Politics and race

There is a controversy brewing over on Hayley's blog. She's drawn a new regular commenter who likes McCain because he's anti-choice. This woman's latest gem is a new argument for McCain: there exists a photo of Obama taken during the singing of the national anthem, and he (gasp!) doesn't have his hand over his heart. Never mind that the Snopes page this woman offers as evidence to support this incident also goes on to explain that this custom is outdated, and then shows two photos of him with his hand over his heart during the anthem, as well as two videos of him reciting the Pledge of Allegiance on the Senate floor. This is the only thing that matters to this woman in choosing a president. Not education, not health care, not tax cuts for us instead of big corporations, not national security, not honor, honesty and ethics. It's all about putting your hand on your heart during the national anthem, and making sure women are taken back a half-century in terms of the rights they have to make their own health decisions.

But the part of this woman's post that really chaps my hide is this: she says that people who support Obama are racists, and that we're supporting him only because he's black. How dare she! If she wants to make a logical, intelligent argument about why McCain's tax policy or education plan are better than Obama's, I'll listen, and I'll respect her opinion (although I'll disagree with it). But to base her vote on one issue (abortion) and ignore the things that really matter, then throw in this facile hand-over-the-heart argument, then call white support for a black candidate nothing more than "reverse racism," well, that's stupid, and it's just plain racist. Not to mention insulting.

I don't support Obama because he's black, but hell yeah, it matters. I think it's incredibly important that America might elect a black president. Know why? Because it will mean that FINALLY, racists like this woman are a minority in our country. It would be better if they weren't here at all (or at the very least weren't allowed to vote), but the fact that their ignorance can now be drowned out by a non-racist majority will be something to celebrate indeed.

BTW, does that mean this guy is a racist too? Because I hear he's an Obama supporter:


(Thanks Hayley -- I borrowed the picture from you!)

Can you tell I'm started to get mad? Really, really mad? Presidential elections always do this to me, but this year, my blood pressure is through the roof. I wish Election Day were tomorrow, because I'm not sure I can take two more weeks of this crap.