Thursday, March 10, 2011

Day Six: A Picture of Someone with whom I'd Like to Trade Places (for a day)

The task for Day Six of the Thirty Day Challenge: A picture of someone with whom I would like to trade places for a day.

Confession: I love political commentary.  Or at least I love it as long as it's thoughtful, intelligent, meaningful.  It can be funny, such as the commentary on The Daily Show or Colbert Report, because we all love a bit of levity and Lord knows the world of political wrangling needs it.  It does not need to belittle others merely to make a point.  I find myself very frustrated with extremists on either side who seem to think that just shouting or using ad hominem "arguments" will make the speaker's point better/more intelligent/supportable.  That is quite simply not the case.

Admittedly, I do not have cable and so I don't often get a chance to watch political commentary.  Usually during the election cycle I'll find some way to tap into a few sources, but on the average day I stick with NPR and the occasional Daily Show or Colbert Report episode (thank you, Hulu).  However, when I get the chance, I love to watch The Rachel Maddow Show.

During the 2008 election cycle, Rachel Maddow was my hero.  I was so jealous of her job -- look cute, sound intelligent, have a PhD in politics (from Oxford!!), and chat with people, via telelvision, regarding all the interesting things happening on the political stage.  Of course, I listened to her and thought "Wait, she's taking all my lines and my style -- I do that sort of thing in the classroom!" (Side note: I tried to be more apolitical because I wanted students to learn how to analyze situations and make decisions on their own, but still...)  Bestie #2 said that I was the "real" Rachel Maddow (hairstyle & everything), but I didn't listen to her because, well, she's my best friend and knew I wanted to hear that.

When students started telling me the same thing out of the blue, it was quite the compliment.  Now, away from my classroom and with limited ability to delve into historical and political discussions each day, I would love to trade places with Rachel Maddow:



I just have one precondition: I get to use my own glasses.  They're cuter and can be matched to my outfits.

1 comment:

  1. I'm a fan of Rachel I think she's one of the smartest people in political commentary. Whether you agree or disagree she is always factual in her arguments and respectful of her guest.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by...I love your comments!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...