Anyone who knows me, knows I was against our attack of Iraq. In all actuality, I was against invading Afghanistan. In fact, I felt al Qaeda and the Taliban were powers with which we needed to deal but that they weren't tied closely enough to the governments of those nations to justify ignoring their sovereignty and the subsequent invasions. Now, I spoke out against these actions that were made by a Republican administration. Why is it when I say something about how I feel when a Democratic administration does something it is taken as political rivalry? I think when something is wrong, it doesn't matter what their party affiliation is and they should be held accountable. PERIOD.
If I were to tell some of my friends how I just cannot bring myself to vote for a candidate who is against gay marriage, or who cannot divorce his parents' belief in creation, they'll nod along in agreement. If I tell those same friends how important a woman's right to choose is, that I cannot support a politician who even leans toward some kind of regulation on this right, they'll agree with me whole heartedly. If I tell these friends that I cannot support a politician who's been caught using the worst racial slurs, that I cannot cast a vote in his favor even though I might agree with him on more policy issues than the other guy, they'll applaud how I've held strong to my ideals. For these are grand ideals, aren't they? They are grand ideals because of their assumed tolerance and the great weight they place on humanity, they are an enlightened view, educated.
Now, when I suggest I cannot support President Obama, some of these same friends respond with a vileness, a hatred beyond anything I could have imagined. You see, I thought someone with a progressive mind was supposed to be accepting and tolerant. I am asked how I cannot support a man that has done so much for the people of this nation. Well, you see, those same ideals many progressives purport to embrace are hardly put to the test. Many reject those ideals because the ends justify the means. I just do not agree.
Here are a couple reasons which I do not consider political but make it impossible for me to support a second term for President Obama.
1. We terrorize innocent people simply because they were born in a country, share a space of land with those with whom the United States does not agree. Drones patrol an area in North Waziristan. These unmanned airplanes kill in a way that isn't "precise" or "surgical" even though President Obama wants to claim that it is. Hundreds of innocent people, including chidren, have died in this act of terror inflicted by United States forces. These actions are turning the lives of these people into nothing less than a nightmare. They are always afraid. The policy creates more terrorists than is even possible to eradicate. In the best case scenario, America is causing the ruin of thousands of lives, killing hundreds of innocents for a small increase in safety. It is hardly moral in any sense of the imagination.
2. President Obama has established an incredibly reckless precedent: any president can secretly order and oversee the extrajudicial killing of American citizens. The President's kill list exceeds any transgression against the constitution done by George W. Bush, ever. It is an extremely radical invocation of executive power. That not one of my progressive friends finds this to be anything more than the president being proactive in protecting America from terrorists leaves me speachless. It is a shameful use of executive power and should be stopped.
Now, there are other problems in this world and other issues that are great to consider. I just cannot overlook these as small problems. If I am wrong, I would like to hear how we can justify these actions without ignoring my own ideals. You know those things that help me make decisions in my life.
