2008 Election -- What is at Stake?
It's funny now that both Conventions are over, and well I don't feel that the election is in full swing yet. I've barely seen any coverage of Senator Joe Biden. The new cycle is still stuck on Governor Sarah Palin. Senator Barack Obama is still focused on dealing with her. And Senator John McCain is still toting her about like the latest handbag on a press junket for the next summer blockbuster. She wasn't allowed to speak to the media nor answer any questions from voters until she's properly drank the McCain punch. But when she did...the interview was a disaster.
All this hype has missed the mark about what this election is about.
Let me first begin by saying what this election is not about.
This election is not about race. We're not electing the first black President. This election is not about gender. We're not electing the first female Vice-President. This election is not about age. We are not looking at putting the older than dirt McCain into the presidency nor are we taking into account the Barack Obama youth (and whatever inexperience we associate with that).
The election is really about where America is going and who want want to lead us there. Ask yourself what you want the America of tomorrow to be like, and then decide.
For me, I want tomorrow to be better on all fronts.
The election is about the economy. Wall Street has run amok. (The current crisis smells of the S&L crisis kicked up a notch -- and Republicans were in charge the last time we had this problem.) NAFTA has sent jobs to Mexico. (I've known of many folks from farmers to factory workers who have seen their low skilled jobs moved to Mexico -- and no one seems to say "Made in Mexico" is a dirty word like "China".) Cost cuts have seen jobs outsourced to India. (When was the last time someone from India greeted you when you had a billing problem or needed help with your cell phone of computer? And even companies like 3M are outsourcing secretarial work like typing notes to India!) Who will bring the economy back on it's feet again?
The election is about restoring America's place on the international scene. We've made an ass of ourselves invading Iraq on false intelligence with a VP and a President who had some knowledge of this and misled the American people and Congress. We've made demands on North Korea. They've made a gesture back, but we didn't reciprocate and now Kim Jung-Il has gone into hiding with people suspecting that something big is going to come of it. We haven't been very good with Iran. And now this Russian crisis with Georgia. We need a President and a VP who can win folks over with diplomacy. McCain was diplomacy with Russia but Palin would go to war to defend Georgia. Barack and Biden are about diplomacy.
The election is about the environment. The price of oil has dropped to close to $100 a barrel as I write this posting. Our desire to use alternative energies my disappear as the price of oil retreats amid the strengthening of the US$ against the Euro. But really, we need to stop it with the dependency on oil and the drilling in Alaska. We may last another generation with that oil. But what we will be left with is a destructed nature preserve and no oil to last our grand children's lifetime. So why not reach for alternative solutions now? T. Boon Pickens had it right with wind. Hybrid cars have it right to use electricity to fuel our cars. And the abundance of solar -- don't even get me started. It's not a cheap alternative. But if we don't start now, a generation later, we're going to regret it. I want blue skies, clean air, and the change of seasons for my grandchildren. Give me the candidate that will preserve the Earth beyond their passing.
The election is about affordable health care for all-Americans. It is sad to see that most Americans remain employed in their job -- no matter their misery -- to maintain health care coverage. I have know members of my family who have taken on part-time jobs so they can get health care coverage from corporate America because insurance for small businesses are just not affordable. I have seen my parents avoid going to the doctor to treat an ailment because the cost of the visit is more than they can afford and the cost of the medication is just unaffordable. I have seen friends file for bankruptcy because they couldn't afford the copay after a major medical disaster. I have seen middle-America drive hundreds of miles to receive free medical care. We champion the human rights we afford our people in this country yet we cannot provide the very care that affords our citizens their dignity.
This election is about who will be added to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court has now been swung much more to the right. The framers of the Constitution envisioned that individual liberties would evolve over time. Yet with this Court we saw limits to those civil liberties. The Constitution balances the interests of the individual against that of society and the government. This Court has put interests of private developers ahead of property rights. That is only the beginning. Over the course of the next 4 years issues such as gay marriages, environmental interests, race and college entrances, rights of investors against large IBs, and eminent domain may come before the Court. And if it has it's way, I fear we will take many steps backwards in this country's jurisprudence. And undoubtedly, abortion may find it's way back to the Court if we get two more conservative justices. Roe has in many ways been gutted over the years. The final nail in the coffin may be on the horizon.
