Unbelievably Proud

I know. I just posted that I try to avoid political posts, but this one is more about my granddaughters taking a stance and expressing their points of view than it is about politics. It is about the character they show by the statements they made that I am proud of.

The first statement was made by my oldest granddaughter, Erin, who just turned 16 a week ago. I think it took guts for her to stand up and make this statement on her MySpace page.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

If you don’t have anything nice to say...
Current mood: annoyed

Alright, look. I'm really tired of hearing about this election.
It's Over. Obama Won.

I'm disappointed about the outcome of the election, but some of yall are being ridiculous. I wasn't an Obama supporter because I don't agree with his view on things like abortion, the economy, and the border control between America and Mexico. It had absolutely NOTHING to do with his race or his religion.

I'm a Christian. I believe very strongly in Jesus Christ and in God's word, and I take what the Bible says to heart. But to all of you out there saying that the world is going to end, the Rapture is going to happen, Obama is the anti-christ... You've obviously never paid attention in Sunday School. You see, God says that we will not be able to predict when the Rapture will happen. We're not gonna see it coming. If you say that the Rapture is coming in the next few years and you know it, you are basically arguing with God's word. Only He knows when the time is right, and it'll take us by complete surprise.

Yes, Obama is different. He's young and he's fairly inexperienced, but who knows? He may do this country some good. We're already screwed at the moment; how much worse could it get? I don't agree with the man's politics but that doesn't mean that I'm going to disrespect the leader of this country. If anything, he needs our support.

Everyone's talking about how horrible he is. He hasn't even taken office yet, so how do you know, exactly? How do YOU know that Obama is so horrible, and that he's going to kill us all and destroy the earth and reveal himself as Satan during the 7 years of Trials & Tribulations? You don't. Most of you are just repeating what you've heard your friends, family, and the TV say anyways. You don't even know enough about McCain or Obama to form your own original opinion on the matter that you're so ignorantly debating. I didn't want him to be president one bit but I'm not going to sit here and bash him, either. Because I don't know what good, or bad, he can do to our country.

I say suck it up. He won, and there's nothing your whining can do to change it. In four years the world will still be here, America will be bored with Mr. Barack, and we can all move on with our lives.

Agree or Disagree. Doesn't bother me one bit.

The post below was made by my granddaughter Emily, who put this on her MySpace site the day before the election. I'm not certain, but I doubt that she will have a career in politics... what a shame... a little more blunt honesty might be just what the political arena needs.

Date: Nov 3, 2008 9:39 PM
Subject: oh my bama
Body: obama isnt even black!!!!!!!!!

my gosh if your gonna tell me im not voting for someone because they're black, make sure they actually ARE.

he's half black..he's also half white!
if a black person said they werent voting for obama, i could say "your racist, your just against him because he's white"

but everyone would think i was crazy.

and why? i dont have a clue.
but he is just as much white as he is black so DROP THE WHOLE RACE ISSUE!

i dont like obama or mccain . mccain is better, but i dont like him. theyll both mess up our country so it doesnt really matter who wins.

so get over it! it doesnt matter who gets elected. america is screwed.

Their political views do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog's management but I can say this, I am definitely proud of them for having the courage to take the high road where character and doing the right thing matters. Oh and that I am a little concerned about Emily's grammar... honors student huh? must be a myspace thing!

Privilege

I hope each and everyone of you took the time today to exercise your privilege to vote for the candidate of your choice. I made a conscious decision when I started this blog to avoid politics and political statements and for me, that was an appropriate choice. It isn't always easy for me to keep my thoughts and opinions to myself as I can be as opinionated and passionate as the next guy or gal. All I want to say here is that regardless of who wins this election, we will have change. It will be different than it has been for the past eight years and I am not sure we ought to expect anything more than that.

So if you have not voted and your polling place is still open, please go get in line and vote. At one point in this election season, I found myself quite tempted to not vote in the presidential election this year but I know in my heart that to not appreciate the privilege of voting and to deny my personal responsibility as a citizen to participate in the only way I can would be a mistake.

All that I have left to say is that I am praying for all of America and for her new leaders regardless of who wins the various elections.

God Bless America!

Civic Duty

** Update ** Bobby Jindal will be the next governor of Louisiana.

It was election day today in Louisiana. This was actually a primary election, an open primary, which means all candidates for office are on the ballot, regardless of party affiliation. If a candidate for a particular office gets a clear majority of votes on this day, then that person is elected to that office. If no one receives a majority of the vote then we have a runoff election in November between the top two vote getters for those offices. I am watching the results roll in now to see who may have been elected outright, who will be in runoffs and which, if any, of the issues we voted on passed.

We know that we will have a new governor, regardless of who wins, whether by a majority today or in a runoff next month. Kathleen Blanco, our sitting governor, chose not to run for a second term. It was a wise choice. She made many mistakes after the Katrina disaster, mostly huge political mistakes that cost our state some early relief. She has not been forgiven. She was however, a far more effective governor aside from the Katrina debacle, in my opinion anyway, than many of her predecessors. As a matter of fact, if it were not for her total downfall after Katrina, I think she was a solid governor and would have been a shoe in for re-election.

Louisiana is a tough place folks. It is totally unique in how it has been governed since the days of pirate rule, long before statehood. It has been riddled with fraud, run by criminals and good old boys and much of the natural resources have been destroyed over the years by waste, poor management and political rape. What we didn't do to ourselves directly, we allowed the federal government to ruin indirectly by not taking care of our own business. This state has so much potential but somehow always manages to come out last or near last in every measurable category of social, political and cultural area of life. Our infrastructure is poor. Our educational system is poor, we continue to lose jobs that we only gained a few short years ago. Yet this area is truly beautiful and unlike any other state in the union. It has a proud and diverse background and heritage. I wish you all could see the best of this state, unfortunately the worst of it is what usually hits the national news.

The numbers are getting interesting here so I am off to see if we've elected someone or if we will wait until November.