That Damn Obama

I am a Republican (gasp!)

It is largely for fiscal reasons. I am not a fan of big government, and I want to drink my 44 ounces of diet coke from Sonic without being judged. I want to be able to own a gun if I want. I am definitely not a fan of political correctness. I do, however, support gay marriage and am pro-choice.

To the point:

A couple that we are friends with invited us to dinner last night. We went, had a good time, ate some good food, and all was totally peachy until the topic of politics came up. Cue lots of eye rolling from me.

All of us at the get-together vote the same, we are fairly like-minded. It was not a horrible or offensive conversation...until we started talking about gun control. I am not for gun control by any means, but living out here in the wild, wild mid-west - anything short of standing in the middle of a field firing shots into the air screaming about the right to bear arms is not fervent enough.

I listened, knowing that I didn't have much to add to the conversation, until someone said "I think Obama is just using things like the Sandy Hook shooting as a tool. I don't think he cares at all. He just wants to use it to his advantage."

Ruh-roh.

So I said "Like him or not, I think that questioning his sincerity on that issue is not cool." And the conversation moved on.

It stuck with me though. I suppose I understand that if you don't like the opposing side and their goals do not reflect your goals that you judge them with a critical eye. However, anyone who watched any of the coverage of what happened to those kids (and adults) in that school and didn't feel a hollow pit in their stomach is not human. Especially a parent. I am not a hysterical person at all, but I definitely hugged my baby much tighter that day.

President Obama is just that - he is our President. He is charged with the protection and care of all the people in our borders, and while there was never anything he could have done personally to stop that act - to say that he didn't feel genuine shock and sadness at what happened that day is ridiculous. To imply that he didn't feel an ounce of horror and instead quickly got his speech writers together to decide how to spin this to fit his agenda is stupid. His politics may not make sense to me - but he isn't a monster.

This is why I immediately groan, roll my eyes, and try to stop listening when politics and religion are brought up. People don't seem capable of respectfully disagreeing without attacking the other side. And we wonder why we can't get a damn thing done in this country.

(You all think politics are bad? Visit a mommy-message board sometime. Those bitches be crazy!)