Vote.

i don't write that often anyway, but i've been avoiding writing about this election. well, barring that sarah palin thing. couldn't help it. mostly i've been avoiding it because i've been angry.

for months i have been receiving emails from family and friends. emails filled with lies, untruths and half-truths. all generated with the purpose of scaring people away from this man obama.

i can't watch pundits; i can't watch mccain or palin anymore either. i can't take sarah's snarky sarcasm (from someone well-versed in sarcasm). i can't handle mccain's exaggerations and anger.

i've lived overseas for most of bush's presidency. which doesn't mean i haven't felt the pain. i've defended my country countless times and regularly asked people to consider a perspective other than their own before judging. i've offered a different viewpoint and asked them to think about it.

i grew up in an extremely republican county (dupage) situated right next to an extremely democratic county (cook) in illinois. i considered myself republican and voted accordingly for most of my voting career. it made sense to me. or at least didn't seem offensive to me.

that has changed.

i have my thoughts about abortion, taxes, healthcare, greed, joe the plumber, socialism, muslims, same-sex marriage and everything else that has been thrown at us. and i don't want to talk about it any more, frankly.

our country has been so divided by race, by age, by education level, by coast, by state color, by religion, by ______. i feel it when i'm there and i can see it from here. i'm saddened that mccain and palin would resort to calling some of america the real america and letting the rest of the country wonder what part of america they are in, then. i'm saddened when people who want to see change in america and criticize where it currently stands are called unpatriotic or un-american.

cornel west said something like this: loving america is like being in a marriage. you don't always like it. but you love it. you say what is wrong because you love it and want it to be the best it can be. i think that criticizing what you see as wrong and doing something to change it is the most american thing you can do. it's in our blood. it's how we got to be americans. (it's what those prop-8 supporters are doing but don't like when others do.)

our country needs to heal from these last 8 years of darkness, lies, division, hatred and fear.

i don't see mccain as capable of helping that healing. he doesn't even see the need or he'd realize he's making the gashes deeper.

i wasn't convinced that barack obama was capable of helping, either. but i've listened to him talk. i've seen the other people who listen to him talk. i see that he's thoughtful, careful, a thinker. we haven't had that in 8 years.

i don't think i'll agree with or like everything he does if he is elected. i think he'll make mistakes and joe biden will keep putting his foot in his very big mouth.

but i think he can be the president who starts america down the road toward healing and unity, and who brings us back to the global stage as a model and not a cautionary tale.

let's not be afraid. let's refuse to be manipulated into fear. we need not fear who know Peace.