Ending the Debate?

President Obama released his full birth certificate in an effort to quiet the "birthers." Read the Washington Post article here.

Is this an end to the silliness? Probably not. Already, people are picking apart the birth certificate in an effort to analyze its legitimacy. One commenter literally said, "He got the CIA to forge this for him." Really? Though the CIA has done some questionably legal things, I'm pretty sure the Agency has better things to do with its time than create fake birth certificates.

I wish more politicians were interested in real dialogue. Baseless attacks like this one are just a distraction. Some of the Republicans seem to like the distraction, presumably because they don't have any real ideas to fix the economy.

On the other hand, people like Karl Rove seemed frustrated by the "birther" issue because it just made the Republicans look like idiots. In that way, Obama may have helped the Republican Party by disclosing the long form certificate. From the Democratic perspective, it's useful to make the opponent look delusional.

What all of this indicates, though, is that we're still too focused on things that don't really matter. Both parties love these side issues because they don't have solutions to the big problems.

I'm not saying I have solutions. I don't. That's why I vote, so I can put people in power who hopefully do have solutions. But all too often, there's a lack of focus in Washington.

We needed to move on yesterday. Let's hope that actual change is finally coming tomorrow.

The Challenge of Optimism

I am a recovering pessimist.

I have always had a tendency to assume that the worst-case scenario is likely to occur. I've been going through some personal relationship struggles, and I fell pretty quickly into a negative shame spiral. I'm realizing, however, that all this negativity has gotten me nowhere. I'm working on laughing at myself more and having more fun.

After all, as they say in Rocky Horror, time is fleeting.

I'm working on being the best person I can be, on moving beyond mediocrity. I need to take time to enjoy the little things - after all, even something inherently pointless (like building the tallest celery tower) can be fun in the moment. Maybe in some ways I've been so focused on trying to be successful in my professional and personal life that I'm missing the purpose of living in the first place.

I've been getting into positive psychology lately. It's funny, because I hated the psychology class I took in undergrad, but focusing on positive emotions is important to me right now. For anyone who's interested, I recommend this website: Authentic Happiness. It's the homepage of Dr. Martin Seligman, who founded positive psychology. It's all about awareness of self, of figuring out your own strengths and focusing on finding happiness.

I know this is different from what I usually post. At the same time, though, my critique of things I see going on around me has always been based on the idea that we all can do better. I know I'm sure as hell trying.

Children and Sex

Yesterday in my Equal Employment Law class we were discussing gender stereotyping and workplace grooming codes. One student brought up the potential harm caused by the sexualization of young women working in places where they are told they need to look a certain way (i.e. sexy or pretty).

It turns out that the negative consequences are real. Women who are oversexualized at a young age face higher rates of depression and low self-esteem.

These days, according to this article (thanks CNN), that sexualization is starting earlier than ever. This appears to be an ongoing trend, not just a passing phase. I'm sure I'm not the only one who remembers the South Park episode "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset."

I know I personally have seen little girls dressed like sorority girls on more than one occasion, and it makes me glad that my parents dressed me in windsuits and cat sweaters until I reached middle school.

I probably don't have any right to speak on this topic, as I'm not a parent, but here goes. What are people thinking? Childhood is short enough. Don't make it any shorter.

Debt Sucks

UW held a financial aid seminar for graduating law students today, and boy was it depressing. As if it wasn't bad enough that student loan debt is now greater than credit card debt, the legal job market still hasn't really picked back up. If I'm lucky I'll find a public interest job and get myself on the ten-year loan forgiveness track.

Today I interviewed for a job. A fellow student, whom I know for a fact is ranked third in our graduating class, was also interviewing. The fact that he doesn't yet have a job is telling of just how bad the situation has become. It makes me wonder how many young people across America are in the same situation. Convinced that grad school was a great idea, that we had found our "calling," we now face little more than a mountain of debt. And the view from that mountain is terrible.

All That Matters is the Blame

In the words of Stephen Sondheim, "No, it's your fault!"

So, the government narrowly avoided shutdown by reaching a short-term compromise. In the hours leading up to this last-minute solution, however, I wasn't seeing much in the way of actual action. All I saw was a lot of finger pointing.

Too many members of Congress were more focused on assigning the blame than solving the problem. Does it really matter who we blame for the budget shortfall? Is it even possible to pin this on one person or one policy? Of course not.

I don't vote for people so they can spend their time and my tax dollars squabbling like first-graders about who ate the last cookie. Just bake some more cookies, already.