Why She is Voting for Barack Obama...

A friend of mine received an email earlier in the week from a client. He wrote to her because he could not believe that she was voting for Barack Obama and went on to spew out lies about the candidate. What is frightening is that he believes these things to be true. Since I don't have permission to post his email - I will summarize. I do feel it is worth noting that his email contained incredibly poorly written sentences, incoherent thought patterns, and a number of mis-spellings and punctuation. The point of this posting, though, is that my friend's response was fabulous!! So good, in fact, I got her permission to post it.

This gentleman told my friend that Barack Obama has ties "going back to his college days" with Muslim extremists. He went on to say that Obama spent a great deal of his (Last I heard - Columbia and Harvard are not particularly Muslim extremist hot beds!)"younger days in the Middle East". (I don't exactly consider Indonesia the Middle East.) This man also states that Obama paid for college on the income of a single old woman, and goes on to complain that Obama won't provide a hard copy of his birth certificate and that Barack has family that states he was born in Kenya. And lastly, this person also speaks about how Obama wants to give money to the people who are "already sucking the country dry via welfare, WIC, free lunches, etc., etc." (He's right - I feel just awful about feeding hungry children!) He closes by mentioning that with McCain there are "no questions about his loyalty, birth place, etc.

My friend's response:

Do you still believe in Santa and the Easter bunny too?

I don't think you really are curious, because if you were, you would open your mind and do some real research. You went into this presidential race with an agenda — already decided that all "dumbocrats" are idiots and willing to believe anything negative about them. If that's the attitude you go in with, Jesus Christ himself could be running and, unless he's a Republican, you'd listen to and spread lies about him (he's a hippy, he's a peace-nik, he hangs around with whores and lepers, he thinks he's a savior, etc.)

So, accepting that "dumbocrats" are your enemy...

In the spirit of "know thy enemy," where do you get your news? Don't stop at Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. Read. Research. There are three NPR stations in Lakeland: 88.5 fm, 89.7 fm, and 90.7. Spend a day listening (find the one that doesn't play classical music).

I am not a Republican, nor am I a Democrat. That gives me the freedom to examine both candidates without prejudice against their party (or their race or gender).

There is so much crap in this email, I'm not even sure what all of them are, but here goes:

The birth certificate. This is so weak. Put egg on their faces? He may be too busy running for President to stop to address a nutjob like Philip Berg directly. That's what the court system is for. The court put egg on Mr. Berg's face. Case closed. You say there is no question about McCain's birthplace? There is a similar lawsuit pending in Pennsylvania because McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone. There is a question about whether that qualifies as "natural born citizen." At any rate, one of these guys is going to be President in some very difficult times...quibbling about their birth certificates is desperate.

Ayers. Obama was eight-years old when Ayers was involved with the Weather Underground. Anyone involved in Chicago politics is linked to Ayers, including MANY Repulicans:
http://www.republicansforobama.org/?q=node/3027

I believe the rest of them are taken care of with these two links:

McCain's terrorist association:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/28/mccain-funded-work-of-pal_n_138606.html

College education paid for by who?
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/money.asp

Okay, so now that the bullshit has been addressed, let's talk about
WHY I'M VOTING FOR OBAMA:

Reason #1: Enough already!!
Bush has been been in office for 8 years and we are in terrible circumstances. We never caught Osama (one guy!!), we're losing Afghanistan, Iraq has been a military and financial shitstorm, our economy is in the tank, our house values are in the tank, we are a nation of idiots more interested in reality-tv than in reality. Obama is a clear break from the Bush-years. While I don't blame the President or Congress for specifically causing the current crisis, they did nothing to stop it. Republicans have long-championed de-regulation and tax cuts for the largest corporations. A lack of regulation allowed credit-default swaps to lead to a global economic crisis. The large corporate tax-cuts that are supposed to lead to "trickle-down" economics smells like piss to me. And you want to talk socialism? We are spending hundreds of billions of dollars to save enormous corporations whose own policies led to the crisis. That's not capitalism or free market policy! That's corporate welfare and the consequences are FAR greater than social welfare.

