Stupid Politics

[hesperornis]

You know, I gave up hoping for the perfect candidates a long time ago, but I was really looking forward to having a couple of really solid choices this time around.  I was cautiously enthusiastic about both candidates and their respective VP choices. 

Now I find out that Governor Palin is a friggin' creationist. 

I hate to be a one-issue voter, especially since deciding to vote pro-life was one of the main reasons I voted for Bush, and I eventually ended up disagreeing with virtually everything else he did.  I also hate to reflexively vote against the Republicans.  I'm not a fan of heavy government involvement, and my dad keeps telling me just how much "universal health care" is not going to work as promised. 

But I have very, very few buttons to be pushed that I really feel I know something about, and keeping "Intelligent Design" out of science classrooms is one of them.  Normally, I would assume that the VP doesn't really have that much say in such things, but I've been recently reading about how Dick Cheney personally managed to see to it that the Endangered species act was violated, in Oregon, back in 2001, with the blessing of the National Science Foundation.  So I guess there's some clout to be had.  And there are enough people willing to believe the line that "all views deserve to be heard" (so go take a comparative religions class!  grumblegrr...) that it would worry me a bit to have another person in the White House who thinks that ID is science.  

It's tempting to give up what research I'd been doing into the issues and just resign myself to voting Democratic, but I still feel the need to try to convince myself that Obama is all we've been hoping for... or at least a little bit of what we've been hoping for. 

Please forgive this barely informed ramble.  *puts away soapbox*  God I hate politics so much.

Comments

[superquail.livejournal.com]

Which of Obama's policies give you trouble? Personally, I think his energy policy is weak and I don't feel he has a firm enough commitment to universal health care. Otherwise, it's a little difficult for me to tell exactly what he stands for.

[cheyinka]

I am strongly anti-abortion, and Obama has consistently voted against restrictions on abortion. (Let's not go down that particular rabbit hole in hesperornis's journal?)

I support the right of adult Americans with no felony convictions or mental health problems to have firearms at home to defend their homes and to carry concealed firearm to defend themselves; Obama doesn't.

There are other small things that I disagree with (his position on nuclear power, his vote for reauthorization of the Patriot Act...), which confirm my decision to not want Obama elected, but they're not as important as those two, as to me they seem like issues of protecting the weak from the strong.

Of course, Obama's opponent is likely to do nothing more than preserve the status quo at best...

[superquail.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see where you are coming from.

Obama has disappointed me in a number of ways. Personally, I liked Hillary Clinton much better. I worry that Obama won't really stand up for any beliefs and all he is about is compromise. I don't think you can compromise on certain issues.

The fact that he voted for the reauthorization of the Patriot Act . . . what is up with that? What is up with any of it? The warrant-less wire-taping, arresting people without probable cause, holding them without trial - that's not what America is about.

[cheyinka]

It'd be one thing if we were in a declared war with a discrete enemy. "Until Outer Tzinishastan surrenders, habeas corpus is suspended!" or whatever.

But "terror" will always exist.

:sigh:

[superquail.livejournal.com]

Aesop wrote that a tyrant can always find an excuse to justify his tyranny. That's why we have the constitution in the first place: there should be checks on *every* individual's power.