Tomorrow, November 4th, 2008 history will be made (or at least the start of a historical event will occur).

If you have not already done so and you are registered it is imperative that you get out and vote tomorrow. Do not let the lines scare you, do not let the polls keep you back, you must make your voice heard.

A lot of folks will be trying to convince you to vote this way or that way, but in the end you MUST vote for the candidate you believe is the right person to move this country forward. Times are tough, there is no denying that. We need change and whether that change comes in the form of a Obama/Biden administration or a McCain/Palin administration, we must have a change!

I’ve heard a lot of talk lately, especially since I am involved in the arena of Christianity about voting along your convictions. Listen, when you are making the decision ultimately your convictions are going to play a roll in who you choose to vote. HOWEVER, it is important to remember that when it comes to the greater good of your country your convictions may not always be appropriate. Jesus, NEVER forced His views on anyone. If you favor one candidate over the other for moral reasons (i.e. abortion, homosexual marriage, war, etc.) then you’re doing this country and injustice. Yes, your morals are a guiding light in YOUR life, and you should take head to them but, at the end of the day, you have to vote for what the country as a whole needs.

I’ve made no attempt to hide the fact that I believe the country needs an Obama/Biden administration and we need the policies that administration will bring about. I’ve taken flack from the right, and particularly the Christian right because of Obama’s views on abortion. At the end of the day though, abortion is ONE issue of MANY that need to be dealt with and while I may not be in 100% agreement with the Obama/Biden view on abortion, I am in agreement with the vast majority of their policies on other issues.

The God I serve would one, not be involved in politics and two, has ALWAYS placed the greater good of mankind in front of everything else. I truly feel by lodging my vote I have done just that. I voted last Thursday, if you haven’t voted yet, tomorrow is your turn.

Make your voice be heard.

Get out and vote! History and this country is depending on you.

So there are a significant number of folks out there who would say to you that race plays a very small roll in this years election. I would beg to differ.

My indifference on the subject comes from months of campaigning and listening to people. It comes from the media coverage, it comes from spending a significant amount of time in an area full of racial tension.

Here’s an e-mail that is circulating the internet and for the first time I’m forwarding it along, as it makes a lot of sense. I’m leaving comments on, feel free to comment, but do not expect anything in return. It is no secret that I have been a fairly avid supporter of Barack Obama for quite some time, so I have an obligation to share this.

What if things were switched around? Think about it. Would the country’s collective point of view be different? Could racism be the culprit? [this most certainly must be a rhetorical question!]

What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, following the debate, including a three month-old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?

What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his college graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcee?

What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?

What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five? (The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)

What if Obama couldn’t read from a teleprompter?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?

What if Obama was the one who was known to publicly display a serious anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama’s family had made their money from beer distribution?

You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected a reality, if the tables were turned, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative characteristics in another when there is a color difference.

And, think of this - the candidates’ educational backgrounds:

Barack Obama:
Columbia University
B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in
International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in
Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

John McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Sarah Palin: Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Education isn’t everything, but this is about the two highest
offices in the land as well as our standing in the world.

I have made every attempt to not use this blog to fuel negativity at least when it comes to politics. Some of you probably came here expecting me to be bashing one side or the other or both, but you’re not going to get that. For one, the varying political opinions of individuals often times gets in the way of their ability to think straight and two, I just don’t want this thing to become “one of those types of blogs.”

Partisan politics is taring us a part. One of the worst decisions I’ve ever made (politically) is to register as a Democrat simply so I could be more involved in the Obama Campaign and so that I could vote in my states closed primary. You can rest assured that one of the first things I’ll do (again politically) after this election cycle, is re-register as an independent.

The idiocy that has taken place at both the current Republican National Convention and at last weeks Democratic National Convention does nothing more than make me roll my eyes. The arrests of journalist, the arrest of normal citizens, the harassing of delegates, the fireworks, stadiums and all the other bull crap is ridiculous!

Admittedly, I have endorsed Barack Obama since the beginning and have been active in his campaign. More recently though I have admitted that my confidence in Barack Obama has been sinking rapidly since his announcement of Senator Joe Biden as is running mate. My initial endorsement was based on the fact that in Barack Obama I recognized a leader, I recognized someone who I wanted to lead this country. I recognized someone ready, willing and able to lead this country too and make a sincere change in this country. Now, I’ve slowly started to see that image I once had sink. I don’t see that in Senator Joe Biden. I’ve never seen that in John McCain. And since I barely know her, I don’t really see that in Sarah Palin. That is why, I have downloaded both parties platforms and will read every page. Upon doing so, I will then make my final decision and I will not announce it on here. In fact, I’m not sure I’ll even blog about politics after this particular post, as the whole thing has turned into a game.

The fact of the matter, in my opinion is this. This election is not about religion, it’s not about the color of someones skin, or the fact that one of the candidates has a vagina. It’s not about who is established, the media or their qualifications. It’s not about the NRA, or big-oil, or health care.

IT IS ABOUT THE PEOPLE.

And truthfully, neither side, nor most of the 3rd parties are in it for the people, EVEN THOUGH THEY SAY THEY ARE! If you’re naive to believe that, I understand, because I once was too. But Barack Obama, John McCain, Joe Biden or Sarah Palin don’t care about you, in the end they have a party to answer to and they’ll do what that parties insists of them.

Right now, I believe that we are as far away from democracy as we’ve ever been.

There are many I could blame, but the reality is it’s my fault.

It’s your fault.

WE LET THIS HAPPEN TO OUR COUNTRY.
We decided that you have to be blue, or red or some other color.
We decided that if you’re blue and you believe in choice you’re a horrible human.
We decided that if you’re red and you let your faith influence your political decisions you’re wrong.
We decided that if you stand firm in your belief that the system works, but only when executed right and that the government CAN executed it right under the right leadership, then well you’re an idiot.

