"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." -- Martin Luther King Jr.

[shizumaslover]

When my dad turned to me last night and demanded to know Obama's immigration policies, I was dismayed to realize I didn't exactly know the answer. So, in the interest of being able to shoot Obama facts at him (and any other Obama detractors I come across) I spent a couple of hours tonight reading up on the issues.

Eventually I stumbled upon this

Comments

[shizumaslover]

Oh, I'm aware that politics is all about spin, and that both candidates have been, at the very least, bending the truth to suit their agendas.

The thing is, I LOOKED for something that leaned in McCain's favor. I went to his website and unlike Barack Obama, who has an entire page devoted to GLBT issues, I can't find a single scrap of pro-gay information, even under his "Human Dignity" and "Fighting Crime" sections. Maybe there's something I overlooked, but I looked pretty thoroughly.

So I went to YouTube to try to find video of McCain talking about it, as well as to his ontheissues.org Civil Rights voting record page. Although I couldn't find anything to confirm the quote Obama's site cited about passing the gay marriage ban amendment if he becomes president (despite voting against it in the Senate) I didn't find anything to suggest that the other information (like voting against legislation that would prevent job discrimination or expand the definition of hate crimes to include homosexuality) was taken out of context or fabricated.

[junglefowl26]

My apologies. I in no way meant to imply you would be the type to take something at face value....I just surprised at the strength of your reaction...

Your research is convincing...I will need to think about this. I guess the curse of my political views is that I have the agenda of a social liberal and economic and governmental conservative (in short, I don't like the government interference anywhere.) So I always have tow eight which means more to me each election.

In any case, it is clear I need to start researching this stuff myself. Your attention to double checking is frankly inspiring.

[shizumaslover]

Oh, no, it's fine! I totally get it. I wasn't clear in my post that I looked other places besides Barack's site. And I do have a tendency to be EXTREMELY emotional when I start to think about the state of civil rights in this country, so I wouldn't fault people for thinking maybe I wasn't being entirely rational when I wrote this post.

It's just that this issue is incredibly close to my heart, and the fact that it's an issue at all plagues me every single day.

[junglefowl26]

I can understand. I know I can come off as irrational when I discuss the war in Iraq...hearing first hand accounts from some of Saddam's victims has left...a strong impression on me. Or dictators anywhere really...and maybe I am slightly irrational about that.

Still, always good to have such a important issue close to your heart.