Flowers, summer fruit and some words of hope.

  Indian Summer Bounty
  Originally uploaded by GraceD

This image - bounty from the local farmer's market. Enjoying the white nectarines while they're still in season.

Recently  the e-mail linking Barack Obama to Islamic terrorists - the one that you probably received from freaked out relatives that rarely send you emails but forwarded this racist one -  showed up again in my inbox. In this go round, I received it from a friend I've known and loved since high school.  I was so horrified and angry that it came back into circulation, by an old friend no less,  that I pounded out a carefully worded response in a red hot rage. Of course, style and grammar errors flew off the keyboard and onto the monitor but, our old high school English teacher be damned, I didn't care. I clicked 'send' then went outside to water my tomato plants and calm down.

Some months ago, that same friend and I exchanged pleasant, chatty messages about the primary, who we may vote for, that sort of water cooler talk. When I said the Hubs and I were supporting Barack Obama, my friend replied with that alarmist email.  I wrote back to my friend saying something to the effect that this had to be a joke, this is not the pal I know from the old days, etc. But, my friend wasn't kidding, not at all.

And to confirm that this was really not a joke, my friend re-sent it again as a group message. This time I fired back with the truth, the full paragraph from Senator Obama's book, "The Audacity of Hope", that exposes the lies in that email as propaganda and blatantly out of context. 

You know, I can say that my pal should have known better and ask how did such a smart, well informed person turn into a weirdo crackpot, but we're back to the culture wars of the 90s, the dark Newt Gingrich "Contract ON America" days and the rise of conservative  ditto head talk radio.  Liberals are evil.  All Muslims are out to get us. That ugly xenophobia is back again and it looks like my pal drank the right's Kool Aid. But, there is a smug, justification in holding such views and what is clearly weirdo crackpot thinking to us is a party platform for them.

Therefore,  while I called out the email's shameless inaccuracies, I have no interest in convincing my friend that Obama is a gifted and effective leader and we desperately need his wisdom to get our country back to a nation of integrity and decency. Rather, I believe that the real work now is to talk to our friends who are undecided and have the willingness to conduct a thoughtful discussion about this critical fork in the road, the 2008 presidential election.

My plan is to continue the dialog with my friends who are Hillary supporters.  They are still in pain from the primaries, but they will understand that a vote for McCain could be a vote for the end of reproductive choice (two Supreme Court Justices may be replaced with anti-Roe activists) and that they must hold on to that frightening thought as they walk into the voting booth. The Hubs speaks of his support for Senator Obama in his professional community.  His physician and scientist colleagues are Democrats (most are), but he will talk openly about his support for Obama". Certainly, our older kids talk to their friends, but theirs is an easy task - Obama has the Gen X and Y vote down.  Finally, my Molly, a well informed feminist and environmentalist, talks to her 18 year old friends with intelligence and passion of her support for Barack Obama.

I know some of you are scared.  We could be headed for another four years (if not one hundred years) of war. Republicans are not addressing rising unemployment, foreclosures and the unresolved crisis of the dysfunctional health care system.  And, if McCain wins, reproductive rights for women are in grave peril.

I'm scared too. And, as they say, if you're not scared, you're not paying attention.

This is what we must do now -  we must channel that fear into action and work hard, very hard for a Democratic victory.  We must send in whatever cash donations we can afford, stuff envelopes at the local Obama headquarters, throw a fund raising party and talk, talk, talk clearly, calmly and with conviction with our friends and associates. We must always call out the bullshit and deflect it with the truth.  I honestly believe that this is how we must proceed in the next 59 days.

Be brave in these scary times, dollins. Embrace the audacity of hope. 

Barack Obama for President

Comments

[Fred]

Good for you!

We can't expect too much from any president, in my opinion, but we should at least demand that they enter the job with competence, dignity and a tangible commitment to do the best they can for their fellow citizens of all backgrounds and income brackets.

This election isn't a judgment on the candidates, it is a judgment on the American people themselves. Are they really more Americans who are attracted to what McCain/Palin are offering than Obama/Biden? Dear God, for all ours sakes I hope not.

Love and best wishes

[Don]

Good post Grace. I can tell you're passionate as usual about the Democrats. I would just like to point out one tiny thing. In 2000 and 2004 every Liberal was sure that Roe vs Wade would be overturned if Bush was elected. Here it is, 2008 and that hasn't happened. Not that I disagree with you about the desire to do that by the Right. Just pointing out the dire predictions about that subject right here on this blog (so far) never materialized.

[Lovebabz]

We absolutley can and must expect agreat deal from our President. We just didn't fo rthe last 8 years becasue we know he was not able to be anything than what he is...small.

We can never go back to the days before roe-v-wade. We cannot send women back sneaking and hiding and puting their lives on the line. We can't go back.

The next president will have the opportunity to seat 3 new Supreme Court Justices. We could get Scalias and Thomases, or we could get Thurgood Marshalls. I choose Thugood Marshall hands down. This election has far reaching reapercussions. Not just personality politics. America must become better than what she is now. We must become better than what we are now.

[ByJane]

Great post, Grace--gets the Manners Narc's seal of approval for reasoned, responsible writing.

[Mom101]

Don, the last eight years has chipped away at reproductive freedom and policy that keep women informed, safe and healthy. Roe v Wade may still be hanging on by a thread (a thread called 80-whatever year old Stevens) but slightly more under the radar are some scary changes under the current administration.

There is now a widespread defense of pharmacists who refuse to provide birth control to women with prescriptions. Last year the injunction protecting women's health clinics from violence was allowed to expire. And currently, there's a new HHS rule on the table by which medical schools, hospitals and clinics getting any kind of funding will be forced to hire nurses and doctors who may oppose birth control. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/washington/15rule.html) To say nothing of the wacky proposals going around certain states like the one in Colorado which would call a fertilized egg a person.

I think it's called death by a thousand paper cuts?

[Right Brained Gal]

Thank you so much for your intelligent piece concerning your fears for the upcoming election. I feel exactly the same as you and I am so discouraged by the fear and hate tactics the Republicans use. If McCain wins and Sarah Palin becomes the vice president, women might as well start wearing burkas.

[MarathonNurse]

Yes, Grace, yes!!! I might even go and canvas in my po-dunk home town of Michigan for Obama. I'm scared too if Obama doesn't win, but still keepin' the faith!!

[v]

My husband and I even include our three-year-old in these conversations. Most likely she doesn't know most of what we're talking about and she, obviously, can't yet vote, but we're teaching her early. I'll again bring her to vote with me in November.

And, I agree with Mom101 that the small changes in reproductive issues are scary, especially because they seem so stealthy.

[phhhst]

Great post. My first time here, but you give me hope.

[Kara]

A-fucking-MEN!!!

[Kris]

OMG, Grace. Will you have my baby? I love you THAT much ;0)

[Don]

Right Brained Gal, where can I get that picture of Palin wearing a Burka? ;)

[Amber]

Yes I am reading further down your blog. Interesting...I resent the idea that they feel I should vote for a woman just because I am one. That is like saying I have no brain, just hormones that follow their own. Hillary lost me with her bashing. But I am so thankful I was here to see history being made when a black and a woman ran. I am still shocked that there was a time when neither could even vote. My father told me about Palin supporting the use of helecoptors to shoot wildlife in Alaska and also to take the polar bear off the endangered list. I am checking it out but how does that mesh with pro life? Only pro people? I do not want someone leading our country or our world that does not place value on all life, all creation. Just thought you might find this useful.