This week I worked for the first time in my life at a local homeless shelter helping transients register to vote. I saw whole families living in utter poverty who felt disenfranchised.
I suppose I am lucky in a way. There are no mouths to feed, no wife to support and no one else is relying on me for their survival. Perhaps that is for the best.
Since George H.W. Bush came into office by hook or by crook, my own life has spiraled into hopelessness and despair. I do not think this is just a simple coincidence. More so, I feel like a small chess piece that has been discarded as a casualty to the side. I no longer feel like I am in the game. No longer do I pursue the chase.
Since the tragedy of 9/11 and the resulting decline I lost a fine job with a start-up ISP company for which I was a founding member. It offered full benefits with a promising company and I was a happy camper. The company was bankrupt and sending jobs to India and Canada within two years and I found myself laid-off and out of work.
Since that time, I have lived without health benefits. I have not had the money to go to a dentist or see a doctor. My search for employment has never resulted in any job that provided benefits of any kind or paid more than $10/hr. There have been periods of time that I was forced to drive an uninsured vehicle with expired tags to work and back.
Fear and hatred engulfed many of my neighbors once again. In Oklahoma we had just gone through the worst event of domestic terrorism in our country's history right here on our front porch. Even after Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were imprisoned for their insidious hate crimes there was still an underlying mistrust and fear of the unknown. The NYC and Pentagon attacks only added to this macabre view of the world around us.
The president did nothing to assuage this fear, no instead he encouraged it. Along with fellow republicans he rallied patriotism and used fear mongering to win his way to win election to the White House. He started and has continued two wars that we cannot win and even after declaring victory there seems to be no favorable end in sight.
I feel the words used to label the fundamental (yes I am sick of hearing that word too) values of one party have morphed to mean almost the exact opposite in the case of supposed conservative republicans.
About the only thing conservative about them is their clinging to their religious beliefs (no matter what), their jingoism and xenophobia. Anything that represents a change in how we deal with other nations, immigration or minority and worker's rights in America somehow suggests an affront to their own beliefs system. Anyone that does not look the part and doesn't play by their rules is considered a socialist, liberal outsider and is not to be trusted.
It is perfectly fine by them if our government gives tax breaks and special privilege to corporations and the military industrial complex, but you are taking money out of their pockets if (God forbid) you should offer help to the poor and sick of America.
This is why these nefarious and ludicrous claims vilifying the democratic and third party candidates often stick like glue and inspire unfounded fear. They love to spout off about socialism and terrorism if the slightest "liberal" ideal is espoused by their "enemies".
On the issues of economics, constitutional rights and corporate welfare, conservatives have been anything but conservative in the last few decades, especially the past eight years. Their party has been highly liberal with their policies and spending, all the while claiming to be just the opposite and continuing to point the finger at their rivals whenever challenged by the people.
I feel that Obama has made a couple of mistakes since he began his presidential campaign. The first one being his vote to support the FISA bill, giving the TelCo's immunity and Bush/Cheney an easy out after they tore the constitution in half and acted as they pleased, the laws be damned.
The second issue I didn't agree with was this "bailout" proposal. It has not worked, as we still see the market crumbling around us. There could have been more thought and intelligent debate, which included economists from the international realm, before a plan was brought forward and voted on. Just because Bush and his advisors claimed that it was an emergency of titanic proportions did not make it so. Now the proposal that was passed is being rejected by the very bankers that begged for it due to the limitations on golden parachutes and lack of potential profits for the failed institutions.
Having stated the two issues Obama and I disagree on, he will still get my vote because he stands for many of the other issues I care about. Veteran's benefits, health care reform that does not hand more money and power to the insurance companies, education opportunities for those who are willing to serve their community first, and punishing companies that continue to skirt taxes and employee benefits while sending jobs overseas without penalty. He will be a champion for upholding the Constitution of the Untied States of America.
McCain only wants to drill more holes in the ocean and continue a war that we cannot afford and never should have begun. He will try his best to continue the same policies that give more money to the ultra-wealthy and corrupted financial system. He will follow the trend of deregulation and degradation of our constitutional rights, fear mongering and avoidance of legal repercussions in the White House and other branches of government. As Barack Obama has stated many times, John McCain will only continue the failed policies of the Bush administration.
We cannot afford to sit and wait for the "trickle down effect" to start raining down upon us. America, nay the whole world, is in a drought. Mana from heaven is not in the forecast. There is no oasis on the horizon... yet.
Who do you most trust to lead us in the right direction? A young man with vision for the future and a plan to lead us there, or an old warrior, stuck in his violent past and his belief of entitlement? A man with compassion and genuine care for the poor and soon to be poor of our country, or an individual with the ability to continue a record of poor decisions, like the one he made when choosing a governor who worked with secessionists trying to bring her very state out of the united?
We do not need more division between the races, the classes or the masses! We need to come together as the United States once again. We need to show the world that once again we can be the leader of democracy and peace in this world. There has been too much destruction and hatred. There have been too many lies and deceits. We need the truth and the leader who is not afraid to show it to us.
We need Barack Obama to be our next president!
As a veteran who served during the Persian Gulf War as a US Navy broadcast journalist, I have seen first hand how corrupted and wasteful our government can be. I have also seen the desire and dedication of those who continue to fight for all of us.
I have suffered with mental health problems and depression that developed during my in the military and have continued until this day, with no help from the Veteran's Administration. I am now unemployed and have been for the better part of this year. For me there has seemed to be little hope in sight to ever live the American dream or even live a life that will give me the pride and peace of mind we all reach for. I am forced to rely on my family and friends who already have enough to deal with to keep their own welfare in check.
Thank you Mr. Obama and your family for once again giving me faith in my country and hope for our future. I would like to thank you all for supporting him and keeping my dream alive. A dream that I can once again believe in.