Can someone help me?
I must have gotten lost in cyberspace.
I thought I had typed in the correct website for finding people who were pro-Obama.
I must have made a mistake.
I'm looking for the place that sent my first diary ever: "A lifelong Republican weighs in on your Ronald Reagan." to the top of the Rec. List.
I thought I had found a home.
I thought I had found a home because Barack Obama told me that things were going to be different this time around. He was going to unite people. We were going to listen to each other. He believed, not in Red States and Blue States...but in the United States.
He said we were going to stand together...as one.
You see, I was gripping something pretty tightly in one of my hands.
I believe with my entire being that abortion is murder. That's just my moral view. And it doesn't matter how you feel about that as much as it matters that it cost me dearly to be pro-Obama. Of course, I'm not the only one. Many people, including a huge number of Catholics this cycle, voted for Barack Obama even though there has never been a more critical election for possibly over-turning Roe vs. Wade.
We did not make this decision lightly. Many of us know the hurts and trauma caused by abortion, just as many of you understand deeply the pain of a government telling a woman what she can or cannot do with her body.
But we pulled the lever.
WE pulled the lever for Barack.
Barack Obama won many states, including Ohio, NOT because he got a greater Democratic vote than John Kerry in 2004. (He didn't by the way). Barack Obama won Ohio and many other states because he got a much greater Conservative and Religious vote than John Kerry.
Mr Obama’s relentless courting of middle-of-the road voters also paid off, providing him with some evidence that he has succeeded in crossing the red-blue divide. He beat Mr McCain among independents (Mr McCain’s supposed power-base) by eight points. Almost one in five voters who voted for Mr Bush four years ago shifted to Mr Obama. He won 54% of Catholics, a vital swing group in big industrial states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio. (Mr Kerry, himself a Catholic, won 47%.)
All I'm saying is he won because his first and primary paradigm as a politician and a person is that he is inclusive. He is big enough to sit at a table with someone who doesn't agree with him.
He campaigned that way. And I am pretty sure he will govern that way.
And I get the tone here. It's always about a fight. Many of you have posted sentiments that you will continue to fight no matter what...because that's the way you are heard...that's the only way things will begin to move in your direction. I actually applaud that kind of tenacity.
And I also get the whole idea that some, or even many of you have been hurt by Barack Obama choosing an "anti-gay" pastor to give his invocation.
I don't believe Rick Warren is anti-gay or a bigot. But for the sake of argument, I will concede the point.
So what?
He still has a place at the table.
"During the course of the entire inaugural festivities, there are going to be a wide range of viewpoints that are presented. And that's how it should be, because that's what America's about. That's part of the magic of this country ... we are diverse and noisy and opinionated," Obama said.
He has said things like this over, and over, and over again.
The thing that has surprised me the most is the level of outrage and hurt over this choice. As if you never understood Barack Obama.
Don't you think there are families who have been hurt by his association with William Ayers?
I'm sure some people, including many black people, have been hurt by his association with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and his hurtful views.
People will undoubtedly be hurt when he elects a Supreme Court judge who will not agree with their own view on abortion.
Many will be outraged when he meets with a foreign leader who believes gays should be killed, and women are second-class citizens.
Yes, folks, inclusion is supposed to hurt.
It always hurts when you bring someone to your table who you vehemently disagree with.
But that's a good sign of maturity.
And it's a good sign that we are going to have a great president.
I have had 8 years of a presidential administration that shuts out opposing views and comes to their crucial decisions in a silo.
As any good counselor would say..."How's that working out for you?"
I don't like that anyone is hurting right now.
But, by God, I do think it's a good sign for our country.
And it is absolutely in line with the character of the man I voted for. It is the single biggest reason I voted for him.
So, are you for him (who he is, and what he will do)? Or are you going to spend the next 4 years (hopefully 8) yelling everytime he makes a choice to listen to someone you refuse to listen to?
So write diaries about the hurt you feel. I will as well. But don't be so immature as to think that your hurt equals a bad decision for someone else. It may be that just the opposite is true.