I'd like to make sure something is clear, at the moment. There are more visitors today than ever before, and I hope I'm not leaving the impression that what any of this political blogging is about is about what I'm against.
It's about what I'm for.
Shark-fu, an Angry Black Bitch (sorry, I just love saying it - and it is, after all, her blog), made this point a couple of days ago and I agree with her (I also, as it happens, agree with most of what she is for). This election season isn't about what I'm against. I don't hate Barack Obama; I will support his candidacy, enthusiastically, if he becomes the Party's nominee.
It's just that, for now, I support Hillary Clinton. Because of what she's for.
Democrats still have a choice this election season; voters in a number of states - starting with Pennsylvania - still have a choice to make. As Nick in Indy says, it's an amazing year when Indiana, one of the last primary states, can actually feel it, too, has a say in this election. This remarkable run where every primary matters is due, in no small measure to the "50 state strategy" of Howard Dean and his DNC. And that's a big reason why, somehow, we need to find a solution at our convention that includes the voices of Michigan and Florida. Non-inclusionary politics is not what I'm for.
Riverdaughter asked, recently, for people to write about what they believe. This is my stab at it. It's not the sort of writing I'm most comfortable with, so bear with me. But below, a little bit more of what I'm for.
I believe, first and foremost, in a government that helps out those who cannot, for some reason, help themselves; I believe in the programs we provide that assist people in improving their lives, and assisting them in times of crisis. I believe we have an obligation to make sure that the poorest, weakest and most ill among us do not suffer needlessly when we have the ability to help.
I believe in respecting, valuing, and celebrating difference. I believe we can deal fairly across racial and gender lines, and and do more to support and protect the LGBT community.
I know that we need the resources and abilities to protect and defend our country, and to help others. While I believe we spend too much on arms and armaments and should focus more on non-violence and peaceful conflct resolution, I accept that we cannot do that without military service. I believe we can better organize our priorities, significantly reduce our presence in Iraq and other foreign countries, and move to greater international coordination and cooperation in promoting peace and order around the world.
I believe we need to encourage countries to find peaceful resolutions to conflicts, to provide greater freedoms to their citizens of the kind we take for granted, and to separate secular culture from religious life. I believe we need to continue to welcome people, goods, and services from all over the world into our country, while encouraging other nations to improve working conditions, economic opportunity and respect individual rights and freedoms.
I believe in America, and I love my country. I believe we are a flawed nation with a difficult, often painful history; but when we find what is best in ourselves, and in others, we are capable of greatness. I want to see us become what we are capable of, and let go of the things that hold us back.
I want this election, and my politics generally, to focus on what I'm for, not what I'm against.
What are you for? And why?
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