Re: This Is What the 2008 Electoral Map Would Look Like If the Election Were Decided by [Fill in the Blank]

Me — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 13:20:16 -0000

I'm an independent. I voted for Obama. Here's why:

1. McCain wanted to continue to fight in Iraq. That is silly, as the Taliban are based out of Afghanistan currently.

2. Economics. Granted, the president doesn't control the economics of the country directly, but he DOES greatly affect them (vetoing or not vetoing certain bills, how much he designates to be spent on various ventures, etc.)

3. Environment: Our world is dying. Straight up. This is a verified FACT. (The only ones who are doubting this are those who've been listening to propaganda that was specifically paid for by the oil companies. The vast majority of actual weather & geological scientist are telling us we're in big trouble. If you've ever heard of the frog in the pot of boiling water scenario (and if you haven't, it goes like this. A frog dropped in a pot of boiling water will jump out immediately. But one in a warm pot where the pot is turned up degree by degree, won't jump out, eventually getting boiled alive, because it doesn't have the 'jolt' factor) we are currently in the process of being boiled alive. MORE LIVES HAVE BEEN LOST TO GLOBAL WARMING THAN THE WAR IN IRAQ! Heat related deaths have taken out thousands across Europe. The ridiculous strength of the weather that hit Greensburough and New Orleans are direct results of Global warming.

4. Oil Dependence is bad. Oil in GENERAL is bad. "Drill baby drill" is NOT a responsible solution to foreign dependence on oil. We have all kinds of alternative energy solutions to oil, but we're not using them because oil is so EASY. You know what a monopoly is? It's when one thing dominates the market, not giving choice. It may not fit the full political definition, but oil dominates our travel methods. It's a monopoly that needs to be broken. The way to get off of foreign oil is to get off of oil overall. (Almost every oil use has a substitute. Electric cars to gas - electric cars are much cheaper in the long run, corn oils instead of crude oils as the basis for plastics - unfortunately a bit more expensive but much cleaner, etc.

5. What the international community thinks of us IS an important thing. Think about it, if you go around harassing your neighbors, they're going to call the cops or deal with you themselves. If a nation goes around harassing other nations, those nations are going to drop alliances with us or their people are going to fly planes into our buildings. If the U.S. is hated, there WILL be consequences. This is about playing nice instead of being the playground bully. As Americans, we should be heroes, not villains.

6. Fear. Fear is a plague across America. It's one of the safest nations in the world, and we have a population that's often paralyzed with fear. What's McCain do? He plays on our fears. He makes the epidemic worse. Obama, for the most part, didn't play on our fear, despite the fact it can often raise ratings. I respect him for that.

7. Campaign funding. Yes, Obama had one of the most well-funded campaigns in history. That in itself is an eyebrow raiser. The impressive part is when you look at WHO funded each candidate and where that money came from. Obama's campaign money was fully disclosed. Anyone could look and see who was funding him. And OVER 80% was from average Americans donating to him. That funding was raised through effectively the same method as girlscouts selling girlscout cookies. Completely honest. McCain's funding? 35% of it was undisclosed (didn't know WHO it came from, and he wouldn't tell... why?) Only 25% came from average Americans. The vast majority of the rest? Big corporations.

8. Balancing the wealth. Take money from the rich and give it to the poor? That's actually a good idea when the gap between rich and poor is growing out of control. We've reach a system where 'you have to have money to make money'. This is a BAD thing. A good system is where 'everyone has an equal chance to earn money.' Most employers do NOT pay the people an equivalent amount for the amount of money they bring in. It is NOT a matter of the rich are getting money stolen from them to give to someone who's not working, but taking money back from those (many who gained it via dubious methods) and using it to repair our tattered economy. And the poor having money does a lot for the rich in the long run ANYWAY. As the dollar becomes stronger, the overall value of the rich's money increases, even if the listed dollar amount is lower. Everyone wins with a balanced economy, the only drawback for the rich is less prestige & control over poorer people. And as a democracy, we should be about freedom.

Reasons I hesitated about Obama:
1. The space program. The space program is a vital part of not only our country, but the world's future. Obama's not doing much for it. We're on the verge of finally breaking away from being restricted to Earth. As the saying goes, "Land... they're not making more of it". We need cheap and easy space travel post haste. We're using up resources, we're running out of space with overpopulation. The main place where there is more, is up.

2. The right to bear arms. I am totally against gun control. Why? Because an armed populous serves 3 major uses. One is crime deterrient. It's been shown that when a population is armed, crime drops. Why? Because when you give someone cause for self-defense, and you know that person is likely armed, you're less likely to commit the crime. Another is that the more powerful the populace, the less likely for another country to invade. (If you have to fight a countries army AND its people, it quickly becomes not worth it). Another is government deterrent. The government can be swayed, controlled, manipulated, etc. If someone ever got 'critical mass' and took control of the government, an armed population allows chances for rebellion to be more successful. Historically, most nations that have retained freedom for the populates at large almost always had an armed populace. Yes, there are bonuses to controlling guns, but the benefits for guns outweigh the benefits against them. (Think M.A.D.D. on a more personal level, the same reason most nuclear countries aren't bombing the heck out of other nuclear countries.)

Overall, the democrats had more of the important issues this time around. (Although it was still pretty close. My 3 key issues are: Environment, Space Program and support for evolving our system towards a Direct Democracy.)

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Re: This Is What the 2008 Electoral Map Would Look Like If the Election Were Decided by [Fill in the Blank]