On the other hand...
Even though I just got done trashing the "just like me" argument in US presidential politics, I feel compelled to suggest a few of my own personal qualities that I would like to see in the next White House occupant:
1. I can identify all of the Central Asian republics on a map, as well as name their capitals and leaders. In Silk Road to Ruin, Ted Rall suggests that Central Asia might be the next geopolitical hot spot. So it might be good for the next leader of the free world to know a little something.
2. I read -- a lot. I read books and magazines and blogs and news sites. I read things I often agree with, and things I often don't. I read things I don't even understand. I read things to try and understand people whose idea of reality seems totally different from mine -- like after September 11, I read the New Testament when the Bush administration started invoking God as a justification for war. I try and pay close attention to what's going on -- this is, incidentally, how I knew what the Bush Doctrine was.
3. I am financially conservative in my day-to-day life and I believe other people should be the same way. Want to talk about personal responsibility? I believe it's the responsibility of every American citizen to live within their means so that they can have money left over to contribute to the common good.
4. I believe that people actually have more personal freedom when there tighter social safety nets in place.
5. I love American democracy. Hell, I'm drunk on American democracy. Woo hoo! The m-f-ing Constitution! But I don't believe the USA is the center of the universe, and I don't believe we're doing everything better than any other country that ever existed.
In what ways would you like the next President and Vice President to represent what you're about?
1. I can identify all of the Central Asian republics on a map, as well as name their capitals and leaders. In Silk Road to Ruin, Ted Rall suggests that Central Asia might be the next geopolitical hot spot. So it might be good for the next leader of the free world to know a little something.
2. I read -- a lot. I read books and magazines and blogs and news sites. I read things I often agree with, and things I often don't. I read things I don't even understand. I read things to try and understand people whose idea of reality seems totally different from mine -- like after September 11, I read the New Testament when the Bush administration started invoking God as a justification for war. I try and pay close attention to what's going on -- this is, incidentally, how I knew what the Bush Doctrine was.
3. I am financially conservative in my day-to-day life and I believe other people should be the same way. Want to talk about personal responsibility? I believe it's the responsibility of every American citizen to live within their means so that they can have money left over to contribute to the common good.
4. I believe that people actually have more personal freedom when there tighter social safety nets in place.
5. I love American democracy. Hell, I'm drunk on American democracy. Woo hoo! The m-f-ing Constitution! But I don't believe the USA is the center of the universe, and I don't believe we're doing everything better than any other country that ever existed.
In what ways would you like the next President and Vice President to represent what you're about?
posted by Christine Borne at 11:12 AM
5 Comments:
some people, i suspect, don't know what they themselves are "all about"
Christine, I don't believe the U.S. is the center of the Universe either. I love our Democracy and agree with everything you said, even our M Fing constitution lol. But you nailed why I'm voting for Obama. Improving our position in the World by recognizing that not everyone has to be just like us to be wonderful too. It has to be genuine, and I think he is the candidate to do that. I realize he's so new that there is a leap of faith involved in this vote, but it's too crucial an issue to me to not vote for him. For me. Everyone has to make up their own minds.
Everyone says Obama seems aloof. Well the truth is, I'm not looking for someone to come to my house for dinner every other month. I want someone to do a good job! He sees things in gray which is something that infuriates a lot of my friends about me, because I do too. Does this mean he's going to be the best leader in a long time? I am hoping we will find out if seeing things as complex instead of black and white is a good idea.
You're right that Obama would make our standing go up in the world. My sister works as a checkout girl in the grocery store in a small English village - she's one of 2 Americans in the village, and everyone knows her. So she's sort of become the unofficial expert on what's happening in US politics. For months, everyone in the village was excited about Obama. Then Sarah Palin happened. Then the villagers started losing their cheerful attitudes. "What's happening?" they'd ask, confused. "I thought Obama was going to win."
It's why I'm in such a quandary now. Politically, I don't really agree with Obama on a lot of things -particularly his unwillingness to adopt single-payer health care. I don't want to vote for the lesser of two evils, because then you just move things toward an end you still aren't really happy with. Not only do I like Ralph Nader - heck, he DOES have quite a lot of national-level accomplishments under his belt, doesn't he - I sort of want to vote against the Democrats, to show them what I think they're doing wrong.
But I also want to cast a substantive vote against Sarah Palin, because I think Sarah Palin would be a disaster beyond imagination for our national image.
I see how badly things are run but don't feel like I've got any idea of how to do them better. Which is why I'm going back to school this spring and I'm going to try and get some idea of what's going on.
I'd like to see someone who isn't into cronyism, who sets standards but also follows them, who values human life and respects basic human rights (is that too much to ask?), might have certain strong opinions about things but doesn't trash people who disagree with them, and honestly, and I don't know if this is even possible in this day in age, for someone to say, when they've really screwed up: "I made a mistake and I'm sorry."
I don't know if that makes ANY sense, but there it is.
Of course it's possible in this day and age! This is the United States of America, and it's the 21st century! I'm just flat-out going to refuse to be cynical as my ONE act of rebellion in life.
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