September 11, 2008

Today is supposed to be one of remembrance, but I think it’s also important to consider this day with regard to our future as a nation.

I recently responded to a blog post about our upcoming election and I think a lot of the things I wrote about are relevant today.

These next two months are going to be incredibly stressful. I voted in the last election and things did not turn out the way I wanted them to. It has taken me four years to actually give a damn about a candidate again. I voted for Clinton in the primary because I liked what she had to say and also because I thought she’d be more electable than Obama. I thought there was no way that a black man would ever be able to get so far in a presidential race, knowing the pervading attitudes of racism in our country.

But then he started winning. And he kept on winning. And I was surprised and so overwhelmed by the response that I started reading up on him and realized how impressive he actually was.

Barack Obama has sparked something in me and I will be honored to vote for him in November.

This country is in desperate need of a change. I feel completely betrayed by our current administration. They took a tragedy and turned it into an opportunity to earn our trust, only to turn around and manipulate us into supporting a war that we had no business starting. Hearing politicians (I’m talking to you, Guliani) use 9/11 to further their own agendas makes me sick.

I’m a half hour outside of the city, my family lives there, and my father was a NYPD officer at the time. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I found out what happened. I remember being completely terrified and still having to sit through four more hours of school, where my teachers weren’t giving me any answers. I have an uncle who works in the Pentagon and many other family members who are in the armed forces. That whole day? Not one I ever want to live through again.

When President Bush came up to New York and offered his love, support, and strength…I bought into it. I believed in him because he seemed to know what to say. I thought he would help. I needed him to help, we all did. Then he lied to us, again and again. I cannot take another four years of a Republican administration.

I am hoping and praying that all Americans come out to the polls this year, but especially the young people. It seems that a majority of us do want Obama in office. If young people come out and show others that we do care, our opinions and concerns will be legitimized.

As for McCain and his candidate for VP? There aren’t enough words in the world to express my disgust and disappointment. It terrifies me to think that people believe the bullshit that Palin is spouting. To have a vice presidential candidate who thinks that a woman should not have the right to choose what she wants to do with her own body, even in the case of rape or incest is baffling. And the idea that I’m supposed to vote for Palin because she’s a woman is incredibly offensive. I am not voting for a candidate because she has a vagina. I’m smarter than that. I’m better than that. I deserve more.

If the American people choose these two over Obama and Biden, it will absolutely break my heart.