This is all our fault folks. Partisan politics have ruined who we are and who this country is and what democracy is about.

I believed in this election and the change that is ABSOLUTELY MUST BRING in the beginning.

Now, I really do not care.

I’ll read the platforms, and I will vote for the person who I believe is going to do the best job. Because that’s all I’ve got left. I’m burned out. I get in arguments over this stupid crap and I can’t afford to anymore. It’s not red, blue, black, vagina, experience or POW status to me.
It is me deciding who is the best leader for this country.

I’ll be the first to admit that I am not very happy with Senator Obama’s choice for Vice President. In picking Joe Biden, Obama lost a great deal of credibility as far as I am concerned.

However, McCain and his choice of Sarah Palin (who by the way he had only met once before announcing her as his VP) as his running mate has me doing nothing more than laughing out loud. McCain hasn’t really been a candidate that I give too much credibility too, he has after all supported the current administration over 90% of the time in the ridiculous choices they have made.

I believe though that in Palin, McCain truly believes he has found his “golden ticket.”
With Palin he:

• Wins the dwindling support of the evangelical community (who in my opinion, for the most part, do not really vote on matters that matter anyway so they would have more than likely been voting for McCain to begin with…but I digress).
• He gets the attention of women, a demographic that his campaign hasn’t really been focusing on. (If he thinks he is going to win over Clinton supporters with her though he’s sadly mistaken, he’ll win the Clinton supporters who were supporting her strictly because she had a vagina, those numbers are not substantial by any means. He will not win Clinton’s democratic supporters as Palin is entirely too conservative for most democrats.)
• He gets a strong anti-choice, pro-life advocate. Palin is against abortion even in the case of rape or incest.
• He gets himself a buddy of big oil. (A sign that our reliance on oil in this country will probably never end if McCain/Palin are elected to office.) She reportedly even sued the Bush administration for listing Polar Bears as endangered species! (Hopefully that gets the attention of animal lovers everywhere)
• He gets someone who doesn’t buy into the idea that humans are the reason why our climate is changing as dramatically as it is. (In my opinion this secures him even more with the right-wingers who think that global warming is some type of elaborate public relations scam)

I’m not going to sit here and question her experience, because frankly the way democracy works she’s more than experienced. Democracy is all about the power of the people and Sarah Palin is an American citizen which makes her just as qualified to serve the office of Vice President as you or I. My only concern is her deep lack of foreign affairs experience.

Then again given Alaska’s proximity to Russia, maybe she has more foreign affairs experience than we think. You know what, maybe like all the idiots out there who spread the Obama is a muslim propoganda, I’ll start a viral e-mail campaign that is completely fabricated and comes from thin air just like it, except I’ll say that Sara Palin is in Russia’s pocket, and electing McCain/Palin is going to mean Russia will have easy access to destroy the US…and it’s all part of her evil plan…(insert evil laugh here). Ah…alas though I am not an idiot like everyone who spread that imbecilic, source-lacking rumor about Obama.

Here’s the thing. Obama’s acceptance speach pissed me off. It featured more mud-slinging than a damn Texas pig farm. I thought he was better than that, mainly because for 17 or so months he has been convincing me he is. The Biden pick, the mud-slinging it has slowly started a downward spiral as far as his credibility is concerned. As for McCain well, I’m not dumb. Palin as his veep choice was 100% political (then again Biden as Obama’s was too), what is sad is here is a young, semi-uncorrupted politician who was doing her thing in Alaska (far enough away from the continental US to not get involved in the stupidity) who has now been drug into what has become one of the most ridiculous presidential races in recent history. This election has turned into a circus act to see who can draw the most shock and aw. I can’t wait until the republican convention, which wouldn’t you know it, Hurricane Gustav may delay…what a perfect opportunity for McCain/Palin to convince the world that they care more than the current administration and will care more than a Obama administration.

What it has boiled down to for me is platforms. The Democrats have released their 94 page platform (I distinctly remember it being longer in the last election, maybe I’m wrong and it was something else) and the Republicans should list theirs shortly after their convention.

I am basing my final decision on them. It’s no longer about the people for me, because well, quite frankly it’s becoming hard to tell both candidates a part. I will tell you that I still fully endorse Barack Obama for the time being, because while he has lost some credibility with me, he hasn’t lost it all. John McCain started in the negative and has had a hard time working is way up.

Be smart folks, elections are not (despite popular opinion) popularity contests. We need someone who is going to be committed to fixing what the Bush administration has jacked up over the last 8 years. Someone who is smart, and whose leadership is not questionable. At this point in time in my opinion Barack Obama is STILL that man. Only time (and the platforms) will tell if that changes.

Episode 11 of the Unobjective Intelligence podcast (The Will Young show) is here!

This week I’m talking about:

• How it is people feel differently about certain events like political rally’s, natural disasters, mass shootings, etc based on life experience, or opinion.
• I’m talking about what I call the “Obama Affect”. I don’t want to spoil it here…YOU HAVE TO HEAR THIS!
• Why I believe in 2 years. Citizen Journalism will have overtaken the journalism industry.

If there is something you’d like to hear on an upcoming episode of the Will Young show please shoot me an e-mail.

 

 The Unobjective Intelligence Podcast Episode 11 [43:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

You can download the UI podcast by using iTunes with the link on the right, or for those who don’t use itunes, simply click the button that says ‘RSS Podcast’ and download the latest episode to your computer to play in whatever MP3 player it is you use. Sometimes it will show up in a player on this post. If it does, feel free to listen to it there.