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Election things...
I was asked for my opinion on the US election. I was also asked to shut up about it, so there you go. I'll still make a few points:
- Alternet has some comparison guides for the candidates on various issues, if you're still one of them undecideds. Here, for example, is Alternet's guide to the candidates' stances on gay marriage and adoption, sex education and LGBT rights. Go read. (Why am I linking to the sex ed one? Frankly, and I don't like being mean about America, because I love the place, America's stance on sex education is backward to the point of medieval, it's misguided and wrong and oppressive and downright dangerous. Get over yourselves when it comes to sex, srsly. Won't SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN!?!? And yes, I know that's a generalisation, but like I've said before, I can only be so nuanced when talking about an entire country. Sure, you guys on my flist are progressive, right minded people and so are a vast lot of Americans. But still.)
- Colin Powell? Yah, never liked the man, but he said some wise things there and the fact that he's endorsing Obama is a majorly good thing. Quotage: "... the party has moved even further to the right, and Governor Palin has indicated a further rightward shift. I would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, but that's what we'd be looking at in a McCain administration. I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America." Right on there, dude. Respect. Transcript of his Meet the Press is here.
- I think one of the problems we have looking at this election from a European perspective, is that in Europe most countries still work on far more of a party political level. We don't quite understand the personality politics that Americans engage in. In our eyes, therefore, a vote for McCain is far more of a vote for Bush than perhaps it is in the average American's eyes. We don't really vote for people in Europe, we vote for parties. That's not a dissmissal of the American system, it's just an observation, we have trouble seeing a vote for McCain as anything other than an endorsement of the Bush administration and a desire from said voter for more of the same, please.
- ETA: Another one of those things we have difficulty getting our heads around is this whole Is Obama a Christian? thing. I don't know how that plays out outside of Holland, but we certainly prefer our politicians, unless they are standing for a specifically religious party, to shut the hell up about their religious beliefs as they are irrelevant and not something we would like to see influencing their political decisions in any way. The fact that religion is SO NOT IRRELEVANT in American politics is something we have difficulty understanding. Over here if a politician mentions God or Jesus in a speech, our WHOA!!NUTBAR radar kind of starts pinging, Hard.
- My main opinion, having watched some of the debates and all the shizzle and rallies that are happening at the moment, and it's probably a slightly controversial one, is that McCain is not 100% mentally healthy. Nor is he, obviously, 100% physically healthy, but that's another issue. I really think, watching him closely, that he's not quite right in the head. He scares me. There is just a touch of the crazy, stubborn old man on a streetcorner about him and I dread to think of him in the White House. The way it's looking at the moment, though, I'm very relieved that it would appear that I have little to worry about on that front. Thank fuck for that.
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A lot of people I know have actually been saying you need to look closely at the Vice Presidential candidates, since there is a very good chance that one of them will end up as President!
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Nicole
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I for one, could care less about what religion someone is.
People might get pissy for me saying or asking this, but I've done some research and bunch of quotes this weekend are comparing Obama to Socialism. I've researched it and I don't see it.
What are your thoughts on it? Or is there some glaring point I'm missing?
Nicole
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Then McCain and Palin keep throwing it out there and people are like yep, and I know they have no idea what it means.
You know I like your political discussions, at least for me it's nice to see how it's being viewed from the outside.
Nicole
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McCain made a huge tactical and strategic error with respect to Obama and race. Your mainstream US voter is, actually, smart enough to recognize that comments about "otherness" are comments about the Big Scary Black Man and cry foul. Having longtime, respected leaders like General Powell call him on it, and his hasty attempts to backpedal just don't work--especially when it's his own running mate making the accusations (and, in a breathtaking display of hypocrisy, whose own husband was until a year ago openly affiliated with a secessionist group). I'm not sure which is more sad, that they used those tactics in the first place, or that there are still enough wingnuts in this country to fall for that.
Don't get me started about policies towards sex ed in the US. Like the "work = virtue" thing, it's a holdover from 17th century colonial views (puritans, in particular) that just won't fucking die already.
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Sex Ed: So many that rally against it in the U.S. say, “It’s the PARENT’S job to teach their children about sex and it has no place in schools.” Um, yeah, that’d be nice in an ideal world but, as you’ve pointed out already, it’s not an ideal world. And lots of parents just DON’T teach their kids. Or teach them too late. Or they do not talk about birth control. Or they have inaccurate information. America is VERY backwards when it comes to sex and religion plays a huge part in that. My mom didn’t tell me about sex until AFTER I had sex and, even then, didn’t talk to me about birth control at all. Thank goodness I had a great health teacher in school who talked about anything and everything, as well as books and informative friends.
