This bumper sticker is on my car. No, I'm not Republican, but when I was selecting a sticker, I thought this one would get the most head turning. And it has. I've had a guy in a pick-up truck with a gun rack and veteran stickers (but W with a bar through it as well) honk and wave at me. (I'm in a little Mazda hatchback with riding boots in the back and a dog in the front seat. My only other sticker is a Panther paw print as a nod to my job on Friday Night Lights) I'm had a woman in a Suburban that is 3 times the size of my car give me 'die, bitch!' looks and cut me off.
So much animosity. I know it's on both sides. Interestingly, now Republicans are finally feeling what it means to be attached O'Reilly style.
We're had a good 8 +years on the receiving end of O'Reilly and company, so I guess have learned how to give it back.
I'm trying to listen to the other side. As in why in the world would any thinking person vote for the McCain/Palin ticket? I still don't know, the reasons are generally vague, as in "I vote Republican", "I'm a Christian.". As I wrote on my sister's site--why wouldn't a Christian be in favor of health care for all, but I guess that's not the point for then. Didn't Jesus practice socialism when he made 40 loaves of bread and fish and wine to feed all the people from a meager amount? (help me Rachel with specifics on that parable/metaphor).
But my other point is my discussion with the Republicans I'm seeking out to have these conversations --I was done with preaching to the converted, I feel too strongly about the need to really make a change in the White House--- is that both sides feel the other side is only attacking them and not listening.
And I've noticed Obama listens--he listens during the debate and responds to points made.
I think he'll listen to other countries, and not just shove "America #1" in their face. BTW, scary fact, we're not so #1 anymore. Anyone been to Europe lately? Unaffordable, unless you are in that top 2%. Most of us aren't. Not even Joe the Plumber.
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3 comments:
We need a "Christians for Obama" bumper-sticker, too, to judge from the comments that I've gotten on my blog. It's odd, as an American, trying to argue politics on the basis of which candidate is "more Christian," particularly given that both are (Obama and McCain) *and* that the First Amendment to our Constitution explicitly prohibits Congress from making any law "respecting an establishment of religion." It would seem that as a "Republican Christian," one is caught in the double-bind of being at once unAmerican (refusing the separation of Church and State) and unChristian (insisting that God's kingdom is "of this world" and about paying taxes to support war). As for socialism, yes, as far as I can tell, Jesus was in favor of feeding the poor, caring for the sick and imprisoned, and welcoming the stranger, including Samaritans (who, by the by, were considered unclean by first-century Jews; I'll leave it to you to think out the contemporary parallels). See Matthew 25:37-40.
Fencing Bear
Affirmative on that "we're not so # 1 anymore." Indeed, here in Europe America has certainly fallen off the "most popular" list. Now, people are mainly watching the election-circus (of course we Belgians have our own governmental circus still ongoing, but at least THAT is not affecting the rest of the world.) Really, I am with you, can we honestly imagine McCain and Palin running the country! I am afraid too, even as a non-American, for that possibility and also -- and this might sound too out there-- of what will happen if there actually is a non-white president. Will it be accepted by the losers? Is America actually ready for that? I hope it is.
OK, I hate to say it but I was "right"... Robert saw a newspaper article in one of the BElgian papers yesterday about a (now uncovered) plot to shoot (and decapitate!) Obama by extreme right-wingers in the US. Not liking being right at all...
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