A (sorta) Letter to Obama

I think I’ve made it clear already who my vote goes to, did I not? I love Barack Obama, in the that sick way that the Obama girl does, but I love him nonetheless. However, I’m taken back by something I received in the mail the other day. HOPE HAS ARRIVED! screams the flier. It’s an announcement for early voting, with quips and quotes from important Hispanic people.

It’s no secret that I’m Hispanic. Many people still make the mistake of calling me Chicano, and I’ve accepted that, but let’s face it, I don’t think I deserve that title. These are the quotes:

“Senator Obama brings all these new fresh faces. He has a wider audience. He has the greater potential to engage a greater number of people.”  –U.S. Congressman Charlie Gonzalez

“Barack Obama shares our story and shares out passion for a new America. Obama is committed to bringing real change to a struggling economy, a runaway health care system and reforming education. These are the real kitchen table issues Hispanic families across America care deeply about.” –State Rep. Try Martinez Fisher

“His dedication to his family, strong work ethic, opposition to the war in Iraq and deep faith are all qualities that are important to Latino voters.” –State Rep. Rafael Anchia

“I’m endorsing my friend Barack to become the next President of the United States because he is the one candidate who is looking past the partisan rancor and divisive politics of the moment, and instead focusing on a new approach to policy formation in our country.” –State Rep. Juan Garcia

“I am proud to endorse Sen. Obama for president. Barack Obama has ability to excite a broad coalition of Americans.” –State Rep. Ana Hernandez

“Part of what drives me is his life story. It’s fascinating life story. It’s more than just the issues, it’s his values. I think Hispanics and South Texas should really bed able to relate to him.” –State Rep. Pete P. Gallego

“We are a country that is ready for change. People want to start on a new path, with a new domestic agenda and new international agenda. I see Barack as the ideal candidate to unite the country and unite the world.” –State Rep. Eddie Lucio III

“Obama is a man of faith, courage and principle…people gravitate to his message hope.” –State Rep. Norma Chavez

Um, who?! With the exception of Eddie Lucio, I’ve never heard of any these goons. I feel a little awkward that the political game is to have a bunch of Hispanic political icons to influence my vote. And if I had the time, I’d list pictures of them and gives evidence that they’re not fully Hispanic.

Now I like Obama and I understand what his political push is doing here. But surely, most of the people here don’t know any of these names, even Eddie Lucio. That’s the sad truth of South Texas–Hispanics here, for the most part, are way too apathetic or politically retarded to do or say anything. I don’t like being mean like that and I’m sure the Chicano hound dogs will have me for this one, but I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I have no reason to. The truth is the truth and you all have to accept it, like it or not.

Does Barack do the same thing for the Black voters? The White voters? Jewish? ETC?

I shake my head slowly. I don’t understand why we have to like him because these Hispanics like him. Can’t we like him based solely on the fact that high just might be the right guy for the job? I mean, that’s why I like him so much.

I apparently, I use the term Liberal loosely

Watch this first.

It was posted by a friend of mine on Myspace. This “friend” wouldn’t let me add him unless I told him the flavor of liberal I am because everyone’s using the term loosely. I explained that I was for civil rights, but apparently that’s not enough. So now I’m left with the question, “How do I make my vote matter?” That’s easy, I vote for the person who makes sense to me. And that person just happens to be Barack  Obama, however, this makes me a liability to their far left (and what I normally call the crazies) ideal.

I never voted for anyone that wasn’t part of the two party system, chiefly because I live in Texas and it’s very rare for someone to run independently. Kinky was running for the governor the other year, and I would’ve voted for him until he said something that caught my ear–”Vote for the one that makes sense to you. Do what’s right, not what’s different.” It was as if he was asking us not to vote for him because he wasn’t a democrat or a republican, but because he was the right person for the job. What made him not the person for me was the border wall comment he made early in his campaign.

The remark changed the moment he went to the University of Texas-Pan American, which he said was only influenced by Jesse Ventura.  It was also possible because he was a Jewish Cowboy surrounded by a bunch of Hispanic Catholics–and as history notes, Hispanics aren’t fond of Cowboys and Catholics deny the Holocaust (yes, a generalization, but watch Mel Gibson, and you’ll see the masses think he’s the new messiah, or something).

