The long-term republican agenda is for
a few to prosper while the many suffer; the Democratic agenda is to
broaden the middle class and create opportunities for social mobility
in the way it was so successfully done before: through the graduated
income tax.
The Republican agenda is to force the
social conscripts of Christian fundamentalism on all of us; the
democratic agenda is to maintain a secular society with religious
freedom for all.
The Republican agenda is to exploit for
profit whatever materials lie within or atop the earth without regard
to the effect upon the environment or natural and human populations;
the Democratic agenda is to admit that global warming has been
scientifically proved, and to promote development of new energy
sources that will not endanger the future of nature and humankind.
The Republican agenda is to limit the
freedom of women to choose as they wish; the Democratic agenda
assumes that women have all the human rights that men do, and
specifically that rights pertinent to their particular physical
differences are theirs alone to determine.
The Republican agenda is to consider
immigrants criminals, even if they came here as innocent children,
and have grown up as Americans, contributed to our society, even
fought in our conflicts; the Democratic agenda is to give those who
come from other lands the chance to be among those generations of
people who settled this country and built this democracy and made it
great.
The Republican agenda is to boast of
our strength and spend the majority of our treasure on the ability to
annihilate any nation that threatens us or our corporations'
financial interests; the Democratic agenda is to take our place as a
leader among the nations of the world, accepting our responsibility
to assist in emergencies, promote human rights, and accept that we do
not compel other nations to our views, but rather promote friendship
and mutual interests through diplomacy.
The Republican agenda is to consider
education, health and efforts to eliminate poverty as “discretionary”
spending, and military spending as “non-discretionary,” and
further, to eliminate “discretionary” spending while increasing
military spending even when the military itself doesn't want it; the
Democratic agenda is to consider health a right, not a privilege, and
education a right, not just a privilege, and military spending
necessary only to the extent that our nation is permanently secure.
The Republican agenda is to consider
that the ends justify the means, a terrible chime that has rung
through history, that untruths that may lead to victory are
justifiable, that different messages for different audiences are
justifiable, that attempting to limit access to the ballot box to
your own followers is justifiable; the Democratic agenda is to debate
issues based on their value to society versus what sacrifices
are required to achieve them.
Lastly, there is the character of the
candidates themselves. Mr. Romney is the person who led gang
violence against gays in his teens, pretended to be a police officer
for the fun of it in his twenties, lied throughout his life and
campaigns whenever it was it was useful for him to do so, and changed
his position on any topic whenever it would benefit him. Mr. Obama
has never demonstrated racism or cruelty to anyone, had steadfastly
maintained his positions on issues, and has not resorted to lies
about his opponents or his own history.
I will vote for Barack Obama on
election day, because the world I want for my grandchildren and their
grandchildren would be impossible to achieve if the Republican agenda
comes to pass. It may not be possible at all, but it should have a
chance.
