November 8, 2012

O'er the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.


Arun's Presidential ballot from school with a bonus photobomb from Lucy.

Arun came home from school and proudly declared that he had voted.  When I asked him for whom he had voted, he replied, "I voted for Romney because Obama already had a turn."

Spoken like a 1st grader, eh?

I did gently explain why I was voting for Obama and I went out of my way to NOT make him feel bad.  Sure, I am crass online, but I do have standards with my own children, limited they may be.   However, I had to deliver the harsh truth to Arun that many of the policies that some Republicans support are in direct contrast to the needs of immigrants such his own father and to the needs of the LGBT community such as our neighbors and other loved ones.  Some of them are downright racist.

Someday, I will explain to him why I had to leave the Republican party. I will explain to him that I used to vote Republican until the party morphed into something unrecognizable and ultimately, unconscionable for me.  I will explain to him why I am a Libertarian and why that means that I have to switch back and forth between the Democratic and Republican parties, even when I am not completely comfortable with either choice.  And perhaps by then, the Republican party will have brought it back to something closer with which I grew up.  Something that I can believe in again.

Yes, I will explain all of this to him.  Someday.

In the meantime, I just want him to be my sweet 7 year old little boy with his simplistic worldview that includes taking turns.

2 comments:

kristen said...

My sweet 5 year old boy voted for Obama because, "he already knows how to be president". My families' heads will explode if they hear that. Oh well, I've mopped up bigger messes.

Melanie said...

My son (2nd grade) voted Obama, because he younger. I am like you in that no party fits me, being fiscally moderate-conservative I worry about money, and I rarely if ever think the government is efficient with it, that said I am socially VERY liberal. I hope the republican party gets its head outta its behind SOON, because I sure don't like sacrificing one set of principles for another.