Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Thursday, February 7, 2013
The One Where I Talk About Gun Control
*dun, dun dun!!*
There is one thing every Hill staffer knows – brace
yourselves when Fox or MSNBC start using certain buzzwords. These buzzwords
include amnesty, gun control, impeachment, treason, war on women, rape, voter fraud, immigration, conspiracy, Constitution, rights, attacks on the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 14th, amendments etc. When we hear these things, we as staffers man the shutters, screen our calls, and try and send
the interns on as few errands as possible so someone besides me will
be free to pick up the phone for the umpteenth time that day.
This round of gun control will be no different.
It’s interesting. I can tell what each major news channel
is saying based on the things the constituents say back to me. For example,
what I hear the most of now is how Obama is going to “take our machine guns” as
if President Obama himself, robed in a black suit, black tie, and the dead of
night is going to get in to his black Ford Escalade and watch as Federal
Agents slip stealthily over state borders, thereby rounding-up
and confiscating all guns - and possibly bows and arrows - while innocent citizens huddle together,
quaking in their nightclothes, powerless to do anything as they are stripped of
the only thing that will protect them from the physical threats they are (apparently)
constantly endangered by.
I,
clearly, find this ridiculous. Mostly because I listened to President Obama’s
address as opposed to hearing soundbites and interpretations of it on one of
the (especially skewed) cable news networks.
I can
also tell which side of the aisle is playing the most defense by who is calling
me the most. In this case it’s conservatives. Though it really does change
depending on the issue. When voter registration issues arise though, it tends
to be liberals who call me more. Their rights are being infringed on! As if
some cigar-chomping Republican is sitting by the voter line in a $5,000 suit,
pointing his goons at any Latino/women/African-American who will vote for the
opposition candidate. The goons, of course, will then take their military-style
AK-47s and intimidate said minority into leaving the voting line. (By the way,
there are bigger concerns with voting than just voter ID people. But that’s a
blog for another time.)
Oddly
enough, in both of these cases, their inflammatory cry is the same: “THIS IS MY
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT!! MY CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS ARE BEING INFRINGED UPON!!!”
And
it’s true. In both cases. At least in my opinion (which is solely my opinion
and not influenced by any policymaker. Nor does it reflect the views of any
professor or politician I have worked for, been associated with, or have
associated with in any social media outlet. Heck. I don’t think it even
reflects the views of my parents.)
You’re
right. The right to vote is a right
given to all citizens in the Constitution. As long as they’re over 18. And you’re
right as well. The 2nd Amendment does discuss the right to bear and
keep arms. Of course at that time they’d never even imagined a weapon that could discharge more than one bullet at a
time, but whatever.
So
why don’t we link the two issues together? Liberals want looser voter
regulations, conservatives want looser gun regulations. Both are rights
guaranteed in the Constitution and both are rights we've been forced to regulate
as time as shown a handful of citizens cannot be trusted to use those rights
correctly, to the harm of others.
For
example – conservatives want a national voting database. Great. I say do it.
But we’ll have a national gun registry as well. Most places already have a
statewide voter data base, so at the very least, a person should be forced to
re-register their gun with the state whenever they change states/cities. If a
person wants to exercise their Constitutional right to own a gun they’ll have
to register it, just like a person has to register to exercise their
Constitutional right to vote.
Likewise,
liberals want background checks and waiting periods before people are allowed
to purchase a gun. Great. But let’s put in mandatory pre-registration deadlines
for all people registering to vote. And also let’s have an ID requirement as
well, since that’s a less stringent version of a background check. I’d even be
all for lowering the price of ID cards, or allowing each person to receive one
free ID card upon their 18th birthday, just as long as they follow
the regular protocol for identification. And yes, some citizens may slip through the cracks of this process and be denied their right to vote, but requiring mental health checks may deny some people who will do absolutely no harm to others the right to protect themselves - something the 2nd amendment was meant for as well.
The fact is, the best way to avoid mass-shootings as well as voter-ID-fraud will be to educate people. Educate people to love people with mental disabilities, not to alienate them and create situations where a mass-shooting seems like the truly logical option. Educate people about how important it is to vote, and vote responsibly as well as what proper voting protocol should be like so they can't be duped. There are always going to be people who want to abuse the rights we have. And yes, where our rights begin is where someone else's rights end. So sometimes protecting our rights means we have to sacrifice a little and give up something we believe to accommodate what we believe is equally important.
