Who I Am

I’m a non-confrontational person by nature.  I hate arguing and yelling.  I had enough of that in my childhood.  And I’ve already pointed out my life-coping mechanisms of avoidance and denial.  That’s why I’ve kept out of the fray on Facebook and everywhere else with regards to the upcoming election.  I have many relatives in Ohio, and also friends around the country, who have stated their preference for voting Republican.  My non-confrontational self doesn’t want to deal with arguing.  I know that I won’t change their minds and they won’t change mine.  I just hide their posts and think about ‘unfriending.’  But there comes a time to say what, and who, you believe in.  I’m not inviting debate, sorry, I’m just stating what’s on my mind.  And in my heart.  This post is probably jumbled, and for that, sorry again.  It’s just that I feel like I’m screaming sometimes and no one hears me.

I’m a single white straight female from Ohio, which you might assume moves me towards the Republican Party, but you would be wrong.  I value compassion and empathy.  I value education and curious thinking.  Clearly, the Republican Party wants no part of that.  A party that has no compassion for gay people, women, the disabled, the elderly – they are NOT the party for me.  Candidates that took advantage of opportunities in their youth but now want to deny those same opportunities to future generations?  Not for me.  I want to know who decreed that straight white men have the right to tell me what to do with my body.  And who decreed that we could treat a majority of the American population as second-class citizens? 

I treat everyone with respect.  Everyone.  I believe everyone has the right to be treated with respect and dignity, no matter what.  I’ve read the Declaration of Independence.  I believe it says “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  To me, this means ALL men are created equal.  Not just white men.  Not just straight men.  Not just Christian men.  ALL men.  (Also, I choose to consider women as part of this equation.)  If a gay person’s pursuit of happiness includes getting married, what’s the problem?!  This whole ‘marriage is between one man and one woman’ is nuts.  Marriage is between two people who love each other.  It’s a promise they make to each other.  Finis.  How does American society get compromised if gay people marry?  I just don’t understand that.  Gay people should have the same legal rights as straight people.  Period.  End of sentence.  And please don’t get me started on the Republican stance on women’s rights or their definitions of rape.  I am 2000% behind Tina Fey, who said "If I have to listen to one more gray-faced man with a two-dollar haircut explain to me what rape is, I'm gonna lose my mind." 

I believe a tax cut isn’t going to change my life.  My paycheck isn’t more important than my friends’ civil rights.  Sure, I enjoyed the tax rebate checks I got during the Bush administration.  I spent the money.  But it didn’t change my life.  Not like civil rights can change my life, or supporting the arts can change my life.  Human rights can change my life.  Affordable education can change my life.  Affordable health care can change my life.  It took eight years of Republican nonsense to get into our financial problems, it will take more than four years to get out.  I can wait on that.  Civil rights?  Can’t wait.  Won’t. 

I realize America is not all about me.  It’s about America.  And Americans.  It’s about all of us together.  And, right now, the Republican Party seems more interested in making this country ‘us against them.’  That’s not America, in my mind.  My rights aren’t more important than yours, and yours aren’t more important than mine.  We all need to work together to make America a better place for future generations, and that can only happen with leaders who respect ALL people, not just the people who are exactly like them.  A leader who has compassion.  Empathy.  Who recognizes the dignity in every one of us.  Who recognizes we all have a part to play.  That leader is Barack Obama.  He needs to finish the good work he’s started.