***I keep a journal. My journal writing, like my blogging, is sporadic at best. In both cases, I wish I could be more diligent. Reflection is an important part of growth. It helps you understand and learn from the mistakes you've made in the past. Everyone should keep a journal of some sort, and I kick myself every time I look at my journal and realize that it's been three months since I last wrote. The other day I took out one of my old journals and realized it had entries from 2000-2004 in it. I checked the entry for November 4th, 2000. It's funny reading through the journals and watching how my political awakening occurred.
I was 20 years old and more or less apolitical. As a teenager, Bill Clinton never really impressed me when I paid attention (it probably didn't help that my dad is a RAVING conservative). Gore just seemed an extension of the legacy. Bush seemed like an idiot AND an obvious extension of a legacy. I thought both men were power-hungry cowards.
So, I didn't vote. And I watched George W. Bush win. And I didn't care too much.
When I woke up on September 11th though, something changed in me. I began to realize the importance of our leaders. I began the realize the consequences of destructive ideology. With each speech that Bush gave, I became more unsettled. I couldn't believe the things coming out of his mouth. The threats and cries of blood-thirsty revenge. I watched as anger gripped the country. I didn't feel angry though. I just remember a feeling of dread and sadness. War was coming. People were going to die. The balance of the world would be shaken. Then, war. And another war. When they didn't find any WMDs in Iraq, I vowed to leave the world of the passive bystander and do something to stop these assholes ruining our country. Ever since, I've been a political junkie.
Bush's reelection was a dark time in my life, but in 2006, I began to feel a tinge of hope. Bush continued to do stupid things and systematically dismantle the constitution, but we had this group of potential presidential candidates. And I liked them. When Obama announced he was running, I was excited (I remembered his speech at the convention and had looked up his speech in '02), but I didn't think he had a chance. I thought he had a better chance putting another 8 years in the Senate before making his run. Then, Iowa. That speech made me feel something I had never felt before, pride in my country (yeah, I said it).
Republicans want to pretend that we have some sort of obsession with Obama. It's nothing of the sort. He is a good speaker, but it's much more than that. It's his vision of America. He sees an America of optimism and promise. He sees an America where fear is countered with reason, not stoked by anger. He sees an America that embraces all cultures and faiths, not one that scapegoats and marginalizes those who look or sound different. He sees an America where there is hope for the future, trust in the goodness of ones neighbors, and sacrifice for the greater good. He sees an America where we celebrate compassion, not selfishness. This is an America of peace and prosperity and one I can't wait to see realized.
Here are my 7 reasons you should vote for Barack Obama:
- His plan for the economy. Many conservatives would like for you to believe that this economic crisis was inevitable. That the stars were just aligned against Bush. This is typical. The republicans haven't taken credit for any of the disasterous crises created by their dangerous, irresponsible, and blind faith in a tired and broken ideology (see Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, the housing crisis, the banking system collapse). The truth is that we are seeing the failure of ALL tenants the neoconservative ideological platform. I'm sorry Mr. Reagan, but trickle down economics DOES NOT WORK. Greed does not trickle down. Executives pocket those tax cuts while lowering wages, stripping benefits, cutting jobs and shipping them overseas, and plundering the earth.
Barack Obama's plan eliminates Bush's tax cuts for corporations and restores them to the SAME LEVEL THEY WERE IN THE 1990s. He's going to give a TAX CUT to ALL people who make under $200,000 annually and most people who make under $250,000 (those who will not receive the cut will remain at their current tax level). McCain likes to argue that 23 million small businesses would have to pay more in taxes, but Factcheck.org debunked that claim long ago: "McCain has repeatedly claimed that Obama would raise tax rates for 23 million small-business owners. It's a false and preposterously inflated figure."
READ MORE ABOUT THE ECONOMY
2. Barack Obama's Plan to End War in Iraq and His Proven Foreign Policy Judgment. Barack Obama was absolutely right about the invasion of Iraq. From the beginning. If you have any doubts about Obama's even-handed and pragmatic grasp of complex foreign policy issues, READ HIS 2002 SPEECH AGAINST THE INVASION OF IRAQ! Don't vote McCain until you
read this. He gave this speech October 2, 2002 in Chicago. Here is the best part, and the first indication that Barack Obama had the potential to be our next great leader:
Obama giving '02 Speech
READ MORE OF SPEECH MORE ABOUT IRAQ"I don’t oppose all wars. And I know that in this crowd today, there is no shortage of patriots, or of patriotism. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other arm-chair, weekend warriors in this Administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.
What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income — to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression.
That’s what I’m opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics. - The Principles of his Foreign Policy Vision. Two words: direct diplomacy. It works. Unilateralism, isolationism, and threatening rhetoric has failed President Bush every step of the way. The more extreme your threats, the more credibility you lend to the extremists on the other side. President Bush was the best thing to happen to Al Qaida and Osama Bin Laden. His response to the war played right into their hands. Their stated goal is to bankrupt the United States by provoking unsustainable and endless wars. Today, we're spending $10 billion in Iraq EVERY WEEK and our economy is in serious decline. This is not a policy we want to continue. Yet, McCain is as much of a warhawk as Bush. Just listen to him talk about Russia, China, or Iran. His foreign policy platform is no different from that of George W. Bush. Take a look at it. Why do you think he won the endorsements of Dick Cheney and Al-Qaeda? Does this make anyone else nervous as hell? Anyone?
