VOTE!!

In my Message & Content class we've been working on posters encouraging people to get out and vote. Here's what I'm tossing around so far. (Again, I'm a student and not making any money on these so if one of them is a picture you posted on flickr, please don't sue me.)

Something to Think About...

I went to a seminar my freshman year in college entitled "Racism Among the Well Intentioned." It impacted me a lot then and the following reminds me of that talk... I'm struggling a lot with the importance of this election and how divisive it is, even among some of my closest friends here in Atlanta. If nothing else, stop to think about who and what you're really voting for...and then MAKE SURE you vote.

circulating thru email...I've been sent this a few times now:

"WHAT IF:
Obama/Biden vs McCain/Palin, what if things were switched around?

Would the country's collective point of view be different? Could racism be the culprit?

Ponder the following:

What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including
a three month old infant and an unmarried, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?

What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcée?

What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe disfiguring car accident?

What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?

What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five? (The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)

What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter?

What if Obama had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?

What if Obama was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?

What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?


You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected reality, do you believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?


This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another, based only on color difference.


Educational Backgrounds:

Barack Obama:
Columbia University—B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations.
Harvard–Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden:
University of Delaware—B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law—Juris Doctor (J.D.)



John McCain:
United States Naval Academy—Class rank: 894 of 899

Sarah Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University—1 semester
North Idaho College—2 semesters, general study
University of Idaho—2 semesters, journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College—1 semester
University of Idaho—3 semesters, B.A. in Journalism


Education isn't everything, but this is about the two highest offices in the land as well as our standing in the world. You make the call

Just... take a minute and think about it.

Thanks

No self-respecting typographer would be caught dead...

wearing this t-shirt. I got it at the last Master's swim meet I swam at in Boston...before I knew what bad type was. There's just no way I can wear it knowing what I know now. So sad, 'cause I really liked it before...



At least the words aren't all tracked out with weird letter-spacing. But I'm guessing we all could've gone swimming in rivers that big...