Politics Make Me Crazy

I am not one to race to my blog to decry the latest political event, mostly because I am not a die-hard blogger. Nor do I consider myself to be remotely politically savvy, as trying to negotiate the intricacies of our political system can give me a headache sometimes.

However, as a woman and as a voter, I'm having a bit of a WTF moment. In the last year (hell, in the last few months), there have been articles and blogs and sound bites about potential legislation, legislation that has been signed, or legislation that has been repealed that give me significant pause.

First, I'd like to know exactly - at one point did the religion of someone that I don't know get to determine what I can (or cannot do) legally with my own body? At one point did another person's religious background get to decide what was fair or not in my life?

I don't have a problem with religion. I am more of a spiritual person than a strictly religious person, but would support the person down the street's rights to their own beliefs without batting an eye. What I do have a problem with is religion driving the political machine.

When you start talking about the state of Colorado overwhelmingly (by more than 70% of voters) vetoing a personhood law, that Virginia has tabled, for the next year, whether they will enact a personhood law, and with Oklahoma next on the list, it's getting a little insane out there.

The Governor of Wisconsin has taken the issue of the law and women beyond biology and into the realm of economics by not only limiting access to abortion services and sex education, but also by repealing the Equal Pay law there.

When exactly did the focus of this nation shift from getting out of debt to the rights of my vagina? We are in a recession, right? Debt out the wazoo? An unemployment rate of around 8.2%? How is legislating the hell out of my reproductive rights (and now ensuring that I will earn a lower wage, should I ever lose my sanity and move to Wisconsin) going to fix any of that?

If someone out there has a rational answer, I'd sure love to hear it.

Exactly

This is from one of my favorite internet comics, Sinfest. I cannot count the number of times that I have looked at the things I wrote at some point in the past and shuddered in horror. HORROR, I tell you. It's completely impossible to be objective about one's own poetry. Instead, we rip it up, tear it down, and generally want to hide it from the world.

Why did I publish a book of it then, you ask. Well. That's a damn fine question. I honestly just wanted to have a pretty looking, nice, clean hardback to give to my mom. Really. That's how I ended up publishing Pieces of the Soul. Kind of silly, hm?

I mean, there's one or two that, in retrospect, I'm kind of proud of and I can feel okay about it. But that's pretty much it.

How many of you can look at your work objectively? And how on earth do you do it?