Not Ashamed To Be An Obama Supporter
Why I Supported Obama During The 2012 Election
Let me start off by saying tend to vote Democrat, and I have no shame in declaring that Obama is doing a good job trying to lead this country through some hard times. Many of Obama's speeches illustrates that he is the best choice for America at the moment, and Mitt Romney was just not worried about working-class and middle-class Americans. I am also a little skeptical of those who question Democratic administrations, and this is now becoming a trendy thing. My sister was chuckling this morning commenting how some of the conservatives now sound like the hippies of the sixties who did not trust the "establishment".
Of course, many of these same people had no problem with Bush and his policies, and they would have been whistling a merry tune if McCain were in office now. Romney likes to question Obama about his every policy and decision, but then he squawks the minute Obama brought up that he has been less than transparent with his tax records, and overseas bank accounts. Seriously, we are tired of Republican presidential candidates playing these scare games saying only certain Americans work hard, and they the rich deserve more tax cuts. Sorry, but most of us in the loop know all Americans work hard, and we are tired of your Debbie downer rhetoric!
To be honest, this is not completely 100% accurate since the founding fathers were distrustful of the British government because it taxed them without representation, but they were perfectly happy to serve in office US became an autonomous nation. Also, let us not forget many wanted George Washington to be king - yes king - of the United States, but he was adamantly against that.
Also, the government originally established by the US definitely was geared toward the rights of upper-class white men because minorities and women did not have the right to vote. Whereas members of Congress were directly elected, our upper branch of the legislature, the Senate, used to have members appointed to this body up until 1917! That was a mere three years before American women finally obtained the right to vote. Although African-American men technically obtained the right to vote after the Civil War, it would not be until the 1960s that many were able to exercise that right because of unfair literacy tests. Some Americans like to believe that discrimination is something of our distant past, but it is much more recent than some would like to imagine.
Up until 1917 Caucasian men of higher social standing had a larger say in who was appointed to the Senate, and do not think they did not for a second. Of course, we should be skeptical of many things, but I am also cognizant of how questioning Democratic administrations trendy thing for people to do, sort of like shopping for skinny jeans! Yes, some leaders were questionable such as Bush, but even he was not subjected to extreme scrutiny merely a year into his term. It was not until 2005 when we started hearing some major squawks among the electorate. I never really liked Bush's politics but respected him as president. To me, what many who question the government as much as they do sound like all the want is another Civil War and anarchy, and do not realize how truly free they are with political stability to rant online.
There are countries such as Egypt, Syria, China, and Iran where bloggers have been arrested for expressing their views, and many of these were just posts pointing out sexual harassment and police brutality. In America and Europe, people have the freedom to post these things without recourse, but that is not the case everywhere. By studying the past I have seen our country change and improve for the better, and I knew in 2008 we could finally elect someone better, and he is in office now.
Today when figures such as Paul Ryan and Sarah Palin say they distrust big government, it really makes no sense since, guess what? There have always been conservatives in government, so are they saying that we should not trust them because that is exactly the message I get. Why is trusting big business okay, but trusting the government so scary? Maybe there are good and bad people in every sector, and some just exaggerate to play the political game
I have always been a moderate Democrat on some issues, and more liberal on others. I am moderate in that I realize how good we have it here in the United States, and I am not overly distrustful of a government that gives us as much freedom as we have here. Have you ever read the book Honeymoon in Tehran? When you read books like this you realize how much freedom people really have in the US. Moavani is one an Iranian-American who writes for Time magazine, and she has written a couple of memoirs. In her book, Honeymoon in Tehran she describes how much more open things had become by 2005 before Ahmadinejad took power, but even then things were curtailed. Iranians had to buy grapes to make their own wine and was no middle class to speak of. Even a university professor only makes enough to pay the rent, and that is about it. Yes, we may be experiencing an economic downturn here in the US, but to be honest, conservatives are sensationalizing things to feed the political frenzy against Obama. We must never forget our economy was in bad shape when he took office, and much of that can be attributed to his predecessor.
I might get lots of put-downs by taking a stance, but I am strong woman and secure in my opinions. Of course, Obama has opponents, and they were waiting and ready to swoop down and start a smear campaign the minute he won. Yes, I would like to see Obama take more of a liberal stance on some issues, but to be honest, much of what he has done was try to be moderate to make all parties happy on Capitol Hill. It is not Obama's fault that we have stubborn Congressional representatives that wanted to deny Americans a public option, but I am glad I can see this.
Also, the media is always looking for the new story, and being critical of Obama over this and that always drives the headlines. CNN and a few others even run a few pieces to try to compete with Fox News. These stories drive views and readership, and you know half of these stories would be less horrific if our economy was booming. No, I am not indoctrinated either because to be honest, I am glad Obama has taken a stance on a few things, such as letting Fox know what many of us really think about some of its coverage. Also, I am glad Obama pointed out to the American people that outsourcing and the environment are issues that impact Americans because Mitt Romney has pretended like these issues do not.
Who Did The American People Elect In November of 2012?
The good news is Obama was re-elected, so maybe a few of us were not ashamed at all. We are quite happy to have Obama as our president, actually. President Romney was not the inspiring future I was hoping for, and Obama is working towards a more egalitarian future for our people.