Why do you care?

That’s a question I have often received when debating American politics with numerous people. Don’t get me wrong, when the subject is Canadian politics, the fiasco in Georgia or any other hot topic issue, I can stay on subject and go with the flow. Yet for some reason when the subject turns to American politics, and I give my own take on how things are going and the results I’m hoping for… people ask the same thing: What do you care? You don’t live there and you’re not American… so why do you give a crap about this election and the result of it?

My answer is very simple; the result of this election is going to have a ripple effect that is going to affect the entire world. So the real question should be: why don’t you care? If McCain wins and follows through on his threat to push Russia around or fully defend Georgia to the fullest power he has, do you not think a new Cold War would affect us? Ditto for a war in Iran or Pakistan. Anymore wars anywhere will have a direct effect on us and I truly believe that if that nasty old man wins this November, he’s going to lose his cool and start World War Three. That scares me a great deal and I fear not only for myself but for my children. You should too… the last thing the world needs is another warmonger who will shoot first and ask questions later. The risk would be too great, which is one of many reasons why I refuse to stay out and just be an observer from the peanut gallery.

Another major another reason why I am concerned about what happens in America is because what happens to their people also happens to my family. As many readers should know, my parents live in Tennessee. Before that Detriot was their home before that, which was cool cause I enjoyed taking in a Red Wings game and the Lions were not too bad cause Barry Sanders was still playing. But I’m straying, my parents are not the only members of my family that call America home, as I have many family members in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arizona and over a quarter of of my Dad’s side is actually located in Louisiana. So what happens because of the boneheaded mistakes of King George, and especially what happens on November 4th will impact me greatly because they will have a profound impact on numerous family members who live in the United States.

So when I post an entry that states taxpayers shouldn’t foot a 700 billion dollar bail out for the fat cats on Wall Street, I’m also saying my family shouldn’t have to foot the bill either cause they pay their dues to Uncle Sam every year. That’s their taxes that George Bush wants to toss away without any oversight or rules to make sure the money goes to where it’s supposed to go. So yeah, I’m going to get a little heated that their hard earned money is being flushed so easily when people in Houston are still waiting for more relief from Hurricane Ike, The war is still pumping out more billions month after month and there isn’t even a guarantee that this bail out will prevent the economic disaster that is coming… there are a lot of ifs, but are you willing to gamble that much money on an if?

And it’s not just my family I think should have to foot the bail out with their taxes, I think it’s unfair of King George to expect all my favorites here on OD to foot the bill with their taxes as well. I read entries on how some of them are barely getting by, and now Washington wants to add to the debt and makes things worse? That’s where my outrage comes from… the sheer absurdity of this idea to bail out the people who started this mess and to leave the everyone who is losing their homes to foreclosure from these banks out in the cold, how heartless can you be?

When I post entries that oppose the war in Iraq or any future aggressions against other nations, it’s not just out of concern for America’s youth… but those are my cousins that are in the right age group to be scooped up should a draft come back. I don’t want them to march off to war anymore do I any other American to be conscripted into any war without their consent. I like my family members in one piece, and if they don’t want to go to war, no one should force them, and I’m afraid that if McCain has his way and more wars break out… he’s going to need more bodies than the Military can provide. Where are you going to get them? How else can he? You know that’s the only way they’ll go.

So those are examples where my passion in this year’s election comes from, not only out of concern for Americans in general but for the family that I know will be effected but the result and who ever takes over this coming January. So that’s why when I see something I don’t like (like that outrageous 700 billion dollar cash grab for Wall Street) I’m going to stand up and say something, not because I’m trying to lecture people from the other side of the border, but because I know people who will be effected negatively but these policy decisions and by the outcome of the election. That affects them, and in turn their bad fortunes affect me because I care about what happens to them.

So that’s where I stand and more importantly… that’s why I care.

Peter