On the Bandwagon

Disclaimer: If you came here for more sappy wedding posts or updates on squishy babies, you've come to the wrong place today. Sorry! Go look at icanhascheezburger.com and come back tomorrow!

We're all doing it, right? Everyone's got an opinion, and everyone deserves to be heard. I've been debating for about two months now whether to address the upcoming election on this blog. It's something I feel incredibly strongly about, but I'm pretty sure ya'll don't come here for my soapbox stance. I'm a little afraid of alienating some of my readers. But I have enough faith in all of you that you're all intelligent enough to not take my opinion personally the same way I won't take yours.

Firstly, I want to say that I'm grateful to both parties - Republican and Democrat alike for inciting a political fervor unlike any I've seen in my lifetime. I went to school with hundreds of kids who couldn't care less about politics - I was always kind of alone in my own admittedly vague interest. But these days, Myspace and Facebook alike are littered with political messages - kids my age are donating, campaigning, and are ready to rock the vote, which couldn't make me happier.

And now, onto the soapbox I climb. I was raised in a fairly liberal family. My mother used to campaign with my aunt for the Dems, and I'm told my grandfather was extremely liberal. I do, however, have two factions in my family that were staunchly Republican. I remember a to-do in Christmas of '00 regarding the election - my uncle and my aunt screaming at each other about their respective candidates and the results. I have another Uncle who is Republican, and his wife just follows along with him. These days, I hear about "her" political views from my mother, and it drives me fucking batty because I know for a fact that she knows NOTHING about the issues and is just parroting her husband's beliefs. That annoys the holy hell out of me.

I've always leaned liberal. In my pre-teen and teenage years, though I knew little about most of the issues, I was always firmly in the pro-choice and pro-gun control camp, which generally automatically puts me at odds with most GOP candidates. Coming into this year's primary, however, I really dove into my own research to pick the candidate that I thought would represent this country best.

In my opinion, I knew that was NOT any of the Republican candidates. Like I said, I'm extremely pro-gun control. I also believe that the government should not involve itself in any moral issues - I can't support any abortion ban of any kind, I believe teaching abstinence-only education in schools is choosing to teach only half the subject and therefore doing our kids an injustice, and I cannot get on board with creating a government approved definition of marriage.

On the first point - mostly it just comes down to the fact that I really don't think the government should be able to tell anyone what to do with their bodies. On this point, I also believe in the legalization of drugs, but I'm pretty sure that'll never happen. Secondly, you can't pick and choose legislation - you can only blanket ban. If you ban things like partial-birth abortion (I'm sorry to any that term offends), you risk the lives of millions of women who would die with their children if they attempted to carry to term.

On the second - Do I believe that teaching safe sex AND abstinence will lower the rate of teen pregnancy? Not necessarily. I was taught safe sex in my schools and I was still a teen parent. But I still believe that you should be taught ALL sides of an issue. Likewise, I think that kids should be taught about Darwinism, because it's science, but should know that there are people who believe in Creationism. I know you're walking a thin line there - but it's not that hard to present both sides of an issue with an objective and non-religious or moral viewpoint.

And the third - Look. I love my husband. I've wanted to marry him for quite some time. If I was told that I couldn't because it "threatened" someone else's perception of marriage, I'd be fucking livid. What the hell right do any of us have to tell anyone else that? How is it not complete and utter illegal discrimination to say that some people deserve less rights than others? Honestly, writing this, I am no longer afraid of pissing off my readers. If you think gay marriage threatens your relationship, go read someone else's blog. I don't want you here.

So those few points were mainly to tell you what was already probably obvious - I knew my candidate was going to be a Democrat. It was just a matter of picking which one. I did my research. I don't trust a lot of media. In my opinion, there's two kinds of media - liberal and conservative, and they each have their agenda. I place my trust in voting records, in my gut on listening to each candidate. And by the time the Pennsylvania primary rolled around, I had my choice.

Barack Obama.

I agree with Hillary Clinton on a lot of things, don't get me wrong. Universal healthcare earned her a ton of points in my books, but at the end of the day, I felt it was Obama who could lead this nation into a better era. Fortunately, a lot of people agreed with me.

Now it's a countdown to November, and I have to tell you - I'm genuinely afraid for this country. I've seen the numbers among Independents and white female voters swing since the introduction of Sarah Palin. It disgusts me. I've actually heard women say that if they couldn't have Hillary, Sarah's the next best thing. Seriously? If you said that to Hillary Clinton, she'd probably slap you in the face. They have ZERO in common besides ovaries. Women like this are the reason a lot of men think we're the dumb half of this species.

When I have the chance to address anyone who is on the fence, my only plea is this - PLEASE. INFORM YOURSELF. You are not voting for a person, you're voting for policy. Voting for someone because he's black, or he's a war hero, or she's a mother of five is the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard. Research. Check voting records. Do an inventory of your own beliefs and figure out who represents them best. I don't care who you vote for*, I just care that you did it for the right reasons.

*I'm lying, a little. I do care who you vote for. BA-ROCK THE VOTE, PEOPLE. But seriously, if you keep your comments here respectful and well though out, I won't call you stupid or make fun of your choice**.

**To your face.

Comments

[Kristi]

I haven't gotten the courage to post a political piece on my blog. I'm glad you did!

I basically agree with everything you said. I was a Hillary supporter, but have fully embraced Obama. The fact that women think Sarah Palin is the next best thing to Hillary seriously makes me cringe.

I love that you stressed the importance of an educated vote.

[Jennifer]

I am from Alaska and to say that Sarah Palin represents me is an insult. I don't vote based on gender and I am afraid of anyone that does. I have been inspired by Obama, but only disgusted by McCain and Palin.

[Hope]

Well said! I've been an Obama supporter all along, but I think that it's an effing DISGRACE that people could seriously compare Sarah Palin to Hillary.

[K]

Um, about teaching both sides in the science classroom... shall we also teach that some people believe the earth is flat (in the interest of fairness)... or that some people believe that they were abducted in aliens?

Does this belong in the science school curriculum? NO. It is absolute rubbish - not one iota scientific. You may as well teach flat earth in geology class.

Talk about it in philosophy or social studies maybe - but, keep your religion out of my science classes.

(whew - I feel better now). Now, back to the regularly scheduled programming.

[Kate]

My response to K, also sent via email:

I think I wasn't clear about my intention on that statement - it's my opinion that evolution should be taught in science, but that, not necessarily in the same class, the notion that there are people who believe in creationism should be presented. And not even that Creationism is true or correct...just that people believe it. I agree with you - keep the subjects separate. Thanks for the comment.