On my soapbox for a moment **

Okay, I know I have been m.i.a. It started out as slacking a little, then there were preparations for out of town visitors (hi Didi and Papa!) and then we were having fun. Plus Ava started school. So I have a whole lot to get on the blog, but first I have to start with all the news I have been hearing about the convention and Hillary Clinton and where her votes will go.
There are several news reports speaking about Hillary Clinton's loyal supporters and their sitting on a fence on whether to vote for Barack Obama or John McCain. Puhleeeeeze. (Get ready, here I go~) If all these Clinton supporters don't know if they want to vote for Obama or are automatically going for McCain, it seems to me that her strategy of trying to be an agent of change failed miserably. Plain and simple, if you are voting for McCain as a consolation for voting for Clinton, then you really didn't hear what she was trying to say. And you were simply voting for her because she is a woman. It is really sad to hear these people saying that they were so strong for Clinton and now going towards McCain, because if you looked at her policies, then you would see she is a lot more in line with Obama than McCain. She would be pro choice. McCain not so much. She would be looking out for the disappearing middle class in helping out with taxes. McCain would be bewildered to learn that there is a middle class, disappearing as it is, and continue with the corporate tax cuts that behoove companies to send more jobs overseas. Really. Look into it. And there's the whole healthcare thing. She gets it. So does Obama. John McCain, not so much. There is not one day in his life or one person for that matter that would worry about filing bankruptcy or losing their house (one of seven, sorry) because of overwhelming medical bills. Even when they have "health insurance". Which brings to mind my friend Suzi who toiled at a job that made her sicker because she couldn't change employers as she had a preexisting condition. And then everyone thinks McCain is the military candidate. Yes, he is. He was in the military and is very fond of looking towards military rather than diplomatic solutions. And with Russia being a total bitch because they want into NATO, do you want someone who would rather send in troops without the help of our allies than seek some kind of diplomatic solution with the help of our allies? (Again, really, look into it. One should be completely informed and vote based on smarts. Please do your research no matter who you are leaning towards!)
Back to the whole Clinton thing. I am a Gen X'er. But I am early enough on that train to remember feminism. And while I barely can stomach Femenazis, I am grateful to all who went through what they did to get women to where they are today. We still don't get equal pay. Can you imagine where we would have been without the work of all those women to get us where we are? I remember my mother working hard to take care of us kids because my dad did not send child support. She was one of thousands if not millions of women who worked the same or similar jobs as men to make less money for reasons such as "the men are head of household- they need it more to take care of their family" as if single women who had the extra expense of day care didn't. That said, I don't think that this gives us reason to vote Clinton simply because she's a woman. That would be like saying you were voting McCain because he's a baby boomer, or Obama because he's (actually) African American. Really! If you ladies want to take your ball and go home, so to speak, and vote for McCain, go right ahead. But think about how we will remember you and Clinton when she tries again. And tries to be an opposite of the republican machine that you sided with instead of using your vote for the hope of a better future. Who will we believe?
**If you don't read this that's okay. Really. I do go on and on. But I love me some convention, bitches notwithstanding.