Yes, I'm a Republican. I'm sure that most of you didn't know that about me.
Well, you know it now - all of you.
And yes, I am going to vote for Barack Obama. Beyond that, I am going to CAMPAIGN for Barack Obama. I am going to knock on doors, make phone calls, and do whatever else I am able to do to ensure that Barack Obama will sit his skinny ass in that big chair inside the Oval Office this January.
Some of you may be asking yourselves "why?" and some of you may be suspicious, but you shouldn't be. I'll see you on the other side of the fold where I'll explain it all quite clearly to you.
Why am I, a man in his late forties who has been registered as a Republican for well over 3 decades, going to campaign and vote for Barack Obama?
Because I don't want my kids to have to live in a George Bush America. Because I don't want my children to have to try to raise their children in a George Bush America. Because I refuse to allow this country to CONTINUE to value a corporation more than an individual American. Because I'm sick to fucking death of the BULLSHIT that George W. Bush has been pulling on us. And because I remember an America which was BETTER than the America I live in today.
I remember an America that allowed middle-class Americans to financially afford to send their children to college. I remember an America that was the envy of the world. I remember an America who's citizens and currency were welcome and respected in every country on the planet. And I remember an America which was able and willing to care for the rest of the world because Americans cared about each other first - ENABLING us to provide for the rest of the planet.
I voted for Ron Reagan. I voted for the first Bush - once. I also voted for Bill Clinton - twice. I voted for Al Gore and for John Kerry. I will always profess that Al Gore won in 2000. I campaigned for Senator Obama during the primaries. I have to admit that I ran outta gas by the end. I was exhausted - emotionally and otherwise. I had come to the conclusion that I had done my part for the man and that further effort would have to be undertaken by others.
I was wrong.
For if you believe that this election is in the bag, or that McCain is just gonna roll over and play dead, or that there aren't Americans who won't vote for Obama based solely on his skin color, or that Corporate America is gonna go down without one Helluva financial fight - YOU'RE WRONG.
I am making a pledge - before all of you here - to renew my efforts to put Barack Obama into the White House. I'm going to go back to the campaign office and volunteer all over again. I'm gonna knock on doors again and make more phone calls and recruit friends and neighbors and even some of you to join me. Yes, I'm going to get some of you to do more than you have already done. I'll shame you into it if I have to. Like Sean Connery's character in "The Untouchables" said to Kevin Costner's character as he lay dying on the floor, "What are you prepared to do?"
If anybody who hangs out here regularly knows Republicans, *I* know Republicans. I've worked with some of the most hard-core conservatives you've NEVER wanted to meet. Sneaky, underhanded people who play dirty and for keeps. People who would rather ruin your reputation with lies and then watch your children starve than see you get a long-overdue promotion. People who feel that other Americans exist only to be used for profit and should be ignored when their usefulness is gone. People who believe that Reagan was a saint, the first Bush was robbed, the second Bush was a savior, and that McCain is a short-term bridge to the next eight-year right-wing conservative Republican kingdom. I know these people and I know them well and they are dangerous and they are ready for a tooth-and-nail fight for the Presidency because they do not want to relinquish the power they've had over us for the last eight years.
I'm ready to do battle with them. I need you folks along with me, though. For I cannot fight them alone. I'm going to need your help. Barack Obama is going to need your help. And I'll attack the lion's den with sword and shield and blood and bone if I know that you're all with me in this fight. Because I don't want my kids to live in a George Bush America.
Who's with me?
Celtic Merlin
Carlinist