Monday, December 15, 2008

I guess I feel patriotic today

I was so motivated today! I drank coffee. For those of you who do not know me, I never ever drink caffeine. So what happened was a great energy high that lasted for pretty much the entire afternoon. I even exercised. Hooray!

So, there are two political stories I read about this week that I feel are worth mentioning. Of course, one of them is that the president was attacked by flying shoes this weekend.He made a surprise visit to Iraq and a local protester took off his shoes and threw them at Bush. Now, I don't know about you, but I was raised that no matter what your political opinions, you respect the president. You can disagree with him but you still must acknowledge that he is the leader of our country and as such should be treated accordingly. How ridiculous. I have seriously been reading articles that said he deserved it. Can you believe that?

Two, there was an article this week talking about how difficult it is going to be for the secret service in the upcoming weeks, months, etc... to protect Obama. He is the first African American president and with that comes the increased danger for assaination from racist factions. As sad as this is it is so very true. My father actually admitted his hesitance to vote for Obama for this reason. He said he feared that some nut would shot Obama and it would lead to race riots the likes of which haven't been seen for decades. Let me just tie this in to my afore mentioned issue. I can not believe that this is such a problem in 2008. I could never imagine judging someone based on nothing but their skin. The concept perplexes me. I dislike all kinds of people for their behavior but your race or religion makes no difference. Get over your bigotry people. Grow up and learn that it is, as cliche as it sounds, what is inside that really matters. I do not agree with Obama's policies and no I did not vote for him.....BUT he IS our president and he will be leading our country for at least the next four years. I know that is a huge responsibility and a monumental task. I respect him for taking that on and trust him to make the right decisions for the American people. God Bless America and thank you to all those who help make our nation safe and our country great.

1 comment:

Super Mom said...

I was raised that respect (particularly the kind that you are talking about) is earned, not a right due to title or position.

Not saying that Bush DESERVED to get shoes thrown at him and humilated in front of the whole world (which is essentially what happened), but he is also not a man who I feel has earned my respect, or who I feel "commands" the respect of others throughout the world. I do appreciate that he is the president, but with that position comes great responsibility and the demand for extensive accountability for your actions - neither of which I feel he has demonstrated in the past 8 years.

And I do agree on the second issue - I think it is very sad that the threat of an assasination is so great for our upcoming president in this day and age. You would hope that by this time, after all that this country has been through, that we would be able to see past the color of skin and see the person underneath. I was also raised that hatred or dislike is also earned, and not due to title, position, creed, race, sex, or abilities. I think it takes a very weak minded person to be unable to see past race (or sex, creed, religion, etc) and look in at the actual person standing in front of them.

I think that Obama will do his best for this country, and will probably do a lot better than many people will expect. But unfortunately, he also has a lot to prove to a lot of people, probably a lot of that due to his skin color (which is sad), and I am afraid that no matter how many great things he accomplishes, it will never be enough for many people in this country...

Sorry this was so freakin' long!!! You hit a chord with me this morning! Thanks for letting me vent a little! :)