"God, Guns and America" aka The GOP Convention

Last night I watched the GOP convention. I did this, not because I am a masochist (even though sitting through some of those speeches, if you can call them speeches, was torture), but because I feel the need to give both sides a chance. After wanting to stab out my eyes during the early speakers, whom, for their sakes, will go nameless, we finally got to McCain.

He did well in the beginning. He blamed republicans for losing the trust of the American people because of their greed. Thank you, McCain! He spoke movingly of his experience in Vietnam, which sounded like a life changing event. He reminded us that we are more than political parties, we are all Americans. I was being lulled into this thinking perhaps I had been a little tough on McCain for the last year. (Last fall I thought that he might be crazy when he had a break down during the republican primaries.) Maybe he was the McCain that I had liked and respected 8 years ago and the crazy-primaries-McCain was just a media created illusion. And I thought, "Okay, but what about substance." He had primed me to be more open to his views for the future of America and then he started talking about actual policies.

Suddenly he was talking about getting rid of public schools, starting a war with Russia, not allowing the US to "lose" the war in Iraq (which my sister pointed out that we already won back in like 2004 according to George W). I literally sat up from my soothed coma-like state and thought, "NO!" We cannot have 4 more years of the US carrying some Rooseveltian Big Stick against the rest of the world. We just fought off the "Parental Choice" people, who want to get rid of public schools, here in Utah and I don't know if we can do it on a national level.


It is official. I have listened to the candidates, the speeches, the talking heads and this is what I have come up with: McCain is not for me!

Speaking of Artifice or... Why I decided to become a Democrat

I tend to get a little passionate about everything in my life. I also do not have a hard time making up my mind about the smallest things or the really important decisions. For example, I liked Barack Obama when I first heard him 2+ years ago and thought he should run for president and I liked him throughout the primaries. And I am passionate about this election.

However, I come from a family who is religiously republican. I was with them for a long time, but then I started listening to the republicans and comparing what they said they believed (small government, lower taxes, family values, etc.) to what they actually do. For example, living in Utah, a notoriously republican state (Bill Clinton got less votes than Ross Perot!!!!!), we still have some of the highest state income taxes in the nation. What about the fact that we have gotten so in debt under the current administration, when republicans are supposed to be the more fiscally responsible party. Perhaps this is because the republican party is run by rich business people and, as evidenced by big business in America, rich business people care only about taking care of themselves not their employees (anyone checked out the pay received by top executives of Walmart compared with the workers at Walmart) and shareholders (at least if it is publicly traded).

I also realized that there was a major disconnect between my religious views and the views of the republican party. How can I, a Christian, follow a party that does not have any interest in helping the poor, the sick, and the needy? How can I follow a party that says it is the poor people's fault that they are in poverty and if they would just work harder they would not be poor? How can I support a party that doesn't care that millions of middle-class Americans cannot afford health insurance? How can I support a party that doesn't care that the insurance companies deny rightful benefits to the sick and weary who cannot fight them?

I can't! So I decided that I could no longer sit on the fence and I threw my hat into the ring with the democrats. However, this does not mean that I am not open to listening to the other side. I listened to Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention and he spoke on the things that I care about. He discussed the domestic issues that should be addressed by the next administration. He spoke of change, but he also discussed compromise. He radiated hope and I absorbed it. The republicans only laugh about Obama's campaign for change and ask how is he supposed to change anything? But Obama understands that change does not come from the one man on top, but rather it comes from the people in mass. But how to you unite the people to affect this change? People must have hope that there can be a change. If there is no hope, there can be no will to make the change.

Tonight I came home to my family raving about Palin's speech. (Of course, they did not listen to Barack Obama's speech.) So I listened to her speech on youtube and I felt despair, the opposite of hope. I tried to listen with an open mind, but I did not hear any substance on how she and McCain were going to improve our lives or at least talk about how we might face our problems. She used the republicans' favorite election strategy of fear, which I have fallen for before and I refuse to fall for again.

Fear will not make anything change. I have been trying to figure out how our nation was able to change during the 1960s, I don't know if I have figured it out, but I don't think the change came from fear. There might have been fear during the time because of all the political unrest, but I think that the change came from individual people with hope, thinking they could make a difference, and causing change by standing together.

I don't know if Obama can do all he wants to do, but I have personal hope that I can try and make things better around me. And I have hope that others are also feeling hope that they can make a difference.

This election I will vote for hope (even in Utah)!