Happy 44th Birthday to me :)

It’s my birthday and I’ll whine if I want to…and then I’ll drink wine later I’m sure!

That was it for my pleasantries so here’s your warning: stop reading now if you’re not up for politicking…

I’ve always been a bleeding heart and that’s usually followed by the word liberal. Since I can remember, I’ve had the unpleasant ability to physically feel the pain of animals who are being abandoned or abused, kids who are being bullied or teased, elderly people who are struggling to make ends meet, homeless wanting money, alcoholics who can't stop drinking, veterans who come home from war and are treated like crap, women with difficult choices to make, men who cry (because I figure it's for a damn good reason), and people who are sick and disabled. I can’t help but put myself in their shoes – no matter how hard I try not to. It’s one of the reasons I’ve never wanted children. As cute as I know my kid would be (smile), I just don’t know that I could deal with the cruelty of children let alone the world he or she’d be stuck in as an adult. And the thought of having an 18 year old son (not to mention my nephews) going to sign up for the selective service makes me sick to my stomach. And it’s also why, after going into social work as a profession, I tried every aspect of it and then wanted out of it. I learned very quickly that I couldn’t handle being so close to the people or animals that trigger all this anger and sadness in me. I guess it’s selfish, but it’s how I’m taking care of myself. I examine the life stories of people with disabilities all day long and then, if they meet the criteria, I make sure they get a disability check. But I never see them in person and that works best for me at this point in my life.

So, if you didn’t already know it or figure it out, I’m a pro-gay rights, pro-choice (and that, by the way, does NOT translate to pro-abortion), pro-stem cell research, pro-health care for all, pro-non-privatized Social Security, pro-save Social Security, peacenik, public servant, Democrat. I’ll answer to any of those.

But if I really took some time to research it and think about it, I’d probably discover that I’m more of a fiscal conservative which would, I guess, be a Republican "trait." I like the thought of earning your own way and paying less in taxes to a big old government system. But I’ve become one of those government workers and I've had it made easy for me in life. My parents helped prepare me for this world while others haven’t had that kind of assistance. And I can’t ignore that. It’s why I find some merit in the whole fair tax movement. I guess I could go ahead and call myself an Independent who thinks regressive taxes are just plain ridiculous. Why should people with a higher ability to pay taxes pay less?

Bottom line, I’m not afraid to agree with other party platforms, but it’s not enough. As long as women risk the chance of losing their right to choose, as long as Doc. B. can’t collect on some of my benefits when I die but three-time divorced straight couples can collect on all of their ex-spouse’s benefits, as long as children are still being neglected and abused while the children’s protective services workers who protect them are barely getting by on their rinky-dink salaries, and as long as there are schizophrenic homeless diabetic amputees living under the overpass just a mile from the Carter Center, I’ll be voting Democratic.

If you’re a Republican and have always been one – I don’t understand you and I know I can’t convert you - just like you can’t convert me. But what I REALLY don’t understand are the so-called "undecided" and the lifelong democrats who "aren’t sure" who they’re voting for. After 8 years of George Bush, what decision is left? And if you’ve been a Democrat all your life, how can you be unsure…unless it’s pure racism and you just can’t bring yourself to vote for a black man. Either you believe in the Democratic Party or you don’t – period. Like what’s up with Lynn Forester de Rothschild? How can you be an over-the-top, passionate Hillary Clinton for president supporter and then, just because Hillary loses the nomination, decide you’re voting for McCain/Palin? Oh yeah, it’s because you just don’t like Obama and think he’s an elitist. Well, I haven’t been all that wild about some of my Democratic voting options both nationally and locally but it doesn’t mean I’m going to change what I believe in. So what if the candidate isn’t exactly who you want, so what if he’s not the color you’d like him to be, so what…ever. But at least Lynn admits what she’s doing. Because apparently there’s yet another group of voters that I just don’t get – those who lie to the pollsters by saying they’re going to vote for Obama but once they go into the polling booth they’ll select McCain. The theory is that they want to "look good" to the pollsters and their friends by saying they’re "advanced" and cool enough to vote for a black candidate, but that racism will rear its unattractive cranium once a ballot’s in their hand.

One of my buds suggested I’d been living in Atlanta too long and that perhaps I’d forgotten how white the rest of America really is. And other buds have called me out for making racist-like comments throughout my life. Well, I won’t deny that I’ve had my moments when I’ve been pissed off or frustrated at the actions of a person of some "other race." But more often than not, I tend to be just as angry with the actions of people in my own race. So, if being angry at the actions of others, regardless of their race, makes you racist, I’m guilty.

But more than guilt, I feel embarrassed. How can it be 2008, in the hometown of Martin Luther King, Jr., and there still be such obvious dividing lines between the races? Atlanta is made up of over 5 million people, more than half of whom are black (and 13% of whom are gay, by the way). The U.S. of A. has 300 million people and only 13% are black (oh, and about 2% are gay). So clearly I live in a skewed section of America. But it’s just painful to witness sometimes. It puts me right back in that place I don’t want to be, in the midst of an anger trigger.

So, I’ll be sad, disgusted, embarrassed and angry if McCain and Palin win. But, as you can probably tell by now, I won’t be surprised. I know my influence on the way others vote is nil and that most of the time I'm preaching to the converted anyway. But I just hope that everyone thinks about what’s important to them and that then they actually go vote. I’ve thought about it and I know what’s important to me. I hate that we’re in the midst of a war. And I hate that topics like gay rights and abortion have become part of politics at all. But those are the things I feel most strongly about. The man who voted against the war, supports civil unions and won’t nominate a supreme court justice that will screw up Roe v. Wade is getting my vote.