Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell announced on Meet the Press last night that he will vote for Barack Obama. Powell spoke eloquently, deliberately, and thoughtfully about how he came to this decision. The video below:
What struck me was the mention of a young American soldier. He had died in Iraq, and upon his gravestone were his titles and the crescent and star of Islam. This young man had given his life to serve his country that he loved. A gravestone was raised in his honor. His name? Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan—and he was Muslim.
What was the point of this sad story? That there is nothing wrong with being Muslim. But it is more than the acceptance of Islam. It is about a vision of America where this questioning does not happen. Quote Powell:
Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no. That’s not America. Is there something wrong with a seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing he or she could be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion that he is a Muslim and might have an association with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.
Powell wants an America where Islam is not associated with terrorism. He wants an inclusive America. He wants an America that is not polarised. He wants an America that recognises that “all villages have values, all towns have values, not just small towns have values”. For Powell, the choice is clear: Obama’s unifying, inspirational message makes him the leader he believes that America needs.
Elitism in this sense is not about educational or class credentials, not about where you went to school or whether you use “summer” as a verb. It is, rather, about the pursuit of excellence no matter where you started out in life. Jackson, Lincoln, Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Clinton were born to ordinary families, but they spent their lives doing extraordinary things, demonstrating an interest in, and a curiosity about, the world around them. This is much less evident in Palin’s case.
The Connecticut Supreme Court just ruled that same-sex marriages are legal in the state. From the AP:
The court found that the state’s law limiting marriage to heterosexual couples discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation. The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry.
This movie will not influence my vote in any way, but you can be sure that I will watch it this weekend, and then critically analyse and fact check it to hell. (Or find someone who has done it already.) Is it a piece of trash? Probably. But I’m interested to see what it has to say.
This is a new campaign ad for John McCain. Apparently, the McCain camp believe that if you hear “McCain is right” enough times, you’ll think that McCain is right and that Obama is not ready to lead. The first part is basic psychology and marketing. The second part is illogical. So much for straight-talking.
In nearly all those clips where Obama was agreeing with McCain, Obama was actually critising McCain. Obama was noting a point of agreement before continuing to what he disagreed.
Matt Damon has a few things to say about the Republican vice-presidential nominee as well.
What I find fascinating about Sarah Palin is that everyone is talking about her—from feminists like Gloria Steinem to celebrities like Lindsey Lohan. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone thinks that the nomination is important—one way or another. Whether or not you like Palin as the Republican VP nominee, you can’t deny that there is lots of talk, lots of people speaking up, lots of people talking about policies—like the Bush Doctrine—or what makes someone qualified for VP or the power of women in American society.
Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton’s candidacy stood for — and that Barack Obama’s still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, “Somebody stole my shoes, so I’ll amputate my legs.”
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Republicans may learn they can’t appeal to right-wing patriarchs and most women at the same time. A loss in November could cause the centrist majority of Republicans to take back their party, which was the first to support the Equal Rights Amendment and should be the last to want to invite government into the wombs of women.
And American women, who suffer more because of having two full-time jobs than from any other single injustice, finally have support on a national stage from male leaders who know that women can’t be equal outside the home until men are equal in it. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are campaigning on their belief that men should be, can be and want to be at home for their children.
Amber Ying is a figment of the Internet. In real life, she is an undergraduate student of biology and chemistry at Colby-Sawyer College. Amber likes kittens, postmodern American literature, public policy, and cheesecake. She dislikes eggplants, parking tickets, and cobblestone streets.
