Before the first presidential debate, I want to post this for my friends on Facebook (conservative, independent or liberal) so that they can make a choice as to whether they want to filter my updates from their feed. Why? Because, as we get closer to Election Day, my media hits and status updates re: Romney and the Republicans are only going to increase. And this won’t happen because I’m simply just another bleeding heart liberal Democrat. Indeed, there are very specific reasons why this election is near and dear to my heart!
Though some might disagree, I never refer to myself as a pundit; especially not a political pundit. Maybe I might consider myself a tennis pundit of sorts, or possibly a minor Android pundit, but never a political pundit. A more correct term for my penchant of passionately political postings would be “informed political observer”. To that end (and passion), I feel the need to write this piece regarding the current 2012 campaign by Mitt Romney and the Republicans so that my friends know where I stand on the issues and why my stance is (pretty much) not up for debate.
What’s At Stake?
Let’s be honest. This election is NOT Barack Obama and his failed economic policies, though many might want to frame it in that context: blowing smoke up our asses by proclaiming all the reasons why “Mitt the businessman” is better-suited to bringing us into an era of prosperity than Obama, but I don’t buy it for one second! This campaign boils down to a few key issues for me. My main issue is that Republicans are using this election to help usher in a new era of legislative intolerance and social conservatism into our lives; particularly with regard to the issue of same sex marriage, other LGBT-targeted initiatives, and women’s health issues. The second is my outrage at the blatant attempts at voter disenfranchisement that are happening all over the country, aimed specifically at derailing voters’ rights for minorities, the elderly, and the poor. The third is the unabashed attempt to bring back failed “Trickle Down” economics policies into our lives by pursuing deregulation to help “job creators”.
A Quick Note on the Candidates
Admittedly, our President has failed to unite the country as he said he would. But he’s received great assistance toward that front by uncompromising and unrelenting opposition from Republicans in both the House and Senate. Still, he’s the President and it’s his responsibility to figure out how to get shit done, hostile workplace environment or not. I can accept that failing. But Mitt Romney is the last person I would ever want to replace him in the Oval Office.
Mitt Romney, aka Elmer Fudd (thank you for that one Rush Limbaugh), is an empty suit who will say whatever you tell him to say in order to become president. He might have core beliefs, but we haven’t seen them…and won’t. If he does have them somewhere deep inside, they certainly don’t extend to the betterment of those making less than his purported middle class standard of $200k, which is one of the most ridiculous assumptions I’ve ever heard. And as his secretly taped and highly offensive comments show, his vision of America doesn’t include a large chunk of us who he’s written off as lazy victims on the government dole.
His vision of a better America extends to those who already have money and want to keep that money at all costs, even if they got it by less than savory means at the expense of taxpayers and others. Peggy Noonan, another conservative, put it best in her harsh critique of the Romney campaign when she wrote “It’s not big, it’s not brave, it’s not thoughtfully tackling great issues. It’s always been too small for the moment.”
Elmer isn’t trying to lead a nation. He’s trying to secure the Presidency as another notch on his resume by pandering to a party of ideologues in addition to his rich friends. He’s not trying to reach out to me or anyone else like me, because we don’t matter.
The Meat of the Matter
But even when you exclude Elmer from the conversation, that still doesn’t hit the core of the matter surrounding the importance of this election for folks like me. For that you need to take a look at the Republican platform, and also look at the legislation that is being and has been passed by Republicans across the country. As I wrote in a Facebook status post to a friend of mine who questioned what I stood “for” (as opposed to only writing about what I was “against”), my concerns are straightforward and intensely personal as a gay, black artist.
As a gay man, it’s all about equality these days for me. Lifting the military ban, gay marriage and adoption rights, it’s all the same to me. If I’m good enough to pay taxes and die for my country, then I need to be afforded the same rights as anyone else. My objection to the GOP’s stance toward gay issues is one that I’ve had for years with a party that claims to want government out of our lives. If that’s the case, then get out of my life and stop trying to legislate what I can do in my home, who I love, and how I define my family. Republicans only want government out of our lives so that they can make money without those pesky rules to help protect others. I want government out of my life so that my partner and I can live in peace, with or without children, and not worry about the government taking away my rights as a human being to do so.