Take it or leave it, our rights are our rights. Whether it's guns, life, or voting, what applies to one should apply to the other. No right should be more important than any other.
And so it goes. I will keep avoiding the phone, and then nodding and making sympathetic noises when it can't be avoided and the person on the other line quotes either Sean Hannity or Rachel Maddow. And I will bite my tongue. Because not everyone is as forward thinking as we are.
-Paul Mitchell
Take it or leave it, our rights are our rights. Whether it's guns, life, or voting, what applies to one should apply to the other. No right should be more important than any other.
And so it goes. I will keep avoiding the phone, and then nodding and making sympathetic noises when it can't be avoided and the person on the other line quotes either Sean Hannity or Rachel Maddow. And I will bite my tongue. Because not everyone is as forward thinking as we are.
-Paul Mitchell
Thursday, January 31, 2013
The one where I blog for no reason
So here I sit, in my office, minding my own business. I
have no idea why I felt compelled to blog, I just do.
First of all, I LOVED talking to you ladies on Sunday. I
seriously think we need to make that a bi-weekly thing at the least. I know
doing it more often would be hard with our schedules, but I feel like twice a
month is about as little as I can see and talk to you guys without going
insane. Plus, so much happens in a week that I know there will be things I
forget to tell you if we don’t do it that often. And heaven knows we don’t want
that to happen J
So I’m having my ovulation feelings for Guru. I’ve
realized that’s what it is. Whenever I’m ovulating I develop these feelings
that are very much like a crush. Yet there’s still the logical part of me that
retains enough control to remind myself that I don’t want to date him.
Eventually the hormones calm down and everything returns to normal. But this
week is always a little weird. Plus we’re trying to figure out exactly what our
relationship is out here, I think. There are certain days we’ll plan to meet up
at the metro together, but it’s not an everyday thing. Likewise, I don’t know
whether to plan to meet up and walk back to the metro/metro home together after
work. We get off the same time and sometimes we do. Or like what we did
yesterday where we did this test to see if he could leave from Union Station
and I could leave from Federal Center SW and we tried to end up on the same train.
We did. It was fun. However, it’s sporadic. I don’t do well with sporadic. I
like my pattern and my routine. Oh well. It’s all going to change in a week
when he only works every other day at the Senate.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering how the conversation
went with he and I, it went well. Before I was able to launch in to my schpeel
he interrupted me to apologize and kind of explain why he was acting the way he
was as well. We ended up talking and we’re good now. Clearly. As you can see
from the hormone problems.
But speaking of ovulation, it makes me love men. Like,
really love men. I want to kiss and love them. Okay, maybe not them, but at least one. Possibly two. Or
three. I’m not picky.
I’m driving to Pennsylvania this weekend! Me and my
roommates (and I think some friends) are all loading in to our cars and going
to watch the groundhog to see if he sees his shadow. Afterwards we’re going to the Hershey
factory. I’m sure I will have lots of
stories and pictures to share with you when I get back.
I’m going to peace out. It’s time for the end of the day
run away. I’m contemplating rewarding myself with a cupcake from Baked and
Wired. So good…
Sunday, January 27, 2013
The one with the verbal bitch slap
Ladies... it's time to unite. We have a serious problem on our hands. We must find a way to make a difference concerning what I am about to share with you. It's our sacred calling as women, especially women with the gospel. It's time we start educating.
Back story: Read this short post that my friend shared on facebook. Click here .
My friend asked for thoughts and opinions. All the girls that posted said awesome things ... and then a guy chimed in and I had to set him straight. Here are the comments.
THE BYUI STUDENT: A friend in college tried to make me feel like I was exposing myself for wearing my purse across my chest in college. I think men who say these things don't see how backward it is and we--men and women who DO see the harm--need to communicate it in the moment as kindly, clearly, and often as possible.
THE DUDE: Newark New Jersey is the car theft capital of America.
The Honda Accord is the most stolen car in America.
If someone drives into downtown Newark in a Honda Accord, parks the car, leaves the key in the ignition, leaves the doors wide open, and turns on the flashers (no pun intended), and walks away, what are the chances of that car getting stolen?
I can imagine the police officer saying something as follows:
"What were you thinking?"
"Why were you there in the first place?"
To which the driver responds, "Whoah! Wait a minute! Are you blaming ME?? Shouldn't we be teaching people NOT to steal cars?? Just because I leave my keys in the car, doesn't mean I'm inviting someone to steal it!!!"
