4 More Years: Forward

It is so, so good to live in a country that makes sense to me. Thank you, all of you, but thank you so much to all the women of this country. We rocked it.

Rape apologists voted out, & a feminist President re-elected.

Wisconsin (woot!) elects the first openly gay U. S. Senator with Tammy Baldwin. New Hampshire now has a female governor and two female senators, which is pretty damned cool, too. & There were a ton of other victories for women all over the country in all kinds of races.

Maine votes in same sex marriage by ballot. Maryland approves same sex marriage too. (It’s leading in Washington, too, which would mean a total of 9 states would legally recognize same sex partnerships. That’s just about a fifth.)

Right Here, Right Now

At 9PM, it’s looking like Obama took PA, NH, MI, & WI, and that Warren (MA) & Baldwin (WI) & Brown (OH) won.

So let’s hope it keeps on like this.

Let’s hope most of us voted for a compassionate, middle-class America.

VOTE! Do It! No Excuses!

 

Or, as Gwen Moore put it at the Obama rally in Milwaukee:  “If you can’t think of any reason to vote, then vote because they don’t want you to.”

She was referring, of course, to the rash of Voter ID laws through the United States which ultimately seek to prevent some kinds of people from voting. (Sarah Silverman explains it best.)

But for women: really, you have absolutely no excuse not to vote today. We fought and died and went to jail for the right, and there are still people who would prefer that we didn’t. So go. Do it.

& Yes, I’d be happier if you vote for Obama. I think I’ve made that more than clear.

FOUR MORE YEARS!

But even if you don’t, vote.

Top 10 Reasons to Vote for Obama #1: Economics

First off, don’t believe the hype. The United States has always done better economically with Demorats at the helm. Most recently, under Bill Clinton. Remember the surplus?

Second, Obama has not been the U.S.’ biggest spender, and not by a long shot.

Third, The Economist just endorsed Obama. The Economist! Neither Bloomberg nor The Economist are big old liberals. Both were somewhat reluctant endorsements: Bloomberg’s because he thinks Romney is too inconsistent, and The Economist’s vote was based both on Romney’s bad math and on Obama correcting the “scandal” of having so many people without health insurance in a country as rich as America.

Fourth, Mayor Bloomberg just endorsed him. If there’s a business guy in politics, it’s him.

#5: Global investors prefer Obama to Romney and see a second Obama term as good for American business: due both to the policy and the stability a second term brings.

#s 6, 7, & 8: Bill Gates, Paul Krugman, and Warren Buffet all endorsed him, and none of the three are lightweights in business and economics.

Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schulz fought Obamacare hard and still endorsed Obama.

Numbers 10 to a whole hell of a lot more: all of these other people!

 

Top 10 Reasons to Vote for Obama #2: Women & Choice

(Okay, that’s two. But stick with me.)

Mitt Romney just made an ad for this guy Rick Berg. Rick Berg believes women who get abortions due to rape should be imprisoned.

So as much as we all might joke about “binders full of women”, the reality is that Romney and (most of) his cohorts and completely out of touch with women. (And for those who still don’t understand why the binders were funny, try this on for size: he knew plenty of men who were qualified to be in his cabinet. That he didn’t know any women who would be qualified tells us all we need to know about how “equal” he thinks women are.)

The next President gets to choose Supreme Court justices, and a shift to the right for the SC could mean the undoing of Roe V. Wade. That’s actually the plan.

Planned Parenthood, which provides sex and health information to women, as well as breast cancer screenings, regular pap smears and birth control, is on Romney’s chopping block. Women’s health is not just a woman’s issue. Women’s health impacts everyone.

Then there’s the global gag rule, forced vaginal ultrasounds for women choosing abortion, the “personhood” of gametes — and, um, no Republicans voted for the Lily Ledbetter Act, which allows women to sue if it turns out they have been paid less than men in the same position.

Ladies, let’s do this. I will personally thank any Republican  who gets out there & votes for Obama only because of the Republican Party’s sexist and misogynist ideas about women. You have absolutely no excuse not to vote today. We fought and died and went to jail for the right, and there are still people who would prefer that we didn’t. So go. Do it. Tell your husband or your boyfriend you’ll vote his way if that’s what it takes & then vote how you want. That’s the whole point of the anonymous thing.

Top 10 Reasons to Vote for Obama #3: The 47%

Romney’s asserted that there are 47% of Americans “who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it — that that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. … These are people who pay no income tax. … [M]y job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

A friend’s mother, Polly Snodgrass, wrote this to Romney in response:

Dear Mr. Romney,

I am a senior citizen and long past the time when insensitivity towards me can ruffle my feathers. But insensitivity toward others is another story. I have waited to respond to your 47% tirade so that I could try to inform or maybe even educate instead of just having a swearing temper fit. Each of those 47% has a story. Here is mine.