So when Adam mentioned to me Senator Gravel’s campaign, I was interested in the man. Now Adam wasn’t trying to influence my vote; far be it for him to influence anyone into his beliefs because that’s his motto–”You only control yourself, and no one else.”

But when you bring out the guns that Al Gore lost the election fair and square, then I have to stand up and say something. Perhaps if Ralph Nader didn’t run for president that year, the turn out would have been different. Perhaps there wouldn’t be enough to steal the election, however, Ralph Nader did run and whether or not he’s the reason Gore lost is another question, one we’ll never know the answer to. Bush stole the election, that’s no secret. And Fox helped him. The second election, Bush once again stole it, but this time using fear. I feel horrible for the people who actually believe that the war in Iraq is about the war on terrorism, rather than the war of terrorism. You people need to open your eyes.

And the reason that I’m turning my head and suggesting that Obama is the right person is because he makes sense to me. Not because he’s “black,” but because he is different. I know, I know, they all seem different at first and I suppose you’re right. But the fact is, McCain, Huckabee and Clinton all seem wrong. Clinton because I’m not sure if I liked her, or if I liked the idea of Bill Clinton returning to the White House. Huckabee is another one of those zealot nut jobs that has Christian American sucking on his dick like a homosexual junkie (and I mean drug junkie, not an actual Homosexual junkie) in order to get their next fix, which I’m sure you zealots cannot deny.

But voting for Obama, apparently, strips me of my title liberal, because I’m voting the lesser of two evils. I’m sorry to say, but I’m voting for the greater of two people. If it’s a Barack Obama is running against John McCain, I’m voting for him, not because he’s a democrat (I like, McCain, by the way, and have been secretly hoping he’ll get the republican ticket), but because he’s a great man. Now if McCain and Clinton go at it, I’ll be a little uneasy because now I’ll have to really get down and research Clinton to be able to make a decision that is neither easy or swift.

I’m left; I’m liberal; I’m progressive; but, I’m realistic. Sure Ralph Nader might’ve made sense if he wasn’t such an attention whore and maybe Senator Gravel makes sense, but he doesn’t make sense to me. I want a person I can look up to and say I’m proud I voted for him, not because I want to keep my precious title as Liberal, but because I want to be myself. I want to be able to control my actions without feeling guilty with what I did. So if that doesn’t make a me a liberal, then fuck you for thinking that way; if anyone makes liberals ashamed is you fascist liberals who think you have total control over the rest of us.

A letter to the nation’s leaders, present and future

“Here is my advice as we begin the century that will lead to 2081. First, guard the freedom of ideas at all costs. Be alert that dictators have always played on the natural human tendency to blame others and to oversimplify. And don’t regard yourself as a guardian of freedom unless you respect and preserve the rights of people you disagree with to free, public, unhampered expression.”

—-Gerard K. O’Neil, 2081

Dear sirs and madams:

In the last seven years have seen atrocities done in the name of freedom. Wars have been waged, political icons assassinated, civil liberties denied, amnesty hold ups, imprisonment of the innocent, attacks on free speech, attacks on religion, attack on our moral fiber. I don’t think my generation will ever see something as horrific as the gross attacks we experienced on 11 September 2001. I fear that my generation will look back to this time and say, “We failed. We failed ourselves; we failed our children; we failed on the dream.”

Each day, a young man or woman, most just out of high school, enlist in the arm forces with false information. The war we’re fighting isn’t for our freedom. It isn’t even for the national security. Each and every day, I hear that I should support our troops because they allow me to have a voice in this country. I no longer will stand for such chicanery. We have accept the truth. And we want a change in our nation.

On 4 November 2008, we will march and we will vote for the one who is most likely to lead us out of the mess that this last administration has gotten us into. We will see to it that no Republican, or Democrat, or any political figure, will ever deceive a nation during its weakest moment.

Today is Presidents’ Day. Schools across the nation are learning the history of the two most important figures our history has to offer. George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are remembered for their part in shaping the country; they both led wars against and enemy who wanted to steal our natural, and to some god-given, rights.

