Topical Juice

I was really hoping that the whispers wouldn’t get so loud, so soon. Almost immediately following the first few days after both Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama both declared their candidacies, they started. “Wouldn’t it be incredible if Hillary picked Barak to be her VP?” and “A woman and a black man on the same ticket - unthinkable just a decade ago, but now?”….

But the voices got louder and it hit the mainstream - there it was in Newsweek (For Hillary: A Proposal by Anna Quindlen - Jul 22, ‘07).

It’s not that I don’t think very highly of both or either - I do. I believe that Hillary has more experience and is more qualified, but I like Barak and what he has to say. In the 2012 election (or the one after) I think he’d have enough experience to be a very viable candidate in my eyes, and if he were still saying the same things then as now, I’d vote for him without hesitation.

But together? Now? It concerns me. Because I believe it’s HIGH time we elect a woman - not just any woman, but someone intelligent, experienced, logical, and capable. I really believe Hillary is that woman. And while I have a great deal of respect for Mr. Obama, I’m not sure that the folks who might be ready to elect a woman, are also ready to elect a black man to our nation’s second highest job. I would HOPE so, but I’m not convinced. I still see a great deal of discrimination practiced in many segments of our society, and not enough being done to send the clear message that discrimination will no longer be tolerated.

So I’m concerned that such a pairing might hurt Hillary’s chances. If that is what she chooses, I will still vote for the two of them. Will you? Vote and comment - but PLEASE if you are “Hillary Hater” (or a Barak Hater) this is not the outlet for vitriol - I welcome logic and thoughful opinions but there is no place for hate here - I will delete comments that don’t add anything but hate to this conversation.

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I couldn’t let the day pass without a nod to Miles Levin, the [very] young Michigan blogger who succumbed yesterday to rhabdomyosarcoma, a form of cancer that attacks the soft tissues. Rose Arce posted a beautiful story about Miles at CNN.com, written so eloquently that there isn’t much left to add.

My heartfelt sympathies go out to his family and friends. I’d only read a few of his blog posts over the past year, but I was struck by how prescient and mature he seemed via his writing, for someone so young. I stayed up most of last night just thinking about him, and so many other fine young people who leave us all too soon.

I don’t want to turn this into a political rant, but one of the things I couldn’t stop thinking about was how many billions of dollars we are spending on a war we shouldn’t have begun, instead of putting some of that money into funding research on finding cures, for what Miles had as well as many other forms of cancer and diseases. What a sad waste, of a promising life and dollars.

Until our government gets its priorities straightened out, a tax-exempt fund has been established to support efforts to combat pediatric cancer and allow the Levin family to work toward new directions in patient care. I think it’s a very worthy fund to promote so here it is:

UJF - Miles Alpern Levin Fund
P.O. Box 2030
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303
Attn: Susie Feldman

I don’t know if there is a Heaven, but I hope there is. I also hope that Whomever is in charge of it, he or she allows blogging, so that Miles can keep writing.