Obama will restore our credibility in the world by creating a more responsible foreign policy agenda. Along with direct diplomacy with friends and enemies alike, he will expand our diplomatic (not military) presence around the world, strengthen NATO, and seek out new partnerships in Asia. I know the far right has many people scared of direct diplomacy, but every president (including W lately) has sat down and had direct talks with the leaders of foreign threats. Clinton, Bush I, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Truman, Roosevelt. It's not a new concept. It's what responsible presidents have always done.
READ MORE ABOUT FOREIGN POLICY VISION - He has the Ability to Motivate and Mobilize People at a Grassroots Level. Think about it. If Barack Obama can motivate and organize millions upon millions of people to sacrifice their time and money for his campaign, just think of what he can do for the country. I love his emphasis on encouraging young people to serve the country in other ways besides killing people and dying. Why don't we have more programs like Teach for America, Peace Corps, and AmeriCorps that reward service to country by forgiving student loans or paying for post-graduate degrees? Why not offer young people, eager to give back, the opportunity to serve their community? I'm telling you, this could have a tremendous impact on eliminating the overwhelming and disheartening apathy of young people across the country, while doing amazing things for impoverished communities.
There's only one candidate talking about this type of service. That's Barack Obama. - Refreshing Answers in Education. As an educator, No Child Left Behind is the absolute bane of my existence. It is has undermined the true goals of education by forcing teachers to analyze meaningless data and waste time teaching to unfair and biased tests. It has also created funding gaps for schools not seen since the segregation era. Barack Obama has promised to reform NCLB in two major ways. He's going to improve the assessments used to measure success, and reform the accountability system so that we are "supporting schools that need improvement, rather than punishing them." He is also going to fully fund the program--something Bush never did. These improvements will not fix the system, but they're a step in the right direction.
The next thing I really like about his education platform is it's emphasis on early childhood education. I taught lower-level readers for five years. These were kids that read at levels as low as the 2nd grade--in 9th grade. There are two main reasons for kids who fall through the cracks in the system without learning to read properly, and both have addressed been addressed by the Obama campaign. First, access to early childhood education. Most of these students were from lower income areas without access to Pre-K programs. They start behind, and never catch up. Second, many of these kids were never read to as kids. Obama has made an emphasis on parenting a major part of his education platform regularly suggesting that they, "turn off the TV-set. Put the video game away. Buy a little desk. Or put that child at the kitchen table. Watch them do their homework. If they don’t know how to do it, give ‘em help." These are both common sense ideas that could bring about major changes in education (and make my life easier). - The Environmental Revolution. The minute McCain and Palin started inciting crowds to chant "Drill, baby, Drill," he discredited manyof his environmental promises. While he's a DRAMATIC improvement on Bush, he's still in the pockets of the same industries trying to get in the way of the dramatic changes we need to reverse global warming trends. Obama's plan, titled "New Energy for America" is ambitious, responsible, and comprehensive.
If Obama is elected, I predict that this document will become one of the most important in the modern history of the United States. So read it now. If not for yourself, so you can tell your children you were a part of something important. We're talking about energy independence. We're talking about five million new jobs. We're talking about one million cars that get 150 mpg. We're talking about changing the gluttonous American paradigm. This is huge.
I know that sounds scary to those of you who cling to the status quo like it's the steering wheel of your Hummer as you cut off a poor teacher in a station wagon, but just once, think with your brain instead of your penis as you read this thing. Please. Then compare Obama's ideas to the simplistic solutions of McCain (drill, drill, drill or nukes, nukes, nukes). If nothing else, you have to admit that Obama and his people have put a little more thought into this than McCain and friends. If that isn't a reflection of who is better prepared to lead right now, I don't know what is. If that isn't a reflection of a candidate with substance, I don't know what is. Don't listen to the bullshit anymore people.
READ MORE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL REVOLUTION - He Understands the Complexities of Race Relations. I know many readers of this blog don't care about this issue, but it is important. Barack Obama has a unique background that allows him to understand all sides of the extremely sensitive and volatile race relations in this country. If we can start now, to work towards his vision for "A More Perfect Union," we could finally move towards truly achieving the dream Martin Luther King Jr. had many years ago. He gave this speech on March 18th amid the media's obsession with Reverend Wright. It took courage to give this speech. It's the most honest assessment of race in this country by a politician I've ever heard. Here is my favorite part of the speech:
"That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, "Not this time." This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can't learn; that those kids who don't look like us are somebody else's problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.
This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don't have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.
This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn't look like you might take your job; it's that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.
This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should've been authorized and never should've been waged, and we want to talk about how we'll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned.
I would not be running for President if I didn't believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation - the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election."
Barack Obama as "A More Perfect Union", ink on Bristol, John Sokol, 2008