Should people steal cars? NO
Should we teach people not to steal cars? YES
Should the police man shame the driver? No, he probably should have said something like "Oh, I am really sorry your car was stolen, that is terrible! ... (but really what were you thinking)"
....
So in response to the article.
The next time you ladies are leaning back in a chair, and a guy walks out of the room and someone informs you that the man refuses to come back in until you sit upright, please respond: "I'm sitting in a chair, you tell that man that he can stay outside as long as he likes. ... Also tell him NOT to come in until he can look at people properly."
However if you walk into downtown Newark in a mini-skirt... I'll let you explain that one to the police yourself.
THE CONFUSED GIRL: Since I've never lived in a oppressive male dominated society, I just don't get it. I live in an oppressive female society where males are superfluous and expected to be eunuchs and women are supposed to look like centerfolds and be treated like brain surgeons.
GNC's Response to the Dude: I have to say with all due respect to
Marshall that I completely disagree. Your comment is a contraction and reveals
a point that when discussing such topics people often miss. There is no
difference between the girl sitting in the chair and the girl walking in Newark
(or anywhere for that matter) in a mini-skirt. Just as the young lady was
blamed for "seducing" the middle aged man, your comparison blames the
girl in the mini-skirt for what she "has to explain to the police."
And frankly, your comment about "letting you explain that one to the
police yourself" is extremely offensive. Essentially the comparison made
blames the girl in the mini-skirt. Here is the thing about rape (or any type of
sexual assault), often times it is not about the sex. It's about power; it's
about domination; it's a result of thousands of years of hierarchical gender
roles that place men above women instead of next to them as equal partners. And
when I say equal I do not mean the same. Men and women are different. They have
different roles, strengths, weaknesses, and talents. It is only when men and
women respect each other and work next to each other instead of one gender
dominating the other that this world moves forward in a positive direction. A
women should be able to walk around in whatever she wants to wear and be safe,
regardless of location. It wasn't the mini-skirt, the location, or the girl
that caused her to have to "explain that one to the police herself."
Some women don't find mini-skirts to be immodest frankly. It is so ironic that
that women are blamed for the actions of selfish, self-serving, base, and
immoral men because of the way that they dress when it is men who dictate to
those women what is desirable to begin with. Additionally, there are places in
this world where a woman can be following the highest code of
"modesty" and she will still suffer sexual assault. And she will be
blamed. It isn't about the clothes, it isn't about the location. It is about
how we view each other. Men that assault women no matter the location or the
clothing involved do not see another human being. They see something to have
power over, something to relieve themselves in. It has nothing to do with
mini-skirts. It has everything do do with seeing women as human beings. I have
had many experiences where I have been completely modest, we're talking
Strength of Youth pamphlet, Molly Mormon modest and had men blatantly undress
me with their eyes. I'm very athletically built. I'm not particularly curvy in
any way. It's not about the way women are dressing and to boil such an
important issue down to mini-skirts is to simply give in to the culture that this
blog posts suggest that we fight together. A culture where there is no
responsibility on the part of men in regards to their own morality if a
mini-skirt is present.
Smashed it.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Morning thoughts
I hate eye shadow lately. Whether or not this stems from my severe case of PMS or the fact that life has just been rough lately I don't know. But I just want to wear mascara and not deal with all these colors and the shading and bla bla bla.
I have a thoughtful boss who called me to tell me that the roads were beyond iced over and that I should just work from home this morning and come in after it had warmed up a bit. This was appreciated as I was going to be late this morning anyways.
I wonder if I will get to see the String Bean today. Haven't seen much of him this week. Not loving the whole living 20 minutes apart and him taking 14 credits thing. But whatevs. I get to watch more TV.
I struggled to get dressed this morning and still am not loving the outfit... I don't want to get out of this warm bed, put on heels and go to the office.
I took ZZZquil last night. Half a dose, and I still have a hangover.
SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEP. LET ME SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.
GNC
I have a thoughtful boss who called me to tell me that the roads were beyond iced over and that I should just work from home this morning and come in after it had warmed up a bit. This was appreciated as I was going to be late this morning anyways.
I wonder if I will get to see the String Bean today. Haven't seen much of him this week. Not loving the whole living 20 minutes apart and him taking 14 credits thing. But whatevs. I get to watch more TV.
I struggled to get dressed this morning and still am not loving the outfit... I don't want to get out of this warm bed, put on heels and go to the office.
