"No One But..."

As I plan my schedule for the day, I find myself making excuses to avoid going out in public. A part of this is due to some shame over a slight weight gain, but something more external is contributing to my weariness of interaction with the outside elements. The weather of New York City - in the peak of summer - is enough to keep anyone indoors in the artificial womb of conditioned air, but this summer there exists a more oppressive, atmospheric cloud of stifling drivel that is as worthy of aversion as what my friend calls, "weather that feels like being stuck in a camel's ass"; This is the season leading up to what many call "the election of the century." 

It should not take anyone with half a brain five seconds to realize who the liberally-biased media have endorsed as their official candidate - the vacuous and vain Barack Obama. There is an almost pious concession that this man is the key to the future of America, with him having done absolutely nothing to deserve this credential. I have searched his record thoroughly and not found any action in his senatorial career that would lead people to take the position that is now being inculcated into the general public. What has this man done that warrants the opinion that so many people now hold? I would argue that there is no evidence whatsoever for his being an "agent of change" and can cite his most recent endorsement of the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act as being proof enough that this claim is not only fatuous but indicative of more contradictions to come. 

I used to be a strong advocate of the "anyone but Bush" mentality, but developing into an adult has shed light on how silly a position this actually is. My maturity will not allow the concession of support to a "lesser of two evils". Quite the contrary - I am choosing to not support "evil" in any form in the upcoming election. The walking-corpse of John McCain will not be receiving my vote, nor will the cajoling Barack Obama. When I express this position to my liberal friends, they self-righteously claim that I am throwing my vote away. My only rebuttal would be to point out that their education of democracy seems to have left out that the fact that the voting process is a privilege and not a duty or an obligation. I have the right to not vote, but then my liberal friends would denounce this as mere cynicism. They claim I should vote, and in many cases, these people are actually saying that my vote should not only be cast - but done so to support their candidate.

This is where respect for my fellow mammals diminishes, and polite discourse drops to the expression of expletives. Who the hell do these people think they are? What gives them the right to spit sanctimonious pompousities in my direction? I am forced to hear endless expressions of Barack's eloquence and his gift of "articulation" (a compliment always offered to blacks by condescending whites), yet when I claim that those attributes are not enough to warrant his being the President of the United States, I am blasted for being small-minded, for not being an advocate of change, or very worse yet - possibly being racist. 

This has become the rallying-cry of the Obama Campaign's devout followers. They use the tool of specious insinuation that leads people to believe a failure in imagination about Obama being in office is actually a failure of either their moral caliber or their outlook on minorities. Speak for yourselves! I don't think this way and neither do my friends who believe Obama is a fallacious goon who is riding on the coattails of anti-Bush sentiment. I am entitled to think that he is not an acceptable candidate, and any attempt by his supporters to imply that this is latent-racism on my part will be met with utter condemnation. 

CNN's recent "Black in America" special proved, once and for all, that the emphasis on race in this election is not only implied, but directly insinuated. We are being "educated" about the plight of African-Americans in the country at a rather suspicious point in an election season. There are those, however, who will say that CNN is doing what comes natural in times of a campaign; expanding on public issues that directly relate to the make-up of either of the candidates. If that were the case, then there would also be CNN specials about "POW's in America." It is an entirely false claim that this election is not being influenced upon racial lines, and it is this spurious and hypocritical sentiment of the Obama Campaign that adds to my aversion of their messiah. I will not be influenced by guilt-mongering, and even if I had the capacity to be coerced in this way, it would not be enough to lead me to the illogical conclusion that the "injustices" of a minority group imply that a member of that culture must axiomatically be placed in power. 

My shields are going up until this season is over, and the eventual winner takes his place in the White House. I cannot avoid it, though I hope some more serious analysis of this man begins to be implemented in the press. Until that happens, I will not follow the "no one but Obama" craze in America. I have far too much integrity to be caught in the grand swell of public adulation that averts serious scrutiny of such a person. If the day comes that superficial attributes of candidates incline me toward leaning in their direction, I hope that some of my more honest friends remind me of the personal stand I took during this time of almost unprecedented media browbeating.