October 25, 2008

• Looking Past November 4

  Today is a politically charged day here in Albuquerque.  Senator McCain was here this morning giving a speech on the New Mexico Fairgrounds; Senator Obama will be here this evening on the UNM Campus.  Hilary Clinton was giving a speech this afternoon at 2 but I’m not sure where because I didn’t recognize the name of the town. 

  I confess, I didn’t get know about the McCain rally until it was too late or I’d have dragged the kids there.  But I will be dragging them down to UNM tonight to hear Senator Obama. 

  We headed out to vote today and I’m really glad we went early.  There was a line, but it wasn’t very long, the kids were able to come with me, and they got to ask questions about the process.  Michael asked more pertintent questions, Tucker mostly wanted to know if he could drag a chair over to sit down while I was filling in my ballot.  I’m very grateful for the League of Women Voters publication because the print on the ballot was just the titles of some of the initiatives and I’d have had no idea what I was voting for or against if I didn’t have that paper with me. 

  It’s anyone’s guess how New Mexico will go.  Bush lost New Mexico to Al Gore in 2000 by 366 votes.  Less than 500.  It was close in 2004 as well, but with Bush winning over Kerry by about 6,000 it wasn’t quite as dramatic.  Both races were decided by fewer voters than are accounted for by the “margin for error” in the polls we hear so much about.  

  No matter how it goes, there are going to be a lot of unhappy people around here and everywhere on November 5.  Having been on the receiving end of some “rubbing it in” when my candidate has been defeated in the past, I have a few suggestions for people on both sides.  Whoever wins, whoever loses, this is not about the ultimate triumph of good over evil.  We have candidates who represent two very different points of view, but there are aspects to recommend both sides. 

  The only way we can move forward as a nation toward the ideals and values we all hold precious is if we understand that we have to work toward liberty and justice for all.  Even the people with whom we don’t agree.  So winners, look carefully at the perspective of those who’ve lost, don’t dismiss their fears, and don’t patronize them.

  Losers, you aren’t without a voice even if your candidate lost.  One of the women in our Autism group reminded us by email this morning that regardless of who holds the office, we have access.  She has made appointments with Senators, Representative, State Legislators and Judges for years as an advocate for the Special Needs community.  It’s hard for anyone who hasn’t lived with the challenges of special needs to understand how to help so she expects that she will be answering a lot of questions and raising considerations if the officeholder isn’t aware of the nuances.  She’s been able to work with people on both sides of the aisle by approaching everything as a human issue, not a Democratic or Republican issue.

  I’ve made no secret of my political leanings for President. 

  I support Barack Obama.  The health care system of our nation has reached a point in which 1/6 of our population has no access to healthcare.  We need someone who will advocate for us.

  Over the past 8 years, we’ve seen a complete 180 degree turning away from the Just War philosophy (which was first a theological position proposed by Augustine) which has served Western Civilization for 1700 years.  The only time we deviated from that position on any scale (before now) the deviation led to the shame of the Crusades.  We need someone who understands history and who can move us back to the higher ground.

  We need someone who is willing to work on behalf of the 37 million people living in poverty.  That’s more than 10% of the population of the richest nation in the world (even AFTER the terrifying plunge of the stock market.)  We have people in this nation who go to bed hungry.  We have mothers who let the kids eat first and only eat what’s left over.  We have families who sleep in their car.  We have  people who skip doses of medication because they can’t afford their prescriptions.  We have to do better than this and I believe that Obama’s record shows that he not only has a deep understanding of these issues but that he has a willingness to act to address them.

  We’ve experienced the greatest redistribution of wealth in our nation’s history over the past 10 years as people have been duped by unregulated industries into financial products, credit cards, and mortgages that promised what they could never deliver.  We need someone in the White House who understands and will ask for policies of regulation to safeguard the property and potential of everyone, not just the few at the top. 

  We need someone in the White House with an old-fashioned understanding of human nature.  We don’t need any more Lord of the Flies mentality.  We don’t need any more social darwinism.  We don’t need any more decisions based upon the false hope that industries are capable or even motivated to regulate themselves.  (As Mr. Greenspan finally admitted when he testified before Congress this week.)  I believe that Barack Obama “gets it.” 

  If you’re still undecided, I urge you to go to the websites of the Presidential candidates and read for yourselves what they have said their policies will be.   

  Barack Obama          John McCain

   

  (And btw, I have to say something about Sarah Palin’s policy speech yesterday.  She mocked funding fruit fly research.  That research has helped to isolate a possible genetic link to autism and offered promising lines of new information because fruit flies are like lab mice.  They reproduce so often that they make it possible to track genetic markers through multiple generations.  Anyone who claims to be a special needs advocate should know that before she stands up in front of a group of people and calls “pork” the very research that might one day provide the answers to some of our most heart-breaking human diseases and conditions.)

  Only a few more days to decide, to vote, and to start living with the consequences. 

  Are you ready?

   

  • 5:01 pm
  • 20 Comments