The BALL

With the immense Presidential Security convey (something like 25 vehicles including a SWAT Team, Ambulance, something with  a BIG Gun and about 15 big, black SUVs plus the President's car) escorting the President and Mrs. Obama to and from the 10 Official Inaugural Balls, causing the rest of us to figure out all the street closures and our personal getting around! So:  NO cabs. No private cars. Shuttle Buses were provided to the Balls. But the buses couldn't get through either!! So we got off the bus and walked.

Cheryl Crowe entertained us at the Midwest Ball. 

Five hours after the Ball's starting time, the highlight we all were waiting for: The 7.5 minute appearance of The President and Mrs. Obama! 

Like Cinderella our party-time had come to an end and we had to leave the Ball. Cinderella had her pumpkin. We had our green Pedi-Cab and our friendly driver, Andrew 

The BIG Day

It was a BIG -and long-day. We left our hotel at 8 am and with only a short stop to change for The Ball, we didn't return until after 1AM. 

We planned on watching the swearing in from the Jones Day rooftop terrace located on the side of the Capitol where there was either a security breacch or a water main break (we heard both!) In any case the result was we were stuck on 1st street with thousands of other people...going nowhere. After about an hour of not moving, we made "our escape" and found our way to Jones Day. But since the entrance gates closed at 11.30 am--thousands of ticket holders at the purple gate never got in. 

Look at all the people on the surrounding rooftops!

The Sharpshooters were everywhere.

While we perched atop Jones Day roof top garden,  Aaron and Rebecca took part in the standing crowd and later joined us.

The crowd greeted introduction of GW Bush with a loud and long "boo".

While you watch this video, you will clearly hear the feelings of the crowd!! 

Next: The Ball

Photos

As you might guess, having Howard along on this adventure has allowed me to not only actually BE in the photos, but to have a LOTTA photos to share. So here, in no particular order is the first installment.....

Waiting on line at the Russell Senate Office Building where I collected my two inaugural swearing-in tickets from Senator Sherrod Brown's office.

At Hillary Clinton's Brunch we met:

Former Governor of California Gray Davis w/ Howard

President Bill CLinton w/ Howard

Me in front a huge Hillary-postered wall

Arron Price Chatting up Hillary?

Lots of security--every where

A few of the over 5000 port-o-potties

The Entire OSU Marching Band playing INSIDE the Mayflower Hotel. You think this band is loud outside in their stadium, try standing next to one of the tuba's INSIDE a building!!

Washington Monument 

Rebecca and Arron on the Mall w/ Lincoln Memorial waaay in the back!

People, Power and Promise

If you have been watching any TV, you already have seen the impressive crowds and the inspiring monuments neither of which require any more amplification. But in spite of all the talking heads talk, the energy and excitement is so indescribable. Cynics may say the "love in the air will soon be replaced by the old acrimony", but if our new young President has anything to say, I doubt it.

Standing in the crowd during yesterday's fee Lincoln Memorial concert, it was hard not to strike up conversation with a fellow American. The talk was not only about the size of the crowd but the cheerfulness and pleasantness of the people. We decided that we people have been starved for smart, powerful leaders, and we are all just in awe (and holding our breath) with the possibilities of promise.

Last night at Ohio's Ball, over 900 people partied at the Mayflower Hotel. When the ENTIRE Ohio State University Marching Band-all 225 of them dressed in full uniform-marched into the ballroom, there were plenty of surprised faces and dropped jaws as the world's largest brass and percussion band entertained the crowd for 30 minutes! Watch for OSU Band marching in tomorrow's inaugural parade. Seen in the crowd were two of  the Democratic wannabe Senatorial candidates: Lee Fisher and Tim Ryan. (Last week, Ohio's Senator George Voinovich announced he will not run for re-election-leaving an open seat to attract a lot of attention) Lots of speculation...

Sadly Sherrod Brown, our great US Senator, was detained back home in Ohio, as his mom is not well. We wish her well.  Ohio's Governor Ted Strickland: Missing. Ted, Where were you?

Pictures will be posted later.

Quick Update

A quick update for my faithful readers. More details and more pictures later.

After a short 6 hour drive, we arrived in DC and encountered: NO problem. (you know how the weather people always scare us when potential bad weather is on the way? Well, same with this celebration! Not bad. We are so happy to be part of this!)

