one week: change we need

[mckitterick]

If you read this LJ, you already know that I'm not a big fan of the NeoCons or the modern Republican party. You've probably noticed that I feel McCain has been corrupted by them; whatever honor he once held seems to have faded over the years. He used to be against torture; recently, he aligned with the Bush administration that certain tortures aren't "torture." He used to seem to match his self-annointed "maverick" label; recently, he's been almost 100% in line with the Bushies. And then I learned that his character is repulsive (to his current wife, Cindy: "At least I don't trowel on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt!" or leaving his first wife after saying he was "disgusted by her appearance" or any of his frequent abusiveness against his co-workers).

Anyhow.

Those of you who know me personally are aware that I don't label myself Democrat, even though I usually vote with the Dems; it's just that the Republican party is so backward politically and ethically, and I don't think rich people and major corporations are better than the rest of us, so my politics more closely match the Dems'. In fact, I think the policies that support the rich and non-human entities (corporations) over the middle class are destructive: I dare you to look at what Wall Street and the banking industry have done to the world's economy and tell me that deregulation is a good thing.

If you know me personally, you probably know that I was unsure about Obama during the primaries; I felt he was a fine speaker, but I didn't know what he was all about. I've been planning to vote for him; I've made my little donation and gotten my Obama 08 button, but I wasn't an Obamaian so much as an anti-McCainian and ultra-anti-Palinian.

Well, this video changed all that (it's 31 minutes long and worth it all; if you only have 20 minutes free, you could skip the first 10 if you must). Wowee, does it make me happy to hear him elucidate his platform! Everything he's for, I'm for; everything he's against, I'm against. Plus, y'know, listening to him speak is a joy and an inspiration, something this nation really needs right now. His calls for everyone to be responsible for helping themselves and helping save the world? Truly moving.

Obama's my man! If you agree with his platform, be sure to vote next week. The video:

Best,
Chris

Comments

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

I would have liked a little more about how it's all paid for. In some places he said it explicitly (paying for tax cuts on the poor with tax rises on the rich - and I'd never heard before that those were only to pre-existing levels!). In other places it was self-evident - tax breaks to companies that create US jobs and to start-ups ought to pay for themselves over time. There were others I'd like to hear more about paying the bill for. Mind, I think they're all the right things to put money into - instrastructure, college in exchange for service, alternative energy - I'd just like more detail.

I am surprised to hear you as a teacher say that "being exhausted at the end of every speech shows he really means it." Maybe it's different when you teach all the time, but I know when I stand in front of a group of people trying to get them to understand something new it feels like I am pouring myself out to them. It's exciting but exhausting. And that's just teaching technical stuff. I do think he really means it; Obama has had a lot of chances to show that he's a decent man and not just a poser, and he's taken most of them. "As sincerely as is possible for a politician to do" sounds about right to me.

Speaking of exciting and exhausting, I don't even know if I'll be glad when this is over, because I'd rather have even this level of uncertainty than a McCain / Palin administration. Maybe I'll go look at Obama's projected electoral college numbers again for reassurance.

Maybe I'll be doing that a lot in the next few days.