Why? How Could You Do This To Me?
Dear Mr. Edwards,
How could you drop out of the race? You were my last hope for a semi-decent president. Not to hurt your feelings or anything, but I was originally going to vote for Dennis Kucinich, we share many of the same views, but I looked at your platform and I kinda liked a lot of what you were saying. I'm sad that I'm now going to have to choose between one of two people that I don't really think would be good presidents, because I'm certainly not voting for any of the Republican candidates (especially with RuG dropping out as well). Ralph Nader once said "If you vote for the lesser of two evils, you're still voting for evil" or thereabouts. That's how I feel right now. You were my "not evil" vote...mostly because of your pretty hair, but also because you seemed nice, down to earth and not in the election because your husband was the former President or Oprah decided that you were a good candidate. And you have a nice head of hair, which, as someone with thinning hair that is destined for the "horseshoe" bald look, I can appreciate.
You see, Mr. Edwards (coulda been Mr. President), you actually seem like you could do the job (and not to be mean, but if Bush can do the job with some level of competency, albeit a low level of competency, anyone can do it). But more than just doing the job, you seem like you could do the job relatively well, which would be a serious improvement from your predecessor.
May I be honest for a second, Mr. Edwards? I don't like the other two candidates. Sure, I like Hillary and think she is a total bad ass. And I like Obama because he seems to have some morals to some extent...but it's different than my liking towards you. You see, and I know that this is terrible to say, but it seems to me like Obama and Hillary are only there because of their race and gender, respectively. Yes, there have been previous African Americans who have run for president, and yes, there have been women who have run for president, but neither of them really had a good chance of winning. Now we have these two candidates who seem like one of them could win (if they would stop bickering with each other like little school girls [or boys]), but it's almost as if they are only there because of their race/gender. So many people have latched on to Hill-Hill and BOb (as I like to call him and will henceforth call him), but I don't think that they have necessarily done it because of their platform or stance on the issues. They want one of them to win simply for the precedent behind it. Does anyone really know where they stand? It's hard to tell (which has always been a problem with the Democrats because they're so focused on being different than Republicans that they don't really stand for anything on their own). I mean really, people were hopping on the Hill-Hill BOb bandwagon before they even said they were running and long before their platform was ever posted. Let's take a quick look at a couple of aspects of their platform that tend to be a little confusing. On June 15th, 2007 BOb stated that he wanted to "give every family the chance" to be successful. This is great! Nobel. I love the idea. However throughout his entire website the one mention of GLBT is not in mention to their families but to their service in the military, which, don't get me wrong, definitely needs addressing. But GLBT people have families. They have rights...well, some rights. They're denied 1001 or 1100 or some insane number of rights. Not once is this issue addressed...at least not once that I could find. Even in the civil rights section of his site there was only mention of the people in the 50's and 60's who marched. Not once did I see sexual orientation mentioned on his website. Not once...how can you give every family a chance if you ignore 10% of them? Hill-Hill, on the other hand at least mentions them. She includes them in her hate crime bills. But that's about it. And while she has this strong agenda for women (which is great), what if they are lesbians?
And this is just one issue. Why did I focus on this? I'll tell you, Mr. Edwards, because while both of these candidates have some great platform ideas, they are both minorities. That is to say, a woman and an African American man. Why is this significant? It's not because I think that this limits their ability to accomplish goals. Quite the opposite, really. My concern is that of the three forerunners (you being the third) it was the non-minority, white, heterosexual male with pretty hair who was the only one who stood up for ALL minorities. Even a woman and an African American man (who in theory, both have faced discrimination throughout their lives) have become so tunnel visioned that they are unable to really be welcoming and accepting of 10% of our population. 10% of the population is a pretty substantial amount (and actually Kingsley said that it was closer to 1 in 8). I think that many people think that because they are minorities, Hill-Hill and BOb will stand up for everyone...it doesn't seem that way.
Needless to say (although I will) you were my last hope. You seemed to stand for something and have good hair care. I'll miss you, Mr. Edwards. And I'll wait until 2012 to vote for you again...it makes me a little sad that I never got to vote for you since our elections haven't occurred yet (which is stupid, but that's a different letter). Stay strong, John, I'm looking forward to 2012 when I can vote for you.
Yours Truly,
Ph
How could you drop out of the race? You were my last hope for a semi-decent president. Not to hurt your feelings or anything, but I was originally going to vote for Dennis Kucinich, we share many of the same views, but I looked at your platform and I kinda liked a lot of what you were saying. I'm sad that I'm now going to have to choose between one of two people that I don't really think would be good presidents, because I'm certainly not voting for any of the Republican candidates (especially with RuG dropping out as well). Ralph Nader once said "If you vote for the lesser of two evils, you're still voting for evil" or thereabouts. That's how I feel right now. You were my "not evil" vote...mostly because of your pretty hair, but also because you seemed nice, down to earth and not in the election because your husband was the former President or Oprah decided that you were a good candidate. And you have a nice head of hair, which, as someone with thinning hair that is destined for the "horseshoe" bald look, I can appreciate.