The city is giddy. Buildings are decorated for the celebration. Streets closed. Music blaring. Just a really huge party

Howard, Aaron, Rebecca and I went to the Convention Center to pick up our Midwest Ball Tickets

 and then spent the remainder of the afternoon on the Mall watching people (lots of them!) and listening to the concert: We are the One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial. It was great. People dancing, singing cheering, carrying on. Then when Obama started to  speak: SILENCE. Awesome.

 

Now, I'm rushing to change into some party clothes (yes! flat shoes!) to go the Ohio's Celebration.

Stay tuned

test

far away from home without laptop access...just me & my Treo...will this really post?

Gotta get going.

We are like little kids: Glued to the TV. Mesmerized by the new President:  The 1000 watt smile. The throaty chuckle. The eagerness to meet and greet the crowd.

I recommend Peggy Noonan's column in today's Wall Street Journal where she says: "It's good to put [previous disappointments] aside for a few days, to remove yourself from politics, partisanship and faction, to suspend your disbelief, to be grateful that the signs and symbols endure, as does the republic, and raise a toast: "To the president of the United States."   Imagine me quoting Peggy Noonan!

About an hour ago, we decided that instead of leaving in the morning, we'd leave tonight... can't wait to get to the party!

So, after this evening's date with some friends, we'll pack the car and drive to DC! 

It's going to be amazing --- starting with sunrise over the Potomac!

Invites and Tickets

Just in case you wanted a peek, here is my Official Inauguration Invitation. Ok. Full disclosure: This is my commemorative invitation but it is engraved and it is cool! and I received TWO of them! 

Lots of flurry now around tickets. Today I received a message from the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) stating that if you were planning on picking up your Inaugural Ball tickets today, please don't. That due to overwhelming ticket demand and a printing problem, today's scheduled ticket pick-up at the Washington Convention Center has been postponed 'til tomorrow...like you are already in the endless line waiting to pick-up your treasured and precious and $$$ tickets, and you get the email saying "don't come today"....OMG

For my long time readers, you know I I hate those endless lines.....and this time: no "delegate passes" to jump the line. 

And what could have happened to have a PRINTING PROBLEM??? Yikes....is the Government so busy printing the the bailout money that the printing presses couldn't accommodate the printing of Inaugural Ball tickets?!! Hmmmm.....

Weather note: For my warm weather readers, today in Cleveland the current temperature 1 (feels like -19). Really.

Serious Planning. Serious GuanXi

You may recall from an earlier post the term "GuanXi"-the Chinese term for "relationship". Well, we may not be Chinese, but in many of our daily lives, we all depend and cultivate "GuanXi" (google GuanXi and you'll get the full definition-then decide if you do or not have your own "GuanXi" strategies!

So as I plan my Inaugural Adventure, I certainly am depending on GuanXi to smooth the way--more on this in a later post.

A big factor in keeping this adventure in the manageable category is 1) the weather and 2) being able to walk to my destination. 

1) THE WEATHER: Forecast, so  far, is glorious! 

2) LOCATION LOCATION: Our hotel is at Dupont Circle. Not short - but a doable walk to Senator Sherrod Brown's Office at the Russell Senate Office Building where will go to pick up (with my photo ID) my two standing Swearing-in Tickets). Also, the hotel is walkable to Capitol Hill where, obviously, The Swearing-In will occur. If you want to read all the pieces and parts of the Inaugural do's and don'ts, I refer you to the fascinating (Check out the maps) and detailed government website: http://inaugural.senate.gov/

Now for the SERIOUS Stuff

What to wear? The big concern-as mentioned above-is the walking and walking and walking. So while I'd love to be glamourous in a pair if wicked heels, I don't think it's reasonable. Some people are suggesting that we wear flat shoes and carry the nice shoes, but I think the parties are going to be CROWDED with lots of security check-points so carrying anything extra may be a big hassle. So... flat shoes it is.If I change my mind, I'll be sure to tell you! 

As for the dress?  Just between you and me: I have a dress from a long time ago and I am thrilled to report that it is still fashionable and more important: STILL fits :)  (thank you Terri Bahr!) If Vanity Fair interviews me about my gown, I will be proud to say I am respecting the current economic situation.

BONUS stuff: Howard will be joining me on this adventure-as will Rebecca and Aaron. And as you may know, Howard and Aaron are avid photographers and what a photo-op this will be. So I am excited to soon be able to share some great photos with you.

Mrs. Levine goes to Washington

It's Official! I'm going to The Inauguration. Or as it's called at our house: the BIG DAY!

