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October 2008
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Opposites Opposing

I popped over to Dresden yesterday to see Eurotrippen (Twitter @eurotrippen).

In terms of kindred-spirits, she’s the closest person to me in Germany. My ultimate “girls-weekend” would consist of Eurotrippen, Disenchanted, and me. Hopefully I won’t wait another 11 months before seeing her again. She’s a totally fantastic person, and it was a pleasure to take her out to lunch at the Czech restaurant located in Dresden Neustadt.

She showed up at the train station wearing an Obama ’08 t-shirt, and, as can be expected, politics came up over lunch. She’s already has the pleasure of voting (something I am still waiting to do), and we both agree that this is the most peculiar election year we can remember. First of all, we’re both voters in swing states—something neither of us ever expected to happen to Colorado or Indiana. It goes to show how far the high and mighty Republicans have fallen. Secondly, the hate that is spilling out of Bush/McCain supporters is unfathomable.

The news clip I posted Friday from Aljazeera was pretty scary with rural Ohioans being racist—calling Obama a “second-string” nigger. My favorite idiotic Ohioan was the grandmotherly type who was offended that Obama “thinks us white people are trash, because we’re not”—a moment of clarity akin to Nixon’s “I am not a crook”, or Clinton’s “I did not have sex with that woman”. Simply put, I do not understand the people who are afraid of blacks taking over think that having a Muslin president is scary (which, of course, will not happen no matter who wins this election since Obama is clearly Christian).

These people find it self-evident that abortion and same-sex marriage are wrong, and we imagined that they find us similarly strange.

To us, it’s pretty clear that throughout human history women have had unwanted pregnancies and that no amount of legal constraints will stop them from having abortions. For us, the question centers on safety: given that women are going to have abortions, is it better that the abortions are in back allies where the life of the woman is at risk, or should abortion providers be regulated and checked regularly for safety. It’s a no-brainer for us: Safety First. What Bush/McCain supporters think about us whacky safety minded liberals is beyond me.

Tangentially, these are the same people who advocate and believe in abstinence-only sex education. As one of those whacky liberals, I’ve seen the studies: it doesn’t work. Bristol Palin is a terrific example, and future wife of the guy I feel most sorry for in this awful Bush/McCain mess, Baby Daddy Levi Johnston. I bet Wasilla High School sex education classes focus on abstinence-only and omit little details like one can do to prevent pregnancy if you actually do the nasty. Wouldn’t it be a hoot if Baby Daddy Levi signs on as a spokesman for condoms?

Meanwhile Bush/McCain supporters also target gays. Of course I’m somewhat biased, but it seems pretty clear to me that throughout history, gays have existed. In some eras and cultures they were held in high esteem, others tried to exterminate them. Hitler was unsuccessful at exterminating gays, and despite everything Bush/McCain has done to make gay-life miserable, little fags keep coming out of the closet—often right inside anti-gay families. Since gays keep appearing, it’s pretty clear to me that they will continue to keep appearing and that since they are human beings (at least I think I am), they get the same rights as everybody else.

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