Isaac (On His Birthday)

So, today is Isaac's twelfth birthday and it seems the whole world is paying attention.

Well, paying attention to something.

Meanwhile, there was a school election, yesterday.  Being the terrible father I am, I flat refused to influence his vote, other than helping him learn about the issues and candidates.  It may surprise you to find that his views are actually more sound than many adults I know, but not if you have watched cable news.

Isaac found himself torn.  On half the issues, he supported one major party candidate, on half the other.  Meanwhile, his sixth-grade friends are rabid partisans.  "It seems like most of them are just voting for whoever their parents are voting for, and they don't even know why!" he complained.  He also noted that the most reasoned argument from any of his classmates was "O-ba-ma!  O-ba-ma!" chanted over and over.  His friends began to look upon him with suspicion for not taking sides.

However, Isaac summed up the campaigns very well.  "If you don't vote for Obama, you're a racist.  If you don't vote for McCain, you hate America.  None of it makes any sense, and they all seem to be lying!"

Nevertheless, he voted.  I will not tell you who he voted for, but the candidate has an A in his last name, so we will call him candidate A.  (The other candidate has an S in his middle name, so, likewise.)

Riding the bus, one of his classmates saw his "I voted" sticker and asked who he had finally chosen.  He then began to berate Isaac for choosing A.  When Isaac tried to interject with the reason he had voted for one and the reasons for voting against the other, his friend refused to listen.

Later, Isaac was carpooling with a family of ardent supporters of A.  When Isaac mentioned what had happened on the bus, the mother began to loudly and vociferously berate his S-supporting friend.

So, Isaac has, on his twelfth birthday, experienced all the joys of the American voter:  he got to choose between two candidates he did not like, he got yelled at by a friend who disagrees with his choice, he got to feel embarrassment at the ranting of someone who liked his choice, and, a full day after voting, he still does not know who won.

Isn't democracy wonderful?

Still, if he can vote, you should be able to.

By the by, if you wish to drop him a line, his address is Isaac at TenSengi.com.  I would recommend not discussing politics.

--
Sincerely,
Christopher Coleman (proud father)

PS.  Two weeks ago, my kids told me to turn down my music.  I am a brilliant father.