The candidate vs. the party: Americans claim that they vote for the person, not the party (we lie to ourselves quite a bit). However, a vote for McCain IS pretty much a vote for Bush (though with a tad less stupidity, possibly, unless Palin helps run things and then – DISTASTER since she’s a cretin). I liked McCain back in the day when he stood up to Bush but, now…? No. He’s just another Republican drone. And, as a Democrat, I admit there’s a very slim to none chance that I will ever vote for a Republican no matter who it is. So, yeah, we pretty much vote for our party.
Religion in politics: I want it left the FUCK out of politics. But that special brand of stupid? It belongs to the fundie Christians who somehow think we’re a Christian nation (when we’re supposed to have freedom of religion). And they applaud and mist up and cheer when politicians talk about god and Jebus. They love it. They eat that stuff up. My thinking is… if you’re making decisions for millions of diverse Americans of all races, cultures, religions (and some with no religion at all), religion should be left the fuck out of it. It’s wrong my opinion to have religion play a role in a country that is supposed to have freedom of religion. And it’s why I’m so angry about all the furor about gay marriage in our country, trying to overturn Roe Vs. Wade, trying to prevent kids from learning about sex, etc.
And yes, I’m VERY happy that the tide is leaning towards Obama at this point. Thank fuck, indeed (I like that term, I may use it since I never know what to use… “god” sounds like I’m religious and “goodness” sounds too “Gee-isn’t-that-swell”.)
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I'm still worried about that because polls aren't perfect and there is enough to time where anything could happen. I mean we did Not!Elect Bush TWICE after all.
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Hear, hear.
It hit me the other day that their "traditional" marriage, one man and one woman, and defining a family as only a traditional nuclear family, is reducing the entire notion of family to one for the production of children. Not for mutual support, not for easy and efficient transfer and management of property (the other traditional reason for marriage), not for companionship--just reproduction. I don't argue that family and reproduction are related, but I think it's crazy that the only definition of family should mean breeding pairs.
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Re: your Sex Ed: In elementary school we had the boys are different then girls talk along with the what is going on in your body talk.
In middle school we got the talk about what a Penis does.
The sex ed I received from my mother was, "So you know what a penis is."
Me: yes
Mom: Good, any questions.
Me: no.
It's much easier to learn about sex from someone on the outside of the family unit as they usually provide unbiased answers (In a hypothetical world without abstience only education).
Your second to last paragraph: Word. I love it.
Nicole
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2) As an atheist I most definitely wish that religion were a lot less relevant in American politics, too. Obama being religious doesn't really bug me because, well, to be honest he doesn't seem that religious truly-- more as an act he kind of puts on-- and whatever religion he has definitely doesn't affect his policies. McCain and Palin, however, are obviously very driven by their religion and that's pretty ew to me. If any presidential candidate were to admit to being non-religious all of America would basically shit their pants halfway to Wednesday. To quote Arrested Development: "Take me to your secular world!"
3) I don't know about McCain being certifiably crazy but he is definitely at least far too temperamental and a bit unstable. Especially in the last debate, he actually started off frighteningly strong and then just lost it about halfway through, becoming completely petulant, disdainful, and sarcastic. I was kind of embarrassed for him, honestly.
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The logic of the far right is insane, flawed, and hypocritical. And the worst part is, you can't argue with them because they don't listen to reason. Logic flies out the door.
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Yeah, I totally agree that it's easier to learn about sex from someone else that's not a family member. I have two kids and I think what I'm going to do is get a good sex book for them to read about age 9 or 10 and then follow up with a Q&A session. Because that's when I learned about sex. Of course, kids grow up very quickly nowadays so it could be sooner than that. And that's fine. I'm not saying I'm looking forward to the talk, but that's fine, I'll do it!
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Arkansas has a ballot proposition to ban unmarried people (read: gay people) from adopting children. It's crazy.
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Harsh words indeed, coming from a former coworker.
And the mess about abstinence-only sex ed isn't restrained to teenagers. In Texas, abstinence-only is the law, and so when you have grown adults going before the judge in child protection cases, the adults in question will get anger management classes, financial counseling, therapy, home dynamics and social work, drug/alcohol treatment, everything BUT contraception and family planning. You know. Abstinence only. It's ludicrous, it's hurtful, and it's absurd, and it's pushed in the name of "children, children, children" without a single thought as to what happens when the children grow up.
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Another option, if it's still available and you can't find a sex book you like.
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