Doing it Her Way.

My next interview installment comes to you tonight from our very own Shirley over at BlogCatalog. Although you might know her as "Shiley", she writes and owns Proof Positivity. She is sweet as pie, and I think that her voice in the political arena is a breath of fresh air from the typical political discussion you read on political blogs. It is my opinion that regardless of experience in politics, everyone has a reason and need to have their voices heard. Because politics affects them, it affects everyone. Shirley is the definition of We the People.

Q: I would like a brief description of yourself, and which blogs you write.

A: My name is Shirley. I am a stay at home mom of three. I do a whole lot of community service related things. I have three blogs:

Proof Positivity proving positivity to the world
My Thoughts (self-explanatory)
The Heart of a Mom which is my grandmother's poetry book.

Q: What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear "politics" "politicians" or "political (anything)"?

A: The first thing that comes to mind is how stupid I was as a teenager. I had just turned 18 and about to vote. The candidates were George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton. I didn't like either one so I wrote in Kevin Costner.

My next thought is George Bush Jr. is an idiot.

Q: What is your overall assessment of the US government, how it works, and Democracy in general? Do you feel this system is the best? The worst? Something in between?

A: I think democracy could be wonderful if you get rid of the electoral colleges and computers that can be rigged or hacked to go republican. I don't believe the system is the best but what is?If we were to overthrow the government we could end up with worse. I do think a lot of changes need to be made.

Q: You mentioned that you've met some politically famous individuals while doing charity works. Tell us about your experiences.

A: This is the fun question for me. My first experience I was 15 and did a beautify community thing. Mayor Terry Williams of Spencer, WV was my boss. He is mayor to this day (19 years later). There is a law for the president there should be one for mayors too.

Mayor Micheal White of Cleveland, OH (I am 5'2' and he is shorter than I am) was playing peek-a-boo with a small child who was terrified of a man just about her height.

I went to a luncheon that Colin Powell was speaking at for a charity organization he was heading up. I don't remember the name of it now but he carried a red radio flyer wagon. I think it may have been for literacy. I spoke with him and Mayor White briefly during this event. Political officials have a thing with patting people on the back for community service who knows if they were sincere or not they are politicians.

I met Reverend Jackson on two occasions. The first time I was with an organization called City Year which is a diverse group of 17-24 year old adults that go out and do community service like an urban Peace Corps. The first time we were discussing civil rights, race, and prejudice. We all began to realize we aren't so different and we all judge each other. We all experience racism and prejudice.

The second occasion he mentioned I look familiar and I explained where he last saw me. This time he was endorsing John Kerry for president. My son had a picture taken with him. I have no clue where it's at.

Coretta Scott King discussed race and her husband Martin Luther King. I'm glad I had an opportunity to meet her before she passed away.

Finally, President Bill Clinton fights for young people. City Year holds a convention called CYZYGY which is taken from the Greek synergy I think is how it's spelled which is the alignment of the planets. Therefore, CYZYGY is the alignment of all the City Year sites. 900 City Year members asked President Clinton to speak at our convention. How can you ignore 900 voices? So, he came and told us what a great job we are doing and I even shook his hand. Here is the URL of the press release President Clinton Speaks in Cleveland.


Q: What is your opinion on the current state of affairs in the US, and abroad?

A: Things don't look good. Everybody hates Americans for this war. I don't think they understand the majority of us hate the government for this war. We are in a war that's none of our business. I think it was a ploy so that people forget about Osama Bin Laden especially since the Bush family and Bin Laden family are friends. The economy is bad we owe money to other countries out the wazoo which in turn makes our American dollar drop in value. Jobs are going overseas so we are forced to let our children play with lead paint. Gas prices are so high that in a place like WV with little or no public transportation you are forced to spend $100 a week because for some places jobs are 70 miles away. It's like we are turning into a third world country.


Q: What would you say are your top concerns for yourself, and other US citizens that you would like to see the presidential candidates address?

A:
a.) Health care for everybody including dental and vision without having to report income to The Department of Health and Human Services.
b.) poverty- people don't choose to be poor. It's a result of bad decisions from the past.
c.)funding needs to go back to the programs they've cut
d.) The war needs to end


Q: Describe how you interpret the presidential races, from primaries to the main event.

A: The presidential races are rat races. A rat will eat it's babies, if trapped in a glue trap will gnaw it's own foot for freedom, and they carry disease. Politicians spread negativity about each other like children pulling each others hair. I wish they would just discuss where they stand instead of throwing mud.

Q: What would you like to see changed about our political system here, in the US?

A: I would love for the electoral college to be removed to truly make your vote count.

Q: What do you think needs to stay the same?

A: I think our system of checks and balances needs to stay. Don't quote me didn't Bush try to pass a law dealing with people saying bad things about the president? That affects freedom of speech which is unconstitutional. What a wussy he must have known people were going to dislike him.

Q: Finally, would you ever run for president?

A: Very emphatically... HELL NO! I would never run for president. That has got to be the most stressful job. Every president that I recall enters with dark hair and leaves with gray hair. Gray hair is a sign of stress.

{Rat Race sketch done artfully by Lily Tomlin over at Sketched Out}