You see, Mr. Edwards (coulda been Mr. President), you actually seem like you could do the job (and not to be mean, but if Bush can do the job with some level of competency, albeit a low level of competency, anyone can do it). But more than just doing the job, you seem like you could do the job relatively well, which would be a serious improvement from your predecessor.
May I be honest for a second, Mr. Edwards? I don't like the other two candidates. Sure, I like Hillary and think she is a total bad ass. And I like Obama because he seems to have some morals to some extent...but it's different than my liking towards you. You see, and I know that this is terrible to say, but it seems to me like Obama and Hillary are only there because of their race and gender, respectively. Yes, there have been previous African Americans who have run for president, and yes, there have been women who have run for president, but neither of them really had a good chance of winning. Now we have these two candidates who seem like one of them could win (if they would stop bickering with each other like little school girls [or boys]), but it's almost as if they are only there because of their race/gender. So many people have latched on to Hill-Hill and BOb (as I like to call him and will henceforth call him), but I don't think that they have necessarily done it because of their platform or stance on the issues. They want one of them to win simply for the precedent behind it. Does anyone really know where they stand? It's hard to tell (which has always been a problem with the Democrats because they're so focused on being different than Republicans that they don't really stand for anything on their own). I mean really, people were hopping on the Hill-Hill BOb bandwagon before they even said they were running and long before their platform was ever posted. Let's take a quick look at a couple of aspects of their platform that tend to be a little confusing. On June 15th, 2007 BOb stated that he wanted to "give every family the chance" to be successful. This is great! Nobel. I love the idea. However throughout his entire website the one mention of GLBT is not in mention to their families but to their service in the military, which, don't get me wrong, definitely needs addressing. But GLBT people have families. They have rights...well, some rights. They're denied 1001 or 1100 or some insane number of rights. Not once is this issue addressed...at least not once that I could find. Even in the civil rights section of his site there was only mention of the people in the 50's and 60's who marched. Not once did I see sexual orientation mentioned on his website. Not once...how can you give every family a chance if you ignore 10% of them? Hill-Hill, on the other hand at least mentions them. She includes them in her hate crime bills. But that's about it. And while she has this strong agenda for women (which is great), what if they are lesbians?
And this is just one issue. Why did I focus on this? I'll tell you, Mr. Edwards, because while both of these candidates have some great platform ideas, they are both minorities. That is to say, a woman and an African American man. Why is this significant? It's not because I think that this limits their ability to accomplish goals. Quite the opposite, really. My concern is that of the three forerunners (you being the third) it was the non-minority, white, heterosexual male with pretty hair who was the only one who stood up for ALL minorities. Even a woman and an African American man (who in theory, both have faced discrimination throughout their lives) have become so tunnel visioned that they are unable to really be welcoming and accepting of 10% of our population. 10% of the population is a pretty substantial amount (and actually Kingsley said that it was closer to 1 in 8). I think that many people think that because they are minorities, Hill-Hill and BOb will stand up for everyone...it doesn't seem that way.
Needless to say (although I will) you were my last hope. You seemed to stand for something and have good hair care. I'll miss you, Mr. Edwards. And I'll wait until 2012 to vote for you again...it makes me a little sad that I never got to vote for you since our elections haven't occurred yet (which is stupid, but that's a different letter). Stay strong, John, I'm looking forward to 2012 when I can vote for you.
Yours Truly,
Ph
Labels: Dear..., Life As It Is
finally typed by Ph at 12:49 PM
2 Comments:
As a woman i find it kind of insulting that i'd be expected by the media to support clinton just because she is a woman. Or be against Barack Obama because he is black. Precedent is all well and good, but I wouldn't support someone solely based on that, and i would hope that noone else would. Really, I'm also a Kucinich fan, but, in all actuality I don't think he'd make the best president - as much as I wish we lived in a world where he would. but i voted for him in 04 and I was seriously considering doing it again this year.
But your comment about the gay issues reminded me of an article i read not too long ago about a speech Obama gave on MLK day.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/74424/
It certainly doesn't address the issues you talk about affecting the GLBT community, but it was a pretty bold statement to make, especially in a church. Honestly I think the Dems are trying to keep gay issues out of the limelight because, quite honestly, they can't win by touting those. Gay marriage killed them in 04, and as sad as it is, by distancing themselves from it, they avoid getting pummeled by the republicans on it. It ain't right, but it is what it is.
Word up, Ph!
I have been thinking the same thing. With delegates, a 2nd place in Iowa, and Super Tuesday just days away, I was sincerely shocked!
I watched some of the NH debate on YouTube today and really wished I could put my non-party state primary vote his way!
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