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As an exercise, imagine for a moment that not only does McCain win tomorrow's election, but dies of an unexpected heart failure two days into his presidency.
Oh, sorry, perhaps I should have suggested sitting down for this.
In this scenario we have a new commander in chief who makes George W. look like a moderate Christian. Bush's reforms that removed funding from any health organization that suggested abortion as option are comparatively liberal to what we can expect president Palin to enact. Likewise we can expect the next Katrina type urban-disaster to be met with the same racist federal unresponsiveness. All in all, from an abstract national perspective it is a very bleak picture.
Yet there is the question of how would a President Palin actually affect us on a more regional level?
I find am finding this difficult to answer because my own optimism clouds my ability to assess the subtle changes her policies would cause. I want to believe that the values we have here are unassailable and will be lived by even if federal policy doesn't support them. The regional majority that believes that women should have the right to choose, that funding for environmentally beneficial endeavors is important, that it is okay to love fellow humans no matter their gender. I don't think these are values that can be put back in the box, and that federal policies, if not outright ignored, will be skirted around as a matter of integrity.
Despite having just written a post about unsolvable urban poverty and blight, I want to believe that those communities and the region at large, will dig in and do something when things start getting dire. I see the framework for that now; there are community gems in the form of churches, youth programs, and adult outreach. There are lots of little activist organizations that will be flocked to with sufficient provocation.
And I think that, after the hope of a black president, Sarah Palin would be more than sufficient provocation.
I really don't want another four years of conservative national leadership, but I trust my friends, family, neighbors, and community at large to stand up in the face of abusive federal mandates should push come to shove.
Oh, sorry, perhaps I should have suggested sitting down for this.
In this scenario we have a new commander in chief who makes George W. look like a moderate Christian. Bush's reforms that removed funding from any health organization that suggested abortion as option are comparatively liberal to what we can expect president Palin to enact. Likewise we can expect the next Katrina type urban-disaster to be met with the same racist federal unresponsiveness. All in all, from an abstract national perspective it is a very bleak picture.
Yet there is the question of how would a President Palin actually affect us on a more regional level?
I find am finding this difficult to answer because my own optimism clouds my ability to assess the subtle changes her policies would cause. I want to believe that the values we have here are unassailable and will be lived by even if federal policy doesn't support them. The regional majority that believes that women should have the right to choose, that funding for environmentally beneficial endeavors is important, that it is okay to love fellow humans no matter their gender. I don't think these are values that can be put back in the box, and that federal policies, if not outright ignored, will be skirted around as a matter of integrity.
Despite having just written a post about unsolvable urban poverty and blight, I want to believe that those communities and the region at large, will dig in and do something when things start getting dire. I see the framework for that now; there are community gems in the form of churches, youth programs, and adult outreach. There are lots of little activist organizations that will be flocked to with sufficient provocation.
And I think that, after the hope of a black president, Sarah Palin would be more than sufficient provocation.
I really don't want another four years of conservative national leadership, but I trust my friends, family, neighbors, and community at large to stand up in the face of abusive federal mandates should push come to shove.