I thought I could stay away. With the news media's best hype and scare tactics: 3 million people in DC. No bridge traffic. High security. No hotel rooms. All those "nos" and yet..as December turned into January, my aversion turned into affection; my phobia turned into love. While I adventured in Denver with my pal Lana, this adventure I'll have Howard and Rebecca and Aaron-who will be freshly returned to the USA from 10 months in Shangai, China. 

So ....stay tuned.

Post Election Void and on to Euphoria

Happy New Year to all my faithful blog readers. 

To fill the post-election void, Howard and I traveled to China and SE Asia. From the Great Wall

To the Beijing Opera:

To the Olympic Village Birdnest

It was a wonderful escape from USA politics plus an extraordinary "look" into our daughter and  son-in-law's Shanghai lifestyle (you may remember Rebecca and Aaron have been living and working in Shanghai since April, 2008). 

We visited Beiijin, Xian, Shanghai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. 

Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur

There is nothing like world travel to open your eyes to the bigness and smallness of the world! Once again, Happy New Year to all! 

The Victory and The Void

The MORNING AFTER

Surely everyone has witnessed not only Barack Obama's elegant victory and but also his exquisite victory speech. I didn't want him to stop talking. After 8 loooong years of you-know-who-it was heavenly to listen to an American leader sounding so smart and speaking with such grace, intellect and compassion.

The VOID

But today, while nursing my victory "hangover", I have to admit I feel a void. I have been 100% focused on this endless campaign: raising money, raising awareness, and of course, raising my voice for a new American policy direction.

What am I going to do? Will the TV Talking heads still hold my attention. Will I watch these TV shows everyday with with same intense attention? Will I surf the internet for the latest update? Will I now have to use my time for accomplishing long-overdue tasks like: cleaning my closet?! 

I suspect I'll do a few "catch-up" jobs but mostly, knowing me, I'll stay  in "worry mode". Before today, I worried about the election.

Now, I'll worry about:

Who is John Stewart and Stephen Colbert going to make of now?

Who is Chris Matthews, Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow going to exhort?

What will Chuck Todd analyze?

And, most worrisome: how much more vitriol will be spewed from Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, and the other right winger radio/TV talkers.

Random thought:

Maybe it's time to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine-abolished during Ronald Reagan's administration allowing all the partisan broadcasting we experience today. Maybe this reversal was not a good thing--For anyone. Some of the talking heads -on both sides-have been-and I fear will continue to be-brutal. 

THE NEW PRESIDENT 

Barack Obama is a unique candidate. Although all the talking heads and news journalists keep going on and on about Barack's blackness, President-Elect Obama is not a traditional "black candidate". His candidacy was not a "black grievance" campaign. Rather his campaign and now his presidency will be of "possibilities"...what we can achieve together; he wants us to be a team. I think he'll be able to count on us.

Obama appealed to the basic fabric of American life...what we all want for our families...and in the end, when people voted, people realized we are all in this big American boat TOGETHER. And when you're in leaky boat, it does not matter the captain's skin color, you want the captain to save the ship so all don't drown!

GIVING UP POWER

The most hard-to-win-cohort was the white male over 50 years. Since the founding of this country, the Older White Male has reigned supreme and no one likes to relinquish power. But the changing fabric of the American "melting pot" has brought a multitude of shades and beliefs to the political table. And while-in the end-this is a good thing-in the short term, it won't be easy.  There is no going back. This is a country based on merit and diversity is here to stay. And the broader the diversity, the better. 

GOBAMA!!

the vote, the desperate & the ditch

10 days till election and, here in Ohio, the ground forces are swelling. Beginning tomorrow, The National Democratic Committee staff is dispersing to the Battleground States--and OHIO is on the list. These folks, who depend on home hospitality, will work on get-out-the-vote (door-to-door campaigning), field office support and basically anything that needs doing will be done by the these folks. 

At 3pm on this wall-to-wall-sunshine day, I voted. I didn't give much thought to driving to our County Board of Elections (BOE) UNTIL I got to within about 8 blocks of my destination, and I began to encounter signs that read:

For those readers not that familiar with downtown Cleveland, let me say, it is mighty unusual to have a problem with parking let alone to ever need OVERFLOW parking!! 

 So, naturally, I continued on my way, ignoring the signs.

I kept on driving, cock-sure I could just park in the  BOE's adjacent lot.  As I approached the BOE building and, I see not only no parking in sight, but also that the police have the street blocked...and so, I keep on driving. Finally able to make a legal U-turn, I back tracked and proceeded to follow the parking signs! Now, I'm thinking, WOW! Voting is gonna be jammed! 

