In just a couple short weeks the election for US President will be over. Now i’ve never been very political, but I will say that I have never been so appalled by the ugliness of people during an election season as I have over the past few months. The reason for my sudden desire to write about this disgust, as it’s been brewing for quite a while now, came from reading this quote….
“I wish my moderate Republican friends would simply be honest. They all say they’re voting for Romney because of his economic policies (tenuous and ill-formed as they are), and that they disagree with him on gay rights. Fine. Then look me in the eye, speak with a level clear voice, and say,” My taxes and take-home pay mean more than your fundamental civil rights, the sanctity of your marriage, your right to visit an ailing spouse in the hospital, your dignity as a citizen of this country, your healthcare, your right to inherit, the mental welfare and emotional well-being of your youth, and your very personhood.” It’s like voting for George Wallace during the Civil Rights movements, and apologizing for his racism. You’re still complicit. You’re still perpetuating anti-gay legislation and cultural homophobia. You don’t get to walk away clean, because you say you “disagree” with your candidate on these issues.”
| — | Doug Wright, Pulitzer and Tony Award winning playwright (viabookoisseur) |
…and I don’t think I could possibly say anything to add to this.
To me this election is not about choosing “the lesser of two evils”, it’s not about choosing one bad candidate over another bad candidate. If you have issues with Barack Obama that’s fine, I don’t know anywhere near enough about his political campaign or even his time in office to argue with you but I implore anyone who sees the correctness of the above statement to not vote republican this November. An America controlled by Mitt Romney is not one that I want to live in. Segregation and hatred are not things that I feel are important to this country anymore. They used to be, and there is a reason that wars were fought and decades of legislative reform took place. Do we really have to go there again? What are we going to let states secede from the Union again based on marriage laws? I’m sick of living in a country that claims to house any and all religions and feeling like we are still made to follow the rule of one, or none at all. It is simply infuriating to me that this kind of bigotry is allowed to occur in a country that is supposed to be tolerant and an example to the world. Well we are an example, a bad one. An example of how to be backward and discriminatory, and maybe you think i’m overreacting to the views of a man who as of now is not the President of the United States, but the fact that he is considered the best the Republican party has to offer is nothing short of disgusting to me. So if you think that making it a point to get women home in time to make dinner, because that’s the really crucial aspect of their day, is wildly important, fine. If you think that sin as defined by one religious set of guidelines will bring down a nation that claims to support any religion…fine. I cannot tell you what to believe, or even that what you believe is wrong, simply that I don’t agree with those things and I don’t think it’s fine. Do I believe that this nation is going to vastly improve if we re-elect Obama? I don’t think I do, but I do think that things will be different. No one will ever agree on what it menas for a country to “get better” at least not in a holistic sense (maybe an economic one). People will always be upset about something, they just will. I think the least we can do is to not elect a man who appears to know little to nothing about a group he openly opposes. If you’re lead to love, then love without conditions.
-SM
Discontinuity 