Boston Marathon Bombings

On April 15th, 2013,  I was sitting at Brandy Pete's, the restaurant that I work at, when my dad called me frantically to see if I was okay. I was rolling silverware after a typically busy lunch getting ready to leave and head over to the marathon just in time to catch the end of the race. When I answered the phone, my dad was in a full panic and told me what had just happened. At the time, there was 3 families in the restaurant who had just finished the race, the bartender, myself, and our manager. I turned the TV on the news and there was immediate coverage and my whole body just became numb.

As a country, we all learned from this event, just as we did with the 9/11 attacks. But as a city, I have NEVER seen anyone come together more than the city of Boston did during this time. Everyone became everyone's best friend. No one was turned away, everyone was so genuinely happy to be with friends, family, even alive. When they caught Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, my whole neighborhood rioted. I lived in Mission Hill at the time and the BPD barricaded one road off for us and just let us party until all hours of the night--it was one of the best feelings of my life. I felt like I had my safety back, and I felt so  lucky to live in the city that I do.

Moving forward from this will be hard, we all have an extra sense of security but we are all extremely cautious now. It taught us a lesson, that no matter what, we can come together as one and fight for whatever it may be. The city still seems to have somewhat of a somber ambiance to it, but it gets better and a little easier each day. Personally from this, I learned to never say "it'll never happen to me" or to think that your above the chance because anything can happen to anyone and guess what, it did. I learned to be a little more cautious each and everyday. I still get a bit jumpy near trash cans, or the sound of construction weirds me out a bit, but all in due time will everything get better.

Week 4 Post

The 2012 presidential election was the first of its kind in history.  For the first time, Super PAC’s were able to freely donate any amount of money to presidential campaigns in hopes to sway voters in their direction. This is coming off the hinges from the 2010 decision of the Citizens United vs. FEC’s Supreme Court case where they ruled in favor of Citizen’s United saying that corporations do in fact have the right to “free speech.” The reason this is such a controversial case and even still after the ruling was set, is that now it seems to be unknown whether candidates can win the election on their own without the influence of the “free speech” from corporations, unions, etc. and that it has completely changed the way the game is played.

            There are many reasons why one would support the corporate free speech. Super PAC’s have a heavy influence on the election. Think about it, if you didn’t see an Obama or Romney commercial every 5 minutes during the presidential election, you’d be forced to get out there and do some research on your own. Instead, you sit in front of the TV or read the paper, or simply walk by a billboard that targets a specific candidate and directly slams their character, it’s going to make you think twice about voting for that person. Those who support the Super PAC’s tend to lean in the direction that they are just being informative about the candidate they are supporting or against. They believe that corporations and/or big business have the right to free speech and that in free speech, they are 100% able to express their political opinion, whether or not it is in fact offensive. Another issue that seems to surface is that now with the Supreme Court ruling, candidates don’t have to disclose any longer who is donating to them and how much they are receiving from each individual/company.

            There are also many reasons why one would be against the corporate free speech. For instance, before the Citizens United vs. FEC trial came about, there were many laws on what could happen as far as support and donations during a presidential campaign. You were not allowed to donate more than $100 dollars, you had to release who was donating money to you and how much, and you could only accept limited amounts of money from public sources. Many people like this because it ensures that candidates have to lobby for themselves and that the election is all up to them and how THEY can win the race on their own. Ads have the heaviest effect on voters so Super PAC’s that run ads several times a day either supporting or opposing another candidate can make one think twice about their voting decision.

            The Super PAC’s have indeed made a huge influence on this past election and I am sure many more to come, maybe even too much of an influence. I think that with all this controversy, elections have lost their true meaning. It used to be about who can do the best job for our country and now it seems to be just about who can raise the most money or make the most slanderous comments. I don’t know much about politics but I do know that every time I saw an ad this past election, I became more and more detached from the urge to know about each candidate, I became sick of it. Super PAC’s can raise all the money they want but it all comes down to what the candidate is really going to do in office and if they are really going to pull thru on everything they say. In my personal opinion, I think Super PAC’s have negatively influenced the way that elections are run now, there is too much power in big business and it all heavily relies on who can raise the most money. We need to reach a happy medium where candidates can do it on their own again and where elections are based on what voters REALLY think, not just what candidates promise in their ads or speeches. Big business can be good, but it can also be bad and at this exact point in time, that is not what our country needs and at the end of the day, what we need is what is going to be best.