Wrong again!

Voting was a breeze. Dozens of very helpful workers and scores of Voting Booths:

Now that I have voted, I will be free to work for the campaign on November 4th. 

DESPERATE? A few days ago, Lisa, my daughter-in-law, sent this photo showing a pre-paid Federal Express envelope along with a pleaful letter from John McCain, written in the most urgent language-for donations to be sent ASAP-in the aforementioned FedEx envelope. FEDEX!!! Isn't that pretty expen$ive??? 

(full disclosure: The mailing was addressed to the former owner of Lisa and Wilton's home!) 

And finally, last week, when Bill Clinton was in Cleveland, he said, that Americans only vote for Democrats when "we're in a ditch". Ditch? Seems to me, we're in waaaay more than a ditch, maybe the Grand Canyon??  If that's the case, maybe we'll soon see the change we so desperately need.

GOBAMA

Ohio-the heart of it all

19 days till election day and OHIO is buzzing.

From Lake Erie to the Ohio River, Youngstown to Toledo (for those of you not familiar with geography, that means north to south, east to west),  the candidates and their surrogates are flooding Ohio looking for money and votes.

Ohioans are lately in the (not such good) news: Joe-the-Plumber is from Toledo.  Sarah Palin's rally in Strongsville where someone yelled: "Kill him". 

In the raising money department, today, I was in a Shaker Heights living room (albeit way in the back-see photo) with President 42: Bill Clinton. For those of you who have been in a

room with Bill, you know what I mean when I say: "He owns the crowd."

After 8 years of listening to you-know-who, it was refreshing to hear a leader who put dozens of sentences together and they all made sense! President Clinton was optimistic about Obama's winning the election however he cautioned against complacency and emphasized the importance of "get out the vote". 

As of this writing-in OHIO- McCain has pulled even with Obama. Hopefully, when you read this, that will not be the case. Here is one set of polls you can check: http://www.presidentpolls2008.com/polls/

However, the only poll that really matters is the one that occurs on Tuesday,  November 4, 2008.

Seen in the crowd: Ohio's Lieutenent Governor's son, Jason Fisher (producer /director of "Swing State" see blog: Random Musings) who, you may recall, is working with Katie Couric on her CBS webcast. Last week, Jason was with the CBS team in Nashville for Presidential Debate #2. Jason and Bob Schieffer (Moderator: Presidential Debate #3) were talking about possible questions Schieffer could ask. Jason suggested he ask about how the candidates felt about their Vice Presidential running mates and their fitness to assume the "job #1". And you know, Scheiffer asked that very question. If you saw the debate, you heard the candidates' answers. Obama described, in detail, Joe Biden's intellect and foreign policy experience. About the best McCain could say was that he was "proud" of Sarah Palin. "Proud?" of her? Come on, is she is daughter? What kind of qualification attends to McCain's "proudness"?

Musing #2. Received an email asking me to verify some of the smears circulating the internet. If you receive any one these wild accusations, please check for the truth at www.snopes.com 

or

http://fightthesmears.com

GObama.

Pizza & Talking Points

With the election only 28 days away, it is now time for each of us to become familiar with a couple of powerful talking points in order to be prepared to talk to-and persuade-those few undecided and on-the-fence voters among us.

During a recent pizza dinner (fyi Clevelanders: Mama Santas), I asked our server to whom she was giving her support in the Presidential election. Her interesting reply: "I'm trying to vote for Obama." "Trying," I asked? She went on that she was "pretty good" with McCain until his picked Palin as VP. It was then that she had begin to "try" to vote Obama. She said she was worried most specifically about healthcare. But the "trying" to vote for Obama indicated-to me-something a lot deeper.

We proceeded to eat our pizza all the while having a conversation with our server about issues in general but the two candidates' health care plans in particular. 

McCain: Tax credits. Tax on Health Benefits.

Obama: Keep your current plan w/choice of doctor, or participate in Federal Employee Plan and prevent insurance companies from locking you out for pre-existing condition. (Very simplified. But we're talking "talking points", here)

But more important, we incorporated these two talking points:

1) If the U.S. constitution guarantees to even the most egregious criminal a proper legal defense, should not every American child be guaranteed a physician?

and

2) If you needed a physician expert to cure a dreaded illness, would you ask the color of the physician's skin? If you're flying in an airplane, do you care the color of the pilot's skin?

