accidents across the U.S.

What is a Second Amendment Weekend?

To me, one of the worst weekend stories involved the State of South Carolina creating a Second Amendment Weekend, a sales tax holiday for gun purchases on Black Friday and Black Saturday just after Thanksgiving.
The proponent of the tax holiday, a South Carolina State Senator, declared South Carolina was a "gun-owning-tradition and hunting-tradition state." 

Nonsense.  The tax holiday was not designed to promoting hunting -- it included tax-free handguns and excluded archery equipment!  The holiday was pure and simple gun promotion.  The state legislature was gun-crazy enough to override the veto of the Governor who declared the tax break as an effort to play politics with the state's tax code.

This was not the first time South Carolina offered a tax holiday.  Like several other states, South Carolina lifts the sales tax from back-to-school supplies and has just provided a tax holiday for energy-efficient appliances.  The goal of tax holidays is to reward purchasers of items in the public good.  Like guns?

Reactions from Some South Carolinians

Two South Carolina women were as dismayed by the holiday as I was.  One said, "Why do you want to buy guns when people are shopping for Christmas?  Somebody might want to rob me and take everything I bought for my children." 

Another woman used even stronger logic.  "Why would we tax something so significant like food and other items but not tax something that could take a life?"

Let the South Carolina Know

Unfortunately, South Carolina plans to continue Second Amendment Weekends in the future.  How can those of us who oppose the promotion of gun sales respond?  I suggest a letter to South Carolina officials in the tourism field letting them know that the tax holiday on gun sales is the main reason we won't vacation in South Carolina.

Here's the address:   South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism
                                   1205 Pendleton St.
                                   Columbia, SC  29201


       

Post-election Democratic rejoicing has focused on Obama's success as a candidate.  While I'm as enthusiastic as anyone else about Obama, Democratic Party fortunes improved significantly by 2008, according to the Pew Research Center, and not solely because of Obama!

Let's take a look at some statistics.  Between 1984 and 2004, Democrats held between 37% and 39% of party registrations; Republicans held 35% consistently until 2004 when they went up to 37%; and Independents held from 26% to 28%.

What happened in 2008?

The Republicans sank from 37% in 2004 to 32% in 2008.   George Bush can claim some fame for turning the Republicans into a minority party.  Where did that 5% of Republican voters go?  The Democrats picked up 2%, going from 37% in 2004 to 39% in 2008, and the Independents picked up 3%, going from 26% in 2004 to 29% in 2008.

Who Are the New Democrats and Independents?

1) They are young (18-29)

Younger voters have been moving into the Democratic Party -- more so in 2004, 2006 and 2008 than in the 3 previous elections.  But here's a surprise.  According to Pew, "turnout among young voters was not disporportionately higher than in 2004."  In other words, contrary to most expectations, younger voters did not affect turnout overall.  They did, however, break heavily for Obama compared to other Democrats in the past (66% for Obama versus 54% for Kerry and 48% for Gore).  It appears that many Republican and Independent younger voters in 2008 either voted for Obama or stayed home.

2) They are non-white

African-Americans voted 95% for Obama, as did a surprising 66% of Hispanics.  While, compared to 2004, there was a 7% increase in African-American Democratic votes and a 13% increase in Hispanic Democratic votes.  The Democratic Party, along with non-profits and labor unions, did well in registering new multi-ethnic voters -- 19% of African-Americans were first-time voters compared to 8% of whites.

3) They are moderate

Another election surprise, at least to me, was that there was no ideological shift in 2008, as seen below:

                  Liberal            Moderate          Conservative
2008             23%                44%                  33%
2004             21%                45%                  34%

How Does the Democratic Party Look Today?

It doesn't look like me -- I'm too old, white and liberal.  The Democratic Party today has a younger, more multi-ethnic, and moderate base than ever before.  And, thanks to Bush, it is once again a majority party.

How long will the Democrats retain their new base?  I'm optimistic.  Thus far, Obama -- young, multi-ethnic and moderate -- seems perfectly calibrated for the "new" Democratic Party.  


To see the full Pew Center report, please go to: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1039/post-election-perspectives