Character Matters... Right?

It does not feel like it was three years ago. But it was. 

Three years ago I was sitting in my senior AP Government class, watching Presidential Debates, anxiously awaiting the final votes on the Republican and Democrat candidates. In November of 2008, Barrack Obama was voted into office. And now here we are in 2011 with yet another presidential election looming in the near future. Even though the election isn't until next year, we as an American people start to hear things about who will be the next president a year after an election. Lately we've been hearing things like Donald Trump running for candidacy. Oh politics. 

One of the things that we will be bombarded with as the election draws nearer is candidates bashing on each other through annoying commercials. Finding things from each others' past to demoralize and bring down the character of their opponent. This is a very effective use of the tools at everyone's disposal when making an argument. Using ethos, or appealing to the moral values and ethics of your audience, can be an effective method. However, I do wonder how much the personal character of the presidential candidate matters?

Yes, they need to be able to make sound and good judgments when it comes to the country that we live in, but in their personal lives do we really need a perfectly moral president? It would be nice, but is it necessary? Take, for example, JFK. A president that most people revere as one of our best and who did a lot of good for our country. When looking at a lot of his policies, even though he was a democrat, I, as someone who leans toward the republican viewpoint, can agree with a lot of them. During his term he encountered a recession. And what did he do? He cut taxes. In his annual budget message to Congress on January 17, 1963 he said, "Lower rates of taxation will stimulate economic activity and so raise the levels of personal and corporate income as to yield within a few years an increased – not a reduced – flow of revenues to the federal government." 

He helped stimulate the economy and got the country started back on the path to prosperity. JFK was a great president. However, in his personal life he was not a morally sound man. With multiple instances of marital infidelity during and most likely before his presidential reign, most of us today would see that as a big "con" when considering him for president. Yet, with this questionable personal life he still served our country honorably and well.

In the 60's, news of the president's scandalous side-life was kept quiet by the press. However, in today's world, journalists do not let those things sit quietly. They will advertise anything that might mar the reputation of a potential president. 

So my question is what do you think? Do you place weight in the moral character of your presidential candidates when it comes to their personal life? Or do you place more weight in their political morals and values and their ability to make good choices for our nation? 

Apparently the media thinks that a lot of people place a lot of weight in the morals and values of our candidates' lives, because otherwise all the TV screens across the nation would not be littered with annoying commercials sponsored by one candidate that serve one purpose: to bash the other. 

What do you think?

I'm still in the developing stage when it comes to my political views, but I do know that I am always annoyed when a pointless commercial comes on trying to convince me to not vote for the "other guy" because he is "bad."

Itsy Bitsy Spider

This morning I found the first bug in our apartment. I walked into the bathroom, brushed my teeth and put in my tooth, and turned around. When I looked down I saw something that looked like a piece of gray fuzz, and as I stooped down to pick it up and throw it away I stopped. It was not fuzz. It was a small, gray, furry spider sitting perfectly still on the shelf. I froze, stared at it for a few more seconds, and despite it's very small size, I then ran from the bathroom.

"Derek! Derek, there's a bug in the bathroom and I don't want to kill it because I hate bugs but I just don't want to kill it." I watched as Derek stirred slightly. All I got was, "Just kill it." 

"But I can't! I'm too scared." Yes, I pulled out the "I'm scared" card. So just as a wonderful husband does, he got up and went into the bathroom mumbling, "I was so warm...". But he took a close look at the visitor next to our "Families Are Forever" sign and said, "Yep, it's a spider." Then, as bravely as any brave man ever bravely squashed a spider with a clump of toilet paper, my husband killed it and flushed it. 

I gave him a big hug and said "Thank you thank you thank you!" He left and climbed back into bed.

It's a darn good thing Derek was willing to kill that spider for me. I probably wouldn't have been able to shower this morning with it in the bathroom. So everyone that sits next to me in classes or maybe even just walks by me on campus, be grateful to my spider-killing-husband.

Every Day

From the moment she finds out she's pregnant. 

From the moment she holds her brand new baby in her arms.

To the high school graduation and the beginning of college.

And the day where she watches her child devote their life and love to someone new.

A mother's love is endless.

I have so much love and admiration for my mother. She dealt with a LOT from me. I was (and still am) stubborn, too smart for my own good, and extremely mischievous. Just some examples of what my mom dealt with while I was growing up.

1. Around the time I was 14-18 months old, I learned how to work the TV remote, I could sit and pay attention to a whole length movie, and I figured out how to open up the child safety locks on the cupboards.
2. I used to stand on one of the pedals of my mom's old exercise bike, hold onto the handle, and go up and down in circles, constantly in danger of tipping the bike over on myself.
3. I was mean to my older sister, and would chase her around the house. 
4. We had an old A-frame swing set in the backyard, and I climbed up the side and did the "balance walk" across the top bar. 
5. Instead of actually practicing for my piano lesson, I would go upstairs to the electric keyboard and record my song once, then hit the replay button over and over again so that I didn't have to practice.
6. I resisted having my hair done nicely and wearing "cute girl" clothes to school.
7. My little brother was always perfectly behaved whenever my mom had to take him with her to run errands... until she picked me up from kindergarten. Then we were little terrors.
8. Whenever my mom told me to pick just two books to bring with me in the car, I came out with arms full of books. Then I whined and complained when we got home and I had to put them back.

Lets just say, I was a handful as a kid.

Almost every day I run into something that reminds me how grateful I am for my mom and what she taught me. A few instances are:

1. I'm grateful my mom taught me how to clean a bathroom. Derek's and my first Saturday here in Rexburg I cleaned our bathroom. I knew that it was old, and had been used by multiple couples before us so, without expectations of getting anything shiny clean, I went to work just to make sure I knew it was sanitary. But when I was done, it was a different bathroom! Yeah, lets just say I'm very grateful my mom taught me how to clean a bathroom.
2. I'm grateful my mom taught me how to pick up after myself. I had the messiest bedroom out of all of my siblings growing up. However, my mom consistently reminded me that I needed to clean it... and I listened sometimes. (Remember, I was a stubborn piece of work.) But now that I'm in college, and married, I know the importance of keeping it clean and I have good habits now. Thanks mom.
3. I'm grateful that my mom showed me how to be a loving wife. I watched almost every day as my dad came home from work how my mom would stop what she was doing and meet him at the door with a hug and a kiss. I know that I am grateful to have seen that loving example, and I'm sure Derek is too. 

Today is an extra special day for all of us to be thinking about our moms and all that they do for us. But for me, I am grateful every day for what my mom has taught me and done for me. I love her.

Thanks mom.