I was just on the phone for an hour or so, calling voters in Pennsylvania for Obama. They were listed as Obama supporters. I gotta say this was one of the most inspiring hours I've ever spent.
Of the 50 voters I called, a fair number were not in. My wife, also making calls, did get a vile racist on the phone (his daughter was listed as an Obama supporter). But the vast majority of people I spoke to were well informed and enthusiastic about this election. From Philadelphia to the middle of the state, people of diverse backgrounds and ages were ready to go out and make history on Tuesday.
I think my favorites were the mother of a voter - he wasn't home - and she was from Haiti. She spoke French. I mustered my best college delivery, and I think I got my point across, because she said, "Oui, Obama!" On the other side of state, a woman interrupted my voice mail to tell me she and husband were voting for Obama, and they were sure he would win. My wife also had a good conversation with an Obama supporter in the middle of the state who said he had been receiving "disgusting" calls from McCain supporters - he was too much of gentleman to tell her the language - he said he and wife "were ready for a change" and were voting for Obama.
But nothing is certain in politics and democracy. In the end, all the speeches, the polls, the articles, the news commentary all give way to one thing: the votes on Election Day and before. It doesn't matter how rich or powerful the voter. All votes count the same.
You can make some calls, and get a feel for real democracy, at mybarackobama.com. If you have even an hour or two in the next day, give it a shot. The new new media of the Internet and telephone and political revolution. It's an experience you won't soon forget.
4 comments:
I'm glad you have a candidate to support. After taking the "red pill," I have discovered the overwhelming similarities between Obama and McCain. I thought this list was pretty accurate:
Foreign Policy
- Both support an aggressive, interventionist foreign policy
- Both support the "Bush Doctrine" of preemptive war on sovereign nations
- Neither support scaling down the enormous expenditure of policing and occupying the world by closing any one of the 700 bases we have in over 140 countries worldwide
- Both will expand the war in Iraq into Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria
- Both will expand U.N.
operations worldwide
- Both pay lip service to our continued support of Israel, while not mentioning the fact that we give 3 times as much monetary aid to its enemies
- Neither has mentioned the idea of not sending any monetary aid to other countries while the People of America suffer the consequences of a $1 trillion deficit and a $10 trillion + debt
- Both took an offensive stance against Russia, while supporting Georgia, the true aggressors in the Russian/Georgian conflict.. and of course neither has talked about just staying out of the situation all together
- Neither has taken anything, including a preemptive nuclear strike, off the table when dealing with Iran
- Neither support the humble, non-interventionist foreign policy that our Founding Fathers prescribed
Domestic Policy
- Both support the Patriot Act
- Both support the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act
- Both will increase Federal spending
- Both support the expansion of our borders 100 miles inland effectively creating a "Constitution Free Zone" that encompasses 2/3 of all Americans
- Neither plan to abolish any one of the unconstitutional or redundant departments of the Federal government
- Both support the militarization of our police
- Both support the construction of hundreds of FEMA controlled detention camps across the US
- Neither plan on reinstating the Constitutional principle of property rights as a way of combating pollution
- Both support amnesty for illegal immigrants
- Both support the North American Union
- Both support NAFTA, CAFTA and the WTO as opposed to truly free trade
- Neither support the 10th Amendment of our Bill of Rights by continuing the many unconstitutional programs and laws that do not fall under the authority of the Federal government
- Neither support a healthcare or education system controlled by the People as opposed to government bureaucracies and corporations
- Neither support states' rights in regard to drugs, education, abortion or marriage
- Neither support an un-infringed 2nd amendment
Economy
- Both support the unconstitutional Federal Reserve System
- Both support the redistribution of wealth via inflation
- Neither support free market solutions to our current economic situation
- Neither support Article 1 Sections 8 and 9 of the Constitution by continuing the confiscation of the People's money, gold and silver, in place of a FIAT currency system
- Both support an increased influence of such global government entities as the IMF and world bank
- Both supported the $850 billion+ Wall Street bailout bill
- Both support expanding government intervention in our market
- Both support the income tax and 16th amendment
- Neither have alternative plans for the future of welfare programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicade but will both continue or even expand these programs that are bankrupting our nation
Miscellaneous
- Both have accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from banks, major corporations and lobbyists
- Both are supporters of the globalist Council on Foreign Relations
- Neither support continued investigations of the events of 9/11/01
- Neither believe in strict adherence to the Constitution
- Neither support holding charges against or the impeachment of President George W. Bush for his blatant disregard of our Constitution and his breaking of so many laws thereof and international treaties
- Neither will grant full pardons to Ignacio Ramos or Jose Compean
- Both of their vice-presidential candidates plan to use more power than is vested in them by the Constitution
- Both believe the United States to be a Democracy as opposed to the Constitutional Republic that the Constitution and our Founding Fathers intended
Thanks for your comment, H.J.
I think you present a good case, if one agrees with your analysis, for either voting for the Libertarian or Constitution Party this year, or sitting it out. That, indeed, was my suggestion for principled conservatives in my Sincere Question for Conservatives.
However, since I am not a conservative, but a progressive libertarian, I'll be voting for Obama.
In particular, I think the government has an obligation to provide for the health of its citizens. Even on selfish Ayn Randian grounds, a healthy populace makes for a healthier capitalist economy.
Also, although I don't think semantics are very important, I see democracy as any government elected by the people - whether directly, indirectly, or mixed. Many dictionaries do, too. Thus, I see our republic as a kind of democracy.
I see. I just think a truly free society must have both full civil liberty and complete economic liberty. Saying the government has an obligation to provide for the healthcare of its citizens really says that citizens must pay for the healthcare of their neighbors. While this indeed is a nice gesture, I consider it immoral when it is not voluntary.
I hope you can explore the following resource to see where I am coming from on this issue and other issues:
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/edu/economics.php
I'll definitely take a look, after the election - thanks for the link.
There is an involuntary aspect to any government - only an anarchist can avoid this - which includes citizens paying for the common defense, police, fire fighting, etc.
I'm putting health care into that pre-existing category.
But, other than those obligations, I'm in favor of the maximum possible economic liberty - which is why I urge no income tax for anyone earning under a million dollars per year (we need to tax millionaires and above to pay for defense, etc).
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