I like Barack Obama. I voted for him. I'll do so again. I also think that primarying the man, or withholding support from his campaign, is the most stunningly idiotic idea since Ralph Nader came up with his 2000 campaign. And I'm completely unapologetic about any of that.
So what's my deal?
Easy. First off, I'm gay, and have an incurable disease. Thanks to the Obama administration, my boyfriend has the guaranteed right to visit me in the hospital if I ever become sick again, and no insurance company can deny me coverage. That's pretty damned cool in my book.
Second, I spent most of my life as an ex-pat. I grew up in the U.S. military. And I can tell you that I was never ashamed of my country, not even when Reagan was President (I was too young to really understand what was going on behind that sunny smile). All that changed almost overnight when George Bush got handed the White House. I didn't even travel overseas during his time in office, because I was too damned ashamed. You know who turned that around? Barack Obama. Thanks to Barack, I can go to Paris again without having to pretend I'm Canadian or British.
Third, I'm a New Yorker. I was at home having my morning coffee when some assholes from the Middle East flew planes into the World Trade Center. Front row seats, ladies and gentlemen. Who had really deep business relationships with the home countries and governments of said assholes? George Bush and his puppet master, one Dick Cheney, that's who. Who doesn't have those relationships? That's right again, the guy whose name means 'Lightning' in Arabic and Hebrew, and who has all the right people freaking out that he's supposedly from Kenya and a secret Muslim to boot, because that would be such a terrible thing. Fuck them.
Fourth, since I just mentioned Ronald Reagan and that incurable disease, do you know who let that spiral out of control and kill tens of thousands of innocent Americans, people like me? Bingo: Ronald Fucking Reagan. "Who's responsible for the decline of the American middle class for $500, Pat?" Reagan. Fuck him too.
Fifth, circling back to Barack, let me just point out that I'm a white guy. Probably as white as you can get. When I was growing up, the idea of an African-American in the Oval Office was the stuff of fantasy, reserved for cheesy disaster movies. Now, voila, there's a black man in the White House who's not a porter or a dishwasher. This matters to me, because it means that my very hypothetical kids and my existing nieces and nephews will grow up in a country where this is not just possible, but normal. That's the American Dream, folks, everything that is good and right about this country.
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