Thoughts on Obama

Now that I'm blogging a bit more often I'll probably be writing about a wider variety of topics, one of which will probably be books. Bookworm doesn't even begin to describe me and I'm surprised that I really haven't touched on books in this blog.

I've added some of my favorite book blog links over to the side and I'll probably be adding more as time goes on. If you know of a really good blog about books, feel free to drop me a line and let me know! I'm always interested in reading new book blogs.

I'll probably be writing more about Movies & TV shows than I have so far (aside from daytime soaps, I mean), and also just about things from every day life or things in the news.

Have no fear, though, I will still write about politics and gay characters on soaps, too!

Speaking of politics, there is a point that I feel I need to make.

I wrote last March about my preference for Senator Clinton in the Democratic Primaries and she was the candidate I voted for in my state's primary election.

Less than two weeks ago, in the general election, I cast my vote for Senator Obama.

Do I think he's everything everyone believes him to be? No. I especially have my concerns when it comes to quickly ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But I do think he's a vast improvement on George W. Bush and I think he was far better than the alternative we had in the general election.

On the issues of a woman's right to choose, on stem cell research, on global warming and the environment, and on judicial appointments, he'll be an incredible force for change for the better when compared to the outgoing administration.

On gay rights, I see him as a big improvement over Bush for the simple reason that while he doesn't support gay marriage, he does support civil unions, and that's light years beyond the outgoing occupant of the Oval Office, who was openly opposed to any kind of legal union between gays & lesbians. Obama has also stated that he's for a full repeal of the odious Defense of Marriage Act, which would be an excellent starting point.

I really think that the issue of Gay Marriage is going to come down to the Courts eventually and if they were courts packed with McCain appointees, we'd be in trouble. The judges that President Obama will appoint will be far more likely to be socially progressive and to recognize that this is a clear matter of civil rights being denied to a minority group.

I would have greatly preferred Senator Clinton between these two candidates, but I will judge Obama as President by what he does in office and I personally will feel a million times better on January 20th when Bush is consigned to the history books and Obama is sworn in. He's not the overwhelming force for real Progressive change I feel we need, but at least he's not going to be the overwhelming regressive force we've endured for eight long years.