Vote Obama

One of the core values that makes America a symbol of democracy is the respect and upholding of human rights.  The Declaration of Independence ensures every American is entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  With these core values, other nations look to America with high respect and praise and strive to imitate it.

Unfortunately the world view of America has seriously deteriorated over the last eight years and there is good reason for that.  From reaching a sympathetic climax from the world after the tragedy of 9/11, America has lost its course and alienated many of their allies.  The invasion of Iraq against the decision of the United Nations is one reason.  The unconstitutional torturing of POWs in Guantanamo Bay is another.  But the greatest factor is probably the whole hubris and total disregrad of other nations by the current administration.  To make things worse, this mentality is even applied to citizens of America.

The failure to respond to Hurriance Katrina and support New Orleans is one disaster.  The failure to respond to sure signs of a mortgage meltdown is another.  The failure to do anything that will curb America’s addiction and dependency to foreign oil after 9/11, especially since these profits are fueling the nations that are supporting extermist groups against the United States, is probably the biggest failure.  And now when democracy comes into play and the Americans who have been affected by all of these failures finally have a chance to respond by voting, the party responsible for these failures would like to take that away!  I was absolutely disheartened when I read this article in the Michigan Messenger where the GOP is attempting to block families who have been served a foreclosure notice from voting.  This is probably the most unpatriotic and un-American thing that I have heard, and something that I would think was even beyond the Republican party.

The premise that the GOP is using is that these families no longer live in these houses and therefore should not be voting in that district.  That of course is absurd, because anyone familiar with the foreclosure process knows that even when one has been served with a notice, that is not mean that the family loses their house right away.  In fact, in most cases this opens the door for further negotiation with the financial institution to come up with some type of repayment plan that is satisfactory to all parties involved.  But that is beside the point.  The point is, these are still American citizens and to suppress them from having the opportunity to speak their minds is, in my view, a violation of the basic rights of an American citizen under the Declaration of Independence.

It has become crystal clear that the Republican Party has decided that they will do anything possible, from outright lying in front of the media and in their smear ads, to abusing the fundamental rights of American citizens and intimidating the most down on their luck American people.  This is disgusting, this is repulsive and this is outright vile.  I pray that the American people see this for what it is, and exercise their fundamental right to vote and choose to against these tactics and bring back the America that stood for what it was founded on: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.