Because I Want Better

This is not a political blog, as expressed in the founding post. But I am so sick of hearing McCain and Palin’s lies. I am so tired of the past eight years, and the promised continuation of these disastrous times (no matter if McCain’s trying to co-opt Obama’s theme of change — the only change I see is everything getting worse). While I supported Obama in the primaries, I would’ve been delighted to have Clinton as the nominee, so you’d have no PUMA reactions here. Why? Because I want better for this country and that means getting a Dem into the White House. Why is it that I’m voting for Obama?

Because I want my right to make informed choices about my reproductive system without intervention by the government or some evangelical pharmacist/doctor. If I choose to get pregnant within the next four to eight years, I want to be sure that my health will also be a top consideration in the decisions that are made with regards to the fetus inside of me.

Because I want any child of mine to learn comprehensive sex education so that they can make healthy, safe choices for themselves — part of the informed choices I touched on above. I don’t want a child of mine growing up with the idea that sex is an illicit act that will send you to hell. I want my children to come to me with questions not about why sex is bad, but about what sex is and how they can make safe decisions as they grow. I don’t want to find myself in a situation where my son or daughter were too afraid to come to me, thinking that sex is bad because of what their schools have taught them, chancing risky behavior. I will drag their asses down to the pharmacy and get some condoms for them if need be. I will get my daughter birth control . . . if I can, that is. How scary is that?

Because I want my children to have an excellent education, I do not want to see creationism (or its “pseudo-scientific” disguise, intelligent design, but it’s all the same) taught in their science classes. You cannot test creationism; ergo, not science. The theory in the theory of evolution does not mean that it’s speculation or less than fact; in science, a theory is based on examinations of the facts. The theory explains and links facts observed. Theories in science are peer reviewed and must stand up to scrutiny and repeated testing. What facts can I test, observe, interpret in creationism? How many papers by creationists have successfully undergone peer review by scientists? None to both questions. Please save it for world literature class, and please be sure to include other creationist stories. We are not all Christians here — please respect that and let my kid learn.

Because I want to start seeing progress in the fight against global warming, which means not drilling in ANWR, which means lessening our dependency not just on foreign oil but on fossil fuels altogether (Obama’s coal-to-liqud plan? Something I disapprove of heartily, too). We have voters believing that having Palin on the ticket means a ticket to ANWR. How does that solve the problem of the Katrinas and Gustavs and Ikes of this world? How does that ensure that we mitigate and adapt to the changes that the new climate we’ve created has caused, is causing, and will cause? It’s here, people, and you need smart individuals who understand that energy independence and climate change don’t always go hand in hand. In fact, efforts towards independence can make climate change worse. How about we focus on energy independence techniques that’re clean and aren’t environmental disasters in the making?

Because I want to see the day when people of all sexual orientations can approach an altar and get married. What IP and I are doing is not something that belongs solely to heterosexuals — all people deserve to join with the person they love. If I have kids and one of my kids is gay or lesbian, I want to see the day when he or she gets to walk down the aisle to the person who brings them the most joy in the world. I want my kids to be able to find and express that love with their families happily witnessing it. It is not a sin to fall in love with someone of the same sex. If there is a god and he/she thinks that more love in the world is a bad thing? Well, then I’m very glad I don’t believe in he/she. Regardless of that, all human beings have the right to be with the one they love.

Because I want to see the minimum wage increased; because healthcare should be a right, not a privilege; because workers should be protected, because everyone should be free from the worry of financial disaster if they happen to get sick. Because I want to see children with access to good schools and to cares of all kind — health to day.

Because I want to see the farce created by Bush in Iraq end, and I know that enough lives have been lost already — on both the American and Iraqi sides. Because I want to see those soldiers come home.

I do not want to live in a theocracy.

I do not want this country to act unilaterally and enter in unnecessary war(s).

I do not want my planet to go to waste just so a gas tank can be filled.

I do not want to see big corporations get all the breaks.

I want my kids to learn facts as facts and stories as stories.

I want this nation and the world to help clean up the planet for the next generations.

I want my right to bodily autonomy to be reinforced and guaranteed — me being a woman doesn’t make me an idiot who can’t figure out what’s best for me.

I want someone way smarter than me in the White House — not someone I can have a beer with because that’s why I have friends. My leaders are for, DUH, leading! And leading wisely, not leading with religious and corporate agendas.

I want Barack Obama and Joe Biden in the White House.