Action Interview

            I interviewed my roommate, Shay Bryan and she has had many experiences that shaped her political identity. Growing up in a home where her sister went into the navy at 18 was something that molded her political influences because her family and herself always wanted to go with what was best for her sister as far as political standing. Also, now that she is on her own and supporting herself, she has to care more about politics and really be informed because ultimately, it will affect her.

            Shay considers herself an independent because her views are right down the middle. Although she says she votes mostly republican, she doesn’t fully agree with republican views. For example, she thinks the idea of gay marriage is great and that you should be able to marry whomever you want and the government shouldn’t be able to say no. As far as the Democratic Party goes, she does not agree with Obama care. She doesn’t think that people should get living expenses and such for free. If you work hard and support yourself, you still have to pay all your own bills, but Bill down the street just sits around all day and somehow manages to get welfare. She just doesn’t think that makes any sense what so ever.

            For the longest time, I didn’t have any ideas what the big differences between the two parties were but now that I am supporting myself and living on my own, I have to be aware of what’s going on. It’s funny that I interviewed Shay because before, I didn’t know her political feelings, and in fact, I feel the same way she does. I agree with some Republican views and some Democrat views. I think you should be able to have an abortion if you feel its necessary, but NOT have it funded by the government. I think that it’s absolutely ridiculous that people on welfare now can get their cell phone bills paid, I am a full time student and work 2 jobs on top of that, whose paying my cell phone bill? I am. I grew up in a very republican household and I believe a lot of that had to do with the fact that my family is extremely catholic so things like gay marriage and abortion aren’t even a questionable topic. Growing up in my generation however, where things are starting to be a little more acceptable, has swung my vote to the middle. I think whomever I vote for next will just have to have a few qualities that I am looking for because being right down the middle is hard to get exactly what you want in a candidate.

            This experience made me learn that the people you wouldn’t even think had a strong political opinion, more than likely do. Everyone has some sort of political opinion; we just aren’t vocal about it. People vote based on their beliefs, if a Republican party says “I’m going to ban abortion” and that person has had an abortion themselves, chances are they’ll vote democrat. I think certain things that drive voters interest is what the candidate promises. I know that whenever my dad is interested in a candidate, he does some research from his previous office holdings whether its governor, senator, etc. to see how the candidate really followed through on said promises. My political standing hasn’t changed, but doing this interview really made me think deeper into my political persona!

Questions

1.     How did you vote in the last election?

2.     Why did you vote for Mitt Romney? What’d you like about him?

3.     You mentioned there were a few things about Republicans that you didn’t like, anything in particular that you didn’t agree with Romney?

4.     What didn’t you like about Barack Obama?

5.     Do you consider yourself a liberal, conservative, or independent?

6.     What turned you too liberal versus conservative?

7.     Would you ever consider voting for the independent party?

8.     What life experiences have shaped your political opinion?

9.     What key issues are most important to you, when it comes to US Policy?

1. Who will you likely vote for in the future?

A Little About Me

My name is Meg McGrath and I am a freshman at Bunker Hill Community College. I am originally from Hooksett, NH and have lived in Boston for about 2 years now. I have never written a blog before so please be patient with me because this first post is probably going to be absolutely putrid. 

I am studying to be a nurse anesthetist and have wanted to go into the medical field since I can remember, but I was 100% set in 2005 when I saw my first episode of Grey's Anatomy. My dream was to go to Stanford but looking back, that was a tad bit far fetched, so I've settled on BHCC for now with hopes to transfer to Boston College.

In addition to attending school full time, I also work full time as a server/bartender in downtown Boston. As strange as it sounds, I absolutely love my job and the hustle and bustle of my life. I barely have time to do anything, but that makes my time extremely valuable. Music is my absolute favorite thing in the world and I am a HUGE concert junkie. You name the artist, chances are I've seen their show. Also, another hobby of mine (or problem) is I am a huge shopper. No matter what mood I'm in, I'm in the mood to shop. Last but not least, I also love traveling. Growing up, it was just my mom and myself and we would take vacations all the time, I just love seeing new places. My goal is to spend next summer in Europe and become much more familiar with different cultures! 

Until next time, 

Meg