1.23.09
First off, I guess I now have to explain why I’m a Republican. Working in not only an academic environment, but one that is also snugly installed in Southern California (aka Los Angeles), it is assumed by all my friends, family and associates that I am an environmentally conscious, George Bush-hating liberal. When I sheepishly reveal the truth, they act as if I admitted to drinking the blood of young male virgins to preserve my youthful appearance. If I do look young, I can only attribute it to clean living and good genes.
Which brings me, albeit in a roundabout way, to the reason I’m a Republican - you can blame my parents. They came to the United States from the Philippines, each before they met and married, to make a better life for themselves. They jumped through the appropriate hoops of the time to gain their residency and citizenship through legal means and brought up their three daughters to regard America as their home.
As children, we saw them prosper and succeed. They made a comfortable home for us in a neighborhood that wasn’t predominantly Caucasian, nor predominantly anything. Kids were kids, neighbors were neighbors.
We began our education in parochial schools, where we met and befriended kids from all different backgrounds. We didn’t look to race as a way to decide who our friends were. We looked to having drill team or student government or the school paper in common. We never played the race card to get scholarships, we looked to our grades for that, which is probably why we never got scholarships.
As a “(Wayne) Roy Senior” at Redondo Union High, I was impressed by our government teacher’s passion for the Grand Old Party and when twenty-seven of my classmates and I turned out to vote for the first time, I would bet that more than half were registered Republicans.
Working at a university, I’ve learned more about the left and often, the extreme left than I probably ever could have imagined. Most of it goes against everything I believe in, infringing on personal choice more than any conservative dogma can. As a woman, I believe that abortion should be a personal choice- that includes choosing not to have one. Science has proven that global warming is a natural phenomenon, occurring every few thousands or millions of years. I don’t think we’re responsible for it, but I think there is a lot we can do to offset the damage.
This may be a purely regional issue, but I don’t think we do the United States or any other nations a favor by allowing illegal immigrants to enter illegally without any ramifications. There many short and long term issues that have led me to believe that issues like this only serve to divide us further. We can’t decide what our main language is. Should people who can’t read English really be allowed to vote on policy and to our elected officials?And just because there are so many illegal immigrants driving around, should we grant them licenses?
I do my part to help save the environment, but I draw the line at recycled toilet paper. And while I am aware of G.W.’s many foul-ups, grammatical and otherwise, we did not have another 9/11 on his watch. We even got used to the indignity of taking our shoes off and relinquishing our Swiss Army knives at the security check before boarding an airplane (to date, I’ve given up three for the cause). I don’t blame him for the economy any more than I can blame him for the weather. It’s a tough job and apparently for the last eight years, my fellow Americans - at least the ones who cared enough to cast a ballot- thought he was the right man for it.
That is why I am happy about President Obama, although I tend to vote the party ticket. This time, not only my fellow Americans, but the next generation of them, decided who the best man was. His election was historic, not only because he is the first African American president, but because he appealed to the younger generation, which for now, I can still claim to be part of.
On the surface, claiming him as the first black president is easy, but superficial. As with Tiger Woods, we can all have a piece of Obama, whose parents were African and Caucasian and who has Asians and Europeans in his immediate family. He’s the Benetton president, “black enough,” yet with a family tree that reflects the face of the nation today.
A conservative friend recently quipped on Facebook that doing the right thing was now in vogue because President Obama has made it so. He’s having a hard time with Republicans losing the White House and Congress. I’m hoping that “the right thing” will somehow be redefined by both parties in the next four years. My wish list for the new administration includes ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq responsibly. The economy and the state of education will not be repaired by handouts, but by holding individuals and institutions accountable for results.
Most of all, I want liberal America to see that conservative America has a point too, and for both parties to see the merits in both ideologies. We need to respect human rights, but we need to keep our country safe. We need to make education and health care accessible for all, but we need to set a standard and have those who enjoy the privileges of these systems pay their share as much as possible.
Hopefully, they can create a hybrid of thought that like Obama’s family tree, reflects where we are now. For however flawed some people think our system is, it’s still one of the best, if not the best in the world. And it can be better, if we can return to being a nation where people try to pull themselves up by their bootstraps first before calling upon the government – or blaming it when things don’t go their way.
No where else could people like my parents have helped to build a nation. No where else could a man whose ancestors were once captives in this country, attain the highest office of the land. We have placed an unprecedented amount of expectation on this one man, but we all need to let him and his advisors know what we need. Not since the days of John F. Kennedy, whom my parents also admired, have we stood in such a hopeful place in our history. Let us make the hope and change more than just buzzwords, but a lasting reality.
