Unedited
Below is my unedited version of the Barack Obama endorsement I wrote for this week’s Whitworthian. I’m doing this because I feel as though the article edited out some of my actual arguments, rather than just my hyperbole, which makes me look like a bit more of a tool than I want to look. The published article can be viewed here:
http://media.www.whitworthian.com/media/storage/paper1220/news/2008/10/21/Opinions/Debate.Obama.Will.Point.Us.In.The.Right.Direction-3496483.shtml
Few would disagree that this country is in a precarious position. Whether one is considering the current financial crisis, the state of our healthcare system, our dependence on foreign oil, or our military involvement abroad, it appears we are doing something wrong.
For the past eight years, the country has endured under a president who not only has the lowest approval rating in history, but who has also made more executive orders than any other president. In some major ways, the president has been ignoring the civil liberties of U.S. Citizens and has been treating us like subjects instead; abusing democracy and offending politicians from both parties.
These realizations have prompted both of this year’s major presidential candidates to run on a platform of change. Neither of the candidates’ proposals is perfect in my opinion, but we’ll never see Jesus run for office- no matter what the fundamentalists might think.
However, when presented the choice between Senator John McCain (R) and Senator Barack Obama (D), I choose to support the candidate whose policies have a better chance of moving this country in the right direction. I’m going to vote for Obama.
We live in an American age where trust in the government is often considered foolish. There is a good reason for our mistrust. President Bush has exemplified how skewed our system of checks and balances has become. The executive branch has run amok. Go online and review the list of executive orders he has made and you will probably find yourself afraid of the influence of one man, even if you agree with his policies.
Do we really want to vote a self-proclaimed maverick into the most powerful office in the land? A man who says “country first” over and over again, but who is willing to nominate a gimmick as his running mate?
Do not misunderstand me, a qualified woman in the office of President or Vice-President would be a positive testament to our society, but the nomination of a woman with less than two years of experience governing a sparsely populated and naturally wealthy state should be an insult to everyone.
Again, go online and watch Katie Couric’s interview with Sarah Palin, it should make you sick at the risk McCain has taken by nominating her. After that, look up the definition of the word maverick. McCain has fallen into the very political circus he is so outspoken against.
If Obama is voted into office, the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. Government will both be ruled by democrats. In other words, Obama will be able to lead effectively, without needing to abuse his power or play maverick to bring about actual change.
It is scary to have a majority opinion in the government, but think about what would be able to be accomplished.
Obama’s platform includes tax breaks for 95% of Americans, affordable health-care for everyone, and an eventual withdrawal from Iraq.
Admittedly, Obama’s tax plan may have to be reexamined in the light of the current financial crisis, but his philosophy of working from the bottom up instead of the top down will be key to providing as much relief as is possible in the days to come.
I would rather be governed by the actual U.S. Government than by a multitude of profit hungry businesses benefiting from subsidies and tax breaks. Trickle down economics is a trickle of spit by the time it reaches the common laborer. It is simply human nature; those who have, keep, and those who can take advantage of a situation, do.
It is time we took our country back from the faceless corporations who legislate our lives more than congress ever could. Follow the money trail and we all end up in the same machine, victims of our own greed. This is why we need the regulation promised by Obama, not the corporate freedoms offered by McCain.
This includes insurance companies who stand in the way of Americans and healthy lives. Earlier this year when I had the flu, I had to stay by the phone for hours trying to get a referral so I could see a doctor outside of my hometown. I ended up becoming too exhausted and going to bed. This is a picture of privatized healthcare and one of many reasons to change the system. It’s not hard to imagine a worse scenario than mine that ends up taking someone’s life. It happens on a regular basis to the homeless and mentally disabled citizens wandering the streets of Spokane.
Obama wants the government to subsidize healthcare for those who don’t have it. In the second presidential debate he stated that he believes healthcare is a right, not a commodity. I couldn’t agree with him more.
It is also no secret that America is at the mercy of foreign oil companies, much the same way the average citizen is at the mercy of insurance companies.
McCain supports offshore drilling and extended drilling in Alaska, two temporary solutions that would not not affect the price of fuel in a noticeable way.
Obama supports alternative energy research first and foremost. The world is running out of oil, alternative sustainable energy is the right direction no matter what it temporarily does to the market.
In the meantime, a vast amount of our country’s resources are being poured into an un-winnable war abroad that has lost us the respect of other world powers. Someone should explain to me how anyone can defeat terrorists. Several groups of unorganized idealist radicals are as impossible to defeat with guns as drugs were for the Clinton administration.
In the second debate, McCain said he wants to bring our troops home in victory. In my opinion, they have already had several small victories working on the infrastructure of Iraq, but there is no war to win, just several unending battles.
It’s time we elected a candidate who can see the big picture and who can understand how to shape America into a country we can be proud of. It’s time we elected Barack Obama.
Links:
http://www.ontheissues.org/Barack_Obama.htm
http://www.ontheissues.org/John_McCain.htm
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/orders/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/30/obama-would-order-review_n_115782.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/14/bush-strategist-mccain-kn_n_134570.html
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Katie+Couric%2C+Sarah+Palin&search_type=&aq=f
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/maverick
Bright Spot, Dark Tunnel
I noticed today that no one’s written a post on the Forum for 16 days. Why? I figure you probably haven’t written for the same reason I haven’t written: we’re busy. Busy busy busy busy busy. For example, this Friday I have two midterms, a final, ein Vokabeltest, and a club event—and for me that means not a lot of leisure-writing.
I think at some point most of us reach a place when we have so much on our plate that something has to go: grades, friends, sleep, video games, class reading, facebook (just kidding), etc. But for most people I also think there are certain things which, even though they might not correspond to our day-to-day commitments (i.e., classes, homework, work) we just can’t, or shouldn’t, let go of. You don’t give up breathing to conserve energy.
For me, it’s poetry. I planned to take a nap today, and instead ended up reading some poems. I felt really refreshed and filled afterwards. (Then I actually took a nap and felt double-refreshed. Funny how that works.)
Another one is down-time with the housemates. A good fifteen minutes of (mostly) ridiculousness with my housemates gives me a really good boost that I think helps me be more productive during the times when I am working.
What is it for you? What’s the one thing—or more than one—which you need even more when you’re busy than when you’re free, the one bright spot in the dark tunnel that is busy-ness? Sharing how we cope might give others some good ideas for stress-avoidance… or at least provide a legitimate source of procrastination from the things we really should be doing.