It Is Time For Unity

Well, my vote is in. I'm nervous about some of what I voted for though.

Judges - I didn't study who the good and bad judges were this time so I didn't vote for any of them. I feel bad about that. I thought a "no vote" was a automatically made a yes but it didn't look like that when I finished. I'll have to find that out. I think this is an important thing to vote for so I really do feel bad I didn't study this.

Propositions - The big propositions in our area are about renewing the zoo and Tracy Aviary. This was a tough vote for me. I could see both sides but I did end up voting yes to renew these things because I think they are great for our community and I hate seeing the animals in some of those terrible cages. I felt like closing my eyes and pushing any button.

President - I voted for McCain. Even this decision was not 100% for me though because I don't have complete confidence in him. However, I personally do think a lot of the things he stands for are really good and I do feel secure that he is the best choice we have right now. I especially like his commitment to using our country's natural resources and I do think Paulin will be an asset for that.

When it comes to republican verses democratic views I am definitely a republican. My opinions are conservative and I have a strong belief in personal responsibility, and corporate entrepreneurship. However, I commit to supporting whatever president is elected. I'm not suggesting it's good to sit back and let whatever happen, happen. I am suggesting that it's not appropriate to complain if you aren't willing to do the work to make a change. Even if you are willing to make a change there are some things that will be out of our control. We've got to make the best of what is happening and find unity in our country.

I'm sick of all of the political jokes. I think they are damaging. It's ridiculous that each party seems to view the other party as pond scum. Ultimately, I think we all want the same things. We just have different opinions on what the best way to get there is. The rumor e-mails going around about the presidential candidates kill me too. How do so many people believe the stuff that gets e-mailed to them? Anyone can start an e-mail.

As long as I'm rambling on and on...
Last night I let my little boy watch a biography of John McCain with me. I used it as a way to discuss the reasons I was voting for McCain. I was also interested in letting Luke learn about McCain's POW experience. I want Luke to understand how much harder other people's problems are. It ended up being a really bad thing showing the biography to Luke. First it showed McCain smoking and drinking at an early age. Luke gasped and said, "he did drugs?" He just had drug awareness week at school and they talked about how cigarettes are a drug. Although I don't want Luke to ever think smoking is acceptable for him, I also want to teach him that people that smoke aren't bad. So we talked about that for a while but Luke was not impressed our president wasn't smart enough to stay away from cigarettes. Drug awareness week made a big impact on Luke. Then, later the biography talked about how McCain cheated on his wife after he got home from the war. I knew that but was coming so I should have turned it off before that but I thought it was going to keep talking about the war a little longer. I quickly turned the TV off. Geez.

Luke was still really bothered by the smoking thing and was trying really hard to understand why I was voting for McCain and said, "I think I get it now. You are voting for him because you think he deserves something good after being in that prison." I explained that wasn't the reason and talked to him about a couple of the real reasons. I think in the end he understood, but I agree it would be a lot easier to vote for a candidate that made better personal choices in his life. I have learned my lesson on how to teach a child about politics. No more biographies, or at least until I approve of them first.