Wednesday, November 7, 2012

One and only post on the election

It's no secret that I am a liberal. I support LGBT rights and proudly call myself a feminist. I am pro-choice, pro-contraception, and pro-equality. As you can probably guess, I voted for Obama/Biden in yesterday's ballot.

I live in a battleground state, rural area. This county is very, very red. Most of the races on my ballot were uncontested Republican.

Here's why I voted for reelection on President Obama.

1. I have a daughter. I hate the fact that I know Lily Ledbetter's name. I hate the fact that my smart, funny, talented daughter still lives in times where she will need to be better than a man in order to be thought his equal. I hate the fact that there are Republicans out there ON RECORD as saying that women don't need the right to vote. Or to be educated. Or that money is not as important to women as to men. Slate had an article recently with quotes from the Taliban and some Republicans...and I couldn't tell the difference between them.

2. I have a son. He's still a decade away from registering with the Selective Service, but I see a Republican party all too eager to declare war, especially ones where I'm having a hard time seeing any upside.

3. Many of my friends are in the LGBT community. Some are single, some are in long-term relationships, some have been married in a few states. They deserve to love and to officially declare that love. They deserve the benefits that accrue to married folks - benefits, ability to visit in the hospital, children. My dearest friend from medical school is a lesbian, in a long-term relationship. They are raising 3 beautiful kids. That couple are my daughter's godparents & I am a godmother to their eldest.  THERE IS NO GOOD REASON FOR THEM TO BE SINGLED OUT LEGALLY.

4. I am an OB-GYN who feels her profession is under attack. Legislators saying what procedures I should be doing, churches saying what meds I should be using. FUCK THAT!!!!!!!!! I go into the exam room, close the door, and it's me and the patient. Nobody else is invited. The end. Lately, however, many politicians seem to think that they know as much about OB-GYN as I do.

5. Fiscal responsibility. Yes, the debt has grown - but much of it can be attributed to moving our wars from a shadow budget to the real budget. The Romney/Ryan tax plans were unrealistic according to nonpartisan groups - it would be LESS fiscally responsible.

6. ACA - It didn't go as far as I hoped it would. Having said that, I understand the political need for babysteps. I want people insured. I want people to have the ability to get worrisome symptoms checked out.

7. Social contract. I do believe that we are our brother's keeper. I want a social net. And no, private charity is not enough. If we are the type of person our dogs think we are, then we care for others. Period. Is there abuse? Of course there is...humans are involved. Having said that, I would rather waste a little bit of my $$ there than see pain.

Longish post.

11 comments:

Cobwebs said...

Well said, ma'am.

I'm hoping (without much conviction) this election acts as a wake-up call to the GOP that unless they peel off the crazies their party will continue its slide into irrelevance. Sane conservatives are useful for reining in some of the "And everybody gets a pony!" excesses that the Dems are sometimes prone to, but we're not going to get those guys back until they realize that fielding candidates who want to take the country back to the 1850s isn't a winning strategy.

Bardiac said...

If we were all focused on being the sort of people our dogs think we are, we would be WAY kinder and better people all around.

And we'd never close the door when we went to the bathroom.

RuralObGyn said...

i'm with you. Great post.

Anonymous said...

I have been horrified to hear what some of them believe and advocate in a western civilisation. Thank you for standing up to represent everyone who has beliefs more in line with european values than those rampant in the middle east and making me feel better.

We are told this election affects us all - but most of us have no say in it and sometimes that is scary.

Anonymous said...

I agree with most of what you say. Although, really don't agree with your view of social contract. See, I come from the ghetto I first hand see all this abuse that's going on. Now is it ok that the money you earn working hard missing family time, sleep, whatever it is, is going to someone with 5 kids (different fathers, no father figure mind you) and getting this welfare money and going shopping, getting nails done, buys iPads, has no income so gives nothing to taxes but GETS BACK 5,000 dollars for her children.



Uhhhh NO! Worst of all they TEACH THEIR CHILDREN TO DO EXACTLY the same. Went to high school with one of her kids now she has 4 kids under 6 and guess what shes on welfare and TEACHING her kids to give nothing to society but only TAKE money from others hard work! NO NO NO NO NO.

I can understand where you're coming from completely but out of 10 families on welfare 2 are honest good people that do not abuse. I'm saying this from the inside no one will speak up cause everyone wants money and no work. It is just not fair and things like this are breaking us down.

Anonymous said...

I don't agree with anything you said in this post. I certainly appreciate your enthusiasm but unfortunately there is so much more going on with this current administration than what's being reported in the media.

I sincerely think the current road to socialism via bankrupting our country will not only destroy our American way of life, it will in turn destroy economies around the world. I only hope that enough people wake up in time to see what's going on.

Anonymous said...

I'm Republican, I voted for Obama this election. Reason being is that Romney was too inconsistent on his positions and economic plan for me to support him. I personally support Gay and Lesbian rights and while personally pro-Life only believe late third trimester or partial birth abortions should be regulated as a happy compromise. The health care reform I'm fine with but if it continues they need to put provisions for primary care and revamp EMTALA or we'll flood the system. I'm still Republican though because as a paramedic I believe that while we should be our brother's keeper to an extent, I see the absolute worst abuses to the system by people with no intent of changing. Its not a belief that they can't change but merely a sense of entitlement. This is present in all demographics. The government needs to stop regulating medicine and just regulate access to it to ensure healthcare providers are paid and the lower-class receive the care they need.

Anonymous said...

I'm Canadian who watches with great interest what happens south of our border. The US is our biggest trading partner (though that is on the decline) and we have many strong ties.

It boggles my mind though when I see comments such as the one from anonymous saying that Obama is a socialist! In the eyes of much of the rest of the world, the American political system has two parties whose ideologies are to the right and then to the further right. I wish anonymous would come to Canada and experience our political system where we have an actual socialist leftie party.

R. May said...

Anon 3- while I appreciate your experience based on what you grew up with, that STILL doesn't represent the vast majority of people getting assistance. It just doesn't. First there is no "welfare" anymore, it's called TANF - Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. And it is limited to 5 years. And it's not that much - I know because when I qualified for it, it was $380 a month for my child and myself. Yep - living high on the hog with that. Then there's other things that make up the puzzle - housing assistance, SNAP, etc. All of this information is verifiable and not opinion.

Frankly I saw more abuse of "disability" payments in my ghetto then anything else. And the nice stuff was funded by and large by illegal activity or deceptive in where it came from. My nice clothes? I bought them from Goodwill and still do now that I'm not poor. But no, I don't think most people on disability abuse it and I don't think most poor people do illegal things to fund their lifestyle.
Not that it matters but the only assistance I ever took was daycare assistance and WIC and declined all others because I knew there were people worse off then me who needed the help more.

Can and should there be changes? Probably. Do gross generalizations and basing things solely off what we personally think/see regardless of actual facts out there be the basis for those changes. Unequivocally no.

Jaxxy said...

Amen! I'm not a proponent of abortion for the most part (barring cases of rape or medical necessity), but that said, I don't feel that I have the right to make that decision for others. That decision is between a patient and her doctor, and it's nobody else's business. Legislators have no business making medical decisions for me or anyone else, much less do they have a right to decide whom a person is or is not allowed to marry.

Anonymous said...

Ironic, now, isn't it? Which party wants to go to war?