The Boyfriend and I were discussing last night how we know so little about Joe Biden. I guess in a sense, I don't really give a shit, because I would vote for a box of cling-wrap over McCain/Palin (It keeps your government fresh!). But I guess that would make me an uninformed voter, which is the worst kind of voter, so I did some digging and here's my list of Pro/cons concerning Mr. Biden:
Pro:
- He's made some reasonable choices concerning abortion, including voting no on defining an unborn child as eligible for SCHIP, no on prohibiting minors from crossing state lines to obtain an abortion, yes on expanding stem cell research, yes on funding to educate teens on contraceptives, no on banning human cloning, no on maintaining a ban on military base abortions.
- He would like to remove troops from Iraq and invest in new programs by eliminating war funding and tax cuts.
- Ok'd civil unions, voted no on flag-burning ban, no on constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, yes on defining sexual orientation in hate crimes, no on ending special funding for women and minority-owned businesses, yes on prohibiting hiring discrimination due to sexual orientation, no on banning affirmative action federal funding.
- Voted no on limiting death penalty appeals
- Voted no on increasing penalties for drug offenses
- Has said that voting for No Child Left Behind was a mistake, voted no on requiring schools to allow voluntary prayer,
- Provide for emergency fuel assistance, make every car sold a flex-fuel car, voted yes on factoring global warming into federal project planning, yes on reducing national oil usage by 40% by 2025, yes on banning arctic wildlife reserve drilling, take away subsidies to oil companies
- Voted no on declaring English as official language of government
- Commitment to never use torture, disappoves of Don't Ask Don't tell, limit soldier deployment to 12 months.
Con:
- No public funding for abortion, supports partial-birth abortion ban, accepts Catholic Church view that life begins at conception
- Voted yes on prohibiting same-sex marriage (god seriously? Every candidate will say they approve unions and partnerships and all these other words, but they won't call it "marriage"???? SEPARATE ISN'T EQUAL, DUMMIES).
- Voted yes to loosen restrictions on cell phone wiretapping (I don't care how scared you are that a terrorist will bomb your beloved shopping mall. People who would give up their freedom for security are stupid, stupid fuckheads who deserve the Orwellian society that they get).
- Fought for up to 12 weeks leave in the Family and Medical Leave Act...but FMLA has a LOT of problems that I am not okay with. Including that 12 weeks isn't really long enough. It has a ways to go and I would hate to see Biden contented with that.
- Voted yes on reauthorizing the PATRIOT act, no on prohibiting same-sex basic training in the military (go ahead and segregate the troops by sex some more, that will really help foster understanding and eliminate violence towards women when the troops do have to work together).
Anyway, I have mixed feelings about Biden. Overall, I agree with him more than I disagree. But the things that I disagree with him are really important issues to me, so, you know, I'm conflicted. Either way, he is OBVIOUSLY a better choice than Sarah Palin, whose views are so incomprehensible to me that she might as well be from Mars. I eagerly await the debate tonight.
Also, can anyone picture what Palin is doing right now? I envision her sitting in a room with a McCain aide, smiling vacantly as the aide futilely attempts to coach her for tonight.
Aide: Now what do you say when they ask you about foreign policy?
Palin: *blinks* Some folks get to travel abroad, but I never did!
Aide: ...Yes. Now what is your stance on education?
Palin: I wish they taught shopping in school!
Aide: Close enough. Women's issues?
Palin: Let's buy makeup so the boys will like us!
Aide: I don't really think McCain wanted the presidency anyway. You're gold. Go get 'em, tiger.
*special thanks to Simpson's Episode Lisa vs. Malibu Stacey
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