The GOP wants to not only ban same-sex marriage, they want to also nullify all existing marriages. Reasons are always fuzzy, and change with the wind regardless of their own miscues and betrayal of marriage vows (cough cough Newt). It doesn’t matter though. There is no way that I could ever support a party that would rather focus on the love I have for my partner than making sure our education programs are funded.
Also, as an ex-dancer and still an artist at heart, the unwarranted GOP attacks on arts funding is outrageous. The argument is often made that public money shouldn’t go towards the funding of objectionable art (though often the objectionable art is that which criticizes them). Never mind that there are often calls for public funding of religious groups, charities, and art by many in the GOP even though we have a clear judicial separation between church and state in our country. It’s almost as if the GOP believe that if they cut funding to the arts, liberals will go away and attacks on the GOP will stop. If not that, then I’m not sure what drives their belief.
The main problem with cuts to arts education, education that teaches kids to think outside of the box in our ever-growing normalized society, is that they will hurt us in ways we can scarcely afford these days when we need new and creative solutions to the problems in the world. “The Arts” teaches a child (and therefore, society) to strive for the things we can only imagine, while enriching that imagination. If we cut arts funding, or just assume that it will be picked up by the private sector, we teach our kids that the only thing that matters is what you can actually see, touch, feel and hear in your harsh life: not what you can imagine to be better.
Strike one!
As a black man, I don’t get swayed by the likes of Herman Cain, Allan West, or Michael Steele. They don’t represent my interests one bit as a black man. But worse in my mind, they don’t stand up for the assault on voting rights (aimed at blacks and others with less means) that’s being waged by the GOP for this election. The voter ID laws and associated changes to voter registration and early voting access that are making waves across the country have nothing to do with protecting our election from fraud. Even the backers of these laws have acknowledged that these laws are part of a much greater purpose. What these laws do is make it more difficult for people to vote who are most likely to vote for Obama. Changes in voter registration are designed to make it more difficult for lower class working people to get registered if they’re not. Changes in early voting hours are aimed specifically at keeping many black churches from being able to provide group transportation to early voting polling stations for those who might have a difficult time doing so for themselves, black churches that will presumably vote in large numbers for the Democrats.
I’m not going to get into the specifics, because they’re easy to find online and are readily acknowledged by many in the GOP ranks. Even with that acknowledgment, it still doesn’t make these efforts any less disgusting.
Strike two.
Let’s also briefly discuss “trickle down” economics. I’ve already gone on longer than I wanted to in this piece, so I won’t break this issue down too much other than to say that it didn’t work under Reagan, so why should we expect it to work now? We are living in a time when so many who’ve been given advantages to make ever-increasing amounts of money are more selfish than ever in terms of investing it towards the greater good. However, there are some awesome examples of individuals who stand out in ways greater than I can praise, including Warren Buffet, and Bill and Melinda Gates through their foundation.
Unfortunately, they are the exceptions, and are probably not aligned with many of their peer group in the GOP who only care about Obama and his (mostly false) penchant for redistribution. To these ridiculous charges, I can only say that if these guys see Obama’s efforts to give everyone a chance at becoming successful “redistribution”, then we’re in trouble as a country and society.
Strike three.
My Conclusion
I’ve gone on for much longer than I wanted, but you get the gist. No matter what anyone thinks of the relative success or failures of Obama’s policies, the alternative in this election is untenable and, dare I say it, unthinkable. Mitt’s election would give tacit approval to punitive and intolerant Republican lawmakers, and I won’t stand for that. I’ve given money to the Obama campaign in this election, and will continue to give voice to the radicalized agenda of the GOP. After all, this is not just an intellectual exercise. This is my life and civil rights that are at stake, and those of the people I love.
So for those who may not agree with me, you have a choice to block my updates or not. It’s your call. At least now you will hopefully understand why.