First off, I guess I now have to explain why I’m a Republican. Working in not only an academic environment, but one that is also snugly installed in Southern California (aka Los Angeles), it is assumed by all my friends, family and associates that I am an environmentally conscious, George Bush-hating liberal. When I sheepishly reveal the truth, they act as if I admitted to drinking the blood of young male virgins to preserve my youthful appearance. If I do look young, I can only attribute it to clean living and good genes.
Which brings me, albeit in a roundabout way, to the reason I’m a Republican - you can blame my parents. They came to the United States from the Philippines, each before they met and married, to make a better life for themselves. They jumped through the appropriate hoops of the time to gain their residency and citizenship through legal means and brought up their three daughters to regard America as their home.
As children, we saw them prosper and succeed. They made a comfortable home for us in a neighborhood that wasn’t predominantly Caucasian, nor predominantly anything. Kids were kids, neighbors were neighbors.
We began our education in parochial schools, where we met and befriended kids from all different backgrounds. We didn’t look to race as a way to decide who our friends were. We looked to having drill team or student government or the school paper in common. We never played the race card to get scholarships, we looked to our grades for that, which is probably why we never got scholarships.
As a “(Wayne) Roy Senior” at Redondo Union High, I was impressed by our government teacher’s passion for the Grand Old Party and when twenty-seven of my classmates and I turned out to vote for the first time, I would bet that more than half were registered Republicans.
Working at a university, I’ve learned more about the left and often, the extreme left than I probably ever could have imagined. Most of it goes against everything I believe in, infringing on personal choice more than any conservative dogma can. As a woman, I believe that abortion should be a personal choice- that includes choosing not to have one. Science has proven that global warming is a natural phenomenon, occurring every few thousands or millions of years. I don’t think we’re responsible for it, but I think there is a lot we can do to offset the damage.
This may be a purely regional issue, but I don’t think we do the United States or any other nations a favor by allowing illegal immigrants to enter illegally without any ramifications. There many short and long term issues that have led me to believe that issues like this only serve to divide us further. We can’t decide what our main language is. Should people who can’t read English really be allowed to vote on policy and to our elected officials?And just because there are so many illegal immigrants driving around, should we grant them licenses?
I do my part to help save the environment, but I draw the line at recycled toilet paper. And while I am aware of G.W.’s many foul-ups, grammatical and otherwise, we did not have another 9/11 on his watch. We even got used to the indignity of taking our shoes off and relinquishing our Swiss Army knives at the security check before boarding an airplane (to date, I’ve given up three for the cause). I don’t blame him for the economy any more than I can blame him for the weather. It’s a tough job and apparently for the last eight years, my fellow Americans - at least the ones who cared enough to cast a ballot- thought he was the right man for it.
That is why I am happy about President Obama, although I tend to vote the party ticket. This time, not only my fellow Americans, but the next generation of them, decided who the best man was. His election was historic, not only because he is the first African American president, but because he appealed to the younger generation, which for now, I can still claim to be part of.
On the surface, claiming him as the first black president is easy, but superficial. As with Tiger Woods, we can all have a piece of Obama, whose parents were African and Caucasian and who has Asians and Europeans in his immediate family. He’s the Benetton president, “black enough,” yet with a family tree that reflects the face of the nation today.
A conservative friend recently quipped on Facebook that doing the right thing was now in vogue because President Obama has made it so. He’s having a hard time with Republicans losing the White House and Congress. I’m hoping that “the right thing” will somehow be redefined by both parties in the next four years. My wish list for the new administration includes ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq responsibly. The economy and the state of education will not be repaired by handouts, but by holding individuals and institutions accountable for results.
Most of all, I want liberal America to see that conservative America has a point too, and for both parties to see the merits in both ideologies. We need to respect human rights, but we need to keep our country safe. We need to make education and health care accessible for all, but we need to set a standard and have those who enjoy the privileges of these systems pay their share as much as possible.
Hopefully, they can create a hybrid of thought that like Obama’s family tree, reflects where we are now. For however flawed some people think our system is, it’s still one of the best, if not the best in the world. And it can be better, if we can return to being a nation where people try to pull themselves up by their bootstraps first before calling upon the government – or blaming it when things don’t go their way.
No where else could people like my parents have helped to build a nation. No where else could a man whose ancestors were once captives in this country, attain the highest office of the land. We have placed an unprecedented amount of expectation on this one man, but we all need to let him and his advisors know what we need. Not since the days of John F. Kennedy, whom my parents also admired, have we stood in such a hopeful place in our history. Let us make the hope and change more than just buzzwords, but a lasting reality.
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