This is the first year, since I started voting, that I voted early instead of waiting until November 4th. Apparently a lot of people do just that because it was actually busy and so was everyone that was working ! My motivation was in reaction to one of the fiercest political contests in my memory. After I watched the first debate between Obama and McCain my decision was made. I didn't like the way McCain addressed Obama. He was totally disrespectful and I was shocked that he was pointed at and ridiculed as if he was a non-person standing there. I wonder what John F. Kennedy (our Civil Rights president) would have thought- were he alive today- to see a presidential debate erode into such a spectacle as this one.
I've heard so much right-wing garbage coming from the news, radio, TV ads, slanted newspaper articles, phone calls and snail mail political cards that I cannot understand why these people still believe they are Christians after saying some of things that have been said. Conversely, I commend Obama for staying on track by focusing on coming out with some details on the changes he wants to make. They all sound pretty reasonable to me and I haven't heard that much negative feedback towards McCain from him- despite all the terrible talk that has swirled around Obama from McCain's camp.
I have found that character counts for more than all the cheap rhetoric anybody can muster. Character isn't about people not making mistakes- everybody makes mistakes, big and little. Character is about how someone handles the situation when they make a mistake and their self-deportment when in the middle of disaster. Now more than ever we need someone in the White House with real character. We have been lied to for eight years and it's high time someone start telling the truth, rolling up sleeves and correcting the problem instead of covering up lies with more folly. McCain has said that he agrees with Bush most of time on issues that have become worse than thorny. He was a part of this dangerous bail-out and he may not be able to even stay in office due to his bad health.
Who would that leave in charge? Sarah Palin. If that idea doesn't scare you, think about this scenario. A woman who is so busy with expensive shopping sprees and supposedly running office in Alaska that she doesn't have enough time to counsel her teenage daughter from making irreversible mistakes such as having unprotected sex. Am I to believe that she could handle a country that is currently in the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression? That she would know what to do if another 9/11 were to happen? Has she shown an ability to correct mistakes and in a calm and cool manner? ( Hint: Neither she nor McCain show anything but hot-headed fervor over non-issues !) She condemns abortion even in the case of incest and rape. Do you think she's really thought about and examined this issue on all sides and been sensitive to peoples wishes, opinions or even their fears and heartaches? I wonder about people who say they have voted or will vote for someone solely on their stand on abortion when the same issue was bandied around Bush. Eight years have passed without change. Perhaps someone should tell these voters that since this is an issue passed through Supreme Court (through Roe vs Wade) the only people that would make a decision repealing or keeping this landmark legislation has nothing to do with the person in the Oval office.
Even if I don't agree with laws such as Roe vs Wade, legalizing euthanasia or the death penalty does that mean that I have a right to impose my views on the people as a whole? In a way, this is a judgment and a way of imposing my judgment on others using the court system as my henchman. Roe vs Wade was passed so that any woman who decides that pregnancy is a threat to her life or may be unsafe for her can obtain a safe and legal abortion. Many illegal abortions took place before Roe vs Wade was passed and many women bled to death in warehouses and empty office buildings because abortion wasn't legal. If Roe vs Wade is repealed we can expect more of that. You can see what the effect has been during the time that Roe vs Wade has been under fire from pro-lifers. How many newspaper articles have you read reporting about newborn babies having been thrown into dumpsters, found in public toilets or a high school gym bathroom during a prom? I have read one too many. Obviously, this problem will not go away even if Roe vs Wade is repealed.
If you are interested in taking a healthy outlook and direct focus to the more pressing issues which threaten this country currently- homeland security, the state of the economy, unemployment, foreclosures ( an issue which might prevent U.S. citizens from voting if they don't know their rights) with an eye to solving the problems and not covering them up or pretending they don't exist, then Obama is actually the right man for you to vote into the presidential office. I believe he will stand up for what is right, fair and true and can keep the correct composure for making the crucial decisions which must be made in the coming years concerning the so-called preventive war in Iraq, health care insurance for everyone, securing our still unsecured borders and making it possible for unemployment to become non-existent within our borders.
I have a dream- so does Obama.
It's the same dream.
The Castle Lady avec beaucoup d'amour!
