Monday, February 04, 2008

I Heart NY

Woo-hoo! The Giants won! I'm excited, and I don't even like football. In fact, I didn't even watch the game really. Larry and I went out to dinner last night (when my best friend heard our plans, she said, "Well, at least it won't be crowded..."); but our table (and, yes, we were the only ones in the dining area, as a matter of fact) was near the bar with the big screen TV's, so we were sort of able to tell when someone made a touchdown (from the cheering). Does that count?

I fell asleep (no, not at the restaurant) before the game was even over; Larry told me the news this morning. The only reason I care is because he's from the Boston area, originally, and I'm from the New York area. So we frequently argue over who is better, those stuck-up Beantowners or the salt-of-the-earth New Yorkers...

I think I'll stop now, before I alienate anyone else. If you folks want to hear from a true Patriots' fan (as in, she actually follows the game), head on over to Amy's place.

Anyway, we went out to dinner to discuss how much of Larry's hard-earned money I plan to spend this year on those rugrats we call our children. Then we discussed just sending them all out to work, like in the good old days of Charles Dickens. Suffice it to say, I managed to polish off our sizeable tax refund in, oh, about 15 minutes (it would have been faster, but I ate some chips and guacamole while I was writing out the budget). Our waitress must have thought we were real romantics, sitting there with pad and pen and calculator, arguing over extracurricular activities. Ah, old married love....just makes your heart beat faster, doesn't it?

When we weren't discussing the budget, we were discussing politics (I told you we are a lot of fun, didn't I?). But it's just so exciting to think that Americans may just have a choice this November between 2 decent candidates, it's hard not to talk about it. I realized this morning that by the next Presidential election, 2 of my children will actually be voting. In fact, I think I realized that around the same time I realized that the gray hairs are multiplying at an exponential rate on my head....

Where was I? Oh, yes, voting...so now I actually have to sound intelligent when I discuss the candidates with Anna and Theo, rather than muttering something about "voting the bastards out." And I do like giving them a balanced view of why reasonable people would vote for either candidate, rather than demonizing half the voting population of the United States as many of our revered, um, statesmen are wont to do. I'm an unrepentant centrist, I am....

I also take great pains to explain to the teens that any candidate winning by a 3 or 4 percent margin, does not, by any stretch of the imagination, possess a mandate. 3 or 4 percent in a country the size of ours is barely statistically significant. Instead, the winner needs to reach out to the almost 50 percent (that's half, for you math-challenged) of the voters who did not elect him/her, so they do not feel alienated and unheard. The winner-take-all mentality exhibited by certain politicians on both sides of the red/blue divide is not a healthy one for any country.

Oh, gosh, it's gonna be a fun year, no?

I guess I'm feeling a little optimistic today. I mean, if New York can triumph over undefeated Boston in the Super Bowl, perhaps there is a teeny chance for Americans to agree on how to achieve health care for all, an unplundered environment, an end to the war in Iraq, and an economy that isn't going right down the toilet. One can always hope...

29 comments:

  1. You said it babe. Would be nice to have someone in the White House that believes that people are his/her priority, eh?

    (Wow, I originally had 'his' there and realized I needed to change it. How cool is that?!?)

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  2. I couldn't care less about football but I'm glad NY won - there's just something about cheering for the underdog...

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  3. Here's to unrepentant centrism!

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  4. Go NY!

    And the commercials were pretty good this year too ;)

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  5. I was BORN a Giants fan. And isn't Eli just too cute?

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  6. I was a Giants fan for the last 2 weeks. Even after they beat my two fav teams (cowboys and packers). My motto has been all year "anyone but the Patriots". SO YEA NY!!!!!!! Plus I like the Manning Bros!

    I am in Iowa, so I have had enough of politics already and it hasn't even really gotten started yet!

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  7. I like your optimism! It is an exciting year...

    I'm in new york and I didn't watch the game. But my husband (who was very loud in the other room) insists it was an upset for the record books. So that sounds exiting too.

    Once in while, my husband and I will be eating at a restaurant and we'll both be on our phones, sending emails at the same time and I just know the waitress wants to give us the number to a good marriage counselor. She must be thinking, what a sad, sad couple. They don't even talk to each other.

    If only she knew... THAT is our secret for staying together.

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  8. Dinner at Thanksgiving for the Manning family will be a bit more peaceful now, no food fights over who got a superbowl ring and who didn't.

