VOTE

Sweet Center was talking about the election today. Evidently his school is having their own version of "Vote 2008". Unfortunately they aren't talking about the issues; the teachers are just telling the kids to vote the way their parents are voting. Nice way to teach about our democracy, huh?

I asked him who he was going to vote for and he told me he was going to cast his ballot for Obama/Biden. (Good Boy!...hhmmm; throat clearing.... back to the story...) I asked him why and he told me that he figured if Hubba Hubba and I voted for him, then he should too. But, he did say that a friend told him he couldn't vote for Obama. Why, you ask? Well, I was curious too...

Are you ready for the answer??


Seriously, are you ready??


Because: Obama is a terrorist!

I'm not kidding. A friend told him that Obama was an actual terrorist. I was furious for a fraction of a second and then remembered that we live in Texas. This is par for the Limbaugh course around here.

It turned out to be a nice moment where I was able to discuss the issues and why Hubba Hubba and I support Obama/Biden. You know, the actual facts and issues. Not some fear mongering crap spewed through the Fox News Channel from a Palin rally.

We took The Boys with us this past weekend when we cast our ballots. I have to tell you that I did get a shiver down my leg when I selected OBAMA/BIDEN on the touch screen.

History in the making. Even if the state is going McCain. This was an election where I voted FOR the team that I wanted to win....not just AGAINST the team I didn't want to win.

Future generations need us to step up to the plate and vote for the policies that will enable us, as a united country, to fix the mistakes of the last 8 years. Record debt, a war we shouldn't be funding or fighting in Iraq, a war on terror that needs to be won where the (real) terrorist actually live so that we really are safer, better tax structures for families that are just trying to make ends meet so that they can provide a better future for their children, and healthcare for all of America's children.

I know I sound like an infomercial. But, like I told Sweet Center, I've worked with children that don't have health coverage. I've seen their families struggle and the parents cry when healthcare is delayed. I've talked to people who need a new leg to get back to work and they are relying on some random case manager in a cold office to get to their application. All the while, their life is on hold because they can't work without a vital prosthesis. I've seen these people get rejected for a grant and wonder what they are going to do next. All they want to do is work and enjoy their lives and spend time with their families.

But, I have seen the system work, too. I've seen the state of Texas pay for an expensive prosthesis and a man go back to work and gain back his dignity. I've seen him smile and heard him talk about his new life. I life he didn't think was possible before the system came through for him.

I know the system can work. We just need leaders who will make it better. Who have aspirations for our country and a hope for their own children to grow up with possibilities and dreams. The same dreams I have for my own boys. I want them to grow up in a country that shows them how to help other people; not tear them down with lies and vicious attacks.

I want them to be able to act according to the two greatest commandments that are found in Matthew 22:34-30 "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it: 'You shall love you neighbor as yourself.'