Power to the Little People!

So I was thinking…

What does it take for an individual to have a BIG impact?  Well  a college student and recent college grad schooled me–and American journalism–this week.  James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles’ exposé of ACORN demonstrated the amazing impact individuals can have when they have a focused determination.  These two young people have courageously exposed corruption in the government-funded nightmare that is ACORN.  It seems ACORN has no problem using tens of millions of U.S. tax dollars to help madams become more efficient in their exploitation of foreign sex slaves.  Our tax dollars at work ladies and gentlemen.

And in a case of “the fox is guarding the chicken coup,”  Barack Obama, as a presidential candidate, paid ACORN $800,000 for its voter registration services during the presidential campaign.  THIS is the guy we’re supposed to trust to investigate ACORN’s dirty dealings?!

Congratulations to Gov. Pawlenty for putting a freeze on state funding to ACORN and to Gov. Schwarzenegger for his urging of California’s Attorney General to investigate the organization.  Kudos too to my own state’s governor Sonny Perdue for his decision not to renew Georgia’s contract with ACORN when it expires in 13 days.

Thanks to pressure put on them in the wake of the O’Keefe and Giles’ exposé, the House and Senate have FINALLY taken an interest in ACORN.  The Senate voted on Monday to ban federal funds in the current transportation and housing appropriations bill from going to ACORN.  Today, the House followed suit, voting 345-75 to defund ACORN.

Unfortunately, there are still more than 80 elected representatives who did not stand up to protect hard-working Americans from having their tax dollars squandered by ACORN.  Here is the “hall of shame”–those who voted in support of the clearly corrupt ACORN.  If your congressman or senator is on the list, it is time to pick up the phone and voice your disgust.  Better still, how about donating to their competitors’ campaigns?

Senators who voted to keep funneling your tax dollars to ACORN:

Burris (D-IL)
Casey (D-PA)
Durbin (D-IL)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Leahy (D-VT)
Sanders (I-VT)
Whitehouse (D-RI)

House Members who voted to keep funding ACORN:

Baldwin D WI No
Becerra D CA No
Brady (PA) D PA No
Brown, Corrine D FL No
Butterfield D NC No
Capuano D MA No
Carson (IN) D IN No
Castor (FL) D FL No
Cleaver D MO No
Clyburn D SC No
Crowley D NY No
Cummings D MD No
Davis (IL) D IL No
DeGette D CO No
Delahunt D MA No
Doyle D PA No
Edwards (MD) D MD No
Ellison D MN No
Engel D NY No
Fattah D PA No
Filner D CA No
Fudge D OH No
Green, Al D TX No
Grijalva D AZ No
Hinchey D NY No
Hirono D HI No
Holt D NJ No
Honda D CA No
Jackson (IL) D IL No
Jackson-Lee (TX) D TX No
Johnson, E. B. D TX No
Kilpatrick (MI) D MI No
Kucinich D OH No
Larsen (WA) D WA No
Lee (CA) D CA No
Lewis (GA) D GA No
Lynch D MA No
Markey (MA) D MA No
McCollum D MN No
McDermott D WA No
McGovern D MA No
Meeks (NY) D NY No
Mollohan D WV No
Moore (WI) D WI No
Moran (VA) D VA No
Nadler (NY) D NY No
Neal (MA) D MA No
Olver D MA No
Pallone D NJ No
Pascrell D NJ No
Payne D NJ No
Polis (CO) D CO No
Price (NC) D NC No
Rahall D WV No
Rangel D NY No
Roybal-Allard D CA No
Rush D IL No
Sanchez, Linda T. D CA No
Schakowsky D IL No
Scott (GA) D GA No
Scott (VA) D VA No
Serrano D NY No
Sherman D CA No
Sires D NJ No
Slaughter D NY No
Stark D CA No
Thompson (MS) D MS No
Towns D NY No
Tsongas D MA No
Velazquez D NY No
Waters D CA No
Watson D CA No
Waxman D CA No
Wexler D FL No
Woolsey D CA No

Democrats voting “present”:

Hastings (FL) D FL Present
Watt D NC Present

Turning Out the Light

So I’ve been thinking…

I began watching Guiding Light at age 12–28 years ago.  And now I have five days left.  That’s it.  Then the light goes out forever.  And I am already grieving the loss of it.

I’ve watched through the show’s glory days and periods of embarrassment.  I’ve seen it win Emmys and seen it be both justly and unjustly snubbed by the Academy.  But through it all, I’ve watched my GL. 

It is hard to articulate what Guiding Light has meant to me all these years.  I’ve been teased by friends and family alike for my fealty to the show (or indeed to any soap opera).  But how do you explain the comfort I’ve received in knowing that, whatever else is going on in my life, Guiding Light will be there waiting for me?  How do you help someone understand that you were “there” when Phillip and Rick took Beth and Mindy to the prom?   That you were there when Reva jumped into the fountain and declared herself the “slut of Springfield?” There when Maureen died.  There when Lillian found out she had breast cancer.  There when Bert had her leg amputated.  And there for every Bauer Barbecue for the last 28 years. 

What words should I use to let someone know what this show–and these characters–have meant to me?  It isn’t an exaggeration to say that I feel like a close friend is dying–and for months we’ve known its death date.  Each weekday since the cancellation announcement was made, I watch the show and think, “we’re one day closer to the end of Guiding Light.”  The day after the show’s final day of filming a few weeks ago, I was struck by the realization that “today is the first regular workday in 72 years that Guiding Light isn’t being filmed. ” The thought broke my heart.  Yes Guiding Light is “just a TV show.”  I understand that the characters aren’t real people.  But for those of us who love show, Guiding Light was so much more than a soap opera. 

The extinguishing of the Light marks a passing of an era.  And I for one am sad to see it go.

Like the corners of my mind…

So I was thinking…

What is it about childhood that crystallizes memories?  I can vividly remember the taste, smell and look of my favorite pizza growing up–Uncle Charley’s in Wexford, PA (yet I can barely remember what I had for dinner last night).  I can picture every nook and cranny of my childhood home on Grubbs road.  I remember small, random details like the metal feet to my Grandma Holloway’s tub or the weird baby doll in Grandma Wilson’s hall closet that smelled funny.

I vividly remember the bad things too.  Like coming down the stairs one morning to learn that my grandmother had passed away.  Like getting the news that my best friend’s father was killed in a work accident.  Like sitting down at a table and having my mom tell me that my aunt and uncle were getting divorced.

In so many ways, our lives are a collection of our memories–the good, the bad and the I-can’t-believe-that-actually-happened.

I wonder what memories my nieces and nephews will take from their childhoods.  I hope some of them involve Memaw’s crazy birthday hats, swimming in the pond and then trudging up 87 steps to the house, silly songs (I had a dog.  I named him frog.  He liked to swim in the cranberry bog).  I hope they’ll forget things like money problems, words spoken in anger, and every day they didn’t realize just how spectacular they are.

Each day is a gift.  Our memories are the receipts–the evidence that we have lived.