I get frustrated with women who don’t know anything about politics…seriously, friends, you live in the greatest country in the entire world, take a little time to get to know it! I actually LOVE the political process and have been continually surprised to run into women who know nothing about what’s going on in the nation they call home. Many have asked me to write a political blog, but every time I try it just sucks the fun out of it for me. SO, instead of a blog, I give you this post!

A few things that will help you in this pursuit:

1) West Wing -Tori and I watch it on DVD and have converted Whitney and Corey and many others. Whether or not you agree with the political bent of the series (I don’t), you will definitely be captivated by the clever dialogue and suck-you-into-the-story plot lines. You can pick up a whole season (22 hours of episodes!) for about $15 at Costco or you can find it on www.half.com for a little more than that. Great stuff to kill a rainy Saturday, especially as we head into a full-blown election year. If you like An American President or A Few Good Men, you’ll love West Wing. If you don’t know either of those movies, you gotta get out more!

2) www.polichicksonline.com. It’s a relatively unbiased site for women who want to know some – but not ALL – about the political process. Also, it took some time of weeping in my office to get over the fact that I didn’t think of that clever domain name first!

3) www.realclearpolitics.com TONS of information – most of it slanted one way or the other. Still, if you read a couple of commentaries each morning, you’ll get a fairly good idea of what people are thinking and saying about the elections.

One thing I’ve found: women who know even a little about politics are given an automatic 20 point bump on their AIQ (Assumed IQ). Go for it – you may be surprised to find that you like it and then you’ll be running for president instead of Hillary someday.

And hey – if you find any great sites for the lowdown on politics, let me know!

AND…here is my favorite political moment this week:

8 Comments

  1. Eric and Lindsay

    I love how Clinton put his hand up to his ear like it helped him hear better…how he nodded in agreement…Glorious!

  2. Yes! And also…the “come out of the coma and into the nod of agreement move.” Well executed!

  3. Hee…I just noticed that you mentioned the nod of agreement…and that means I just did what he did – unnecessary nodding. I’m the blog-nodder!

  4. After using the last three years researching on college kids sleeping in class (joking), I’ve got this down to a science. *ahem* First comes the slump, then the legs stretched out and ankles crossed, then the hand holding up the head, then the eyes closing for just a second and opening again, to closing for just a minute, going on two and three. Next comes the nod. If they are really gone, nodding occurs in all four directions- left, right, front and back (my favorite because their mouths usually tend to open). If they are having a really hard time reviving themselves, you see the repeated bob. All very amusing definitely worth coming to class for. hahaha.

  5. Hey Bo,

    Great post…I just popped onto your blog to ask a question…but that can wait a few sentences.

    I really think that many women are intimidated by the process and then decide that it is “better” “safer” to just plead ignorance…I have a group of girlfriends that I grew up with and we get together once a year and we all have been amazed at the huge holes in our personal education…world history, government, geography…it took a lot for us to admit it to one another but now we all have worked to catch up or at least learn right along with our kids…

    Thanks for the sites…I will check them out…I must say that this debate/primary/caucus time is quite interesting on both sides…and entertaining.

    Love the Clinton video…poor Bill…Hillary is wearing him out!

    My question…I am sure you do this in your classes but would you have a place on your blog or it could just be a post of your favorite books…maybe in different categories…I love to know what people are reading and what is worth my time…and basically I am just plain nosey! (Not to add to your list of “to do’s” just at your leisure…tee hee…see I am assuming you won’t say no!

    Okay…I have a 4 year old looking over my shoulder and he asked me to write his name…so here it is Caleb…now he is smiling and happy that you know he is 4…hope you don’t mind!

  6. Hi Helen and CALEB! 🙂
    I absolutely will post some book favorites. That’s a fun idea!

    I know what you mean about women and politics…I think we already have so many plates to keep spinning and this one just seems like a bottomless pit…and it’s always hard to tell truth from fiction. I do love clear, concise sites, however – the kind that I can check briefly each morning and feel like I’m up to date.

    I guess when it gets too difficult, we can just do the Clinton sleep-nod-sleep-listen-check-the-watch thing. 🙂

  7. Oh my gosh I laughed so stinking hard!!!

  8. And all I can say is what did we do? How on earth did he become President? I know it’s because he was unlike anyone other candidate, but seriously, since when was different a good thing?;)