I’ve seen more than a couple internet comments from folks who are tired of Facebook ‘status updates’ involving thoughts on the election. One read ‘I live in Ohio and I’ve voted early. Now leave me alone!‘ Another was a cartoon of a guy throwing his tv out the window with some comment about seeing enough political ads on the screen already.
Me? I’ve tried to be publicly subtle about who gets my vote, but if you know me at all, you know who I already cast my vote for. (Yes, I live in Ohio and I’ve voted early. Election day will be a drive day back from New Orleans for Cindy Lou and me.)
But trust me, it doesn’t take much for me to dive into an energetic monologue with a liberal listener about how ridiculous the other side seems to have become. It’s much easier to preach to fellow choir members that take on the opposition. I figure Romney/Ryan supporters have already made their minds up and how can I change ‘em anyway at this point? Blessings to Cindy Lou for taking on presidential election issues with a few conservative friends a few weeks ago in Toledo. She’s a brave one, that Cindy Lou!
Last Sunday, a grade school/high school PhD buddy of mine went public on FB about supporting Obama, citing an editorial in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. So now I suppose it’s my turn here at The Back Porch to spell out the reasons I think Obama and Biden deserve another four years.
First, I can’t help but think that if a Republican had inherited a failing economy the way Obama did, and America had improved as little or as much as it has to date, the GOP would be pounding the talk show circuit with stories of success and ‘stay the course.’ Look at the successes:
• The war is Iraq is over. Troops have come home. And, yes, some troops have been reassigned to Afghanistan, but that conflict is also scheduled for a USA pull-out within the next year or so. Sounds like success to me -- except for neo-cons who think war is always the answer, but I can’t believe that’s what most conservatives think.
• Health care reform has been contentious in this country for the last fifty years. Like school funding reform in Ohio, everybody knows something ought to be done, but nobody is/was willing to do much for fear of the political fallout with the electorate. Well, Obama picked up on a health care reform package originally developed by the conservative Heritage Foundation -- one very similar to the one put in place by a certain one-term Republican governor of Massachusetts -- but now the GOP/Tea Party thinks such a change in health care is a communist/socialist plot that destroys American freedoms. Perspective is everything, I guess.
• What about Osama BinLaden? Wasn’t he the devil reincarnated under the Bush presidency? They couldn’t get the guy, but Obama did. And now they say Obama’s foreign policy indicates poor decision making? If McCain/Palin were elected in ’08 and they had gotten BinLaden, I can only imagine how they would celebrate the success of a tough GOP foreign policy. Again, I guess it’s all perspective.
• Maybe Mitt Romney’s idea for a struggling General Motors and Chrysler was to let them go bankrupt so some entity could re-emerge financially healthy. Maybe. Or maybe he figured if they couldn’t compete for international markets, they ought to be put out to pasture. All I know is Obama supported auto workers and a whole lot of folks did not lose their jobs, and now that industry has rebounded into profitability. Seems like a good use of governmental power to me.
• And what about women’s health issues? I get the idea that all life is sacred and that unborn human beings need protection, but for many church going conservatives, this issue is the only viable issue to vote on. Really ‘pro-life’? I have my doubts. I quote Thomas Friedman from the New York Times:
You don’t get to call yourself ‘pro-life’ and be against common sense gun control. You don’t get to call yourself ‘pro-life’ and want to shut down the EPA, which ensures clean air and water, prevents asthma, and combats climate change that could disrupt every life on the planet. You don’t get to call yourself ‘pro-life’ and oppose programs like Head Start that provide basic education, health, and nutrition for the most disadvantaged children. You can call yourself a ‘pro-conception-to-birth, indifferent-to-life conservative....’ I have no respect for someone who relies on voodoo science to declare that a woman’s body can distinguish a ‘legitimate’ rape, but then declares that global warming is just a hoax.
Well said, Mr. Friedman. I could delve into my diatribe about how ‘pro-life’ is really pro-human life, but I’ll refrain for another time.
I happen to think America is a better place today, respected by more people around the world, than we were four years ago.
• Under the Lilly Ledbetter act, women are guaranteed equal pay for equal work.
• Gay and lesbian Americans can serve in the military proudly to protect this great country of ours -- a country with a contingent who would rather see them bounced out unceremoniously.
• The financial industry has been reigned in from the bad corporate behavior that caused the Great Recession meltdown that caused Cindy and me to lose over $40k in our home’s value.
In fact, I wish Obama could have gotten more done. But the GOP made it clear in 2009 when he took office that they would do whatever they could to make him a one-term president. In some ways, it’s amazing he’s gotten done as much as he has with the opposition trying to stop him at every turn. Even if those programs he proposed were once a part of the Republican platform. Go figure.
One more thought: We are all Americans. I was deeply offended in 2008 when Sarah Palin concluded that only real American supported her party’s candidates. If you were a liberal, you were somehow a commie and unAmerican. Wow. That’s painful, you know?
And now a full-circle comment from Cindy Lou: ‘I’ll be glad when the election is over so I can like my Facebook friends again.’
And so it is in America in October 2012.
Today’s elder idea: Homosexuals are not in a position to adequately protect themselves from the discriminatory wishes of the majoritarian public.
Dennis Jacobs
The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
October 2012
In the decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act (1996)
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