One Week.

One week from today, we all will hopefully cast our vote. what will be the outcome? why does it matter? are not all politicians the same anyways? the politician may be the same but ultimately, the party differs. and for us Sickos, this vote is very important indeed. McCain's health care policy is a blasphemy and a disgrace. Sickos everywhere will perish under such policy. He is not going to save us money. His plan, ultimately, is to outsource the sick, like everything else in this economy. McCain tosses around the sum of $5,000 as if that will entice us to reason his plan is sound. Some may think, well I'll just use my $5,000 for something else, besides health care. The healthy at least. But for those of us who are sick, we know $5,000 won't last a month or buy any significantly decent health coverage. what it will by, is barely the basic necessity to survive. but at far beyond the cost of a $5,ooo voucher, us sick are barely making it. we're not even squeaking by. so lets not be silly, or kid ourselves. sure, Barack Obama isn't a sure bet, no one is, but his health care policy if far closer to the reality we need to actualize. Perhaps Hillary's was more sound, but hey, they are after all, apart of the same party.

The sickos need to move towards becoming a voiced vote in elections. we have power people. there are more Sickos in America than many other categories of minorities. thus, we encompass a ballot category, whether we chose to admit it or not. that's why politicians appeal to the power of disabled people everywhere, although i wish they wouldn't call us that. come on, are we really inherently disabled? no. but i mean look at all the talk about Palin's downs baby. she understands. does she? if she did, i'd think she know health care is about more than a $5,000 voucher. maybe she isn't as connected to us average janes as she'd like to think. how could she be? so she has a funky accent. but does that mean she truly understands Us? i'm not so sure. and i can't necessarily say that Obama does either. but what i do know is this: Barack Obama is a very intelligent man who surrounds himself with intelligent people who make smart decisions. they are reasonable people who make sound decisions, most often, based upon sound logic. therefore, using some deductive logic myself, out of the two candidates, i think Obama is better equipped to make a better judgement on health care than either McCain or Palin. Sure, maybe Obama won't get it exactly right, but that's what he has Us for. We are The People.

and one more thing, Obama is right, in that it will take All of Us to make The Changes we want to see happen. We Can Not leave everything up to one man or one woman. it takes All of us. therefore, if we do indeed vote Obama into office, i call upon All of you to take part in this new administration. because if we fail to remain active citizens of this nation, we will crumble and we won't change.

i use to be very anti-our-government in my early 20s and late teens. i wanted a revolution, like the ones in Latin America of the 1970s and 1980s. che was my god. i loved Castro. maybe i still do. but after awhile, i began to realize, all the necessary tools to make this society great are already in place. the only thing lacking, is our daily participation to guarantee that things are headed in the right direction. not to say i blame us for everything wrong with this nation.... but just sit down and truly think about the facts on the ground. if we all really worked against discrimination, hate and everything bad, i think we could truly possess a more egalitarian society. in almost any other place in the world, i'd either be dead or not writing this blog. i was never hopped up on pro-american pride until recently. but after hearing stories from Iranians on the disaster that is their experience with their government. on the true lacking of an open society... i began to realize, sure america is far from perfect, but shoot, we must of done something right along the way. i can sit here and call my president a shit head without worrying about people knocking on my door. i could walk out in the street with a skimpy skirt on, flash to the press that i don't wear underwear like Brittany Spears, and still go home at night, relatively safe. i go to school and question the information my teachers present me without getting kicked out of school. i am an educated woman. i can chose my religion freely. and of course, i am sick. and not to say that different social categories in this society don't face consequences due to their minority status- that's not the case. but at least they can protest, with relative safety, at any point their minority status. and we possess a legal framework to fight the system. and i do truly understand it isn't perfect. it doesn't always work. people do face physical harm due to difference and voicing such difference.

but in the end, i remain an optimist. i believe in the greater good of humanity. and i do believe, if we all put our faith in each other, we could somehow learn to live together. i know there are a lot of hurdles to overcome. i know to be white in america is still very much a powerful privilege. or to be straight, healthy, a man or christian, etc. but i also know, people have the power, not only to change themselves, but those around them. and change most often comes through understanding. and if people don't understand, we must make them.

sometimes i feel like an idiot for my optimism. i know what some people think when i say these hopeful things. but don't discount hope, look at what it has done for Obama. and i don't think the issues in relation to discrimination and hate are the fault of those hated and discriminated against. i think it's a problem with those that hate and discriminate. and what i do know about "those" people, is that most often act in direct relation to their fear. therefore, we must eliminate fear due to difference. stigma. we must stop fearing the unknown. and Obama is just another unknown. stop stop fearing him. stop fearing his difference.

and i don't mind if i sound like i'm begging you for your vote, because at this point i am. after 8 long years, i am begging - i am pleading with you - just say "no" to another 4 more years of a party that put bush in office. please.

and for now, within the next week, we must vote. because i don't know the solutions to all our messes. but i do know a good first step would be to put Barack Obama in office.