I took ZZZquil last night. Half a dose, and I still have a hangover.
SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEP. LET ME SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.
GNC
Thursday, January 17, 2013
The one where I spill it all. Well, most.
I will have you know I am officially writing this on my phone as I commute home. Not going to lie, it's a bit of a killer. The commute there isn't as bad - I walk about a mile downhill, metro for 15 minutes, walk another 10 and I'm there. It's really only 10 minutes longer than my commute when I lived at the Barlow. However, remember that hill? Yeah, that hill REALLY sucks to walk back up after working for 10 hours in heels, ESPECIALLY when that work includes guiding interns on 2 hour-long tours of the Capitol and running errands. I'm seriously considering either moving or driving to work if I fin a permanent position on or around the hill, particularly if I join the House gym like I plan, because then I'll be there even longer as well as be more tired and sore on the way home.
Oh well. Those are thoughts for another time :)
I feel the need to share a rather disturbing/wonderful fact: today is Thursday. The last time I showered was Monday. In all fairness, you couldn't tell if you looked at or smelled me. See, the weather here has been incredibly rainy and humid, so I haven't been able to straighten or curl my hair. I've just left it natural, with a little bit of mouse and gel in it to stop it from staging a coupe and forcefully taking over the space usually occupied by my head. And when I do my hair like that it almost never looks greasy. Ever. So I've just been doing it a series of ways. Day 1 it was down; day 2 it was half-up. Day 3 loosely French-braided with curls framing my face. Day 4 (today) pulled back with a series of bobby-pins and corn-rowed. And actually, the greasier it gets, the less frizzy it is. It's a win-win!
Also: The Guru survived 3 days in a car with me while I was sleep-deprived, stressed, AND PRE-MENSTRUAL. I think we both deserve awards; he for not making me kill him, and me for controlling myself and not actually killing him. I'm actually rather excited for when he moves out here. I can foresee us having some fun times.
Now for the interns. (I saved this for last as I knew this was re only reason you read this entry.) we'll call the first one FOH, short for Full of Himself. I mean, I get it kid, you've already graduated from college and been accepted to some very prestigious law schools. However, you're still an unpaid intern. It's not your place to constantly correct your fellow intern while he's giving a tour, nor do you have to explain every piece of your logic to explain to us why you're not wrong when we give you constructive criticism. WE DON'T CARE. Nor do we care how well you handled this constituent phone call. We're not here ro be your personal validator. So please do not interupt us from the work we're doing so you can te us a story and have us pat you on the head. You're still wrong, we're still right. I don't care if you think you're smarter or more qualified than we are. The fact is, we're still your supervisors, so suck it up and at least pretend to be teachable. If this is how you are as an intern, I'd hate to see how you would be as a staffer when you actually have a little bit of authority.
The other one we'll refer to as Churchmouse. He is referred to this way because of how incredibly timid he is as well as the fact I get the impression he's a little poor. I say this because I think I've only seen him wear that one shirt (more on that later). He too is a college graduate, except unlike FOH he is super passive and almost never volunteers any information about himself, his life, etc. I think he's living in a hostel somewhere in Virginia or the NW because I think I saw him riding the Blue line home. ...though in all fairness it was before L'Enfant, so really he could be living anywhere... That is all mostly irrelevant, of course. My biggest complaint about Churchmouse is that his timidity can be a huge hindrance in the learning process, especially as he has a tendency to take certain tasks too seriously and get overwhelmed easily. And I feel very empathetic as I had a tendency to be that way for the first month or so of my internship. Clearly I'm fine now, heck, I ran my own damn campaign office and did ALL the phone answering there! I just wish I could tell him how to skip that horrible part where you feel like you're failing and jump to the successful part.
My other frustration with Churchmouse is one I've shared with The Rack already and deals with that one shirt. And possibly the fact that he lives in a hostel.
He smells. Pretty horribly. That's not to say he's always smelled. In fact, I didn't notice it until the very end of Tuesday. By the end of Wednesday it was bad enough to exacerbate the menstrual natural migraine I had coming on. Today it was a pretty constant BO presence with accentuated whiffs whenever he moved. It's incredibly frustrating, because I can only imagine how it's going to be tomorrow.
Needless to say, I do not have my own desk, but am squished in the hallway with the interns. Not that anyone really gets any space, but still.
