Once upon a time I dabbled with the idea of pursuing a career in politics. Motivated by a Junior High trip to Washington, D.C. and the honor of attending Boys State in High School, I had big dreams for myself.
Being young and ignorant, I didn’t grasp the idea that there were real differences between Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals; so my senior year of high school I jumped at the opportunity for a Job Shadow experience set up by my School Counselor. I would get to spend two solid days at the side of an elected representative. Who would I get the honor to shadow? No other than J.D. Hayworth, former sportscaster turned Wingnut Republican.
<<insert noise from Psycho shower-scene here>>
Those two days were very eye-opening for me. I remember thinking to myself, “this guy is a total jerk!” and “hey, wait a minute, I don’t agree with what he just told that group of old people regarding Social Security!”
Needless to say, my eyes were starting to be opened and I discovered my Democrat(ic) roots. Since that time, I have been active in community-based efforts within the various Latino groups of Arizona. To me, being a Democrat involves fighting for the equality of all people, helping the poor to lift themselves up from hardship and remaining committed to the global environment.
I guess the reason I wrote this is because I saw an article today in the Arizona Republic regarding J.D.’s nepotism in action. He hired his wife to head up his P.A.C. The article also mentions the shady-dealings of Jeff Flake, the winger-in-chief from Az. Reading it boils my blood; yet on the other side of my anger, I’m transformed back into that young idealistic high school senior who remains committed to changing the world. What they’re doing is fundamentally wrong and I refuse to give up the fight.
“Si, se puede” –Cesar Chavez
Sorry for the introspective post. I guess I’m in need of some motivation and writing helps me find it.
some of the best writing comes when you’ve just got to get stuff out of the system…
Arizona was always interesting. I grew up in the political world of Morris King Udall (the good), Jack Williams (the bad), and Sam Steiger (the ugly).
It’s definitely a different world here in Tucson than in Phoenix. I find it hard to keep my jaw from dropping with the Az legislature passing things like Engligh-only, guns in bars, gay marriage ban and other outrages.
one of the gay members of Congress?
If not, it’s just my bad memory.
Hayworth is totally useless. He comes off as one of those jocks that put people in trash cans.
Why people vote for him is beyond me.
His online bio says he has been married for 17 years and has five children. Are you thinking of Jim Kolbe, R-Az District 5? He is an openly gay Republican and is making headlines here with his support of repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.
ooops, Kolbe is District 8 (my district) I must proofread….
My favorite Jim Kolbe story – when he was addressing the republican convention a number of reactionary wingnuts on the main floor knelt in the aisles and prayed for him. Now that’s a party of tolerance, eh?
I’m shocked! Shocked! </sarcasm> 🙂
see? I suspected my memory was faulty.
Thanks for setting me straight.
no prob. Flake’s name suits him well.
Nicely done diary, of your ‘conversion’ ;). Nothing like coming up the brick wall of reality behind the rhetoric to consolidate ones beliefs.
What sort of community-based work do you do with the Latino groups in AZ? If you don’t mind saying generally.
Everything ranging from Substance Abuse Prevention, Financial Literacy, Community Empowerment, and Youth Mentoring. There’s lots of work to be done!
Wow… and you must keep very busy doing it all, as well. Kudos. Tough work, and sad sometimes too, I would imagine. There is not enough of those sorts of things going on on a wide-spread basis, but I think they are catching on more and more, particularly once others see how effective many of them are.
There is, obviously, a distinct lack of commitment from many politicians for programs like this (at least, other than just mouthing support), although I can’t see why that should be. Maybe lack of funds enters into it, but even that doesn’t explain it as the more people who are given the tools the lift themselves and their families out of poverty, and the more who attend schools and universities, the better the entire society does. Pays it back 100 fold.