The United States is a sick patient that needs a good physician to help with its cure.

The United States is a giant airplane filled with 300 million citizens. 

The United States needs a careful, thoughtful and serious pilot to navigate all 300 million of us into a safe and secure-in-every-way-future. 

We loved our pizza and our server "ate up" our analogies. We finished our pizza and as we left the restaurant, our server was nodding her head in agreement with us!

Now, you have to talk to your servers and any others you may meet who are "working on their vote". Good Luck and GObama!

Missing in Action

I am alerted that many of my subscribers are not receiving my blog due to a SPAM problem. Please send me an email when you read this: susanlevine1@mac.com indicating that you are still "in the loop". For those who do not respond, I will followup.

As we enter these crucial and, yes, exciting final days of this endless election year (it's only a year? Feels like forever!) I would not want any of "my people" to miss my next blog.

Misinformation

We read in the paper (The Vast Variety!) and on-line polls and hear from the TV talkers and pollsters that there is a not-so-soft whispering campaign against Barack Obama telling people-among other things- that Barack Obama is a Muslim.

First if all he isn't.

BUT, even if he were, isn't there something like The United States Bill of Rights-first amendment-"freedom of religion"? 

Ok. OK. I know that for some people, the Muslim thing immediately translates into "terrorist"--though I must say -- a mighty broad brush stroke....but that is a story for another day.

So here I am in Sarasota, Florida (You know-Florida is in the South!?) and while talking to a very nice businessman who seemed --from our conversation --to be supporting Obama who suddenly says to me: "The only thing is, he's a Muslin." 

Dear reader, don't worry, I set him straight. I mentioned the fact checker website www.snopes.com.

If you ever receive an email that doesn't "sound right", you should go to SNOPES and check it out.

If you are supporting Barack Obama, you have the responsibility to talk to people and dispel these myths. This kind of support doesn't cost you a dime. Only the time it takes to tell someone the FACTS.

The Button

Back in Denver (doesn't that seem like years ago?), I met a lady who had made and was selling to help defray Hillary's campaign debt,  this pin:

It was designed to send the message that Hillary supporters were NOW Barack Obama supporters.

If you have been a loyal reader, you'll remember my post of August 28 ("Everyone Makes Nice") where Hillary nominated Barack by acclimation and Bill Clinton gave a fantastic & supportive speech for Barack. It seemed everyone was "healed" or at least on their way to that promised land except John Oliver and the Daily Show people who were keen to point out that the PUMA people were NEVER -EVER-going to support Obama. 

The Convention concluded and as as we all returned to our home towns, we took our "Hillary Supports Obama" buttons with us. 

Then came the Republican Convention and the phenomenon known as Sarah Palin. I know I don't have describe what has since transpired. EXCEPT for the transformed button. 

The button has taken on a whole new meaning: That is, Hillary people ARE Obama supporters and NOT Sarah Palin supporters! 

Last weekend, my mom and I were in New York City and as we proudly wore our buttons--countless people stopped to talk to us --in the hotel, at lunch and dinner, on the street--to say they loved the button, how could they get a button of their own, and other equally cheerful things! We made a million new friends! :)

As we were checking out of our very nice hotel, the doorman (of all people!) made a snide remark about our pins: Something like: "If he wins, you won't be able to stay at a hotel like this!" And with that, my mother turns to him and says: "If he doesn't win, you won't be having a job at a hotel like this!"

And as we know, there is our great-grand-canyon-of-a-culture-divide.

Bookends

I sent this letter to the editor of The New York Times. Doubtful that it will see publication, I offer my thoughts in this humble blog. I suggest everyone call their Representative and Senators. This is no laughing matter.

To the editor:

In their meticulous description (Blocking Care for Women", NYTimes, September 19, 2008) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/opinion/19clinton.html 

Hillary Clinton and Cecile Richards perfectly describe what may be the matching bookend for the G.W. Bush Presidency. On his first day in office, January, 2001, President Bush reinstated the Global Gad Rule, a policy whose restriction mandates that no U.S. family planning assistance can be provided to foreign NGOs that use funding from any other source to perform abortions, provide counseling or lobby to make abortion legal or more available. The "gag" stifles free speech and health care progress for women in developing countries.

Now, the Bush Health and Human Service people want to extend a similar "gag" order cloaked as a way to "protect a provider's conscience" to block women's health needs right here in the United States of America. Good Grief. If this is allowed, "we the people" are surely headed toward an "imperfect union".

