A day late, a buck short.

(Warning: I am still talking politics. If you are over it, feel free to move on. I'll probably be posting about some dream houses later on, so perhaps come back for that.)

Despite my vote yesterday two days ago, I am happy that Barack Obama was elected President. I feel he deserved it over John McCain. (Indeed, if I suspected that voting third party would have helped McCain over Obama, I probably wouldn't have done it. Of course, that was not remotely the case.) I like Obama. I like his words, and I like most of his ideas. I think he will make a difference in how the world views America, and there is no way that can be a bad thing. I like his book, which yes, I did read. (Actually, I haven't finished - I'm a busy girl - so don't quiz me or anything.) Believe it or not, I DO have hope. Hope, and fear. Fear that he won't be able to live up to the hype, the pressure put upon him to save the world. But mostly, hope.

No, the reason I didn't vote for Obama yesterday two days ago was not because I don't like Obama. Frankly, it's the rest of the Democratic party I'm unhappy with. And I guess the main reason I'm unhappy with them is because they don't seem to like me. And I don't like not being liked. I take it personal. I can't help it.

I don't like being told that, despite handing over a little more than one third of our hard earned income, my family is not giving enough. I'm happy to give the one third - to pay for roads, schools, public services, national defense. I'm also happy for some of my money to go to social programs - welfare is important, and necessary. I am a person who is where I am today because of the welfare system. Health coverage for children - you bet. Sign me up. But for anyone out there to imply that we are not doing our share is insulting. No, we're not poor. We're not needy. But we're not rich, and I don't like being told that we are. And I especially don't like being called greedy or selfish.

Perhaps my super-secret boyfriend Sam Seaborn (which, oops, not so secret anymore?) said it best:

"Henry, last fall, every time your boss got on the stump and said, "It's time for the rich to pay their fair share," I hid under a couch and changed my name. I left Gage Whitney making $400,000 a year. Which means I paid twenty-seven times the national average in income tax. I paid my fair share. And the fair share of twenty-six other people. And I'm happy to 'cause that's the only way it's gonna work. And it's in my best interest that everybody be able to go to schools and drive on roads. But I don't get twenty-seven votes on Election Day. The fire department doesn't come to my house twenty-seven times faster, and the water doesn't come out of my faucet twenty-seven times hotter. The top one percent of wage earners in this country pay for twenty-two percent of this country. Let's not call them names while they're doing it is all I'm saying."  (The West Wing, Season 2, Episode "The Fall's Gonna Kill You")

P.S. I dug all around YouTube and even tried to create my own clip of the above speech from my DVD set, to no avail, which is why this post is up one day later than I originally intended.

P.P.S. That Sam Seaborn site? Not mine. I swear. I like the character and the show and all, but, someone's got too much time on their hands. And thank God they do.

P.P.P.S  We do not make $400,000, nor are we in the top one percent of wage earners. Which - bummer. Still, the sentiment of the words ring true.

Comments

[Heidi]

Hope and fear. Me, too. That sums it up really well. Hope that we can do so much better and fear that we're already too deep to dig out.

Also? Damn, you are hardcore if you can remember and locate a relevant quote from season 2 of the West Wing!

[Robyn]

Yeah, we're sorta hardcore. It's hard for me to say for sure, but The West Wing might be my favorite show of all time. And (as you know) I'm not even a Democrat.

Though, credit where credit's due - Marc originally remembered the quote. But in my defense, I remembered the scene in detail as soon as he spoke of it.