Change is in the Air - originally posted December 11, 2007

Can you feel it?

The air is electric. Kinda feels like it does when its going to snow. The political jetstream is finally moved up enough to bring a front of change through.

Let me restate for those who may not know, I am a Black Republican, and I'm a Lesbian living in an openly gay relationship. I know it seems like an oxymoron, but my values and beliefs are more in line with the Republican party.

I believe in less goverment and free enterprise.

I believe that whatever wealth I am fortunate enough to gain, I should be able to use it to take care of my family for however many generations my wealth lasts. (Currently I am worth more Dead than Alive; sorry Chaos and Deuce don't spend it all in one place )

I believe in Individual freedom, and though most of my party members believe that I will burn in Hell when I die; they agree that I have the Right to live my life as I choose. After all, we are Free aren't we. Free people make and spend more money! It has been proven time after time. Amassing untold measures of wealth is the product of living the American Dream. You know...Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

I was born in to the Democratic party, and as soon as I was able to vote I did. Proud to honor the memory of those who suffered and gave their lives for me to have this right! As a young uneducated voter, the impression that I had of the Republican party was one of Racisist slave owners, but it was the most famous Repulican of all that wrote and signed the Emancipation Procimation.

Now, I want to take a minute to share my views on Racism. I love people. When I meet someone I can tell within the first 5 mins of our conversation, whether or not the are friend or foe. People of all races in my life, have been sorted into these two catagories. There really are only two sorting buckets that matter to most people; what you call them may differ from what I call them but the principle is the same. Friend/Foe; Good/Bad; Smart/Dumb; Healthy/Unhealthy, Wise/Foolish....I could go on for days...okay one more...Positive/Negative. Race is not the determining factor in any of these catagories, but anyone of these catagories can have a tremendous bearing on how sucessful you are in life. Fill the wrong bucket and you are doomed! Also, I think people need to remember that we don't have to like everyone we encounter; however, I feel it is your duty as an American citizen to treat everyone you meet, regardless of the social class, race, sex or sexuality, health, and mental capacity, with the RESPECT they deserve. Don't take it personally if I don't like you; I'm an Aquarius...get over it! Yes, majority of my friends and associates are Black, but that's because I don't know alot of Non-Black people. The few Non-Black people that have been fortunate enough to make my aquaintence have become some of the truest friends I've known (Shouts out to Deanna and SuSu). I know its cliche' but and I can't believe I'm about to say this, but, some of my best friends are white. I know I know... I just said.the most famous proclimation for racists in America, but I really only have about 5 friends, and 2 of them ar white so you get the picture. I teach my sons to judge people by what they do, not by their words, apprearance, neighborhood, parents, or race.

Now that I have beat that horse to death, let me bring it full circle. It wasn't until I went to college (Go Tarheels!) and had my horizons expanded, that I realized that I was not following the words of Dr. King. When I began to judge people by their character, I began to realize that alot of my personal views were too radical for the Democratic party.

I feel that state government is the most effective when it comes to helping people, because they are accessible to the people that need help.

Taxpayer money should be used for the greater good of society as a whole, by helping those people who have some obstacle preventing them from pursuing the American dream. Whether it be through providing food and shelter, education, Healthcare, or protection from lawbreaking Americans or threatining foreigners.

Anyway I said all of that to say this.

This is an exciting time in American history! We are living in a time in which I can prouldly say I am a Black Republican; where a Woman and a Black man are locked in a head to head battle for the Democratic nomination, where animated programming is making the greatest political statements (Kudos to last Sunday's American Dad episode sheding light on the fact that you can be a Homosexual Republican; "The Grand Ole Party just got grander" - Stan, American Dad), and the face of the Republican party is becoming more diversified.

Even though my political views are more in line with the GOP; I reserve the right to vote for whichever candidate has the most determination and political pull to make this country a better place for my kids.

There have been a series of minor successes politically and major failures over the last 20 years. Each Leader from Reagan to GW Bush have failed to see how their policies will affect the Nation over time.

Reganomics ended the Cold War, but the War on Drugs has created a class of people that have no hope of ever reaching the middle class.

Free trade was the highlight of the Clinton era and everybody got rich with their dot coms, but no one thought about how cheap and inexpensive it was to set up shop in a 3rd World country; and all of the textile and manufacturing jobs that help bolster the Middle Class would be shipped over seas because it just makes business sense to pay someone $7 and hour with no benefits to work harder and longer, than to pay an American worker $20 an hour plus time and a half for overtime and full benefits to do the same job. All of these unemployed workers lead to major problems economically and the highest unemployed worker numbers in years. And don't even get me started on the Bin Ladin debacle.

GW Bush gave communties more power and money to help the disenfranchized around them, but what the HELL are we STILL doing in Iraq?

All of these situations left voters wondering if there could really be any change. That's why both Al Gore and John Kerry (I had to goggle the election to find Kerry's last name, he was so forgettable) could not win their elections.

But this year its different, and I believe the catalyst for change is Oprah Winfrey!

Oprah is the single most influential woman in American history! Oprah has finally brought her support and huge following of women into Americn politics. When Oprah is involved, change happens! It just does. She has the ability to keep issues in the forefront. Her involvement in this election insures that the political dicussions will be relavent to the average American, and not just to the geeks and wealthy. Change will happen because people will talk about the real issues, and not get caught up in the hype. Every candidate has to raise their bar, because she is endorsing a candidate and he will talk straight to the people because of the Oprah influence. She isn't even running, and she is the most influential person in the political arena today! I wish she were running for President, but why would she give up here billion dollar empire to "run" the country? Maybe she feels like she can do more by continuing to change peoples lives one person at a time, but more importantly, she will bring millions of voters to the polls this year!

This year everyone has a candidate they can get behind, a stake in the political discussion if you will. Black people will be involved because of Obama, Women will be involved because of Oprah. Clinton supporters will back Hillary.

It's so nice to welcome you Democrats back to the political discussion. Now lets settle our differences and get some work done!

Change is finally on the way! All of our futures just got a little more secure.

UrbanJournalist