Much is at stake in this election. When you close the curtain and select the next team for the Executive branch, you have to remember what this election is about. It is not whether we have a black man or a POW in the White House. It is not whether we have a hockey mom who has taken the 18 million cracks in the ceiling and broken through to the other side. It is about your future, my future, and the future of our grand children and their grand children.
All this hype has missed the mark about what this election is about.
Let me first begin by saying what this election is not about.
This election is not about race. We're not electing the first black President. This election is not about gender. We're not electing the first female Vice-President. This election is not about age. We are not looking at putting the older than dirt McCain into the presidency nor are we taking into account the Barack Obama youth (and whatever inexperience we associate with that).
The election is really about where America is going and who want want to lead us there. Ask yourself what you want the America of tomorrow to be like, and then decide.
For me, I want tomorrow to be better on all fronts.
The election is about the economy. Wall Street has run amok. (The current crisis smells of the S&L crisis kicked up a notch -- and Republicans were in charge the last time we had this problem.) NAFTA has sent jobs to Mexico. (I've known of many folks from farmers to factory workers who have seen their low skilled jobs moved to Mexico -- and no one seems to say "Made in Mexico" is a dirty word like "China".) Cost cuts have seen jobs outsourced to India. (When was the last time someone from India greeted you when you had a billing problem or needed help with your cell phone of computer? And even companies like 3M are outsourcing secretarial work like typing notes to India!) Who will bring the economy back on it's feet again?
The election is about restoring America's place on the international scene. We've made an ass of ourselves invading Iraq on false intelligence with a VP and a President who had some knowledge of this and misled the American people and Congress. We've made demands on North Korea. They've made a gesture back, but we didn't reciprocate and now Kim Jung-Il has gone into hiding with people suspecting that something big is going to come of it. We haven't been very good with Iran. And now this Russian crisis with Georgia. We need a President and a VP who can win folks over with diplomacy. McCain was diplomacy with Russia but Palin would go to war to defend Georgia. Barack and Biden are about diplomacy.
The election is about the environment. The price of oil has dropped to close to $100 a barrel as I write this posting. Our desire to use alternative energies my disappear as the price of oil retreats amid the strengthening of the US$ against the Euro. But really, we need to stop it with the dependency on oil and the drilling in Alaska. We may last another generation with that oil. But what we will be left with is a destructed nature preserve and no oil to last our grand children's lifetime. So why not reach for alternative solutions now? T. Boon Pickens had it right with wind. Hybrid cars have it right to use electricity to fuel our cars. And the abundance of solar -- don't even get me started. It's not a cheap alternative. But if we don't start now, a generation later, we're going to regret it. I want blue skies, clean air, and the change of seasons for my grandchildren. Give me the candidate that will preserve the Earth beyond their passing.
The election is about affordable health care for all-Americans. It is sad to see that most Americans remain employed in their job -- no matter their misery -- to maintain health care coverage. I have know members of my family who have taken on part-time jobs so they can get health care coverage from corporate America because insurance for small businesses are just not affordable. I have seen my parents avoid going to the doctor to treat an ailment because the cost of the visit is more than they can afford and the cost of the medication is just unaffordable. I have seen friends file for bankruptcy because they couldn't afford the copay after a major medical disaster. I have seen middle-America drive hundreds of miles to receive free medical care. We champion the human rights we afford our people in this country yet we cannot provide the very care that affords our citizens their dignity.
This election is about who will be added to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court has now been swung much more to the right. The framers of the Constitution envisioned that individual liberties would evolve over time. Yet with this Court we saw limits to those civil liberties. The Constitution balances the interests of the individual against that of society and the government. This Court has put interests of private developers ahead of property rights. That is only the beginning. Over the course of the next 4 years issues such as gay marriages, environmental interests, race and college entrances, rights of investors against large IBs, and eminent domain may come before the Court. And if it has it's way, I fear we will take many steps backwards in this country's jurisprudence. And undoubtedly, abortion may find it's way back to the Court if we get two more conservative justices. Roe has in many ways been gutted over the years. The final nail in the coffin may be on the horizon.
Much is at stake in this election. When you close the curtain and select the next team for the Executive branch, you have to remember what this election is about. It is not whether we have a black man or a POW in the White House. It is not whether we have a hockey mom who has taken the 18 million cracks in the ceiling and broken through to the other side. It is about your future, my future, and the future of our grand children and their grand children.
posted by Clue Lessness at 9:06 PM
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