Jonathan Curley is a banker in Charlotte, North Carolina. He voted for George H.W. Bush twice and George W. Bush once.
In this story from the Christian Science Monitor, he talks about canvassing for Obama.
This story and the one in the blog post below it illustrate to me exactly why this election is so important. I don't think I'm overstating the case when I say it's a battle for this country's soul. A battle between the fear and hate and divisiveness that's come to symbolize the McCain campaign and the hope for the future and unity that Obama stands for. I've had to fight for eight years against people who have no problem calling me a traitor and un-American because I've dared disagree with my country's government. People like the lady in the story below, who don't see anything wrong about punishing children out of hate for the candidate their parents support. That lady is not an islotated case. I know people just like her, all over. They write me some really charming e-mails.
If I have to, I'll fight them for another eight years.
But lord, I'm tired.
In this story from the Christian Science Monitor, he talks about canvassing for Obama.
I learned in just those three hours that this election is not about what we think of as the "big things."
It's not about taxes. I'm pretty sure mine are going to go up no matter who is elected.
It's not about foreign policy. I think we'll figure out a way to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan no matter which party controls the White House, mostly because the people who live there don't want us there anymore.
I don't see either of the candidates as having all the answers.
I've learned that this election is about the heart of America. It's about the young people who are losing hope and the old people who have been forgotten. It's about those who have worked all their lives and never fully realized the promise of America, but see that promise for their grandchildren in Barack Obama. The poor see a chance, when they often have few. I saw hope in the eyes and faces in those doorways.My wife and I went out last weekend to knock on more doors. But this time, not because it was her idea. I don't know what it's going to do for the Obama campaign, but it's doing a lot for me.
It's a great story and I recommend it heartily.This story and the one in the blog post below it illustrate to me exactly why this election is so important. I don't think I'm overstating the case when I say it's a battle for this country's soul. A battle between the fear and hate and divisiveness that's come to symbolize the McCain campaign and the hope for the future and unity that Obama stands for. I've had to fight for eight years against people who have no problem calling me a traitor and un-American because I've dared disagree with my country's government. People like the lady in the story below, who don't see anything wrong about punishing children out of hate for the candidate their parents support. That lady is not an islotated case. I know people just like her, all over. They write me some really charming e-mails.
If I have to, I'll fight them for another eight years.
But lord, I'm tired.
6 comments:
And here's a hockey mom expressing her feelings about Sarah Palin. In song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh9BmNuqeiQ
Out here in California, out-of-state interests have gotten a CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT on the ballot that would make same-sex marriage illegal. The Mormon Church has been caught pouring big money into the campaign. It will be damn hard to undo this wretched discrimination if the measure passes - and it got about a 50-50 chance to pass.
The people with hatred in their hearts have decided they have a right to hate and discriminate. I don't know who told them it was okay to treat others as less human and less free. I do notice they tend to favor capital punishment.
I favor capital punishment. I think some crimes deserve a death sentence as the only fitting punishment for horrendous crimes.
What I don't like are the trial processes and human failings that sometimes catch and convict the wrong people.
Gerard, I lived in Texas when Shrub was executing one a week at The Walls. I'm talking about people who take too much pleasure in inflicting punishment.
The justice system in The Great State has a real flexible attitude toward prosecutorial propriety. Not much interest in rights of the accused, either. There was just a whole lot of unseemly mirth at each execution; we kept expecting vendors hawking meat pies on the shoulder of the road at Huntsville, and Madame LeFarge sitting at the gate, knitting socks for the guards.
Convict the wrong person? In Texas? Never happened; that would undercut the authority and majesty of the state.
Tom, I don't disagree with anything you wrote. Illinois' travails are equally well known and publicized. Heck, Scott Turow wrote a book about it all after having served on the state's commission on capital punishment. I'll amend my first post into a more succinct version: "Good in theory, poor execution."
Bush's gleeful comments on Texas' death penalty during one of his debates with Gore were revolting.
Oops. That anonymous comment was mine.
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