President Obama’s re-election should give us all hope.
Yesterday, a significant majority of the American people rejected the hate and lies spewed by Teapublicans for the past two years. Americans rejected a presidential candidate who made many promises with no specifics to back them up. They rejected a presidential candidate who made a fortune in the US by dismantling American companies then outsourced his profits to Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and Switzerland. They rejected a vice-presidential candidate who sold a plan to the House of Representatives that would balance the budget by taking money from the poor, the middle-class and the retired and giving it to the wealthy.
American voters also rejected a church-backed agenda that would deny equal rights to gays and lesbians; that would further victimize women who have been raped; that would allow employers to deny healthcare coverage for contraceptives while providing coverage for boner pills.
And American voters re-elected a president who righted our economy, signed a bill demanding equal pay for equal work, passed a bill providing healthcare insurance for tens of millions, ended the war in Iraq, ordered the capture or death of Osama bin Laden, nominated two women to the Supreme Court including the first Latina, and ended the government-sanctioned discrimination of a portion of our population by the military.
A president who is winding down the war in Afghanistan, who has emphasized alternative fuels and higher fuel efficiency standards to increase our energy independence. A president who has prioritized the environment over the profits of multinational corporations. A president who has done more good for the people of our nation than I have room to detail.
Despite all this, President Obama was vilified by the reckless and highly partisan Fox News Channel, attacked daily by the loudmouths on conservative hate radio, dismissed by the Republican leaders of Congress, and disrespected by millions of racist teabaggers.
President Obama has deserved far better and the majority of American voters agree.