Today is literally the proudest moment I have had as an "American". Frankly, from 2002 through 2007, I was embarrassed by our misguided, destructive policies. That changed today with the election of Barack Obama.
That Americans across the country have rejected divisiveness and elected an African American - Barack Obama - is truly astounding. That they rejected gratuitous war for a focus on eliminating our true enemies in Afghanistan by electing Barach Obama. That they abandoned double digit health care cost increases - which at about $15K per family nearly EXCEED poverty line wages let alone an allowance for taxes, apartment, food, car, gas, etc - in favor of some or any solution proposed by electing Barack Obama. That they rejected paying repressive regimes (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela) billions of dollars a year to increase carbon emissions and exacerbate global warming by electing Barack Obama. That they realized our economy is in shambles and that Americans actually have to PRODUCE something in exchange for all those cheap VCRs and cars other people are giving us. All of these facts are incredibly encouraging to me. We have so many challenges ahead, but it is encouraging that America has finally woken up to the enormous challenges ahead and are willing to face them head on, with our new president, Barack Obama. All of these facts show that America is ready to take the moral and ideological lead in the world, and change the course of history.
It's going to be a bitch. Barack Obama was handled a big pile of problems that is the US economic meltdown and the Iraq war. There is a tremendous amount of work to be done, there is no doubt. But I can think of no one else more capable to get us, the United States of America, on the right track.
For those of you who think your vote doesn't count, consider this:
In 2000, the election was decided by 537 votes, bringing George Bush into the oval office. The ensuing 8 years are arguably some of the worst in American history, and could have been very different had Gore prevailed. 6 years after the terrorist attacks, Al Qaida is as strong as ever and we're in a massively expensive unjustified war. Our housing market has collapsed. Our financial system has collapsed. The economy is entering a recession. Unemployment is skyrocketing. Our budget deficit has ballooned. Our trade deficit is at historic highs.
By contrast, in the 1960 election, John F Kennedy defeated Nixon by 0.1% of the popular vote, ushering one of the most visionary leaders of the free world.
This election is going to be close. What the polls don't capture is that Obama's base is over-represented by minority and young voters, who historically haven't turned up to vote on election day. In addition, there are a lot of racist people still out there. And they are definitely going to vote. Finally, republicans vote in higher percentages than democrats.
I laughed when I heard Sarah Palin was selected by John McCain to be his running mate. I was driving on Interstate 10 in Los Angeles listening to the radio when the news came in. That John McCain had picked someone as incredibly inexperienced to step in and fill his shoes seemed like political suicide.
But as I have pondered this more, my bemusement has slowly turned into something more akin to bewilderment and ultimately fear. McCain, with a very legitimate shot at claiming the highest office, will be one of the oldest presidents in the history of the county, and has a history of potentially fatal cancer. In fact, this physician predicts McCain he has a 44% chance of dying of Melanoma, a 38% chance of dying of natural causes, and a 27% chance of a cardiac problem such as heart attack in the next eight years. Combining these figures, it's reasonable to estimate there is over a 50% chance of McCain dying in the next 8 years. And judging from past history, just being president at any age isn't exactly safe due to the evil lunatics out there scheming to do harm to any president. So it is actually quite likely that McCain could die or become incapacitated in office, leaving Palin to lead this country.
So what's the big deal with Palin? Well, just a couple years ago, she was a self proclaimed "hockey mom" with absolutely no relevant experience whatsoever. Since then, she's been mayor of a very, very ,very, very, very tiny little town which happens to be the crystal meth capital of Alaska . Again, nearly irrelevant experience. About 1.5 year ago she took over as governor of Alaska. OK, now we're finally talking. But 1.5 years of experience qualifies her to be the President of the United States? This is a stunningly irresponsible move of McCain to put her in that position. But let's look at the woman herself.
She's wrong on the issues:
She believes abortions should be illegal even in cases of incest and rape.
She believes in abstinence only sex education in schools. This drives me crazy about the religious right. They want to decrease the number of abortions, but the single best way to do that is through an aggressive and comprehensive sex education program. By preaching abstinence only, they are in fact ENSURING MORE ABORTIONS. Abortions aside, ask Sarah Palin how effective she thinks it is. Her own 17 year old unmarried daughter is pregnant. If the governor herself can't effectively teach abstinence only education, how can this be an effective national policy? Here is a much more sensible abortion policy .
She believes creationism should be taught in public schools .The first amendment to the constitution specifically calls for the separation of church and state. The public schools are instruments of the state. This is plainly unconstitutional. And who is to say that Sarah's religion is the RIGHT religion? This country was largely founded on the premise of the free exercise of religion, whichever religion you practiced. Should we also teach re-incarnation (part of the Hindu belief system)?
Sarah Palin obtained her first passport in 2007. I can tell you from personal experience that you really have NO CLUE about international relations unless you've done a lot of first hand on-the-ground traveling to understand different cultures and different perspectives. Any 22 year old backpacker traveling around the world in early 2003 could have told you invading Iraq was going to destroy our moral position in the world and strengthen those organizations recruiting terrorists against us.
Sarah Palin does not believe in man-made global warming , even though there is no serious scientist left on the planet that disputes it.
