The American Taliban

In 2008, under protest, I voted for Barack Obama for President.  When the campaigning began, I was adamantly against Hillary Clinton.  That changed as the primaries started.  There was one reason in particular that made me become a staunch supporter of Mrs. Clinton – her unwavering advocacy for women worldwide.  And, she was a seasoned campaigner, having been a participant in both her husband’s runs for elected office and during his presidency. 

Her competition, then junior Senator Barack Obama was bright, charming but lacked experience on the world stage.  Down the road, I could see him as a leading contender for the Democratic nominee.  He just wasn’t ready.   

My resolve for Hillary strengthened as it became immensely obvious that the Democratic political machine and the mainstream media had made their choice – Obama.  Misrepresentation of election results, misleading propaganda constantly pushing the voters toward Obama and the sidelining of Hillary Clinton by the Democratic Party moved the direction of the election.  It wasn’t much different than what has happened in this election cycle to Ron Paul.  The manipulation of the election by the Democratic Party insiders caused me to change my lifelong Democratic Party affiliation to The Green Party.  

Almost immediately after his inauguration, President Obama proved my worst concerns to be right on target.  Although he had stated he would end Bush’s policy of warrantless wiretapping, he continued this odious policy.  He promised to shut down Guantanamo and 3 years later it is still open and its closing is no longer being discussed.  He promised to end the wars – something that I felt was very important – and it took 3 years to withdraw the troops from Iraq.  Single payer health care wasn’t even on the table during the health care discussions.  Most recently he has, against the advice of his medical advisors, agreed to limit access to the morning after pill to girls under 17 years of age and signed a Defense bill that allows for the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens suspected of terrorist connections, without being charged with any crime.  In short Obama has continued the repressive policies of the Bush/Cheney administration that take away American’s civil liberties. 

With all this, I had decided to sit out the presidential election.  That was until the Republican campaigning and debates began.  The Republican candidates have not only scared me beyond belief but  have exhibited  a new level of near insanity.  I could never imagine that the America where I was born and grew up could come to this.  To think that the American electorate could so easily be deceived, disrespected and trampled upon and not be able to recognize the difference between truth and lies is incomprehensible to me.  At a time when more people, worldwide, have unlimited access to so much information via the Internet, we seem to be returning to The Dark Ages.  At that time, the vast majority of people could not read, lived in utter poverty as compared to the few in power who controlled all of the wealth and relied upon The Church to dictate how to live and provided them with their understanding of the world.  As the income inequality grows, we are moving ever closer to that long ago world where the majority are merely serfs for their landowning overlords. 

All of the Republican candidates, except for Ron Paul, are ready to go to war with Iran.  

 All of the Republican candidates want to massively shrink the size of government, to get government out of “our” lives – except if you’re a woman.  Government, according to them, should control a woman’s behavior and mandate control over her body.  For this alone, I prefer to call the Republicans by another name – The American Taliban.  For Rick Santorum, in particular, Family trumps everything.  And by family he means one man and one woman married to each other.  He not only opposes ALL abortion, but opposes all forms of contraception.  What if a woman is abused – psychologically and/or physically – by her husband?  What if the husband abuses or neglects his children?  What if the husband fails to provide for his family?  What if the husband is an alcoholic, drug user or criminal?  Should these families remain intact?  The Catholic Church does not sanction divorce, and as a Catholic I would imagine that neither does Rick Santorum.  Portraying all husband/wife families as healthy and happy is a fairy tale, folks.  

  

All of the Republican candidates, except for Jon Huntsman, deny the overwhelming scientific evidence and support for climate change.  

 

Do I really need to continue?  For me, the choice is clear in the upcoming election.  No matter how much I disagree with many of President Obama’s decisions and actions, I will once again vote AGAINST whoever wins the The American Taliban nomination.  My America was founded on the precept of freedom of religion and not the establishment of a Theocracy.  In my America, you can choose to pray or not to pray.  In my America, you can be a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Rastafarian, a Mormon, an atheist, an agnostic or anything else you choose.  What kind of America do you want?