I'm going to skip over all the fabulosity for a moment, and talk about something a little more serious: Last night's election.
Barack Obama won. Mitt Romney didn't. 60.4 million of you are happy about that. 57.6 million of you are not. (Source: NBCNews.com)*
So, let's do this. I voted for Obama. I don't usually make public to many people whom I voted for. I'm certainly not ashamed of it, it's quite simply no one's business. It's a very personal decision for me, but I'm making an exception. This time.
- Side note: Before I go any further, I want to throw in a little disclaimer right this second, and state that this is my opinion only, and my reasons for why I voted for whom I thought was the best candidate, and my experience with the whole deal. You may have had a different experience, and that's ok. It's your experience, but this one belongs to me.
I'd like to tell you why I chose to vote for a 2nd term for President Obama. The worst recession since the 1930's Great Depression began in December 2007 (Source: FactCheck.org). Guess who was in office then? Yep! George Bush (R). And, God love him, I voted for him. As a life-long Republican, Former President Bush's 2nd election was the last one that I voted in before changing parties to Democrat. Four years ago, I needed to see change, and I *finally* started getting more serious about the way this country was heading. So, I researched, until I was a blonde bundle full of information. And, from my research, that change has already started happening. When President Obama was first elected, the unemployment rate was rapidly rising. Exactly one year and one month after he took office, it started declining, and still is. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics). Consumer spending is up, housing purchases are rising, gas prices are falling (slowly, but they're falling), and the job market is picking up. Remember, this isn't the first time in history that gas prices skyrocketed. They also did during that wonderful recession that "Dubya's" Administration put us under.
Yes, Obama DID inherit that mess. And Obama HAS worked his ass off to fix it, and YES, PEOPLE, IT TAKES MORE THAN FOUR YEARS TO CLEAN UP A MESS OF THAT MAGNITUDE, SO YES, WE CAN SAY HE'S STILL CLEANING IT UP IN HIS SECOND TERM. Everyone expected all of America's problems to be fixed within 4 years. Ain't gonna happen. Basic common sense, and logic, says it's just not feasible. When I voted for him, I knew that it wasn't possible to fix it all in 4 years. I wasn't expecting rainbows and skittles to shoot out of his ass, wave his magic wand, and awww! All better now! If you thought that, then you were setting yourself up. WE have to help make things happen. We just can't expect the government to fix it all for us.
Now, about that "job's rising" comment that I spoke of above. Of course, there still aren't as many jobs out there as there once was, but it's getting there. And there are more out there than a few years ago, and jobs are being created. When I lost my job, I needed to find something. There weren't as many jobs in the accounting market (yes, I know... with "death and taxes" being certain, there should be plenty of those out there for me, but there wasn't, because no one wanted to leave their jobs.), so guess what? I made myself a job. I created a job. And I did it with $0.00. Within 6 months, it has started to become successful. I set my own hours, have money to pay the bills, and money to put back. Maybe I was lucky. I don't know. But the point is that I am better off than I was 4 years ago.
Healthcare Reform, or, as it's been called, "ObamaCare".
Let's not beat a dead horse here. We all have our thoughts on that, and they vary exponentially. You can read up on it here at the Congressional Budget Office's site and get the real facts, not what left- or right-wing news organizations want you to hear. You can also check out this little spot on the interwebs for facts on it. Personally, the Affordable Care Act will benefit me. Being that I'm self-employed, I will be able to afford health insurance, even with that pesky little pre-existing condition that I have known as Scoliosis (just a slight case, but it's there).
The auto industry bailout. Had Obama (and Bush, with a short-term bailout) not agreed to the bailout, it could very well have been financially catastrophic to the economy, especially when it was just coming out of the recession (remember, this was the worst recession since the Great Depression). Not only were the jobs of GM and Chrysler employees on the line, but so were the jobs of the people who worked for the auto suppliers. We're talking the suppliers of all those little pieces of parts that make up an automobile. Over 1 million jobs were on the line, but saved by the bail out. People said "Let them go bankrupt". Then what? Add one million more people to the unemployment line? A completely failed US auto-industry?
