CLICK HERE FOR BLOGGER TEMPLATES AND MYSPACE LAYOUTS »

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Hmm.. Politics...

“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible…who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of Democracy..tonight is your answer..”
-Barack Obama

Gathering my thoughts for this blog has taken me some time. Political views are never easy to discuss. This Presidential election raised much emotion in the United States. I felt fairly passionately about it. I caucused in the Primary and found myself awe inspired that for the first time there was a possibility that a woman or an African American man could be the President elect. In my dream world Obama & Hillary would have been on the same ticket. In our discussions of this Presidential campaign, I asked Marketing Boy if he remembered thinking as a child if he would ever see a black man or a woman as President. His answer was honest... He hadn’t really thought about it. He just assumed he would.

I had. I’d thought about it as a young girl... our parents tell us that there aren’t any limitations, but there always have been. Presidents, the highest political office, the Commanders in Chief, the leaders of the free world… have always been white men. I pondered and even journaled about it as a girl… “Will I live to see a Woman be President?” I hated watching the media attack Hillary because she cried or because of supposed cankles or because she was too tough or not sensitive enough? She couldn’t win any way she presented herself?

Politics in my family has always been an interesting coversation. My father’s family was die hard Republican. My mother’s were Democrats. My Mom and Dad did a fairly good job of selecting candidates and not always voting within party lines... but the battle ground was present. Democrat or Republican?

I don’t consider myself a die hard liberal. But if one were to look at my voting track record…I voted to re-elect Clinton in 1996, let’s just say I didn’t vote for Bush either time (not that it matters in the Great State of Texas) and I didn’t vote for McCain in this election. I realize in the Christian community, in the professional community of which I am a part, and amongst many of my family and friends that makes me a minority. I certainly don’t discuss politics in the office because well the day after the election my client began forwarding me “Obama is the anti-Christ” "The end is near" emails. I’ve received the email chains that Obama is not really a citizen because his father was an African Muslim and that his birth certificate is wrong, so he couldn’t possibly be a citizen? I’ve seen the You Tube videos showing working class America going on and on about Barack HUSSEIN Obama. The spelling of his name apparently makes him a terrorist? Someone even commented to me that if I voted for Obama- I was responsible for our country going to “hell in a hand basket.” Wow….

I’ll spare you the break down of the issues and my stance. I have a very real opinion on all of them, but I didn’t agree 100% with either candidate’s stance on them. I had to look at the bundle of issues and make my call. I did so without ever saying “McCain is the Anti-Christ” Truthfully, when McCain gave his concession speech I thought to myself “that’s a class act” there is the man that I expected to see run the campaign for the Presidency

My thoughts, however random, are getting a little lost. When I watched Obama give his victory speech, I knew I was witnessing history. We might not all believe in his views, but 70% of registered voters turned out to vote in this Presidential election.

I read an article not long ago that made an interesting correlation. Great American leaders have either come from strong political backgrounds with strong male role models (ie the Kennedy’s) or they have rose above their means or situation and did so without a strong Father figure present (Clinton or Obama). Barack Hussein Obama may have a crazy sounding name. His father was a Muslim and not born in the United States..but Barack was. That makes him an American Citizen and qualified to lead. He rose above his situation to gain an education. He has served his community and his State as a Senator. He is a practicing Christian and while he has been linked to some fairly questionable people in the past—haven’t we all? Can’t we celebrate his efforts to better himself? Appreciate his willingness to serve?

Regardless of our views or our vote…We have set an example for our children, finally, that there are no limitations. Obama inspired an entire generation that “Yes We Can.” He reached across party and racial lines. Let’s see what he does with it and realize that great accomplishments often begin when we embrace change.

This liberal has a Lean Cuisine hiding in my Get Hip Get Green lunch bag. Time to go nuke it , recycle the container and eat some lunch. Holla!

1 comments:

Amanda said...

Wow.... I really think you missed your calling. I agree 100%!