My fears, in 500 words or less...or more...
OK, without using the word hate (because Alicat and my psychotwin made excellent points), I will explain why I didn't vote for Bush.
1. Ashford & Simpson - oops, I mean Ashcroft and Rumsfeild, they scare me.
2. As a PR person, I really respect Mary Beth Cahill and... and... (fingers shaking) DISLIKE Karen Hughes.
3. I fear for the constitution. First off, I honestly believe that this presidency will mark the death of Roe vs Wade. I feel a very strong connection to that particular decision - A) we were born on the same exact day B) I won an award from NY Newsday for a column I wrote defending it in HS.
Let me say, I don't think that I could ever have an abortion. I support the right to choose, though, because:
A) I never know what may happen to me
B) Just because I don't think I could have one doesn't mean that anyone else who needs one shouldn't get it - I make decisions for me and someday for my family. Not for anyone else. It's cliche but really - you wouldn't want someone telling you you aren't allowed to have kids, or get chemo or have sex- it sounds silly, but it all boils down to the same thing. You don't believe in abortion, fine! No one is making you have one. You get to make that decision for yourself - that's one of the great things about being a woman in this country - you get to make your own choices. Your body belongs to you and I believe that you are the only one who can decide what you do with it.
C) Prohibiting abortions does NOT STOP PEOPLE FROM GETTING THEM. It just increases the chances of dying from one. Before R v W women still got abortions - some from real, safe doctors. And some from a sleazy guy with a rusty knife just trying to make a buck.
Think about it - when alcohol was outlawed, people still drank. Pot, cocaine and heroin are illegal, but Lord, even our Presidents have used them nowadays. The onl difference between those things and abortions - people can die from them, especially if the guy that preforms them is also the guy bagging groceries at the local Stop & Shop.
4. Finally, I'm afraid that the line in the sand swept dividing Church and State will be swept away, and that can't happen. A President and his Congress (and that's what it is now, HIS Congress) have to rule according to the constitution, not the Bible - and for the record, I hold both very dear. We have lived over 20 years by that one piece of paper, and it's worked well for us so far. The problem with faith-based legislation is that it is exclusionary. For the most part we're talking about white Christian men making the rules according to Christian beliefs. So now we have a Christian nation - what about it's non-Christian citizens? By the same logic, imagine we have a Jewish or Muslim or Atheist president. Now what? Any of those men or women would not believe in Jesus Christ as a saviour, or in the Christian God, or in ANY God! Now what? It seems to me that when people talk about this subject, they don't imagine the shoe ever being ont he other foot. So it's either all religions (which would be great but history has yet to prove that can work) or none.
I would also like to beg, on the record, for President Bush to stop using 9/11 as a campaign tool. He did an amazing job for New York during those first few days, and I was cheering him on as he marched troops into Afghanistan. I just don't get what happened after that. Despite the begging of the families, he did all he could to prevent the 9/11 commision from happening. He left Afghanistan to fight Iraq in the name of those lost, but Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. And what about Saudi Arabia? There were a whole bunch of Saudis on those planes (and NO IRAQIS) but he and Cheney have to many business dealings with the Saudis - and the bin Landen family - to bother with them. If he has done this amazing job fighting in the name of 9/11 and all the familes who lost loved ones, why is it that every state that was directly effected by that day voted for Kerry.
OK, I'm done now. More on this topic in exactly 4 years!
1. Ashford & Simpson - oops, I mean Ashcroft and Rumsfeild, they scare me.
2. As a PR person, I really respect Mary Beth Cahill and... and... (fingers shaking) DISLIKE Karen Hughes.
3. I fear for the constitution. First off, I honestly believe that this presidency will mark the death of Roe vs Wade. I feel a very strong connection to that particular decision - A) we were born on the same exact day B) I won an award from NY Newsday for a column I wrote defending it in HS.
Let me say, I don't think that I could ever have an abortion. I support the right to choose, though, because:
A) I never know what may happen to me
B) Just because I don't think I could have one doesn't mean that anyone else who needs one shouldn't get it - I make decisions for me and someday for my family. Not for anyone else. It's cliche but really - you wouldn't want someone telling you you aren't allowed to have kids, or get chemo or have sex- it sounds silly, but it all boils down to the same thing. You don't believe in abortion, fine! No one is making you have one. You get to make that decision for yourself - that's one of the great things about being a woman in this country - you get to make your own choices. Your body belongs to you and I believe that you are the only one who can decide what you do with it.
C) Prohibiting abortions does NOT STOP PEOPLE FROM GETTING THEM. It just increases the chances of dying from one. Before R v W women still got abortions - some from real, safe doctors. And some from a sleazy guy with a rusty knife just trying to make a buck.
Think about it - when alcohol was outlawed, people still drank. Pot, cocaine and heroin are illegal, but Lord, even our Presidents have used them nowadays. The onl difference between those things and abortions - people can die from them, especially if the guy that preforms them is also the guy bagging groceries at the local Stop & Shop.
4. Finally, I'm afraid that the line in the sand swept dividing Church and State will be swept away, and that can't happen. A President and his Congress (and that's what it is now, HIS Congress) have to rule according to the constitution, not the Bible - and for the record, I hold both very dear. We have lived over 20 years by that one piece of paper, and it's worked well for us so far. The problem with faith-based legislation is that it is exclusionary. For the most part we're talking about white Christian men making the rules according to Christian beliefs. So now we have a Christian nation - what about it's non-Christian citizens? By the same logic, imagine we have a Jewish or Muslim or Atheist president. Now what? Any of those men or women would not believe in Jesus Christ as a saviour, or in the Christian God, or in ANY God! Now what? It seems to me that when people talk about this subject, they don't imagine the shoe ever being ont he other foot. So it's either all religions (which would be great but history has yet to prove that can work) or none.
I would also like to beg, on the record, for President Bush to stop using 9/11 as a campaign tool. He did an amazing job for New York during those first few days, and I was cheering him on as he marched troops into Afghanistan. I just don't get what happened after that. Despite the begging of the families, he did all he could to prevent the 9/11 commision from happening. He left Afghanistan to fight Iraq in the name of those lost, but Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. And what about Saudi Arabia? There were a whole bunch of Saudis on those planes (and NO IRAQIS) but he and Cheney have to many business dealings with the Saudis - and the bin Landen family - to bother with them. If he has done this amazing job fighting in the name of 9/11 and all the familes who lost loved ones, why is it that every state that was directly effected by that day voted for Kerry.
OK, I'm done now. More on this topic in exactly 4 years!