October 3, 2012
Where I stand…
It rained most of the past weekend; a gentle but steady rain that left the ground soft to the foot. It was a good weekend to snucker down in the cottage and watch old movies and read magazines.
It was a good weekend for contemplation. Since I have cut the cord to cable I watch fewer commercials and since I am not in a battleground state, I am spared the political din that battered me when I was in DC this past week.
It is a fascinating Presidential campaign to watch. When it began lo these two years ago, it seemed inevitable that Obama would be booted out of 1600 Pennsylvania and a Republican [almost any Republican] would take his place.
When it seemed that Romney would tie up the nomination after a bitterly contentious campaign, I wasn’t terribly troubled. I actually thought he might make a decent President, not my choice, but a decent President. Like many, I was feeling disappointed in Obama but not so disappointed I would abandon him.
As I started to get to know Mitt Romney, the more disturbed I became and the less I liked him. It began with the sense that he would say anything, do anything to get the nomination and then the Presidency. It seemed the man has no mind of his own, bending his words to his Party’s winds. I have come to think he has no spine.
He made a trip to abroad and managed to muck it up with thoughtless, ill-considered comments bound to arouse anger in important sectors. He chose Ryan to be his Vice Presidential partner and solidified my concerns. Between them, the grip of the Republican ticket on international affairs seems Palinian.
Then came Romney’s blistering remarks about the 47%…
It was a moment that should have faded quickly but which hasn’t because it sums up what many have been afraid of with the Republican candidate for President – he doesn’t like or respect a good many of us.
I am probably of the 47%. I got through college partially with help from Social Security received after my father passed away.
Somehow that seems to make me a “victim” in his eyes, wanting to suck at the teat of government, a person who doesn’t want to stand on his own.
So what with being part of the 47% and listening to Romney sound like a retreaded neocon with a loose grip on reality, I’ve gone from slightly negative to grossly negative.
The thought of Romney as President scares the bejesus out of me. He knows how to make money. But that doesn’t make him qualified for the highest office in the land and most of his actions since his nomination have lead me to believe he is grossly unqualified – partly because I think to get this far he has comprised almost everything he has ever believed in.
I realize that while Obama appears to have disappointed, he has actually accomplished a good deal. Not as much as I might have wanted but a good deal and in the economic malaise we have forgotten some of those things.
We didn’t have the Great Depression Two; we have had a debilitating recession but not a Depression. And that’s the cliff for which we were headed. We have had health care addressed. DADT is dead. And Obama, unlike Romney, realizes that Russia is not our worst enemy anymore.
I know my Republican friends and relatives will vehemently disagree with me and I vehemently support their right to disagree. We do have the right to free speech in this country.
So between now and the election, I will donate enthusiastically to the Obama campaign as I am afraid of his opponent. The prospect of a Romney Presidency scares me on every level while a re-election of Obama does not.
Letter from the Vineyard 