Stand By Your Man

Or can you? At least in a visible way?

Tonight, after much debating we put an Obama for President sign in our yard. And I’m really nervous about having done this.

Let me back up. I love Texas. I really do. I’m not a native Texan but given my choice, I’ll probably live here until I retire to a beach in South Carolina. But I am ashamed of how close-minded and shall we say, judgmental many of the residents of this state are. I do think that many people around here don’t use their brains a lot of the time, especially when it comes to matters of politics. Now, I’m not attacking anyone. I just think that some folks need to actually educate themselves on issues and the platforms of candidates before backing or dismissing them. This goes for both political parties. Just because your daddy’s daddy’s daddy’s daddy voted Democrat should not be the sole reason you vote for a Democrat. That’s not reason enough. Every voter’s responsibility is to educate themselves, via multiple sources to minimize bias, on the issues to determine what really matters to them before they cast a ballot. If you can’t or won’t do that, then you are unqualified to vote. Yes, I said it and I mean it. I don’t believe that straight party voting should even be legal. But I’ll get off my soapbox now because that’s not the point of this post and I’m already treading into dangerous political waters and my blog is not about politics. Plus my blood pressure is rising and it’s too late at night for that.

So now we’ve got this yard sign. In a neighborhood where we’ve already been targeted by some acts of minor vandalism. In a neighborhood where I suspect that many folks would fall over dead if a black man became president.

But we finally had to say, fuck it. We have every right to express our support for our candidate, just like the McCain supporters. And isn’t the point of living in the US to enjoy the freedoms we hold dear, in this case to say what we want, support who we want, and not be persecuted for it? So we are making a stand and taking a chance that no one will damage or tear down our sign.

But I bought two, just in case. Come on, there is a difference between optimism and stupidity.

Filed under Political, Soapbox |