Then, there is also a moral reason that I did not vote for Mr. Romney. And, that's the gay rights issue. I am 100% in favor of gay rights. To me, this isn't about Christian beliefs. This is about a basic human right that we, as taxpayers and American citizens, deserve, and should have. You don't have to like it, you don't have to agree with it, but you have to understand that you, or your beliefs, don't get to dictate who someone falls in love with, and should be able to marry. The LGBT community are just like us. They pay their taxes, they work their jobs, and they are productive members of society. They love, they fight, they make up, they shop, they take vacations, they do it all - just like the straight people. Their relationships have no affect on mine. If there's a problem in mine, it's not because of The Gay. Plain and simple, you don't have to agree with it, but you cannot deny them their basic civil rights as Americans, but expect them to still pay the same taxes as straight people do, and live by the laws as straight people do. I've heard people say "Well, I support gay rights, but I like Romney's stance on economic policy". Ok, fine. But you don't get a pass on that. As Pulitzer and Tony winning playwright, Doug Wright, stated best: "You're still complicit. You're still perpetuating anti-gay legislation and cultural homophobia. You don't get to walk away clean, because you "disagree" with your candidate on these issues".
Do y'all get that? YOU'RE STILL COMPLICIT!
And I won't even go there on the topic of the Republicans and my uterus. Because, OMG.
So, there ya go. Those are my reasons for voting for Obama. Is Obama the best President ever? No. But, he's taken the hand (economy) that was dealt, and he's on it. I made the right choice for me. You wanted "Change"? It's happening right now. You don't have to agree with it, I'll respect your decision. What I won't do is call you names if you voted for Romney.
Which leads me to the last point that I want to make on this whole election. I was disgusted, and appalled, at what I witnessed last night on the Facebook feeds, once it became apparent that Obama was going to take the Electoral Vote. I watched as people called Democrats "stupid", "dumb ass", "uneducated", "illiterate", and "Anti-American". I was personally called an "idiot", "loser", and "uneducated".
Blink.
Blink blink.
WTH? To those of you who know me personally, you know that I'm far from uneducated. I'm not a loser, and I'm certainly not an idiot. Please... don't let the blonde hair, and high heels, fool ya.
But, it's ok. I can handle it. Because, my Mother taught me better. I've read, some really harsh things being said TO ME between last night and this afternoon. I have never resorted to calling anyone names because my candidate didn't win an election. Never once did I do it, even after things were said specifically to me. But, knowing all that, and if I did it anyway? My Mom would be absolutely horrified, and extremely disappointed, if she saw me say the things that I've seen posted all over the Facebook threads, and call people names because they voted for a particular candidate. I can guarantee you that my phone would have been blowing up with calls from her. Lose graciously, as your candidate did, because I was fully prepared to concede graciously, had Obama lost. (Mr. Romney gave an amazing concession speech, by the way. Mad props to Mr. Romney for that.)
Just today, I was told that even though I supported Obama, that he was telling people to seek violent revenge on non-supporters. When I asked for her source, here's the link that she gave me: "Voting is the best revenge". Where in that link did he say to seek violent revenge on others? Talk about taking things way out of context, and blowing it out of proportion. Now, I realize that some things have been said from supporters on both sides. I'm not saying that Obama supporters haven't acted a little cray-cray, too. A friend of mine re-posted a FB status that she saw from an Obama supporter stating "we gone riot if it go down like DIS" (the poster's spelling, not my friends). Even my friend was shocked by her statement, and she supported Romney. On the other side of the spectrum, the Republican side, we have this wonderful (sarcasm) piece of news to come out today: "Twitter Racists React To 'That N-word' Getting Re-elected". It's 2012 and we're still doing that? Disgusting.
You may not like Obama, and you may not agree with his politics, but don't you dare call him the n-word. Don't you dare. And, I hope to God that you didn't vote for him simply because he's a black man. Vote against him because of stance on economic policy, or whatever. But, NOT because he's black.
One last thought: We do not have to hoard guns, we do not have to stop having babies for fear of the future, and we do not have to be so damn terrified. We live in the best country in the world. There is nothing that we're going through that we can't pull ourselves out of, and haven't pulled out of before, and we're headed in the right direction. The election is over. The President has been chosen. It's time to work together (Republicans AND Democrats), for an even better America.
Sparkles & kisses!
*As of this writing, Florida hasn't finished their vote count.
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