Culture

The last three weeks have been filled with two back-to-back political conventions and a week that was not to be for recuperation-but blaring with non-stop shooting of red and blue poison arrows. 

I write today about two things: 1) the double standard (it's "ok" for the red team but not-so-"ok" for the blue team and 2) Two countries: The USA and the USA.

The double standard I refer to concerns the righteous right against the somehow unrighteous- non-right. 

Examples-I'm sure you've read these before:

1) Jamie Lynn Spears (Brittany's sister) gets pregnant and the right shouts: "bad parents" BUT

Sara Palin's daughter get pregnant and the right politely states: "we treasure life".

2) If you're Harvard educated and by-pass the fancy law firm to focus on your community and your family, you are not "truly American" BUT if you never went to college or you went to multiple small colleges and finally graduated, you're living as  a "real American".

So goes the popular email entitled "I'm Confused"(Thank you, Andy!) and while all the examples are clever and very sarcastically-smart aleck, the real point is that there is something at work that- to me- and probably to  you, doesn't quite make sense. Why is my thinking so, so opposite? Why can't I get my mind around the "red world"?

To help educate myself and  better understand the "other side of the argument", I recently subscribed to the Wall Street Journal (Sorry, Bob, not quite ready for Rush's Newsletter!). As much as I am a devoted fan of the NYTimes op-ed folks; Tom Friedman,  Frank Rich and Maureen Dowd--I knew I needed another view. And there, on Saturday morning, was the article that said it all: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122125912790430149.html

In case the link doesn't work or you don't want to read the lengthy article, the main take-aways are: 1) "Liberals always think there's something broken in politics. Conservatives always think there's something wrong with the culture."

and

2) If hearing the word "culture" makes you think of Rossini, the latest translation of  "Anna Karenina", the Guggenheim Museum" or "The Wire", then you're probably a liberal--or at least, an  unreconstructed "cosmopolitan" conservative. But if the word culture means for you forms of courtship, or sexual preference, or the relationship between parents and children, or the set of rituals that revolve around the ownership and use of a gun, or, most passionately of all, ways OF living, and believing, and rejoicing, and suffering, and dying that are hallowed by the religion you practice, you are what might be called either a heartland or a Bloomian conservative.

Thus, I finally "get it"....it's about two ways of life...two opposite world views. Which brings me to my final musing...

Saturday-ironically the same day as the WSJ "Culture" article-I volunteered at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. My job brought me into the lives of two young suburban sisters--a 17year old high school senior and 20 year old-a college sophomore.

When someone walked by wearing an Obama hat, I  took the opportunity to inquire if the girls had chosen their candidate. Without a moment's hesitation, they forcefully and with commitment said"McCain". 

After I caught my breath, I gently asked what about McCain earned their support. And that's when the WSJ article intersected with my new teenaged friends: "Sarah Palin!" they exclaimed, "she's gonna bring us change."

It was raining on Saturday. And we had a two-hour shift together. I took a loooong pause. A short while later, I asked what they knew about Sarah? (Suddenly I'm on a first name basis with Ms. Palin!)  When the answers were non-coming, I asked, "Do you knew about Sarah's strict anti-abortion policy and her abstinence-only sex education?" No, they weren't that familiar with that stuff, but their own religion was against abortion.

Suddenly, the 17 year old volunteers that just 3 weeks ago she had accompanied a pregnant friend to court-as a minor, the friend was seeking a judge's permission for an abortion. (Being underage and not wanting her parents involved, she needed the judge to grant the abortion permission.) If the friend had to have the baby, she would have had to forfeit her 4-year, full college scholarship. Wanting to go on to college, she proceeded with the court approved abortion.

Now, we were talkin! We talked about the implications the overturn of Roe v Wade, back alley abortions, coat hangers ("really?" they asked eyes wide open?? These "hip-know-it-all"and  confident-girls were shocked!) We shared a few more "real stories, talked about Sarah's abstinence-only sex education policy ("Are you kidding?" they asked)  and then the younger sister said "well, we have have to vote MCCain b/c our parents and grandparents are for him" and, anyway, they are Italian and "Italians would never vote for a black".

Ahhh. And there it was. The angry, festered, bursting boil. The culture war at work.

I sympathized with their situation and acknowledged that kids often agree with the politics of their family's dinner table. The girls were silent. And I was silently hoping that armed with some facts from our conversation they would have the courage to make their own decision.

There is a lot of work to do to reach across the "culture".