A Minnesotan opinador

Writing about current and important things.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Suppression? Nope. It's Worst

I was reading the New York Times when I came across this article about a play regarding gays in the 50s in London. This reminded me of something I have been thinking about for a couple of years now, which I describe in a bit.

If you know anything about the Honors Program at Augsburg, you would know that students in the program are required to take certain interesting classes. One of those classes is this one called The Scholar Citizen, which was about pragmatism and the cultural genocide if it takes over (at least that's what I wrote about in my last paper for that class).

Now, during class, we read a biased book about Freud and Lewis, which talked about both men and their views about life, religion, love, etc. Along with the class, we had to take this Theatre Lab where students more or less came up with vignettes concerning the book about these two men. Well, Freud talked about suppression of feelings. And my group decided that we will go with that (vignette on suppression of feelings).

[vignette members]

So, in the vignette I was a gay brother of this dude with this friend and I had a girlfriend. And somehow at the end I came out because my character was suppressing his feelings of being gay. But, after reading this article, I realized what I had thought all along: the problem was not 'suppressing feelings'; the problem was society not allowing people to be who they are!

The whole idea of 'suppression' is nothing else than a sinister societal evil. And that was the big revelation of the day for me.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

My take on the 2010 DFL Gubernatorial Cadidates

So, I have been involved in politics for sometime now. I am familiar with some of the contestants running for governor this year - DFL, GOP, Independent. But due to the fact that the issues I care most about are not welcome in the GOP - so I will not bother to cover those here. The only independent who showed good intentions towards immigrants was Peter Hutchinson in 2006. This year I predict, just as GOPers and Marty Seifert being the worst of all, the Independent candidates will go after immigrants, for example, as Pawlenty and even Hatch, DFL candidate, did in 2006. I do wish I am wrong about the Independent and that he (predicting it will be a white male this year again) does no go after immigrants.

As you might already know, I am working with TakeAction MN with their reNEW MN Campaign to elect a progressive governor this year. Through that I have gotten to know a lot about the candidates - three of which we have endorsed: R.T. Rybak, Margaret Anderson-Kelliher, & Paul Thissen.

With that said, here is my take on the candidates - all 10 of them (all white males, but two white females):


Steve Kelley - He is a professor at the U of M and at one point said he would have failed T-Paw in his economics class because T-Paw does not have the necessary background in economics (yet he runs the state....). He is the only candidate who has spoken to the interconnectedness of systems (edu, transportation, workforce, etc) and how they affect communities. He speaks from the heart, and I like that.
Susan Geartner - Oh Susan... I do not think she is getting anywhere this year. I notice she is not winning the DFL nomination, especially after saying in a forum that she will win the Independents, but never really talked about how she was to win the democrats. What I did like about her is that she called T-Paw and his policies racist during the kick-off of the reNEW MN Campaign at my beloved Arlington High School in St. Paul.
Mark Dayton - He's loud and has a lot of money. He does support an expansion to gambling, which is against state and tribal governments agreement from the 80s where the casino monopoly is governed by tribes and not state government - such expansion will take a away resources from tribes. And we all know we don't have the highest respect for tribes (historically). Dayton's stance on this should be abhorrent especially because tribes struggle more than cities economically. This is a no no. Tribes should not pay for the rest of the state - they have paid enough already.
John Marty - What is surprising here is that even though he is the most progressive candidate, he did not get the endorsement from this progressive organization (decisions made by members only). This is definitely a blow to his campaign. He lost the 3rd spot by 11 votes. Some had cited whether or not he was "electable" since he was so progressive - call this an irony.
Tom Bakk - very nice dude. Not getting far this time.
Margaret Anderson-Kelliher - Oh what to say about Margaret.... Well, I want to say I like her and that I support her. BUT at the same time, I just don't feel it for her. When she speaks she doesn't sound genuine; it almost feels like she is reading off a script every time she speaks. There is no real connection anymore. I did hear someone say she has been good with affordable housing, but at the same time, like she has done with other issues, I wonder if she will be willing to risk it for the right thing or if she would give up to not jeopardize her career. She did come 2nd yesterday with the precinct caucus.
Matt Entenza - Oh Entenza. Well first of all, he has some good record in working for people, but he has lost it for me. I was at this Latin@ Forum last year and how he started his introduction was how he has been singled out because his last name is "Hispanic." He even called himself "Mateo." Like everyone speaks Spanish. Who in the world would do that to try to "connect" to people? Only Matt Entenza. However, in reality, he came off very arrogantly, and even offensive. I am also surprised that Carlos Mariani and Kith Ellison are supporting this dude - it almost seems that their support is a loyalty vote and nothing else. Both men have been supported by Entenza some way or another, in their campaigns or nonprofit. I love Carlos, but I was disappointed in his decision to endorse this highly arrogant individual. Lets move on.
Tom Rukavina - He's so funny! But that's not going to get him elected of course. Maybe it can help him. He did make the best first ad for what seems to be a highly contested political season though. I really like how he speaks and how he connects to people at many levels. He has been always there for people of color, at least from my experience with him. He has also been willing to call on the governor, which is brave to do. More importantly, when he knows something is not going to pass in the legislature, he will do what he can to create compromises to pass something at least. The concern is whether or not he has the support this year, which is unfortunate.
R.T. Rybak - He is probably my favorite candidate, with some flaws of course. But he has really done a lot for all communities in Minneapolis. He also likes Augsburg a ton and has been present when we invite him. He also believes in the potential of all kids and supports rights for all people. He also passed the law in Minneapolis that separates local police from Immigration agents - which is not only a smart decision economically, but it is also important for the immigrant communities in Minneapolis. We need such a policy state-wide. He has also done much for education and small businesses. He was the one who got the most votes at the reNEW MN Campaign annual meeting and got more people to caucus for him than any other DFL candidate. He also has the blue catching eyes.
Paul Thissen - I think Paul is the only candidate who has so far spoken to my principles. That is, he says his campaign is about hope for the future. At one forum he talked about seeing the world like a child, which yeah it sounds naive and whatever, but he said that a child sees the world where success in life was based on the potential of people and not where people from from - so, under a child's views, before being corrupted by society, there is no discrimination of any sort, everyone has the same opportunities, everyone gets a fair advantage in life. I do not think he is going far this time, but hopefully one day he has a chance. Everyone likes his hair! Including me :)

Well, there you have it. While I still remain skeptic on some of the candidates described above, I do know candidates for the other major party do not represent my values whatsoever this time.

Cheers to an exciting political season this year! LOL