If there is still any confusion about why I support Obama, let me break it down for you (those who have had your comments to my last entry deleted) in really simple terms: I support Obama because he's black, for the simple reason that there are those who oppose him because he's black. That's it. It's that simple, and I make no apologies for it.
Ever since Palin linked Obama to terrorism, the media has
been reporting how McCain supporters, at Republican rallies, are calling Obama
an “Arab”, “terrorist”, “traitor”, etc, with some even screaming, “kill him”,
and “off with his head”.Now, readers, I
personally think all these rallying cries are racist.You may or may not agree.If you
do not, and think that the media is race-baiting, I can respect that.At the end of the day, the term “racist” is
just a term. Judge these actions in their merits if you will,
but when you do, consider that even McCain has had to go off-script and
defend Obama against these rallying cries, for which his supporters
actually booed him. When I read of these incidents, it jolts
memories of some random guy on the street calling me “Jackie Chan”, or some
drunk guy at a bar coming up to me and making mock kungfu noises.I would love to tell you those are only
hypothetical situations, but no, I have experienced both of these things, and
there are many more similar gems from my life experience.
A few days ago, photos showed up of signs that read, “Vote
Right, Vote White”, and “Vote McCain, Not Osama or Hussein”.Well, this is the last straw.I supported Hillary Clinton in the Democratic
primary, though I did not vote because I am not registered with any party.And after Obama won, so far I’ve only
supported him because I see him as the lesser of two evils.There are certainly issues on which I agree
with McCain more than I do with Obama, but two main issues have so far
prevailed on me to support Not-McCain:foreign policy and Sarah Palin.But
as of now, as an Asian voter, my main and most important reason for supporting
Obama is precisely that he’s black.I
had only looked at the issues and to a lesser extent, the backgrounds, of the
candidates.But these openly racist
reactions have finally pushed me over the edge to support Obama because he’s
black. Ironically, this change is not even directly related to either Obama or McCain. It is because of these racist supporters of McCain, or I should say, because of these people that would prefer white people to always be the country's leaders. I think it's pretty safe to say that they support McCain only because his opponent is black.
Is it not similarly
racist to support Obama because he’s black?I will respect your own personal judgement on this.People
who support Obama because of his race, they do so because there’s never been a
black president, and they want to change that.People who are against Obama because of his race, they do so because
there’s never been a black president, and they want it to stay that way.To me there’s an ocean of difference.
Let me finish by answering the simple question, why does race matter?
That Vice Presidential debate was 10 times more entertaining than the Presidential debate. Some highlights:
Palin winking at the camera.
Biden saying "Ultimate Bridge to Nowhere".
Palin's "gosh darnits".
Biden cracking huge smiles whenever Palin delivered a stinger - it was too obvious he was trying to contain his comtempt.
Palin saying that Biden's wife's deeds will be "rewarded in heaven" - I don't know about anybody else, but I thought that was an obvious sting at Biden trying to get him to lose his cool. Biden's first wife had died in an accident and it was an extremely difficult time for him.
Biden almost melting down talking about his family - he needs to go there more, that's what he needs to overcome the Palin charm.
As predicted, Biden concentrated on the facts and his experience, while Palin used her charm to connect to people. One thing that Palin has going for her is that expectations were low for her, so the fact that she not just held her own but did pretty well worked greatly for the McCain campaign. I think most of us have probably already decided who we'll be voting for. At this point, it's up to the media to affect the outcome of the debate to sway the undecided voter.
I definitely thought Obama did better on the economy and the bailout. He offered more concrete points and really addressed tax payers' concerns. On foreign policy and Iraq, the two differ fundamentally that debating is like 雞同鴨講 (chicken talking to a duck). McCain favours the hawkish force projection strategy, and Obama favours dialogue. McCain tried to hammer Obama on wasteful spending, but I thought Obama defended well enough. On this I probably agree with McCain more than I do with Obama. But Obama makes a good point in saying that McCain wants to solve this problem by "using a hatchet". I'm disappointed that both candidate are automatically taking the pro-NATO stance on Russia and it was never even brought up that Georgia was, in fact, the aggressor in this when it sent armed forces into two regions that had been de-facto independent for years. I'm not surprised by McCain's stance, but I'm especially disappointed in Obama and the Democrat base's support of NATO and Georgia's side in the conflict.
I'm not a particularly strong Obama supporter. But in the end, I am worried how McCain's hawkish foreign policy will affect the world. I cannot disagree more with his emphasis on using the military and force projection. Also, if the government is going to be wasting my tax dollars anyway, I'd rather have them wasted domestically than in nation-building overseas. And with the way that McCain is always metaphorically sucking General Patraeus' dick, I wouldn't be surprised if he would actually raise taxes for everybody if that was necessary to fund whatever course of action Patraeus suggests. Don't get me wrong - Patraeus does a great job. But there's a reason we don't just make him president. Our military actions - and so by extension military spending - must be dictated by a civilian government.
But I also completely understand that military operations do not function well on a time table. So I wish our two presidential candidates aren't so polarised in how to handle Iraq. I don't think staying in Iraq for "100 years" is a good idea, nor do I want a time table for withdrawal. I'm in agreement with Tammy Duckworth on Iraq - that what we're doing in Iraq is no longer fighting terrorism, it is now about controlling sectarian violence. And hell, was it ever really about fighting terrorism? Al Qaeda wasn't even in Iraq until we went in. Duckworth also wants more accountability in what we're doing in Iraq, and she basically said that if Iraqi forces are able to do the job of one American soldier, then that's one American soldier we should be sending home.
Another thing that has now made me definitely anti-McCain - the fact that Sarah Palin may actually become president is an absolutely scary thought. She is an idiot. I have no idea how it is that people might actually think that it is good to have a "hocky mom" in the White House. Why is that a good thing? I want somebody that's extremely educated and intelligent for the job, and not somebody whose background can be boiled down to that of a moose-hunting "hockey mom". Sure, some hockey moms are probably very intelligent and educated. But unfortunately, that is not Palin.
I will, however, be anxiously awaiting the Palin vs. Biden debate. With popcorn.