I worked for more than 25 years in programs designed to give families the skills and supports necessary to become self sufficient and to raise healthy, happy children. I willingly worked 60 to 80 hours weekly because the need was great and the cause was worthy. My husband, a Republican, also worked long and hard in the corporate world and volunteered many hours on behalf of others, including as a Red Cross volunteer assisting those living near and affected by the 9/11 disaster. We paid our full share of taxes all those years, and never tried to take unfair advantage of “loopholes”. We saved and invested to supplement our social security. We insured ourselves and our children so that we could take care of our health. When we retired, I think even you would agree that we had earned our social security pensions and medicare.

Unfortunately, my husband’s health has not allowed us the retirement we hoped for but we are just grateful that he could receive the care he needed and that we could still remain in our home. In a span of five years he has had emergency heart surgery, lymphoma and prostate cancer. He received excellent care and has made an amazing recovery although his health is still fragile. Without Medicare, we could never have afforded his treatment and would have lost everything we owned trying to.

Now that he’s stronger, he volunteers at the cancer center where he received his treatment. I spend my “leisure” time working in animal rescue. But in good times and bad, we have never forgotten that those who have, no matter how they came to be the “haves”, owe something to the “have nots” . If compassion and empathy just aren’t part of your make up, then please consider that you are one of those who owe a debt for your good fortune. I don’t care how hard you may or may not have worked for it, you have it and that means you are in a position to do all you can to make sure others at least have the bare minimum. Your jobs programs, your small government ideas will not feed hungry children and will not take care of the sick, the elderly, and the impoverished.

If you won’t do your share, then please get out of the way so others, including the government (of the people and by the people) can do theirs. You have underestimated us. We care and we won’t vote for someone who doesn’t. You lost me when you put your dog on top of your car, but now you have lost many more of us than you realize. It’s not too late to do the right thing. It may not win the election for you, but it will be more satisfying than you realize.

Interestingly, it’s as if Chris Christie heard her argument more than Romney did.

Top 10 Reasons to Vote for Obama #4: Integrity

I went to see President Obama speak in Green Bay yesterday, and was lucky enough to have a ticket that got me very close to the stage. It was on the tarmac of Green Bay’s airport, and Air Force One flew him in.

And after giving a very cool, new stump speech, he shook a few hands, including mine.

photo by Mary Lisa Carenza Keenan

And I thought, as I watched him continue around the circle of people who were clamoring to shake his hand, that I could not think of anyone, right now, who I admire more than him. (Here are some more pictures of that event.)

It’s an amazing thing to get to look your own president in the eye. More amazing still to feel him squeeze your hand. His warmth came across powerfully, and the smart in his eyes is unmistakeable. That man’s got a deep soul; he is, as people who believe in that sort of thing would say, an old soul.

But the source of my admiration isn’t all of that. It’s that he believes – and has put into place – policy that makes my life as a queer person and as the partner of a trans person one of dignity and respect. I feel actually equal and a little less scared living in a world where this White House gets to set policy on how I should be treated by my government and by the people around me.

He is the first president to say the word “transgender” in a speech. He got rid of DADT. He has refused to defend the hateful, unequal citizenship of DOMA. And after learning more about us queer folks, he changed his mind about same sex marriage for citizens of this country.

And that, in a nutshell, is why I believe in him as a president and as a leader. He has set a tone for this entire country that I am not to be less equal because of who I am or who I am married to.

And while I do understand that people are worried about economics, I only have this to say: economic decisions are always, also, moral ones, and this man has been stitching our social safety net for the four years he has been in office and has plans to make sure those stitches hold.

I’ll write more tomorrow about economics and their place in this election.

But I will say: if you believe that it is my citizenship and not my sexuality that should count, vote for Obama. If you believe that it is my humanity and not my gender that should count, vote for Obama. And if you believe that it is my patriotism, and my deep, deep love for a country where someone like me can live unafraid and proud of my love and my life, that matters, vote for Obama.

Top 10 Reasons to Vote for Obama #5: Obamacare

Because people on Medicare saved more than $4 million because of Obamacare this year. 21 million people will receive free preventative medicine – which is, of course, the most cost effective kind, & the kind working class and poor people put off due to financial constraints.

Dependents can stay on their parents’ plans until the age of 25.

Birth control will be free or affordable – and birth control is, of course, preventative medicine: birth control decreases the rate of abortion 75%.

& Pre-existing conditions don’t exist anymore.

Here’s a nice 11-point list of all the other cool stuff it does.