Wednesday, November 5, 2008

WELL ...

Yep. Well. The elections are over, "the people" have elected a new president ... and I think we're in for it now. Which I guess tells you in a nutshell what my political views are.

I think it's wonderful and historic that we've come far enough in our national thinking to elect a Black man as president -- that's a good, good thing. A woman might have been possible too ... if Hilary hadn't been a Clinton. Which all says something about the progression of our country away from bigotry. However. I wish it could have been someone other than Obama. If Colin Powell had run I'll bet he would have had a huge support among Democrat AND Republican and it still would have been a "historical win." As it is -- we have Obama. My concern is that he is such a liberal man. How could people lose sight of that fact? Or maybe they just don't care. Maybe those who put him into office want that. I recently heard in a quote from one Senate member that Obama was the most liberal man in the Senate.

So I ask you: now what happens? If the Democrats get a filibuster majority (see this link for a discussion on what that means: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/28/us-elections-democrats-senate) then what kinds of laws are we going to see landing on the books? What kinds of judges are going to be elected to the courts in our country? What are businesses going to be forced to do? How far will foreign radicals push the envelope to test this young, unproven president? What will happen if he pulls out American troops in 18 months when our military leaders consistently say the Iraqi government isn't stable enough yet? I worry. I'm trying NOT to worry, but it's hard not to be emotionally affected by this particular election.

The big chant this election has been "Change Change Change." Whoo-hoo. I ask you: Change toward what? How far have you really thought this through?

4 comments:

Deborah W said...

As a Californian I can say most assuredly that the liberals DO want a very very liberal president. Someone who will say yes to anything anyone wants. I can also say that a huge number of people voted for Obama ONLY because he is Black; that's all they can see and they have no interest in whether or not he's qualified; who cares, He's BLACK! It's truly upsetting and the only thing that's keeping me sane is that PROP 8 PASSED!!!!! WHOOHOOOOO!!!! I could absolutely DANCE in the STREETS!

Wendy said...

Isn't it interesting to think about, Judy? I wonder where we will head, too. However, I have relatives I love and respect who are also pretty sharp who were in favor of Obama. Interesting to have such differing opinions with people I love (you know, compared to hollywood, who I don't get at all). Time will tell. I think we'll have to be really on top of things.

Jamie said...

I am very very worried about what he's going to require of small businesses like ours. Some of the things he said in the debates have us quite worried about what he will demand of business owners.

Judy said...

Interesting comments, all! Thank you. I was a little nervous about putting out a more "negative" blog commentary. I've wondered what will be required of small businesses too, Jamie -- I work for a company that is relatively small. I'm really hoping that your relatives were right, Wendy and I am wrong. Time will definitely tell. No matter what, we all know who guides and protects our lives! I heard interesting commentary on RadioWest last night: one analyst said that if Obama can stay to the "just left of center" he will probably do alright. If he does, I'm hoping nothing too radical gets passed. Dear Deb - I was dancing in the streets right along with you re Prop 8!!!!!!! WHOOO-HOOO!! If you're interested, the Newsroom section of LDS.org has a good discussion of the Church's stand on this issue. And YAY! Arizona and Florida followed California's suit in their own prop 8 versions.