We have lost our way. We have lost the reason why this country was founded. We have witness that the First Amendment means nothing to those in power. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to speak up in a public crowd and disagree with the President of the United States of America.

We’ve witness mothers being ignored for the death of their sons; children sacrificed for oil; politicians use the media like Fox News, CNN, a ton of other outlets as marionette puppets, hurrahing a pointless war effort; a PATRIOT Act was established and signed on 26 October 2001 in order to protect our national security. No congressman bothered to read the ACT before voting it in.

The irony of the PATRIOT ACT is that it managed to eat away at our freedoms. The people in charge–we, as well, for we turned a blind apathetic eye towards the system because of fear and ignorance–have failed to protect us and continue to fail in order to access some personal wealth, personal vengeance.

Ward Churchill wrote:

“On Sept. 12, while seeking to explain the reason underlying the 9-1-1 attack to the American people, he has explained that it’s because “they hate our freedom.” Thereafter, in apparent acknowledgment of the power “they” possess, he and selected congressional leaders team up to abolish what little remains of freedom in the U.S…” (254)

No one else comes to mind on the subject of freedom like Martin Luther King, Jr. On 28 August 1963 he stood at the Lincoln Memorial and made the now famous, possibly then infamous, “I Have a Dream” speech. Violence was never the answer to the pains of suffering. The word was mightier than the sword, the pen the excaliber of Camelot. He stood there and proclaimed, demanded, shouted, professed for his freedom. They had marched to the capital to “cash a check.” The monetary funds was freedom. They would not accept the excuse of “insufficient funds.

“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” (650)

What freedoms have we seen? What amnesty has been created for my brothers on the other side of the border? A new zeitgeist has been sweeping through the valleys of our nations, creating hatred, where there should be love. And our politicians act on this to gain their momentum.

Freedom is our right by birth. Nothing the unlawful harming of others, of a society, of a human, child, woman, man, brother, sister, mother, father, uncle, aunt, grandparents, etc. shall ever take away such freedom.

As Thomas Paine said, “ignorance, neglect, or contempt of human rights” begets “public misfortunes and corruptions of Government.” (119). We, as a nation, vow to no longer to ignore the government, its policies and its wars. We, as a nation, vow to no longer neglect the rights of others and of ourselves.

We have “sacred rights” that we must adhere to. And not just as a country, but as a universal whole.

“He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression.” –Thomas Paine

We must call a “farewell to arms.” We must lay down the sword. If you want to be considered Christians, then you must follow Christ’s Sermon on the Mount:

“You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” But I tell you not to resist him who is evil; rather whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also….You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.”

“War, always an evil, is sometimes the lesser of two evils.” We shall remember this. War is only necessary when it threatens our way of life. Vow to never again lead us to war where no threat, no enemy of our freedom lives. We shall keep close vigilance on the capital for this.

“Politicians react to terrorism by limiting liberties, the West’s most cherished possession, in hopes of facilitating the capture of the minuscule percentage of people who are zealots intent on perpetrating atrocities.” No politician shall be granted permission to eliminated, liquidate, annihilated the freedoms of his nation, or any nation.

As Thomas Paine states:

“The Law ought to prohibit only actions hurtful to society. What is not prohibited by the law should not be hindered; nor should any one be compelled to that which the law does not require.

“”No man ought to be molested on account of his opinions, not even on account of his religious opinions, provided his avowal of them does not disturb the public order established by the law.” (120-121)

We must protect our brothers. We must give a passageway for those hardworking who want to be here. In order to do so, immigration laws must be reformed. Militia groups like the Minute Men, who impose racism and violence, fear tactics to the brown colored women, men and children, guarding the border with fire arms shall no longer be needed. Racists and white supremacists have no part in our new free world.

I ask of you to bring down the ways that the government has been playing its cards. We must no longer allow mass genocide of children in foreign nations to go on, while we point fingers at abortionists. We shall no longer kill innocent civilians. We shall no longer bomb a country in the midst of night to flex our muscle.

A war must only be implemented on those responsible for attacks on US soil. No one else, unless back with proper and real evidence, shall shoulder the blame.

We ask you to remove the troops from Iraq so that no mother shall ever have to go through another child’s death.

We call for change. We call for peace. We call for truth.

Which of you is willing to answer?