Y Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Blackhouse.
Hey there B's and G's,
As we all know by now, Barack Obama is the new president of the United States and the first black one at that. But seriously seriously, I think eveyone has been focusing on the wrong aspect of the campaign- many thanks to the media for its less than professional coverage of the U.S 2008 presidential elections.
As mentioned by ELizabeth Edwards, of The New York Times,much of the media coverage was on 'the rancour of the campaign' and ' the amount of money spent' rather than the 'candidates' priorities, policies and principles'. This is indeed danagerous because who knows if half the voters made their desicion based on irrelevant knowledge and slanted information.
Firstly, there's this 'hype' on Mr. Obama being 'Black'. While he is black literally( as we all can see), isn't the whole point of the presidential elections to encourage the U.S citizens in the participation and engagement of social and political change as one people, one nation?
Ironically, with this whole focus on the 'blackness' of Barack Obama, the racial segregation within the United States is emphasized.
Do not misunderstand me, it is perfectly acceptable to mention the significance of Obama being the first black president. However, when too much attention has been given to his skin colour, we tend to overlook other important aspects of the presidential elections. For example most of know that he will bring about many positive changes for the black community and minorities without much knowledge about what he can do for the rest of the American population with regard to more pertinent issues such as the plight of the failing economy and the Iraq war.
Just so you know,
Throughout the campaign, Obama has emphasized the issues of rapidly ending the Iraq War, increasing energy independence, and providing universal health care, at one point identifying these as his top three priorities.
"Barack Obama on the Issues: What Would Be Your Top Three Overall Priorities If Elected?", Washington Post. Retrieved on 2008-04-14. See also: Falcone, Michael (2007-12-21). "Obama's 'One Thing'", The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
Obama stated that if elected he would enact budget cuts in the range of tens of billions of dollars, stop investing in "unproven" missile defense systems, not "weaponize" space, "slow development of Future Combat Systems," and work towards eliminating all nuclear weapons. Obama favors ending development of new nuclear weapons, reducing the current U.S. nuclear stockpile, enacting a global ban on production of fissile material, and seeking negotiations with Russia in order to take ICBMs off high alert status.
Barack Obama. (2007-10-22). Obama-Caucus4Priorities (flv). Obama '08. Retrieved on 2008-05-18.
In economic affairs, in April 2005, he defended the New Deal social welfare policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and opposed Republican proposals to establish private accounts for Social Security.
Franklin, Ben A (2005-06-01). "The Fifth Black Senator in U.S. History Makes F.D.R. His Icon", Washington Spectator. Retrieved on 2008-01-14
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Obama spoke out against government indifference to growing economic class divisions, calling on both political parties to take action to restore the social safety net for the poor.
Zeleny, Jeff (2005-09-12). "Judicious Obama Turns Up Volume", Chicago Tribune. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
Education-wise, Obama proposes to reward teachers for performance from traditional merit pay systems, assuring unions that changes would be pursued through the collective bargaining process.
Davis, Teddy; Sunlen Miller (2007-11-20). "Obama Bucks Party Line on Education", ABC News. Retrieved on 2008-01-14
Obama proposed a cap and trade auction system to restrict carbon emissions and a ten year program of investments in new energy sources to reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil and proposed that all pollution credits must be auctioned, with no grandfathering of credits for oil and gas companies, and the spending of the revenue obtained on energy development and economic transition costs.
Zeleny, Jeff (2007-10-09). "Obama Proposes Capping Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Making Polluters Pay", The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
Barack Obama. "The Blueprint for Change: Barack Obama's plan for America" (PDF). Obama for America. Retrieved on 2008-04-20.
We all know "change has come to America"- the question is do we know what these changes are?
youknowyouloveme
you know you love me
xoxo
4:45 PM
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