I am, however, working with education policy, which makes me incredibly happy. I love doing this kind of research into what would be best for my district as well as the country as a whole. Plus it's exposing me to previous legislation, possible solutions, and pros and cons of those solutions. It's fascinating and incredibly intimidating. And infinitely more interesting than sorting news articles.
There is obviously more about my life here that I want to share with you ladies. Also, you should probably call me at your girls night tomorrow.
But I'll leave you with this tidbit. Guru was in my dream last night. And there was some lip-loving.
Toodles!
-Paul Mitchell
Oh well. Those are thoughts for another time :)
I feel the need to share a rather disturbing/wonderful fact: today is Thursday. The last time I showered was Monday. In all fairness, you couldn't tell if you looked at or smelled me. See, the weather here has been incredibly rainy and humid, so I haven't been able to straighten or curl my hair. I've just left it natural, with a little bit of mouse and gel in it to stop it from staging a coupe and forcefully taking over the space usually occupied by my head. And when I do my hair like that it almost never looks greasy. Ever. So I've just been doing it a series of ways. Day 1 it was down; day 2 it was half-up. Day 3 loosely French-braided with curls framing my face. Day 4 (today) pulled back with a series of bobby-pins and corn-rowed. And actually, the greasier it gets, the less frizzy it is. It's a win-win!
Also: The Guru survived 3 days in a car with me while I was sleep-deprived, stressed, AND PRE-MENSTRUAL. I think we both deserve awards; he for not making me kill him, and me for controlling myself and not actually killing him. I'm actually rather excited for when he moves out here. I can foresee us having some fun times.
Now for the interns. (I saved this for last as I knew this was re only reason you read this entry.) we'll call the first one FOH, short for Full of Himself. I mean, I get it kid, you've already graduated from college and been accepted to some very prestigious law schools. However, you're still an unpaid intern. It's not your place to constantly correct your fellow intern while he's giving a tour, nor do you have to explain every piece of your logic to explain to us why you're not wrong when we give you constructive criticism. WE DON'T CARE. Nor do we care how well you handled this constituent phone call. We're not here ro be your personal validator. So please do not interupt us from the work we're doing so you can te us a story and have us pat you on the head. You're still wrong, we're still right. I don't care if you think you're smarter or more qualified than we are. The fact is, we're still your supervisors, so suck it up and at least pretend to be teachable. If this is how you are as an intern, I'd hate to see how you would be as a staffer when you actually have a little bit of authority.
The other one we'll refer to as Churchmouse. He is referred to this way because of how incredibly timid he is as well as the fact I get the impression he's a little poor. I say this because I think I've only seen him wear that one shirt (more on that later). He too is a college graduate, except unlike FOH he is super passive and almost never volunteers any information about himself, his life, etc. I think he's living in a hostel somewhere in Virginia or the NW because I think I saw him riding the Blue line home. ...though in all fairness it was before L'Enfant, so really he could be living anywhere... That is all mostly irrelevant, of course. My biggest complaint about Churchmouse is that his timidity can be a huge hindrance in the learning process, especially as he has a tendency to take certain tasks too seriously and get overwhelmed easily. And I feel very empathetic as I had a tendency to be that way for the first month or so of my internship. Clearly I'm fine now, heck, I ran my own damn campaign office and did ALL the phone answering there! I just wish I could tell him how to skip that horrible part where you feel like you're failing and jump to the successful part.
My other frustration with Churchmouse is one I've shared with The Rack already and deals with that one shirt. And possibly the fact that he lives in a hostel.
He smells. Pretty horribly. That's not to say he's always smelled. In fact, I didn't notice it until the very end of Tuesday. By the end of Wednesday it was bad enough to exacerbate the menstrual natural migraine I had coming on. Today it was a pretty constant BO presence with accentuated whiffs whenever he moved. It's incredibly frustrating, because I can only imagine how it's going to be tomorrow.
Needless to say, I do not have my own desk, but am squished in the hallway with the interns. Not that anyone really gets any space, but still.
I am, however, working with education policy, which makes me incredibly happy. I love doing this kind of research into what would be best for my district as well as the country as a whole. Plus it's exposing me to previous legislation, possible solutions, and pros and cons of those solutions. It's fascinating and incredibly intimidating. And infinitely more interesting than sorting news articles.
There is obviously more about my life here that I want to share with you ladies. Also, you should probably call me at your girls night tomorrow.
But I'll leave you with this tidbit. Guru was in my dream last night. And there was some lip-loving.
Toodles!
-Paul Mitchell
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