So let me get this straight. We have a person with almost no experience whatsoever with ideas dramatically out of the mainstream who will be the likely next president of the United States?
What do you think? I'm terrified. Tell me I'm wrong. Please.
I like John McCain. The old John McCain. The old McCain who wasn’t afraid to pick a fight with the GOP and instead followed his beliefs. The old McCain who, while maybe not truly a “maverick”, at least deviated enough from far right party doctrine to appeal to the broad group of moderates.
The new McCain flip flop - Defended the bush administration warrantless wiretapping policies
The old McCain - Did not support an overturn of Roe V Wade (abortion rights), and actually proposed modifying the republican platform to allow abortions in the cases of incest, rape or where the mother’s life was in danger.
The new McCain flip flop - Opposes the overturn of Roe V Wade , and believes abortion should be illegal even in cases of incest, rape or where the mothers life is in danger.
The old McCain - Was opposed to pandering to the religious right like Jerry Falwell. “Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right.
The new McCain flip flop - When asked if he thinks Jerry Falwell was still an agent of intolerance said “no”. In fact, he went well beyond that and co-hosted a commencement ceremony with Jerry Falwell at Liberty University.
The old McCain - Fought for fiscal restraint , opposing the magnitude of the Bush tax cuts because “a disproportionate amount of the cuts went to the wealthiest Americans”, and because it would be damaging to our economy and our ability to balance the budget. In fact, he was right, as the United States is now averaging close to a staggering $500 Billion annual deficit, by a huge margin the largest deficit in American history.
The new McCain flip flop - Put out an advertisement claiming, “I’ll make the Bush tax cuts permanent.”
The old McCain - Wrote a bill to dramatically reform the immigration system, formalizing the status of over 10 million illegal immigrants in the US so they can pay taxes and contribute officially to our economy
The new McCain flip flop - Said “I would veto my own bill ” referring to the immigration bill he wrote.
The old McCain - Tried to convince the Bush administration to either formally declare the detainees as war criminals or return them to their home countries for prosecution, saying they “deserve to have adjudication of their cases”.
Now I’m the first person to argue that changing your mind is part of growing. As you go through life, you get more experience, and learn more facts. And if you don’t occasionally change your position, then frankly you’re either closed minded or stupid, or both.
But why would McCain change so many positions, in such a dramatic way, in such a short period of time?
You only have to look back to the 2000 elections. Early on, the race narrowed to a contest between Bush and McCain. Bush was able to pull ahead because he was able to galvanize the support of the more radical elements of the Republican Party like the fundamentalist Christians.
Following his loss to Bush , McCain systematically “sold out” and began to tow the party line. Not only did he make dramatic shifts in his position above, he voted with George Bush 95% of the time. He put his strong support behind the disastrous policies of Mr Bush, campaigned for him in the 2004 elections, and generally made a very strong case for initiating the disastrous and unjustified Iraq war in 2003. In essence, the “maverick reformer” decided it was more important to appease the party and get elected president, than it was to stand for anything he believed in.
Yes, I could have supported the old McCain. He was a reasonable guy with reasonable positions and showed he could think for himself and vote his conscious. But the new McCain is the new-ultra-conservative. And worse, he doesn’t stand for anything he believes in. Where is the integrity that we need in the highest office?
How do I boil this down to a sound bite? McCain sold his sole to the Bush… err… Devil.
At least that is what you would think listening to his zealous supporters. I think everyone, Hillary and McCain included, is starting to realize just how inspirational a speaker Obama is. Listening to one of his speeches you can’t help but be reminded of the famous orations by Kennedy, Martin Luther King, or even Lincoln.
Why are so many becoming inspired by this one man?Has it really been that long since this country has had a truly inspirational leader?Yes, it has.Not since civil rights era politics has there been a speaker as compelling and gifted as Obama.
Nixon?Hardly.
Carter?Was elected because he wasn’t Nixon.
Reagan?Close.Certainly engaging and a gifted speaker, capable of relating to masses of Americans on very simple terms.But he wasn’t a truly inspirational speaker. And he had no real dream of “hope” - unless you count hope of lower taxes.
Bush 1.0?About as bad as Carter.
Clinton?Again, close.Bill was incredibly engaging, and a master manipulator.And he did have a few lofty goals.But not quite in the league of the masters.
Bush 2.0?Let’s just say he can’t even say a four syllable word without fumbling it.
And maybe it’s because this time, there are hugely important stakes of a magnitude we haven’t faced in the past three and a half decades.And because Obama is not just on the right side of the issues, he’s capable of inspiring hundreds of millions of people to DO SOMETHING about them:
Global warming :“It’s the planet stupid” .The US has steadfastly opposed actions to save not only the world our children will inherit from us, but also the entire planet.
Healthcare :Costs have literally spiraled out of control.Access to a doctor is a human right, and tens of millions of Americans can’t afford insurance.
Collapsing US economy.No, it’s not just a recession.It’s a fundamental loss of global competitiveness as evidenced by massive and increasing trade deficits. On some level, we have to produce something the rest of the world wants.Otherwise they’re going to stop lending us money to buy all those cheap Chinese goods.
War :Someone needs to manage our way out of a hugely expensive and unjustified war.
So, there is a hell of a lot at stake here.And the difference between the republican and democratic party beliefs has never been clearer.
