Politics? I said, "Noothanku."

I started out a Political Science major at UMBC until I realized I didn't really like politics at all. Sure, I read the news and stay updated on current events and have opinions, but I was not nearly out spoken and crazy enough to deal with it all. Nor do I like political blogs. They are kind of a narcissistic place for people to write about their own opinions and assume others want to read about it. (Yea, all blogs are narcissistic, I admit it - the book Julie & Julia made me think about that more.)

That all being said, I can't help but share this video with you. In it, Glenn Beck, a conservative news host for Fox News who most recently is known for the advertisers who left his show after attacks on Obama, basically makes a comparison between AmeriCorps and the formation of Hitler's SS and Saddam Hussein's personal army. While basically anyone can realize that this is pretty nutty talk, his "news" is basically a slight basis in fact with a whole lot of speculation and misinformation.

With the whole no politics/ no political blogging in mind, part of the bigger issue is that people really don't know what AmeriCorps is. A lot of people assume I will be teaching, like Teach for America, and Glenn Beck assumes that all volunteers are in the NCCC, in which volunteers do live together and wear uniforms while working and is a continuation of FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps. After explaining what I will be doing with AmeriCorps, which surprises most people, I also explain that through the AmeriCorps program, which in a lot of cases pairs individuals with specific non-profit organizations, volunteers can find a number of opportunities from creating recreation opportunities in inner cities, to developing community gardens, to working on self-sustaining farms, to grant writing for an organization.

Or maybe the brainwashing has begun...