My first time

Today as I walked into the doors of my former elementary school, I felt a sense of pride and hope. Pushing the doors open to the gymnasium, I got the chills. Today, November 4th, 2008, would be my first time voting in a presidential election. As I pushed the computer screen to select my picks as president and vice-president of the United States of America, I smiled. I looked at all the people around me, some neighbors, some people whom I've never seen before, and felt a weird sense of community with them because we were all here to do our civic duty, and more so to fulfill a right and privilege given to us before or perhaps during our generations.

I knew that my vote may not be as important as some voters' selection in states such as Ohio or Pennsylvania, but knowing that didn't change the empowerment I felt after I stuck on my red and white "I voted!" sticker. I've known since the beginning that Obama would carry Illinois, just as most democrats always will, but I still loved the prospect of having my voice heard on a national, if minute, level.

I went the two blocks from my former school back to my home to eat some meatloaf, sneak some of my little sister's Halloween candy stash, and plop down in front of MSNBC to watch the election coverage. My sisters, dad, my older sister's boyfriend, and myself, talked about the election and when the polls would be closed and what time do we think the decision would be called. My sister and her boyfriend voted for McCain, and we discussed why they chose to vote for him and why I chose Obama. My sister's boyfriend called Obama a socialist and I rolled my eyes as I have for the past few months when ignorant buttheads try to use a big word like socialist that they don't even understand. I asked him what his definition of socialism was and he looked at me blankly. Of course. Why is it that people throw around these terms and accusations that they hear on some conservative website or talk radio show when they actually have no clue what they are talking about? Is it that much work to do a little of your own research and to form your own opinions? Anyone who says that Obama is a socialist should be immediately deported to China or Venezuela for a significant amount of time so that when they come back to America, they'll have a slightly more informed opinion. I mean, do people not realize that we're a capitalistic society, one of the first levels of Marx's steps to communism? Yes, we may have a few socialist principles, but we are by no means a socialist country. I'd even be hesitant to label any country in the world as a truly communist country. Heavily socialist, yes, communist, not so much. I guess it just sort of saddens me when I hear people regurgitate opinions that sound like they came from the mouth of Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter rather than their own minds. When I say people, I guess I'm actually referring to people in my generation rather than Americans as a whole. We're labeled as the "me" generation, as selfish, arrogant, iPod listening, iPhone carrying, give-me-my-venti-soy-chai latte-now-bitch, retards. Saying that a person like Barack Obama is a socialist is completely ignorant, especially when you can't define socialism or even capitalism. You make our whole generation look bad when you actually say things like, "Obama? He's a Muslim terrorist who's related to Saddam Hussein AND Osama Bin Laden! I'm not voting for that nigger!" Well, so we've established that Barack Obama is Iraqi, Saudi Arabian and of African descent by your previous statement? Give me a fucking break.

As a history major, I suppose lack of research is one of my pet peeves seeing as how I have to have a million primary sources and three billion secondary sources for each sentence I compile in a historiographical paper, one can probably see the reason for my annoyance. Are you that lazy that you can't spend an hour or so researching the presidential candidates of your country so that you can make an informed decision on election day rather than thinking because you're from the south you should vote Republican or that because you're a minority you should vote Democrat? No wonder our elders tsk-tsk us. No wonder my parents are worried about their futures. No wonder other countries laugh at us (although I dispute much of this, but I'll have to leave this to a post in which I talk about my experiences while I was in Europe). It's your right to get out and vote for whomever you chose, but I don't have to listen to your ignorance and nod my head when you say that you're disgusted by your fellow countrymen's choice for our next president. It's my right to call you on your bullshit and make you look very silly when you clearly don't know what you're talking about.

As for me, I'm very happy to call Barack Obama my president. I'm happy because I agree with his policies, because my country made history, and because Dick Cheney is probably the angriest man on the planet right now. Watch your faces everyone, you don't want good ol' Dick to come at you with a shotgun.....