Soon We Will Know the Course of the Future

This Saturday I sat in a park that is as familiar to me as my own backyard and where I’ve spent literally millions of minutes from the time I was in high school until the present and had one of the most amazingly surreal experiences of my life.

Why?  Because I was here:

Seriously awesome.

That’s President Obama campaigning in Washington Park. 

Now, if you’re a Dubuquer you know all about the madness that flooded our town this Saturday with campaign visits by both Mittens and OB – for the second (third? fifth?) time this campaign.  Because all of those other visits happened during the work day, this was the first visit I was able to attend – and it was… awesome.

I’m voting for Obama. 

If you’re following me on Twitter or Facebook you already know this.

If you know me, you know I’m very politically opinionated and that I’m about as socially liberal as it comes.  Fiscally, I’m a little more moderate.  A lot of people disagree with a lot of things I believe.

That’s ok.  But I don’t understand a lot of them.

There are three big things that I just can’t get over when it comes to the Uber-Conservatives.

1:  Gay Marriage.  Seriously guys, if you don’t want to be in a same-sex marriage, don’t marry someone of the same sex.  I don’t care what your holy book says, my “I’m a caring and intelligent person” book tells me that love is to be celebrated no matter who’s involved in it.  Gay Marriage isn’t ruining the sanctity of marriage.  The hundreds of thousands of people getting divorced every year are ruining the sanctity of marriage.  The hundreds of thousands of people getting married for the wrong reason every year are ruining the sanctity of marriage.  Gay Marriage didn’t cause the hurricane – climate change did that.  Which brings me to…

2:  Climate Change.  Quit fucking drilling.  Instead of getting on board with the goddamn Keystone Pipeline (which Mitt Romney says he’ll expand on Day 1 – just like the 50-bajillion other things he’s going to do on Day 1 – because he’s a combo of Iron Man/Flash Gordon/Superman) devote time and money to expanding alternate, reusable sources of power.  Plain and simple there are only so many fossil fuels available and one day we will run out.  I don’t care if it’s not for 50 generations.  Why do we have to run out in order for us to consider alternate energy sources??  Yes, I know the Christians believe that we are God’s chosen creations and we can use up this planet however we damned well please because we’re all just gonna party with Jesus in heaven and stare down at this smouldering planet anyway, but hey, PARTY – WITH JESUS.  That dude can turn water into wine, why should we waste all of the water turning it into energy?  We owe it to our future generations to take the best care of this planet we can.  PLUS – if everyone wants to fix our economy why not consider the great things that can happen if we devote our energy to the science of earth-friendly materials and energy sources more than any other country?  I think it would be a good moneymaker if we really invested in it.  (I say this with full confidence because I am an economic genius.)

3:  Women’s Health.  On this one, I actually have a story that I think really explains why a bunch of old men think they can control what happens to our vaginas:

A few months ago I had the pleasure of obligatorily attending a wedding of a family member that I didn’t want to go to because a.) it was going to be a dry wedding – who does that? and b.) I vehemently disagreed with the religion and I knew what I was getting myself into – my family did not.

During the wedding service, after taking a dig at the heathens who think same-sex marriage isn’t going to send them to a fiery hell, the preacher went on a 15-minute tirade directed at the bride-to-be about the woman’s role in marriage.  I live-tweeted the speech (because it was the only way I could keep myself from lashing out or just simply walking out) if you’re interested in reading it.

(Side-note: Don’t get me wrong, no matter how much I disagree with a religion, I believe whole-heartedly that people have the right to choose to believe in whatever religion they want – that’s the beauty of this country – as long as they don’t try to make me live my life according to their religion’s laws.  I’m bringing this up because, like I said above, I think it explains why these men want to control everything that happens between my legs.)

He explained over and over again how the woman should always follow her husband’s orders.  He explained how the role of the woman in the marriage was to make her concerns known to her husband (because, little lady, your cooking tastes better when you think your opinions matter) but even if he didn’t listen to her she still needed to go along with whatever he decided upon.  Now, when you’re talking about what to eat for dinner, maybe this isn’t a big deal.  But when you’re talking about whether or not to have sex for the night or buy a new house or move your mistress into the bedroom next door – the idea of the subservient wife becomes a little scarier. 

I couldn’t say “I told you so” loud enough to wipe the disgusted looks off the faces of my mother, my aunts, my father, my brother or my cousins as we sat in that church and listened to this lecture. 

This belief that the woman’s voice is not as powerful as the voice of her husband is exactly the reason that I started doubting Christianity when I was 18. 

And this, to me, explains why these uber-conservatives think they can tell me what I can and cannot do with my vagina.  Back the fuck off.  This is my body.  Women are just as capable and intelligent as men and can make the decisions that are best for them.  Yes, birth control should be covered by my insurance just as fucking Viagra is covered by a lot of insurance providers.

Finally – perhaps most importantly – making abortion illegal will never make abortion go away, it will only make abortion more dangerous for the pregnant woman.  You protect life when it is in the womb, but as soon as it’s out in the real world you say FUCK IT! I’m pretty sure Jesus would have a problem with that too.

He wants YOU!

So, those are my BIG things.  Of course there are five billion other things I want to see – like Citizens United being overturned, healthcare getting straightened the fuck out, creation of more jobs, college costs decreasing and the gap between the middle class and the wealthy shrinking, but these are just my Big-3 and I think Barack Obama is much more likely to address my cares that Mitt Romney ever will.

But most importantly – go vote today, if for no other reason than to pick out your local representatives!

Fingers crossed,

Annie Jay