Let me preface this by saying I've always loved Bill Clinton. Yes, he's facile (OK, slick). But he's very smart, very talented, and was peerless when it came to getting the disenfranchised in this country to feel like they have a place at the table. I admire Senator John Kerry with every fiber of my being and still believe that he is the right man to lead us at this time. Senator Kerry is as smart as Bill Clinton, certainly more wise, and I believe he's probably a better person. Yet Senator John Kerry doesn't connect on a human level the way ol' Bill does. Also, I've worked on Bill's winning campaigns and the Senator's heartbreaking effort. Gotta tell ya, winning feels a whole helluva lot better.
All that said, I'm not crazy about the junior Senator from the great state of New York.
There is something greedy about her. Greedy for power, greedy for money. Back when I followed the Whitewater mess, I got a sinking feeling in my gut. I believe the First Lady's fingerprints were all over that dubious deal and the ensuing coverup. Do I believe Bill was in on it, too? I'm very willing to believe he wasn't. After all, don't the Clintons seem like a couple who may not answer each other truthfully when one asks the other, "What did you do today, hon?"
When it comes to the 7 Deadly Sins, I understand lust more than greed. And in addition to flesh, I believe Bill lusts after each one of our hearts. Hillary is a harder nut for me to crack. How could she have voted for the war in Iraq? Both W. and Bill agree they reviewed virtually the same intell. Bill chose not to go to war, to give the UN time, because he believed it would be better to let Saddam Hussein inevitably crumble from within. We know what W. chose to do. And Hillary never asked her husband about this? I don't believe it. And if she didn't, I'm not happy about that, either. The reason I'd vote for Hillary is to get Bill back.
Or because she's a chick.
I never thought I'd say that, but I also didn't expect to have such a powerful, visceral reaction to watching her with Rumsfeld. I saw it live (in a Holiday Inn Express as I prepared to check out and come back home after a client presentation) and I've seen replays since. When she asked him how, with his track record, we should believe what he says about staying the course in Iraq, he was sooooo condescending. He told her she'd have "a dickens of time" finding instances where he had been "overly optimistic" about Iraq.
A "dickens of a time?" At least he didn't call her "Little Lady."
Whether any of us likes it or not, she's a Senator and he's the Secretary of Defense. He is accountable to her, and to us. It behooves him to drop the Superior Rich White Guy routine and treat her as a formidable adult who is his equal.
Watching him interact with her, I felt like I was watching myself with every doctor, appliance salesman or janitor who ever talked down to me.
I don't want to vote for Hillary just because she's a woman. I hope some journalist really holds her feet to the fire and gets her to answer a lot of serious questions. I hope that I accept her answers. I hope that, if I end up voting for her, it's not because no matter how I feel about her, I believe her enemies are worse.
Monday, August 07, 2006
There are worse places I could be
Yes, I hate this job. Yes, I have lost respect for the agency I work for. Neither of these things is good and I know I should direct some of my resources to looking for a new job.
That said … I went to Border's at lunch today and overheard one of the retail staff saying he didn't want a promotion. It would mean a raise of $1/hour, and being in management just wasn't worth $9/hour. Assuming he works a 40-hour week (and that is by no means a safe assumption), that would mean that as a manager he'd be making less than $20,000 year.
I make 4x that.
Looked at through the prism of this agency, I am underpaid. I actually produce work that helps move our clients' business along. I work on weekends and evenings, for no pay, writing or researching. Even though I always promise myself I won't, I think about my job and my clients on my own time. Unlike most of my coworkers and bosses, I don't dismiss our client as a drag, too uncool to exist and fortunate to get the benefits of my hip, Michigan Avenue wisdom. And I don't make anywhere near as much as some of the flotsam and jetsam that drifts by my office.
But this agency is not the real world.
The guy I was listening to at Border's is undoubtedly on his feet most of the day. He has to smilingly field questions from the public, many of whom I guess are not that polite. He probably has to return misplaced stock and all kinds of other tasks that are invisible to us shoppers.
He may not have to deal with the deadline pressure that I have here, but I'm quite sure he has his own minefield of office politics to maneuver through.
That's why I'm not at all sure I work 4x harder than he does.
It's good for me to remember that every now and again.
That said … I went to Border's at lunch today and overheard one of the retail staff saying he didn't want a promotion. It would mean a raise of $1/hour, and being in management just wasn't worth $9/hour. Assuming he works a 40-hour week (and that is by no means a safe assumption), that would mean that as a manager he'd be making less than $20,000 year.
I make 4x that.
Looked at through the prism of this agency, I am underpaid. I actually produce work that helps move our clients' business along. I work on weekends and evenings, for no pay, writing or researching. Even though I always promise myself I won't, I think about my job and my clients on my own time. Unlike most of my coworkers and bosses, I don't dismiss our client as a drag, too uncool to exist and fortunate to get the benefits of my hip, Michigan Avenue wisdom. And I don't make anywhere near as much as some of the flotsam and jetsam that drifts by my office.
But this agency is not the real world.
The guy I was listening to at Border's is undoubtedly on his feet most of the day. He has to smilingly field questions from the public, many of whom I guess are not that polite. He probably has to return misplaced stock and all kinds of other tasks that are invisible to us shoppers.
He may not have to deal with the deadline pressure that I have here, but I'm quite sure he has his own minefield of office politics to maneuver through.
That's why I'm not at all sure I work 4x harder than he does.
It's good for me to remember that every now and again.
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