Reason #2: McCain and Palin are anti-choice
You don't have ovaries, but I do, and I don't appreciate McCain's policies toward them:
http://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/campaigns/269.htm

Obama has the support of many religious folks who are tired of 30 years of Republican empty promises to end abortion. Obama's policies will reduce the amount of abortions through education and prevention that includes more than saying "don't have sex!"

Reason #3: Decision Making and Campaign Management
McCain's selection of Palin is an insult to the office of Vice President and makes me question his sanity. She may be a nice person and a good mother but she is woefully inadequate to fufill the most important duty of a VP. According to actuarial tables, a 72 year old man has a 15%+ chance of dying by the age of 76, and a better than 33% chance of dying before reaching the age of 80, and that's assuming perfect health, and not including the added stress of being in the most powerful position in the world, or any personal medical history information, which for McCain includes several bouts with potentially lethal skin cancer. He asked her to be his running mate after meeting her once, and without fully vetting her, which was a disturbingly rash and erratic move for someone trying to gain the American people's trust. He only chose her to appease conservatives and that screams desperation.

Reason #4: Judgement
Obama has shown good judgement and strong will. He doesn't just go with the crowd. This is what he said in 2002: "Now let me be clear: I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him. But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history."

Bad decisions, bad intelligence, bad leadership and an unwillingness to admit mistakes and change course quickly cost the US many lives.

Reason #5: Politically Incorrect
He is willing to be politically incorrect. "He is telling people, as more than one commentator has called it, "the inconvenient truths," whether to the black community about the need to stop denigrating those who speak well for being too white or the Jewish community about the need to recognize Palestinian suffering."

Reason #6: National Debt
The federal debt matters. We cannot saddle future taxpayers with having to service the debt we create with our irresponsible fiscal policies. Cutting the deficit will additionally decrease interest rates and increase private investment.

Reason #7: Trade Deficit
Every year, the difference between what the United States imports from other countries and what it exports grows, and is likely to reach $1 trillion a year by 2010. The U.S.’s trade imbalance with China alone grew from just $10 billion annually in 1990 to well over $200 billion a year by 2006. Despite this increasing and extreme deficit, recent American administrations have been unable or unwilling to force China to revalue its currency and take other measures to strengthen our exports overseas.

Reason #8: Energy Independence
As the world’s energy needs grow, it is critical that the United States be able to provide for its own energy requirements. By doing so we can deflate the power of dictators who are propped up by high oil prices, more effectively insulate ourselves from the world’s most volatile regions, and stimulate economic growth at home. Even without tapping into Alaska’s oil reserves or drilling offshore, we can dramatically reduce our dependence on foreign oil—we have not even begun to realize the possibilities of Iowa corn, South Dakota wind or Montana coal. Even a growing number of environmentalists support increased nuclear power production.

Reason #10: Social Security
If current trends continue, total Social Security income will begin to fall short of total outgo in 2019. In the words of Alan Greenspan, the U.S. will face "abrupt and painful" choices if our leaders do not move quickly to trim the Social Security and Medicare benefits the baby boom generation has been promised. The Social Security system needs to be reformed to bring it into the 21st century and beyond with the new financial knowledge and tools available to Americans. We need a reliable, sustainable retirement plan that combines mandatory retirement savings with flexibility, choice, and security.

Reason #11: Healthcare Reform
Our healthcare system is reaching a crisis. Rising healthcare costs are crippling business and putting millions of Americans, especially children and the elderly, at great risk. American families risk having a lifetime of savings wiped out from a single hospitalization or illness. Drug companies are reaping record profits as they promote new uses of old drugs. Small hospitals and doctors are closing their doors as malpractice insurance costs increase. We must reform healthcare to make it accessible and affordable for all Americans, while maintaining the competitiveness and innovation that has made our system the envy of the world.

