Please Dear God...let it be Christmas.
I love my neighborhood. It had an air of Jesus' birthday last evening while I was walking home. It must be a sin or something if you don't have an Obama sign in your shop window...and everybody's talking about what time they're heading to the polls. The excitement in the air is contagious. I had little butterflies in my stomach as I walked down the street.
I cannot wait to go vote today. Yes I'm sure that I will be waiting in line for hours, but that's okay. I'm young, and I can hold out a loooottt longer that those geriatrics that support McCain. I'm actually looking forward to the long wait with my voting partner in crime.
I pray to Jesus that we find out tonight that McCain can retire to the nursing home early. I really really really don't want to have to wait 'til morning. I'll be sitting in front of the tube fidgeting all night if that's the case.
Here is the most brilliant thing I've read today. It was written by my best friend. I think it sums up what all us nonconformists are all about:
Why I Voted for Barack Obama
I will try to make this as concise as possible and not criticize the other side for their choice. This is just some insight into MY choice. *I believe that every single person in this nation is EQUAL. Gay, straight, black, white, Christian, atheist, rich or poor, all ethnicities...I want to teach my children to be accepting and tolerant of people who choose (or sometimes have no choice) to live their lives differently from us. During this election process, I have been so disappointed in my fellow Americans and how quick they have been to judge people based on their skin color, religion AND political views. Truly embarrassing sweeping generalizations of people they know and do not know from both sides. I believe in the UNITED States of America and hope that one day we can put aside this garbage and achieve it. We all want what is best for this country.* On that note though, I believe that our policies should not be isolationist. We need to be competitive in a global economy and realize that we NEED other countries to be involved with ours. Our success as a nation depends on it.* I work for our healthcare system. It is a disaster. Premiums are going up and people are having to make hard choices. In my own immediate family, our premiums went up 500% when I was pregnant with Nate. Call me a lazy Democrat all you want, but rather than go bankrupt and live on assistance, we had to make the very hard choice to move away from our ENTIRE family so we could survive. Some people are not so lucky to be able to borrow money from their parents for this opportunity. Some people can't sell their houses. We are damn lucky we did. Thanks Chirag! ;) Some people can't find higher paying jobs in other cities. Some people cannot imagine leaving their family behind. Trust me, it is the hardest thing we have ever done. I believe the system needs a complete overhaul. I don't believe giving people $5K that will be TAXED does anything more than put a band-aid on a volcano. In this great country, people should not have to let their homes go into foreclosure because their employer-based insurance sucks.* I believe that life is precious. Not just the unborn, but the lives of our soldiers, our destitute (no matter how they got there)...our CITIZENS. I believe in the Catholic teaching of war as an absolute last resort, not a preemptive solution to the world's problems. I fully supported the war in Afghanistan and still do. But I also do not want the lives of all our soldiers that have been sacrificed to have been in vain. We need to fix the mess we made as best we can. We need to hold the Iraqi government responsible for their citizens now. They have a $60 million surplus, I am sure they can manage. I believe we need to understand that our democracy and the American way of life does not work for every nation, especially ones with centuries old religious wars that we cannot possibly *fix* for them. I believe that the Iraq war has left us vulnerable at home, in OUR country. Our military is stretched so thin.* I agree with Obama's stance of parental responsibility when it comes to education. Teachers are amazing, but it is not their job to raise our children. We need to actively participate in the education of our children at school and at home. No Child Left Behind is a disaster and has our children learning to pass tests instead of rewarding the critical thinking that is essential in the real world and the global economy. * I believe in the freedom of expression. Whether through art, religion, press, or speech; whether I agree or not. Living in an echo chamber is not my idea of a great nation. I believe we need to question our leaders and not accept what they are telling us, but research and get the answers and never let up. And speak up against what we feel is WRONG. And have the ability to do so without being persecuted, as long as it is done respectfully and without violence. "The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I like a little rebellion now and then.”--Thomas Jefferson. This great country was created based on dissent!* I believe that the Patriot Act is an assault on the civil liberties of all Americans. * I believe that women should be treated fairly and equally in the workplace. I believe that there should be no time limits on lawsuits regarding equal pay. * I believe that social programs are very important and a spending freeze will create massive unemployment and hardships for families. I also believe that people that share my college major will find it very difficult to get a job anymore.*Along these lines, I think that social programs and sex education will actually DO something to reduce the abortion rate in this country, more than making it illegal ever would. We need to have support programs in place for women who choose to keep their pregnancies and support the lives not only before they are here, but after as well. * I believe that we need to build this country from the bottom up, not the top down. I believe the middle class is the basis of this country. I believe trickle down economics does not and has not worked. I also believe raising the tax rate on those that make over $250K (sorry friends ;) ) from 36 to 39% is not going to destroy our country. We have had a progressive tax rate FOREVER. Reagan created the Earned Income Tax Credit. Obama is only promising to let the tax cuts expire to pre-Bush levels. * I technically OWN a small business as a private contractor. I pay the self-employment tax among other things, but it is what I need to do to have the privilege of my business and the privilege of raising my children at the same time. What people do not understand about the $250K figure is that is the NET amount. Businesses are allowed so many deductions that some do not end up owing a dime. You can gross $5 million, but net less than $250K. It is very simple math if you understand owning a business. * I see in Obama and Biden real family values. Walking the walk through their WHOLE lives.I do think some extreme liberals will be disappointed in Obama. * He does not support gay marriage. He is a Christian. He believes homosexuals should have equal civil rights, but he does not support marriages.*He supported the FISA bill.*He does not support reparations for descendants of slaves and emphasizes personal responsibility within the black community.*He supports off-shore drilling.*He supports faith-based initiatives.That's it in a nutshell.I am ready for the end of fear mongering and hatred of those that are different from us. I am ready to feel hopeful again about this wonderful country. I know Obama is not going to come in and magically fix everything that has gone wrong. I am realistic. But it's a start.
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