My reasons - in a nutshell - for supporting Senator Barack Obama

A individual recently mocked my father for travelling to North Carolina in the days before the election to help the causes of sanity and progress. In the same breath, he challenged me to find one strong reason why I support Senator Barack Obama.

Dear Angry -
I present to you my reasons for supporting Barack Obama.

1. A HEALTHY ADMINISTRATION
An Attorney General who can remember and can recall moments in which he may or may not have failed in his sacred duty to uphold - not violate - the Constitution
A Secretary of Defense not a Secretary of Offense
An EPA Director who doesn't black out scientific evidence
An FEMA Chair who helps people when they are victims of a natural disaster
A Vice President who doesn't violate the Constitution by expanding his own powers

2. TAX CUTS / TAX REPAIR
A Sales Clerk earning $25,000 a year:
McCain +$94
Obama +$860
A Teacher earning $50,000 a year:
McCain +$446
Obama +$1,114
A Lawyer earning $250,000 a year:
McCain +$7,293
Obama +$1,591
An Investment Banker earning $750,000 a year:
McCain +$11,621
Obama -$19,745
A CEO making $1,000,000+ a year:
McCain +$91,286
Obama -$175,117
(Source: Rolling Stone - October 16, 2008)

3. THE ISSUES MOST IMPORTANT TO ME
I believe our environmental future, our financial stability and our national security is dependent upon a health support and investment in alternative energy - not drill, drill, drilling.
I see the wisdom in Abraham Lincoln when he posed the question "Am I not destroying my enemy, by making him my friend?"
I am prolife, but I don't believe that should be my or my government's decision to make.
I believe passionately in "Congress shall make all laws necessary and proper" - that the Constitution is a living document and within it is spirit intent on promoting civil rights and the greater welfare of its citizens. There is no room for wire tapping, waterboarding, under-educated students, underpaid teachers, constraints on the legal benefits of marriage, and citizens with a history mental instability armed automatic weapons under this umbrella.
I believe we were sent to Iraq on lies. Current evidence show this to be true. History will prove this to be correct and it will be the embarrassment of our generation. As a State Senator, Barack Obama opposed the war from it's outset at time when the whole world was crying for blood. That took courage.
I think Sarah Palin is a moose burger.

4. LEADERSHIP
I believe Barack Obama, as a candidate, is the closest thing to a regular citizen America has seen in a very long time. What makes him unique - his upbringing, his education, his speaking skills, his dedication to public servants and working class citizens, his sincerity and optimism... - are the things, I believe, Americans should demand in a President.
"But John McCain is war hero!" John McCain is a lie: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain


5. GLOBAL STANDING
I want America to lead the world again - not through a failed show of force, but through united front of diplomacy.

6. PEOPLE LIKE YOU who are just angry and ignorant and yet somehow have found a way to get your guy elected to lead this country to near ruin. When the media investigates and proves you to be the frauds you are, you play a false victim and hide behind words and phrases like "bias", "liberal press" and "hate website" and yet somehow you still find ways to spit your venomous vitriol and make it stick. You are the dark side of the force and your time is at an end.

7. PEOPLE LIKE MY DAD who – for the first time in their lives – are finding it within themselves do anything and everything they can to fix the mess you and your friends and your leaders got us into.

And a note about spelling errors to you, Mr. Angry. I was a high school teacher for ten years. In my classroom, I never graded on spelling and the students I always enjoyed the most – the ones who made my job fun - were the ones who had insight in their thoughts, sincerity in their words and the courage to share them.

In hope,

Dan Schneider