Included in a general reform of our healthcare system must come an overhaul of our Medicare/Medicaid system. With these programs facing insolvency within the next decade, we must re-engineer a system that is fiscally self-sustaining and does not pass today’s health problems onto future generations.

Reason #12: Tax Reform
Our tax code is inefficient and full of loopholes. A simplified code could aid economic growth and provide for a fairer tax system, especially for small businesses and the working poor.

Reason #13: Immigration Reform
Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants enter our country each year and will continue to enter unless much more is done. Thousands of employers hire these illegal workers, often times to the detriment of American workers, and often times exploit the illegal immigrants themselves. Despite extensive talk by both Republicans and Democrats to solve this and many other problems we face, nothing has been done.

Reason #14: Foreign Policy
As we continue to adapt our military to meet 21st century challenges, we must also work to increase our soft power throughout the world.  We cannot continue to utilize only our military strength.  Our foreign policy should put an emphasis on coalition building and in working with international institutions when it serves the national interest. Obama has much more credibility throughout the world than McCain does (being so similar to Bush on foreign policy).

Comments

[Granny Gobama]

Dear 123anonymous,

With such decided opinions, I find it quizzical that you stay anonymous. But that is neither here, nor there.

I could address each and every one of the points you make with contrary stories and opinions, but this has already been done through respected mainstream media. If you are truly interested in learning more about Barack Obama's character, then I am sure you will take the time to look into these statements by researching outlets that are not hatched from the conservative GOP.

What I think needs to be addressed, with regard to your posting, is this - we will ALWAYS have our differences of opinion and judgment from our leaders. At some point we have to decide which is more important - the fact that he, as a young teenager, was apprehensive about white people, or the fact that this period of time led him to a greater understanding of his background and the world around him. In our presidents, do we want to decide on their leadership based on these "character issues" or on their policy issues. Eight and Four years ago, many in the nation based their vote on character issues, and we ended up with George W.. And we all know now that his lack of understanding of the true policies that affect this nation led to detrmental consequences.

While I respect that you do take issue with some of the associations that Barack has had, I can not accept that you have fully vetted these issues. I encourage you to take the evening to look into these statements more closely. Take a moment to make a list of the things that truly make a good president and compare each candidate, based on your list. I think you might be surprised to find that you are actually more concerned with how our country is going to move forward on resolving our troubled economy, how we are going to give our children first rate & affordable educations, and how we will be precieved around the world. I wish you luck in coming to terms with how you can vote all democratic except for the most important office in the country, in the most important national election in decades. Good luck and do base your decision on the issues rather than on Republican-based "scare" attacks on a candidate's character.

[Andrea Gutierrez, Phoenix, Arizona]

BRAVO!!!!!!!!

[anonymous123]

Look, I'm a lifelong democrat and I'd love to vote for a democratic candidate ... and I'm voting democratic on Tuesday, except for Obama... Why, because there are just too many issues with his character and background that I can't live with, including the failure of the LA times to release the tape of the benefit with the Palestinian (sp?) terrorists, his 20 years with an anti-white, anti-semitic church, his mentor "Frank Marshall Davis", a communist and pornographer, his relationship w/ Rezko and his multimillion dollar house in Chicago, his relationship with Ayers (he reviewed Ayers books, got him money); his traveling to Pakistan; his book where he admits antipathy towards white people and drug use; his wife's not being proud to be an american, his refusal to wear a flag pin, his removal of the american flag from his plane, his sitting in church after Rev. Wright blamed 9/11 on America... its all of these issues that add up to an awful lot of doubt... I'm not sure what he means by redistribution of wealth ... but the welfare state didn't work when we had it in NY... when they tightened up on the welfare people got off it and went to work.... we need more jobs in this country (not in china) we dont' need more welfare... (also, although I'm pro-choice I'm not comfortable with partial birth abortion... that's pretty brutal in my estimation... all of these things unfortunately add up to a "no" vote for Obama - and, believe me I would like to vote for a democratic candidate...