Deatrophication of the Brain

Unless you are living under a rock then you know that Tuesday, February 5 was “Super Tuesday.” The day in which 24 states held primaries or caucuses (I need to learn more about caucuses). Of course being a citizen of the United States I proudly went and cast my ballot. I cast my ballot for Barack Obama. I’m saying that now so just in case people who don’t want to read anymore can leave now.

The night of the election I set up in my bedroom with computers and the TV and watched as the returns came in. I had instant messages on my main computer. On the same computer I had the BBC streaming to my television. I really enjoyed hearing outsider perspectives on our election. I had the social networking website Twitter on my secondary computer and I had Politico on a third computer which I was repairing for a family member. I was connected, I was tuned in. It really helped boost my desire to tune in and see what was happening with the election. Up until the point of “Super Tuesday” I hadn’t been as caring about it. I had been going through the winter blues. It really felt great to have the rush of finding out which candidates won each state. More importantly, I really enjoyed hearing the candidates give their speeches. Even the Republican candidates because it gave me more insight into their campaigns which I had not even been looking into because I was trying to make the decision between Obama or Clinton so I was only tuned into their websites.

There have been a couple of things that have bothered me since “Super Tuesday.” The first of those is as I was watching Twitter after Barack Obama gave his speech the night of the election people were saying that his speech was “vile”, made them want to puke, “disgusting”, etc. The people who made these statements are open Clinton supporters (which is fine, nothing wrong with that). I do realize that almost all speeches given on that night did not have anymore substance than what they have been saying up until this point. However, I feel as though if you watched or listened to Barack Obama’s speech on that night and you thought it was disgusting or vile then I really feel as though you don’t understand what America is SUPPOSE to be. Everything in Obama’s speech that night states what America is suppose to be! This is one of my favorite excerpts:

You see, the challenges we face will not be solved with one meeting in one night. It will not be resolved on even a Super Duper Tuesday. Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. (Cheers, applause.) We are the change that we seek. We are the hope of those boys who have so little, who’ve been told that they cannot have what they dream, that they cannot be what they imagine. Yes, they can. (Cheers, applause.)

- The Turner Report: Transcript provided for Obama Super Tuesday speech

The above quote makes me feel as though Obama wants to make a change in this country. Of course there will be a major change since we will be getting out from under the Bush regime. But, I just feel when I read through Obama’s plan for his presidency on his website. When I hear him speak. I really feel that he wants to make a change. Some people will say that he just knows how to make a good speech. When I read the above quote again though I see much more, I feel much more, it makes me think that he realizes that change is not going to come overnight. Change is going to take years. Our country so desperately needs change. But it’s not going to come easy and it can’t end with him. We as Americans have to learn how to change and become more progressive or nothing will ever change. WE are the change. WE (Americans) are the change that we want. WE are the ones who will make things better.

The second thing that has been bothering me came today when I saw another friend say on Twitter that if you are gay and you didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton then you voted against yourself. I’ll be frank. That really pissed me off. It really bothered me. As someone who is gay I looked to my friends this election time to see who they were supporting. I read through both Obama and Hillary’s website and I came to the conclusion that Obama would get my vote based on many statements, especially this one:

Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: Barack Obama cosponsored legislation that would expand federal jurisdiction to reach violent hate crimes perpetrated because of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or physical disability. As a state senator, Obama passed tough legislation that made conspiracy to commit hate crimes against the law. As president, he will ensure that the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division makes hate crime a priority.

- Civil Rights Plan PDF (Direct link)

You can correct me if I am wrong on this but I have not found any statement like the one above on Hillary Clinton’s website. Yes, I realize that Hillary has came out and made a statement about how she wants the GLBT vote. Personally, I feel it’s too little too late. Especially considering her past with saying she feels as though children are better with a man and woman as parents. I also do not like the fact that Clinton said she wants the GLBT vote the night before Super Tuesday. That’s why I say it’s too late. Why couldn’t she have made this statement months ago? Is she going to update her website to reflect this new information?

When I say that I looked to my friends to see who they were endorsing and find out that they support Obama. I of course still done my research to see who I would support and endorse. The one person who is on my mind is Marti Abernathey who openly supports Barack Obama. Coming from her that honestly means a lot to me. Then when someone says that if I didn’t vote for Clinton then I voted against myself, it really triggers an emotion. I don’t know how to describe it otherwise so I will leave it at that.

This post is not about bashing Clinton. This post is really not about supporting Obama. This post is about the division among friends when it comes to politics. I think it’s great that we are voicing our opinions now. I just want to say that I think we should voice our opinions. However, I hope that we can all still be friends regardless of the fact that we have different view points. It really bothers me when someone says “If you vote for this person, then I won’t do this for you.” “I can’t be your friend because you support this person.” Many times those two statements are made in a passive aggressive way. Unfortunately, I don’t think that will change but I think we can learn to live with it. In other words, I hope I can learn to live with it. It’s really hard not to take things personally.

There is so much more that I could say in this post. There is so much more that I want to say. I think if I were to continue on much longer I might as well publish a book! If you are the two people in which I refer to in this entry then again, I really hope that we can still be friends and continue to grow as friends. I am almost hesitant to post this but I think it needs to be said otherwise it will be locked away eating at me. You are more than welcome to leave a comment telling me how stupid I am, which quite a few people already think based on my vote. Anyways, thanks for reading.