Judge Marty Feldman
Overturned the drilling ban
Something is fishy

Investments in oil
Just the start of the questions
About his fairness

ThinkProgress has a blog entry this afternoon listing Judge Feldman’s investments in dozens of energy companies including Haliburton and two US companies (BlackRock and JP Morgan Chase) who are among the largest private shareholders in BP.

Judge Feldman is a Reagan appointee and apparently has a reputation for right-wing activism and a pro-corporate bias.

As a high school student preparing to begin my senior year I have seen firsthand how politics can positively affect the lives of young people. Young people are busier now than past generations have ever been due to demanding athletic, work, and academic schedules. With hours spent at late night practices and homework that lasts until the morning hours, it is no wonder that a majority of high school students have absolutely no idea what is going on in local politics, let alone at the state and national level.

As a second year intern with the Tenth District Democrats who has worked on multiple Congressional campaigns, I feel that it is my duty to use the knowledge I have gained here to serve my peers. I strongly believe that understanding politics is the key to not only having better awareness of one’s community, but also in being able to have intelligent conversations with others and develop social skills. Furthermore, developing a strong force of politically active young people is crucial in powering campaigns, as seen in Obama’s Presidential campaign.

Therefore, I decided to follow Tenth Dems’ example by creating a grassroots-like Democratic club at my high school called “The Progressive Club.” I was able to apply many of the lessons I learned from Tenth Dems and campaigns to high school and getting both apathetic and over-active students engaged in politics. For example, instead of creating countless numbers of brochures, flyers, and posters to attract people to volunteer, I spent hours making brightly colored posters encouraging people to join my club. Instead of making a Facebook group targeted towards attracting voters and campaign volunteers, I made one to attract students using the same format. Once there was a relatively large amount of people the club brought in various campaign managers, held lively political debates, and went on field trips to various rallies and parades all over the city. All of the club members caught on extremely fast to local politics by understanding that petty arguments, competition, and corruption are present in both the dramatic settings of high school and politics.

What was overwhelmingly clear as the club expanded was that students are more than capable of engaging in politics and being as active as or more than adults. The energy and insight students bring to politics, particularly in terms of opinions on educational policy, are relevant and should be considered by local, state, and national politicians. Working with the Tenth Dems has given me the knowledge necessary to rally people around positive causes and influence my community. Although I may not be able to vote, helping to educate my peers in making conscious political decisions seems like a much greater form of participation.

In less than one year’s time, I will graduate from Brandeis University with my Bachelors Degree in hand; like many others in my generation I will be faced with the worst job market in decades. Almost 30% of people aged 18-29 are unemployed (the highest percentage for any age group). Despite this, I, and many of my peers, are optimistic about the future. A recent Pew report found that Millenials (anyone born between 1982-2002) overwhelmingly believe that they will be able to earn a good living in the future.

So why does this matter? Because we, the Millenials, are the largest, most diverse, most empowered, and best educated generation ever. And we are growing up. Neil Howe—who literally wrote the book on Millenials—postulates that Millenials “will correct what they will perceive to be the mistakes (and compensate for the flaws) of Boomers, by placing positivism over negativism, trust over cynicism, science over spiritualism, team over self, duties over rights, honor over feeling, action over words.”

It is no wonder then, that my generation has already made an impact on our nation. Young people volunteered, worked and voted for Obama in 2008. We turned the anger and cynacism of Bush into the hope and change of Obama. We chose to work in the system. We choose to use our voice. As Obama eloquently put it in his victory speech we “rejected the myth of [our] generation’s apathy.” But now we hear that young people have given up on Obama, that we are disengaged.

This is not true. I am returning to work at the Tenth Dems after being an intern last summer. I am working with high school students and recent graduates. People who are not just looking to build their resume, but genuinely care about the politics in their home. I do not want my congressman to restrict a woman’s right to choose, to repeal HCR and take away my new benefits. I want someone who will tackle the real issues facing this nation. We need to address spending but not choke growth. We need to have meaningful energy legislation and once and for all acknowledge that we must stop polluting our air and water.

But one election cannot change the world. That is why Tenth Dems does more than just campaign for the Il-10 seat. Tenth Dems runs candidates for City Councils and Township Boards. TD educates citizens on topics ranging from election law to progressive politics. TD holds regular meetings for regular people to come together and discuss politics in a non-partisan environment.

For a year now, our media has inundated this nation with news of Tea Partiers and angry, white voters. We have been told that we cannot win; that we are out-enthused and out-angered. This is not true. No one knows what will happen on tomorrow, let alone on election day. But instead of sitting around complaining about the Tea Party, lets volunteer and organize.

Young People: now is our time to engage. Now is our time to show the world who we really are.