So, I have not posted anything on the election yet because, well, I just don’t know what to say. It was such a historic moment. Not only because President-Elect Obama is the first black President but for many other personal reasons for me.
For instance, this is the first time in 12 years (since the 1996 Election) that I voted for some one that I TRULY believed in. Yes, I did believe in Al Gore and to a lesser extent John Kerry, but I saw/see something in Barack Obama that I did not see in the others: passion.
Whether you like him or not, President-Elect Obama has that something. Yes, there is charisma. Yes, there is his amazing oratory skills but when he tells me that YES, WE CAN; I believe that yes we can. It isn't just words to me. We can fix the economy. We can create more jobs. We can provide health care for all the children in this country. We can save our environment and the animals that are in peril. We can find alternate forms of energy and become less dependant on foreign oil. Yes, we can. But it is going to take work. A lot of work. And sacrifice. And it won’t happen overnight.
There are those people that say we are doomed. Who knows, maybe we are. But we can't continue to travel down this same road and I don't think it will be because Senator Obama and his family is in the White House. There is the charge that we are going to become a socialist country because the new president wants to spread the wealth around. Seriously? First, I didn’t take what he said to mean that he is going to take all the money that the rich people make and give it to the poor. I think of it more along the lines that the more money you earn, the more tax you pay. That is progressive income tax. Why should rich people get all the tax breaks? And no, because you make $250,000.00 or more does not mean that you work harder than I do because I only make $35,000. I work very hard to support myself and my furry family.
I think it is time that we, as Americans, start looking inward at ourselves and see how we live. On the whole, we are a wasteful, egotistical, selfish society. And before you start cursing me, I include myself in that description. To be completely honest, I see the error in my ways and I am trying to make an effort to change. It is hard to change. And a little scary too. I get that. But something has to be done to fix the 8 years of damage that has been done to this country; monetarily, emotionally, psychologically etc… Can we do it? I hope so. Because I love my country and the planet in which I live and I hate to see it so divided, sad and unhealthy.
1 comment:
Ditto to all that. The thing is -- if McCain had won, I probably would've been saying "We're doomed!" as well. However, I didn't say that in 2000, when Bush won (more or less) the election. I didn't like him, but I was willing to give him a chance. But his administration was so awful on so many fronts (an opinion that, according to exit polls, about 90 percent of voters share) that I feel that another four years of Republican reign WOULD have doomed us, or at least not helped us much. So I would say, to anyone who's unhappy with the results, that Obama similarly deserves the benefit of the doubt. And if you listen to his speeches, or, better yet, read his books, you will see that he is genuinely interested in the viewpoints of those who may disagree with him. He doesn't want to push a liberal agenda just for the agenda's sake, he wants to make the country a better place. And he has acknowledged that it won't be easy, that it may get worse before it gets better, that it will require sacrifice along the way. And you're right that we should rise to the occasion --it's the only way out of the mess we're in.
Sorry, huge long comment. Gobama!
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