My Constitution is not for sale. [UPDATE]

I want to congratulate, and express my deepest respect and gratitude to, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Sarah Palin for having the courage to run honorable campaigns for the most important elected positions created by the U.S. Constitution. They all should be commended for their integrity and dedication to public service.

Both John McCain and Hillary Clinton conducted honest campaigns: they presented their qualifications and ideas to the American people and asked us to evaluate them based on the merits of their experience, character, and readiness to lead as the country confronts increasingly complex challenges domestically and internationally. To be a public servant in modern America is grueling and unglamorous, it seems to me.  I’ve often thought that the best and brightest among us, the truly gifted leaders, usually avoid politics — much to society’s detriment.  Compared to the private sector, the monetary compensation for elected officials is minimal; and the personal sacrifices enormous.

And so I genuinely appreciate that John, Hillary, and Sarah serve their country, and aspire to greater responsibility.

I have admired Hillary Clinton for more than a decade for numerous reasons, but foremost among them is her grace and perseverance in the face of adversity.  And specifically I refer to the personal and irrational assaults leveled at her, often it seemed for the fact of her mere existence.  As a young woman, I admired her modern interpretation of the office of First Lady, and had the privilege of hearing her speak a couple of times in person on the subject of global rights for women and children.  She impressed me as a compassionate, sincere, and highly intelligent woman.  Much as I loved Bill, Hillary became my favorite Clinton.

During her 2008 campaign, the Hillary-bashing reached a feverish level.  Yet she never flinched, not openly anyway. Millions of Hillary’s supporters, especially women, drew strength from her example as we ourselves encountered sexist digs in the blogosphere or by the water cooler.  Hillary is a true leader in this (and many other) sense.  She cares about people, and it was evident during the campaign that she was concerned for her friends and supporters who were assaulted by the rough-and-tumble thuggery of Obama’s in-your-face followers. She is an empathetic human being.

I am ashamed and heartbroken by the sexism and misogyny that framed this Election.  What did our daughters learn in this eighth year of the 21st Century, as they observed one of democracy’s greatest traditions day-in and day-out?  They learned that women who compete alongside men for elected positions, or any position, will be held to different standards, and treated differently from the men.  When they are critical or assertive, they will be called “negative,” “shrill,” or “bitchy.”  When they display the slightest emotion, they will be called weak or disingenuous; if they don’t display enough emotion, they will be called “icy.”  Their parenting decisions will be scrutinized. Their kids will be smeared. And every component of their appearance will be fair game for pundits, opponents, and commentators.  They learned that when a woman has a good idea, she has to work ten times harder to get it heard; and when it is, the men will take her ideas for their own without giving her credit. The girls learned that people won’t take you seriously if you’re too pretty, or if you offer a *wink* once in a while.

Our sons learned that it’s okay to call a girl or woman a “cunt,” to joke about their looks,  to brush them off  as “sweeties,” to dismiss them as “likable enough.”   The boys learned that if your voice is deep enough, and your cadence compelling, your ideas can be shallow.  And if you don’t have a good idea of your own, it’s okay — the boys learned — to copy someone else’s.

Our kids learned that it’s okay to put down women for any reason, but if you question a black person about his/her qualifications, you will be racist!

Some of the worst misogynists, we learned ironically, are women who proudly call themselves progressive feminists. As the primary race was just warming up in 2007, I met up with one of my best women friends over dinner, a liberal Democrat who has never wavered in her support of other women.  I was taken aback when she expressed reservations about Hillary because she had stayed in her marriage.  En masse, these women, among Obama’s most loyal supporters, forgot they were feminists when it came to defeating Hillary Clinton then Sarah Palin.  Suddenly feminism was only for Obama supporters, which stupefied me because both Barack and Michelle showed their sexist colors.  How can women be truly equal if we don’t respect each other?

Well…that was a tangent, but that’s what blogging is for, right?  It’s getting late, so I’ll get to the point.

Hillary, John, and Sarah all earned my respect and admiration, and they fought for my vote.  I’ve never supported a Republican candidate before, and never thought I would, but John McCain grew on me.  I see  why he and Hillary are friends.  Not only is he a patriot and a war hero, but he’s a moral politician.  He stands up for his convictions, isn’t afraid to dissent from his party, and regularly teams up with Democrats to get work done.  Same with Sarah.

Now that Barack Obama has “won” the election, we’re all being encouraged to unify for the sake of the country and to embrace this great historic event.  I probably received 6 “time for unity” emails today from friends and family (Obama voters of course). I don’t know what they want me to do, exactly…Well, yes I do.  They want me to shut up and forget about the rampant cheating, illegal campaign contributions, the lies, the unanswered questions about who Barack’s closest advisers really are, whether he’s actually eligible….Etc.  In other words, now that the competition is over I am to be a good soldier and give “Dear Leader” the benefit of the doubt.

I will tell you all what I told my friends and family:  I cannot acknowledge the legitimacy of an elected official who wins by cheating and lying.   I cannot celebrate the election of our first black President when that person implied that anyone who opposed or questioned him was racist.  For me, this is THE saddest aspect of Obama’s election: that our first black president is unqualified, dishonest, and employs the race card to advance his own personal ambitions.  That makes me sad for African Americans, who should have the opportunity to take tremendous pride in electing a black President, but are unfortunately stuck with a fraud instead.

I’m sure I’ll get nasty messages calling me a racist for saying all this, so be it. Even if Barack H. Obama (remember World, please do NOT use his middle name) is president-elect, we still have a First Amendment, at least for now.  Besides, the accusation of “racism” has been so over-used in this election, it’s lost all meaning.  People who call me racist know nothing about me, my background, family, friends, relationships, or racial identity.  They just don’t like my criticisms of Dear Leader.  This is not about me.

This is about President-Elect Obama. I hope that I am not the only one who feels this way.  I hope that people with more authority than I hold Obama accountable for the election fraud, campaign finance violations, out-right lies, and missing records.  And I hope that the people of this Right-Center nation realize, sooner than later, that a Socialist who gets regular consultations from a Marxist revolutionary terrorist named William Ayers has just stolen and purchased the Presidency.

UPDATE: I just saw Steve Diamond’s new Post at Global Labor and Politics: Obama Confidante Bill Ayers Confirms Role in Obama Circle. So there you have it: direct proof of one of Obama’s outright lies to the electorate. He insisted that Ayers was just a “guy in the neighborhood,” remember? We’re not surprised at this blog by this revelation, nor by Ayers’ audacity.