I am proud to be an American.  I always have been and I always will be.

with thanks to George Will for the research, i was able to go through a little drama with my 8th grade students today in Math of differing levels.  I showed them three figures: $2.9 billion, $2.4 billion and $6.3 billion.  I explained that the $2.9 billion represents the amount of money spent by all the candidates countrywide in campaigning for Senate seats this last year.  We all agreed that is A LOT of money.  Some thought this was a waste of money (exxxxcellent!). There was much agreement and nodding of heads.

I let them figure out that the $2.4 billion was the amount of money ALL candidates, primary and otherwise, spent on campaigning for the Presidency these last two years.  Amazement and shaking of heads abounded.  I asked thamif the thrid figure was more than the first two and if so, by how much.  With anticipation of supreme outrage, the students told me it is A BILLION DOLLARS more than the wasted money spent on political campaigning — money better spent in other ways...  like on potato chips.  Stunned silence and creeping smiles.  Yes, Americans, in one year, spend $6.3 billion on potato chips.

We had lots of fun thinking about how much money was spent on halloween candy (all that expensive chocolate in their neighborhood alone, spread throughout the country, poor neighborhoods and rich alike), flowers for Mother's Day, lottery tickets...  money spent on dogs and cats (costumes, manicures, grooming, kenneling, scratching posts, collars).

They learned that $2.4 billion for the most part is donated 45, $25, $50, $500 at a time, and if the citizen isn't giving it to his candidate, then, well, he's going to buy some new cheddar cheese ranch olive flavored bag of potato chips.  We are so wealthy it boggles the mind.  This is not a bad thing.

We will change leadership today, and I told my studetns that as they study history in the next four years of high school to pay attention at how nations before us changed power.  It is so routine for us that we take it for granted, and if we don't like how it turns out today, we will get a chance to change it in four years.  People get mad and yell and say ugly things, but no one gets killed.  (A lot of worry amongst the kids that Obama will be assassinated, I had to manage expectations.)  This is uncomfortable and ugly, but it beats the alternative.  And next time, those 14 years old today will get to vote themselves (some broad smiles at this news).

Note to site visitors - high rhetoric aside, note that if their guy loses, no regular contributors to this website will dismiss the result with "[fill in the blank] in not MY president."  We understand that this is the way Americans do this: 50 separate elections knitted together to select one national leader.  We advocate, agitate, smear, slur, vote.  And then have some milk and cookies.  (I used that one with my students today, Wry.  Thanks.)