What are our rights?

[mary_j_59]

Okay - this is about the election, so skip it if you are fed up with the whole thing. I have rather a lot to say! But I will try to keep it short. :)

First, I tweeted last night that racism lost. That's true. Racism, prejudice, disrespect for women and minorities - they all lost, and that, to me, is something to celebrate. But who really won? Those who know me will certainly know how I voted, but I've got to say I cast my vote reluctantly. And here's why.

Abdulrahman Awlaki.

I struggle to remember his name - had to look it up just now - but I certainly remember the circumstances. This was the 16-year-old American boy killed by a drone in Yemen. An American child! I think drone warfare is altogether wrong - just as I think war of any kind is a great evil. Killing any child with a long-range missile is a sin and a crime. That young Abdulrahman was an American citizen just points up how bad it is.

Our constitution supposedly guarantees all U.S. citizens the right to hear their accusers. We have a right to a trial by a jury of our peers, and, furthermore, some states have abolished the death penalty. Yet this boy was executed, without trial, judge or jury, because of his father's crimes.

He was American. He was a child.

And that's why I'm not celebrating. Our president is, I firmly believe, a well-meaning and intelligent man. He has done good things for us, domestically. I don't doubt he will do more to preserve the environment, to help the poor, and to safeguard our children's health domestically, than Mitt Romney would even have thought of doing. But abroad? As far as foreign policy goes, I can see no difference between Obama and Bush. President Obama has increased drone warfare and has failed to support the human rights of oppressed peoples. He hasn't shut down Guantanamo. He hasn't repealed the Patriot act, with its assaults on our civil liberties. Here again, I think Bush was just as bad, and Romney would most likely have been worse. But President Obama is not the be-all and end-all when it comes to human and civil rights.

There are two more reasons why I'm not celebrating. Citizens United, and civility in general. I have never, never seen so much money poured into an election! All it did, in the end, was to push wedges into the cracks in our society. We are deeply, deeply divided. Yes, stupid and hurtful things were said in this election (Mr. Akin probably takes the cake.) But we must remember that they were said by our fellow human beings. We shouldn't demonize the other side because we don't agree with them.

I could go on and on, but I won't! End of rant.

Comments

[mike mullin (from livejournal.com)]

The human rights abuses were a deal-breaker for me, too. I voted for Obama four years ago, but not this time. Although, to be fair, if I lived in a competitive state, I would probably have voted for him with my nose held firmly closed.

[rattlesnakeroot.livejournal.com]

Hi, Mary J - I understand where you are coming from.

[arkan2.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting this; you speak many of my own thoughts when it comes to Obama's presidency. I think the fact that he's killing US citizens (or hell, anyone) with no trial and no due process, just his own presidential hit list, is appalling, and that's even before we factor in the collateral damage.

On social issues, I don't actually think his record is all that great. It could have been worse, sure, but given the amount that people are suffering in the US, I feel his policies haven't nearly gone far enough. (Plus, he's also expanded some of the abuses here at home - such as signing the NDAA and persecuting alleged whistle-blowers like Bradley Manning.)

I do think a Romney-Ryan administration would have been worse on the whole, but I can completely and wholly identify with your reluctance to vote Obama even so.

I don't much begrudge liberals and progressives and even radicals celebrating Obama's victory. My hope is that they'll take a lesson from the 2008 election and not assume that since he won, their's no need for us to organize and struggle against racism, sexism, prejudice, and attacks on various social minorities. We have the capacity to overcome these social evils and create a better society - but not if we sit back and expect Obama to do it for us.