Obamanation

We did it!  We turned Virginia blue!  I, for one, am ecstatic.  There is something about the way Obama speaks and approaches the questions I need answered.  He seems thoughtful, intelligent, and aware.  After eight years of listening to a bumbling, mentally blank, word abusing and misusing fool — I can’t wait to take in Obama’s eloquence.  I am giddy at the promise of his presidency.

I am not, however, pleased with the backlash.  I hate that (white) people are complaining that (black) people chose Obama based solely on his race.  Yes, he is half-black… but that means he’s also half NOT black.  I didn’t base my decision on his skin color, I sure don’t think it’s a valid reason to pick the next leader of the free world, and I do agree that there is some truth to the complaint.  I just think we need a healthy dose of perspective.  We white folks have never had to wish we had the opportunity to vote for a candidate “like us”… all candidates have been white.  We’ve always been allowed to be doctors, lawyers, dentists, CEOs, and elected officials.  Always.  There may be absolutely no genetic basis or proof that any one race is inferior or superior to another, and there shouldn’t be any difference between a white President’s agenda and a non-white President’s agenda… but there is.  In our country’s history, racism has been so ingrained in every institution that the opportunity to have a black or semi-black President was the single-most important possibility to triumph over racism to date.  So yes, I’d imagine plenty of people voted for Obama at least partially due to the pigment in his skin.  If white people were more honest, maybe we’d realize that we would have felt the same way if we had never had the chance to have someone with skin that resembled ours in office.  I wonder how many Catholics voted for JFK just because they finally had someone that understood their religious background.  I don’t think religion or race should ever be or will ever be a sound reason to pick a candidate for any office or position, but I don’t expect that in a country riddled with religious oppression and racism that we can suddenly ask that they never be an issue.  Did we not cause this to happen?  Ideally, skin color should matter as much as a candidate’s eye color.  Ideally, no one would see a white vs. black agenda.  But ideally doesn’t exist… yet.  I have more hope than I’ve ever had before, but we have quite a bit of work to do.

2 Days.

Election Day is the day after tomorrow.  I’m petrified.  But I’m also opinionated.  So here goes:

(It it’s bold and in “quotes”, I didn’t write it.  Jonathan Alter did… and I took it from the 11/2/08 Parade)

Economic Crisis Relief 

“Obama believes in tighter government regulation of the economy, while McCain generally favors market-based solutions.  Both candidates supported Congress’ recent $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.  Obama’s economic plans could cost $60 billion initially and $175 billion over time.  McCain’s latest stimulus proposals have a total price tag of nearly $60 billion.”

-I have no real opinion.  I can’t even fathom what $60 billion means. 

Taxes

“Obama would cut taxes for low- and middle-income Americans and raise taxes on the wealthy.  McCain would cut taxes across the board, mostly benefitting upper-income taxpayers.”

-Oh, I have opinions.  First of all, MOST Americans are not upper-income taxpayers.  Thus, I would have to support a policy that would benefit the low- and middle-income Americans.  I can’t remember the exact numbers, but something like 5% of Americans control somewhere near 80% of all wealth in the U.S.  That’s fucking ridiculous.  I cannot and will not ever support something that increases the distinction between upper and lower classes.  Most of us will NEVER EVER EVER EVER be upper class.  And despite the fact that I was raised to subscribe to the “American Dream,” I don’t buy it.  Hard work is great… but hard work isn’t a surefire way to riches.  In fact, some of the hardest working people I know will never make more than $50,000 a year and some of the laziest-riding on daddy’s coattails-golf playing-sense of entitlement having-never had to struggle for anything-idiots are making well over $100,000 a year.  There is no direct correlation between hard work and success, I’m sorry.  A good percentage of success is who you know and what opportunities your last name afforded you at birth.  Yes, there are exceptions.  Yes, some people have been born under the worst circumstances and risen to power and financial success… but a true rags to riches story is one in a million, maybe even a billion.  The “American Dream” is propaganda.  A struggling working class is the reality.

