Reasons not to vote for John McCain; plus controversey declawed!

*Originally created and posted on Facebook on November, 3, 2008*

I have heard plenty of reasons not to vote for Obama. Now I give you the reasons not to vote for McCain.

McCain voted with George Bush's policies and proposals 90% of the time. This is the indisputable fact that one Republican cannot discredit. So often I hear that Obama has no experience. John McCain's experience shows me he alligned himself with a President whose policies led us to our current economic crisis, voted for the Patriot Act, approved military action on Iraq, voted against federally funded stem cell research, and didn't vote to renew the ban on the sale of assault weapons to the public. Who wants a guy with that resume from the past eight years?

This past week I was in Boonville for the first time in over two months. And let me say that little has changed. I did see a few Obama signs but I fully expected McCain signs flooding the area. Of course, that expectation was a reality, support for a running team who appeared on Saturday Night Live instead of being above cheap comedy (I guess when you are behind in the majority of polls all that is left is to make fun of yourself and your running mate). Support for a candidate when no one in this town makes more than $250,000 (or if you believe McCain word for word, you're still middle class if you make $5 million).

To get off the presidential topic, I'd like to further address views and beliefs held (abortion, gun rights, gay marriage, etc.) that are so important they can sway a person's vote and support for a candidate.

Abortion
It makes sense that there are those concerned with the sanctity of life and protecting the "helpless" (unborn fetuses). Let me start off by saying I don't support late-term abortions and I have yet to meet anyone else who does either...UNLESS, the life of the mother is threatened. In this case, the mother's life comes first. If you dispute this, you truly are sick in the head. If you're this woman, you would rather die than save yourself? You're lying if you said yes, the child may not live a week or the next 24 hours, let alone the length of your lifetime.

Concerning the ban on all abortions...what about if the mother is raped? Beyond these two extenuating circumstances, there are plenty of people who support ban on abortions except in these two cases. But if there is a ban, it doesn't mean they'll stop. Back door abortions will continue to be performed, in which case the safety of the mother wouldn't be guaranteed. Is that what we truly want in our country?

My favorite question to pro-lifers: Do you support abstinence only sex education? If you're answer is yes then I guess you only have sex to procreate (which means you're lying). Regardless of your feelings about premarital relations, the majority of people have premarital sex and it's not changing (it hasn't changed over the entire course of human history). A better question to pro-lifers is: Do you support readily accessible contraceptives to everyone (including teens) and extensive sex education? This is the quickest way to REDUCE abortions. Other developed nations don't have this problem. Why in the hell do we? You want abortions to end, but there is no indication that Roe v. Wade will be overturned anytime soon. The next best thing is to reduce the amount of abortions taking place. Why is this so difficult to accept? If someone is so close-minded to not accept that sexual relations are taking place before marriage in most cases then their voice shouldn't be heard in these conversations. Being out of touch with reality is as unacceptable as apathy. GROW UP.

Amendment #2
Guns. A favorite of all the rednecks from my hillbilly town that my college professors and fellow student body laughed at when I was asked to introduce myself and where I was from (you think I'm saying that just to be an ass...it really is true) in my classes. This amendment is so misconstrued and out of touch with reality. How is that?

Let me tell you a story. When this amendment was added to the Constitution, the threat of invasion from another country or attacks from Native Americans were very real. Not to mention the threat of wild animals and the lack of a modernized police force as we know it to protect someone (especially if you lived in the wilderness). If any military action was needed, the Army was too small to protect a brand new nation. Hell, early U.S. citizens were the Army. So you had to have guns because at any moment's notice you could be fighting the British, the French, Indians, coyotes, wolves, bobcats, or any other large threat! This amendment was put in to effect because of the context of the time.

Fast-forward over 200 years later. The are more guns owned privately in America than any other country. I guess that can make some of you all pretty proud? Well, not when we have more than 10,000 gun realted deaths each year. If owning more guns would make us safer, we would be the safest country in the world. Consequently, it's just the opposite. Yet, I don't understand why everyone gets quite so upset over this issue. I never said anything about banning the sale of guns. It will never happen, so quit thinking a presidential candidate will do the same. This amendment has stood the test of time and the only way it will change is if our Constitution is ever rewritten. That is something that will never happen. And to squash your ignorant idea that Obama or someone like him would do such a thing...the only way the Constitution would be rewritten is if both political parties gave up all their power and agreed to do this. It wouldn't be much different to amend the Constitution either. To propose such an amendment to ban the sale of guns would be political suicide.

To stay on the sale of guns though, the ban on assault weapons should never have expired. If you need an M16 to go hunting, you're not much of a hunter. GROW UP.

Stem Cell Research
Say what you want, you'll change your mind if someone close to you has Alzheimer's and doesn't know who you are anymore. Have you really even asked yourself what it would be like to look at your wife or husband or one of your parents and they ask who the hell you are? I bet you haven't and it's difficult to imagine such a thing. Nancy Reagan didn't give a shit about being Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative when her husband's Alzheimer's declined his health. The love of her life was dying and anything that could possibly help him or ease his suffering was all that mattered. If you were in her shoes you would do the same thing.

You still say stem cells shouldn't be used? Did you know after several months the cells that aren't being used have to be thrown away? That's right, they don't last forever. Strange, for people who support life so much you rather throw it away then use it to possibly help someone else's life (or maybe even your own someday). GROW UP.

Gay Marriage
Discrimination is so sickening I don't see how some of you all even live with yourselves. Remember the Civil Rights Movement less than 50 years ago? Your parents thought the end of the world would come if we gave equal rights to blacks. Guess what? We're all still here and your parents were dead wrong. The same was said for equal rights for women less than 100 years ago (1920). To all women out there, did giving you all equal rights bring about the end of America and the world we know it? Didn't think so. White men were as dumb then as they are now. The same can be said for when slavery was ended. Dumb, white southerners thought all the black slaves would come back to kill them when slavery ended since whites were outnumbered in a lot of southern states. It rarely happened and they were still too gutless to admit it so they dressed up in white bed sheets and practiced terrorism on people living in their own country. That same group still exists with the same mission, yet we're all still here. The same will happen with equal rights for same sex marriage. People will continue to cry foul and say it's the end of the sanctity of marriage yet our divorce rate is 50% or higher most years. I think marriage lost its sanctity long ago. GROW UP.

The reason I discussed these four controversial topics is to show one thing: this is my opinion and doesn't sway my vote one way or the other. You can call me a liar if you want, but the fact is the President has almost nothing to do with the above topics.

You know what you're getting with John McCain. More George Bush. The potential Barack Obama brings to the table is so exciting and refreshing I'm actually excited to cast my vote tomorrow.

Regardless, I just want to say how proud I am of our country to Get Out the Vote this election year. Maybe we'll beat American Idol next time.