August 29, 2008: Country Counseling

Dear friends,

I know you don’t care about ‘celebrity endorsements’. I don’t either. But I have as much a right to my opinion as any other citizen in this great democracy of ours, and here it is:
Yes, we can.

I was so deeply inspired by Senator Obama’s speech last night and have thoroughly enjoyed what has been the most exciting convention in memory.  He covered all the relevant territory, as far as I can tell:  our dependence on foreign oil, the war in Iraq, the threat of terrorism,  the economy, health care, climate change, women’s rights, and cronyism, or what he called ‘ownership’, in the White House.  He provided a vision, and outlined truly thrilling possibilities for the future of our country.  I have to admit that when the primary began, I was concerned about his lack of experience, but I have been thoroughly appeased in that anxiety by his grasp of the most complex issues, his ability to articulate them and his wise judgment.

I have some sadness about Hillary.  I have been annoyed with her since her vote on the invasion of Iraq, but she has been through the fire and come out a champion.  Her speech moved me to tears.  I hope my daughters see a woman in the White House in their lifetime, and now I feel certain they will.  (But I do hope it is not Sarah Palin, McCain’s choice for v.p., an anti-choice right-winger with very little experience in public office, and none in foreign policy. Also, let’s be blunt:  John McCain is 72 years old.  Both my parents died at the age of 71. In my world-view, McCain is beyond the wall of mortality. God forbid he becomes incapacitated or dies—do we want a 44 year-old with absolutely no foreign policy experience to be the leader of the Free World??)

The last election was virtually hijacked by Karl Rove and his team hypnotizing the conservative masses with the titillating mental picture of two men walking down the aisle.  The world was going to hell in a handbasket, the Middle East was imploding, we had turned our surplus into a deficit, but… that image of two guys on top of a cake swayed the whole damn election.  Everyone needs to grow up. That particular issue will take years to play out and eventually be decided by the states, not the federal government, in my opinion.  Of course, the other issue that was used as a super-charged manipulation was abortion. I’m a pragmatist, as well as an idealist, so it boils down to this for me:  Overturning Roe v. Wade will not eliminate abortion, it will eliminate LEGAL  abortion.  Do we really want to see death rate from illegal abortions climb back up to where it was pre-1973? And beyond that, do we want to take a disastrous ride down the slippery slope of nationalizing a woman’s body?  If you take away her right to determine her own reproductive life, what’s next?  Her entire sexuality? Then her right to vote, to drive a car, to dress as she pleases?   If you want to see how that looks, I can think of a few countries for you to visit.

If I was in a relationship with my country, I would say that we need couples counseling.  If I was a physicist, I would say that the current model has to disintegrate in order to re-assemble at a higher level. If I was a musician (oh yeah— I am a musician) I’d say we’ve been playing this song in the wrong key. Let’s start over, in the key of Obama.

Pick up your instruments.  All together, in the People’s Key. Yes, we can.

much love from

Mrs. L
Democrat and Patriot

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