Energy

“Their policies are meeting in the middle.  Obama no longer opposes offshore drilling, and McCain now appears more open to funding research for alternative sources of energy.”

-Well, good.  Alternative sources of energy?  Perfect.  Offshore drilling?  Not so much.  There isn’t a huge distinction between their current stances on energy policy… but I certainly prefer a candidate who wants to concentrate more on alternative sources and less on offshore drilling.  We have one Earth, and while this makes me sound like a tree-hugging hippie, I suggest we pay attention to how we are raping the land (and oceans) before we have nothing left.  And honestly, sunlight is free.  So is wind.  So is water (until we pollute it all).  The research has been done… the possibilities are endless, and all of the alternatives are much less harmful to the environment and don’t leave us indebted to other countries who already hate us.

Health Insurance

“Obama would bolster employer-paid insurance.  McCain’s plan relies more on free-market competition.  Both candidates would allow patients to choose their own doctors.  Obama’s plan would cost the goverment more, while McCain’s tax credit would be unlikely to keep pace over time with rising insurance costs.”

-I haven’t had health insurance since I graduated from college.  My current employer can’t afford a health care plan because our company is too small.  I need health insurance so I can get my teeth cleaned annually, have my routine eye exam and order new contacts, get my annual pelvic exam so I don’t die from cervical cancer since I also can’t afford the Guardisil vaccine without coverage…  and I prefer Obama’s plan over McCain’s.  For one, insurance companies are evil.  That might seem a bit strong, but I don’t think morally corrupt and greedy institutions should be permitted to drive the market for HEALTHCARE in this country.  Healthcare really shouldn’t be a business based on competition.  It shouldn’t really even be a business.  Healthcare.  Healthcare.  We’re talking about companies that won’t cover birth control, but are practically passing Viagra out like tic-tacs.  God forbid (and maybe so, since Christianity is a sex-repressive religion) women be allowed to control their own fertility.  But of course, 90 year old men MUST be physically capable of getting and sustaining an erection.  How dare we take the right of all men to screw themselves well into heart-attack risk age for pleasure while women are only expected to lie there and conceive. 

Abortion

“Pro-choice Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is 88.  If McCain picks his replacement, Roe could be overturned.”

-Oooh, hot button issue!  I will probably never be able to have an abortion.  I don’t think I could handle it.  But don’t get me wrong, I am completely pro-choice.  I have incredibly strong opinions as to when I think abortion is acceptable, but it is NOT my place to tell anyone else what to do with her body.  I don’t agree with late-term abortions.  I don’t agree with abortion as birth control.  I don’t agree with careless sex and abortion for selfish reasons.  But I also realize that there are way too many unwanted and poorly cared for children in our country.  I also realize that if the right-wing had any sense, they’d know that comprehensive sex education and easily available birth control methods would greatly decrease unwanted pregnancies and abortions in this country.  They want to teach abstinence only sex-ed.  They’ve obviously gotten their heads stuck so far up the BIble’s ass that they haven’t paid any attention to the research that PROVES the old adage “the more you know…”  I’d rather err on the side of caution than support something that takes any rights away for a woman to act on behalf of her own body… and for that reason, I will never support McCain or worse, Sarah Palin. 

Education

“McCain is more passionate about accountability.  Obama is more likely to increase funding for education.”

-I don’t care how much it costs to fix our education system, we’re one of the dumbest first-world countries on this planet.  Seriously.  We have extremely low literacy for how industrialized and “advanced” our society is.  Our schools are falling apart.  Learning how to think has become secondary to learning what to memorize for the SOLs (which are bullshit… knowing the name of Robert E. Lee’s horse will get you nowhere in life).  We need to concentrate on early childhood development (which is way more important to future intelligence and socialization than we seem to think).  We just need to overhaul the system and fix it.