So Whom Did I Vote For?

That's probably the question I'm getting the most right now, aside from a few others of the "where the heck did you go?" variety. Yes, I took a week off. But now I'm back. Somewhat.

Yes, I did vote in the Presidential election. As an American Citizen it is my responsibility to do so. I know that a great many people don't like that particular "r" word, in fact rank it right up there with "rain," or "rubbish," but I like that word. Yes, we all have our responsibilities. One of them as American Citizens is to vote. At least, in my opinion.

Being an American brings certain rights along with it, and along with those rights come responsibilities. We have the right of Freedom of Speech, but that brings with it the responsibility not to scream "FIRE!" in a crowded movie theater. (Although I'm not sure about screaming "MOVIE" in a crowded firehouse.) We have the right of Freedom of Assembly, but that brings with it the responsibility not to throw rocks through windows or burn cars as you demonstrate. Peaceful demonstrations, however, are to be protected.

You have the right to demonstrate and to make your voice heard, you do not have the right to knock me on my butt because my views might differ from yours.

But to get back to the question of whom I voted for: I've written here before, and I stand by it, that I could not have voted for President-Elect Obama if you had held a loaded firearm to my head and threatened to shoot me or somebody close to me unless I voted for him.

Having said that, he did get elected, is the President-Elect, and when he takes the Oath, he will be my President. If he calls, I will answer. Again, the answer won't be: "Go the (censored) away" it will be "Yes, Mr President." That is my duty, my responsibility as an American Citizen.

The shrub I'm beating around is this - I did indeed vote for Mr McCain. None of the other candidates except President-Elect Obama had any realistic shot at winning and for me it was the lesser of two evils.

I still disagree with most of President-Elect Obama's policies and positions. To be brutally honest, however, I was in no way impressed by Mr McCain. Granted, he was a POW for several years and I respect anybody that wears this Country's Uniform. But I disagreed with a great deal of what Mr McCain said and stood for. Had the Democratic candidate been Gen. Powell, I would have voted for him in less time than it takes to blink.

For me, I vote my conscience. It's not about who is popular, it's about who I agree with. It's also not about colour or gender, yet I still to this day hear "sexist" thrown at me for speaking out about Hillary Clinton. Had Dr. Rice been a candidate I would have voted for her.

Had General Colin Powell been the candidate I would have voted for him in less time than it takes to blink. Seriously.

But do you remember that hypothetical matchup I created in an earlier posting? If not, here it is again: Let's assume the two Presidential Candidates are Dr. Rice and Gen. Powell. This hypothetical matchup removes the race card from play, but you know as well as I do that someone somewhere would still scream "Sexist!" if you voted for Gen. Powell.

But conscience. That seems to be another politically incorrect word. I wrote in an earlier posting about Joseph Lieberman [D-CT] (except I misspelt his name as Liberman) needing a food-taster during a Democratic luncheon. This was before he stood with Mr McCain at the Convention. I don't agree with many of Mr Lieberman's positions, but he votes his conscience. Too many of our politicians don't. They vote where the money and the power is. And poor Mr Lieberman is now paying the price. His own party is ostracising him, criticising him for speaking his convictions.

Remember, the first bailout failed. When round two came around it had been sweetened with pork for individual politicians if only they'd vote for it.

Dennis Kucinich [D-OH] is another politician I don't agree with on many things, but again, he votes his conscience. I've written savage things against him in the past, but I also give credit where it's due. Mr Kucinich voted against the bailout every single time it was brought to a vote. Various pork was thrown at him, too. Unlike many others, however, his conscience won out. I don't agree with him on a great many things. I cannot and will not deny that. But I admire him for voting as his conscience and his convictions dictated. Frankly, we need more politicians like him.

We need more politicians to put their ambitions on hold and vote for the American People, not for their own pockets.