![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
As an exercise, imagine for a moment that not only does McCain win tomorrow's election, but dies of an unexpected heart failure two days into his presidency.
Oh, sorry, perhaps I should have suggested sitting down for this.
In this scenario we have a new commander in chief who makes George W. look like a moderate Christian. Bush's reforms that removed funding from any health organization that suggested abortion as option are comparatively liberal to what we can expect president Palin to enact. Likewise we can expect the next Katrina type urban-disaster to be met with the same racist federal unresponsiveness. All in all, from an abstract national perspective it is a very bleak picture.
Yet there is the question of how would a President Palin actually affect us on a more regional level?
I find am finding this difficult to answer because my own optimism clouds my ability to assess the subtle changes her policies would cause. I want to believe that the values we have here are unassailable and will be lived by even if federal policy doesn't support them. The regional majority that believes that women should have the right to choose, that funding for environmentally beneficial endeavors is important, that it is okay to love fellow humans no matter their gender. I don't think these are values that can be put back in the box, and that federal policies, if not outright ignored, will be skirted around as a matter of integrity.
Despite having just written a post about unsolvable urban poverty and blight, I want to believe that those communities and the region at large, will dig in and do something when things start getting dire. I see the framework for that now; there are community gems in the form of churches, youth programs, and adult outreach. There are lots of little activist organizations that will be flocked to with sufficient provocation.
And I think that, after the hope of a black president, Sarah Palin would be more than sufficient provocation.
I really don't want another four years of conservative national leadership, but I trust my friends, family, neighbors, and community at large to stand up in the face of abusive federal mandates should push come to shove.
Oh, sorry, perhaps I should have suggested sitting down for this.
In this scenario we have a new commander in chief who makes George W. look like a moderate Christian. Bush's reforms that removed funding from any health organization that suggested abortion as option are comparatively liberal to what we can expect president Palin to enact. Likewise we can expect the next Katrina type urban-disaster to be met with the same racist federal unresponsiveness. All in all, from an abstract national perspective it is a very bleak picture.
Yet there is the question of how would a President Palin actually affect us on a more regional level?
I find am finding this difficult to answer because my own optimism clouds my ability to assess the subtle changes her policies would cause. I want to believe that the values we have here are unassailable and will be lived by even if federal policy doesn't support them. The regional majority that believes that women should have the right to choose, that funding for environmentally beneficial endeavors is important, that it is okay to love fellow humans no matter their gender. I don't think these are values that can be put back in the box, and that federal policies, if not outright ignored, will be skirted around as a matter of integrity.
Despite having just written a post about unsolvable urban poverty and blight, I want to believe that those communities and the region at large, will dig in and do something when things start getting dire. I see the framework for that now; there are community gems in the form of churches, youth programs, and adult outreach. There are lots of little activist organizations that will be flocked to with sufficient provocation.
And I think that, after the hope of a black president, Sarah Palin would be more than sufficient provocation.
I really don't want another four years of conservative national leadership, but I trust my friends, family, neighbors, and community at large to stand up in the face of abusive federal mandates should push come to shove.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
Come out from behind the couch! Think of us as the Rebel Alliance. We always kick ass in the end!
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
E and I are hosting election night returns, starting around 7:30-8pm (when he gets home from teaching and I get home from platelet donating). If you're seeking election company, come on over!
From:
no subject
The most awesome Grace (upstairs neighbor) has done this gig several times and says it is really kinda interesting to watch.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
I would motherfucking see to it. We have good senators and congresscritters in my state, who would guarantee that.
The last 8 years have been enough. I will not watch my country be shoved and stomped further into irrelevance and made more of a joke, at the hands of anyone who panders that low to the 2% fringe out on the far right.
Before I watch Palin take the oath of office, I'd sooner blowtorch my nipples off.
From:
no subject
Agreed! Particularly as she would crack down on the fetish industry that you could sell the nipple-blowtorching video to.
But yes, I am really stressed about tomorrows elections. I can't buy into the "Obama's gonna win" squee until it is a sure thing.
From:
no subject
I'm going to need to have a get together tomorrow night, regardless of the outcome. Hopefully it will be in celebration... Who's up for it? I'll try to take some time during the work day tomorrow to organize something on my lj page.
From:
no subject
It's not the "Bradley effect" I'm concerned with - Obama is, as George Carlin once said of Colin Powell "openly white; he just happens to be black." There's even racists for Obama, which I find... darkly amusing, if a bit of an eye-roller. So none of the spin out there really effects me, one way or the other.
No, what worries me - what's keeping me up at 02:36 AM on the morning of the election - is that this is STILL the same country that put Bush back in office in 2004. This is still the same We the People who are all about restricting the rights of our fellow citizens (banning gay marriage, or abortion rights, or drugs, or gambling, or prostitution - because "the Book says it's a sin") all the while screaming about how we want more and more government - "support the troops! Win the War! Bail out my investment banks and make my 401(k) strong again!" - all the while paying LESS in taxes?
We the People, far too often, still don't get it. It ain't over until it's over.
From:
no subject