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  9. I am a total sucker for an underdog and stood up and screamed like a hard-core fan when the Giants made that touchdown! And because I grew up in a sports-rabid household (even though my current one turns a blind, delicate and artistic eye) I fully appreciated the impossibility of what they accomplished. Go Giants! What don mills diva said, yes!

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  10. Two decent candidates? Who's the other one? :P

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  11. Your version of romance is very much like that in the Farklepants house. Viva la romance!

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  12. You said it! For me this election is about bringing soldiers home and affordable healthcare for EVERYONE.

    I could go either way concerning the football. Who won again?

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  13. (insert sound of me, applauding)

    I'm on the edge of my seat, too. This will be quite a year.

    Your dates sound like ours when we go to a restaurant. However, a good part of the time we go to the casino to play poker and end up at different tables altogether. Now, that's romantic.

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  14. All I can say is that it sure is going to be an interesting election! How can anyone NOT be interested this year?

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  15. This will be my son's first election; it is a thrill to watch him educate himself!

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  16. OMG. I've found myself a liberal! I was told today that American's think that 'liberal' is a bad word and that Canadians think 'liberal' is a good word, Um, I'm Canadian so I mean that in the nicest way possible way.

    We watched the Super Bowl too and we also did a budget for our kids activities during it. How weird is that?

    Explain to me why teaching them music, skating and swimming cost so much again? Sigh.

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  17. Miracles have been known to happen!

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  18. Ah, date night for the married. But kudos to you for doing a budget in public. Ours involves tears and accusations before it's all said and done.

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  19. Your night out sounds like a night in my house, oh the romance! LOL

    Glad we aren't the only couple that haggles over money when it comes for the extra stuff for the kids :)

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  20. Your post today? Rawks.
    Go NY!
    And your evening out? Sounds just like the kind Mr. D and I enjoy. Maybe it's pathetic to others, but we get pleasure out of it, so who cares.

    Your politics? I heart them.

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  21. I only ever get *that* sensitive when I'm pregnant - which I am not. I was going for irony and apparently missed.

    No hard feelings - rot in Hell NY LOVER ;-)~

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  22. Health care for all (i.e. government mandated health-care) means that the unprotected get sacrificed. Case in point -- the Church of England recently came out with the position that premature babies and babies born with defects should be 'allowed' to die because caring for them puts too great a strain on the country's health care budget. Yes, the CHURCH in England is now advocating infanticide. Forget the fact that they're human beings with rights. They're a drain. Guess who's next? Sweet old granny. And if our country persists in this "Everyone deserves healthcare" attitude, you can bet infanticide will soon be coming to a NICU near you.

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  23. Have to answer that last one - Katie, health care for all does not necessarily mean a government-run, one-payer system. But it is unconscionable to live in the richest country in the world and have a 12-year-old boy die because of an infection from an abscessed tooth, all because his mother couldn't afford proper dental care for him (as happened in our region recently). And I know that some people make poor financial choices; but there are still many people who are forced to choose between dental care and food for their kids. We are rich enough to make sure that everyone has the assurance of basic health care, without sacrificing the lives of the unborn or the feeble elderly.


    In addition, "allowed to die" may just mean that extraordinary measures are not required to be taken to avoid lawsuits as they are in this country. And the Catholic Church (whose credentials for advocating for the right to life are rock solid) does not insist on extraordinary measures to save a premature infant's life. That decision is between the parents and God.

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  24. Found you over at All K names
    I want to be one of your imaginary friends too.... I was happy to see the Giants win, not a football fan but that was cool.

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  25. Hope springs eternal...Our primary is today and it is exciting to have a voice in it!

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  26. We're teaching our children the same things -- it's important to vote no matter what, there's a lot at stake in this election, etc. I'm glad you're educating your kids too!

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  27. You are so, so smart to go out to dinner when the Super Bowl was on...I take it, though, that you didn't go to a sport's bar or Hooter's!

    I voted today...and it felt good!

    God bless!

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  28. I am from Boston and my husband is from "The City" or Manhattan, to the rest of us. But he decided this year, don't ask me why, to come out to his family as a Boston fan. He was officially renouncing his New York loyalties. And boy is he regreting it! His family is just ragging on him mercilessly!

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  29. Where else are you supposed to discuss the budget? At home you have to deal with interruptions and kid's opinions! As far as the election goes, I think it is great to have no incumbent! All new candidates on both sides. It sure has been interesting and the debates have been great.

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