(no subject)
Morning after thoughts.
Obama won. Good. I voted for him.
A lot of my friends and family voted for Romney.
I heard their arguments and reasons and some of them I agreed with.
I could not vote for Romney even thought he is clearly a smart guy with a lot of good ideas because he belongs to a party that severely contradicts my views on social policy.
And he has gone out of the way to appease ever layer of the conservative spectrum on social issues. I am sure he would have done a fine job with foreign policy and the economy.at least in the short term. But for me, the important thing is to have some back up in the work that I do, and that means someone in charge who understands the value of education and the societal resources that are necessary to make things work. Which always disappear under Republican administrations, as well as all funding for mental health and the arts.
The main argument I heard from the Romney supporters in my circle is that Obama will betray Israel and establish socialism at home. I am worried about Israel, there are a whole lot of things about which I profoundly disagree with Obama, especially on foreign policy. I'll see how well I tolerate his decisions for this term, and I might even protest a lot of them. I don't worry so much about socialism. I actually don't think it's such a bad thing, but I also don't think it will ver really happen. Obama saved wall street and the auto industry and that doesn't seem so socialist to me. Making the very rich pay more taxes, yes please. No argument there from me. I am worried about Israel, but I would be just as much under Romney. I also don't think he would have done anything drastically different from Obama, except for the rhetoric. With other places, like China and Russia and Iran Obama is creating horrible damage that might not ever get fixed.
The last thing is that Obama can't fuck up at home too much because in four years there will be another election. And regardless of who is the president them, it is important which party with which social policies will be in charge. I know that a woman's right to have an abortion and a woman's right to own a gun are both individual rights, but I care much more for the former rather than the latter. At least until the apocalypse, and for as long as my students come to school with bullet wounds.
I believe that in the next four years there will be ample opportunity to make this country a better place. And a large part of that is to get away from extremes, and think about what is good for this country and what is good for the people and our allies. To get away from policies that are fueled by religious fervor and to get away from policies that are fueled by good old anti-semitism.
And we'll see what happens.
Obama won. Good. I voted for him.
A lot of my friends and family voted for Romney.
I heard their arguments and reasons and some of them I agreed with.
I could not vote for Romney even thought he is clearly a smart guy with a lot of good ideas because he belongs to a party that severely contradicts my views on social policy.
And he has gone out of the way to appease ever layer of the conservative spectrum on social issues. I am sure he would have done a fine job with foreign policy and the economy.at least in the short term. But for me, the important thing is to have some back up in the work that I do, and that means someone in charge who understands the value of education and the societal resources that are necessary to make things work. Which always disappear under Republican administrations, as well as all funding for mental health and the arts.
The main argument I heard from the Romney supporters in my circle is that Obama will betray Israel and establish socialism at home. I am worried about Israel, there are a whole lot of things about which I profoundly disagree with Obama, especially on foreign policy. I'll see how well I tolerate his decisions for this term, and I might even protest a lot of them. I don't worry so much about socialism. I actually don't think it's such a bad thing, but I also don't think it will ver really happen. Obama saved wall street and the auto industry and that doesn't seem so socialist to me. Making the very rich pay more taxes, yes please. No argument there from me. I am worried about Israel, but I would be just as much under Romney. I also don't think he would have done anything drastically different from Obama, except for the rhetoric. With other places, like China and Russia and Iran Obama is creating horrible damage that might not ever get fixed.
The last thing is that Obama can't fuck up at home too much because in four years there will be another election. And regardless of who is the president them, it is important which party with which social policies will be in charge. I know that a woman's right to have an abortion and a woman's right to own a gun are both individual rights, but I care much more for the former rather than the latter. At least until the apocalypse, and for as long as my students come to school with bullet wounds.
I believe that in the next four years there will be ample opportunity to make this country a better place. And a large part of that is to get away from extremes, and think about what is good for this country and what is good for the people and our allies. To get away from policies that are fueled by religious fervor and to get away from policies that are fueled by good old anti-semitism.
And we'll see what happens.