We all know Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election and made history. As a prominent Democrat, it was only a matter of time before the Republican Party would go all-out in their attempts to paint him in a negative light. This time around, it’s a completely shameful set of attempts to link Obama to disgraced Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich.

As we’ve all seen in the news, Blagojevich looks to be a real douchebag. He apparently had his hand in all manner of questionable pies, including attempting to “sell” Obama’s now-vacate Senate seat. If proven guilty, he definitely deserves whatever punishments come his way. Meanwhile, prosecuting attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has made clear that Obama had nothing to do with Blagojevich’s activities, and even admonished people not to jump to conclusions on the case.

But does that stop the right wing? Oh, of course not. They’ve relentlessly attacked Obama since the story broke, on par with their attacks building up to the election. The man’s not even president yet, and they’re already trying to break him, and convince the American public that he’s “corrupt.” And, of course, a majority of media outlets are following them lockstep; it’s eerily reminiscent of the media’s dragging the Clintons through the mud during the 1990s. Remember Whitewater? The media and GOP brutally and viciously smeared the Clintons during that whole affair, and at the end…the Clintons were proven to have engaged in no wrongdoing whatsoever.

They’re trying the same thing all over again with Blagojevich’s problems, and desperately trying to find a way to blame Obama for it. I realize that GOP and their cronies are absolutely terrified of having a Democrat in the White House, let alone one who isn’t white, but this is disgusting. This is why American politics tend to make me seethe with rage at best, and become violently ill at worst.

Obama won in a landslide, and we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. Twenty-eight years of GOP rule (in one form or another) are being washed away, and now we shall see if positive change can come of it.

However, I must admit that I still worry. There’s millions and millions of ignorant, racist people in this country that will not tolerate a non-white President under any circumstances, and those people scare the shit out of me. I’ve got a sinking feeling that some of these whackjobs will try to take Obama out. I mean, come on; there were numerous supporters at McCain/Palin rallies shouting “Kill him!” when Obama was brought up! When McCain himself would compliment Obama, his own supporters booed him! That’s not good. Not good at all. If any of those douchebags do try something stupid, I hope the perpetrators are sent to Gitmo to sit side-by-side with those terrorists that they love so much.

I really hope I’ll be proven incorrect on this one, and that even the gun-totin’ racists will just go back to their grumbling little lives. I’m absolutely thrilled that Obama won the election; it’s a truly historic moment, and a long time coming. It’s just that as we’ve seen from this past election cycle, we can’t underestimate the amount of lingering hate in this country. That’s why I worry.

If you’re a US citizen, stop reading this for a bit, and make sure you vote. I don’t want to hear your bullshit excuses. None of that nonsense about “my vote doesn’t count,” or the corruption of the Electoral College, blah blah blah. Your vote always counts in one way or another, and if you don’t vote, then don’t bitch about the state of our country. Ever. It’s not difficult, and if you want to be lazy, the polls are open all day. You can even use an absentee ballot, so cut the shit, and get voting!

Hopefully this post won’t get me hunted down and shot by some crazed National Rifle Association member, but I need to get this off my chest.

I’m sick and tired of hearing of these American idiots who refuse to vote for candidates simply because they support gun control. Every single one of these voters, without fail, thinks that “gun control” means the government will take their guns away, or worse yet, that the candidates in question have already concocted a nefarious scheme along with radical anti-gun groups in order to steal their firearms in the dead of night.

One of my favorite comedians, David Cross (no relation), has a simple thing to say about single-issue voters like this: “You’re ignorant, and you shouldn’t vote.” Democracy is great, but he’s right. Voting like that completely breaks the system, and their ignorance is appalling. Gun control does not mean the government, or anyone else for that matter, will take away your guns. In fact, the Second Amendment that the NRA and other pro-gun organizations hide behind prohibits just that. No political candidate has ever stated a platform in which they’d take away all legally purchased firearms. What they have stated is limiting purchases (based on one’s record), background checks, and federal databases of gun owners. Sure, it could be construed as restricting gun ownership…but that’s still completely different than actually taking guns away.

On the other side of the debate, the slogan “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people” carries equal weight. Gun rights activists are perfectly legitimate in claiming that they should be allowed to own firearms to protect their home and loved ones. But much more often than not, this is used as a bullshit excuse in order to carry a gun around at all times, or scarier yet, to acquire a private armory. You don’t need fifteen guns to protect your family! This recent article on the BBC aggravated me, mainly because of a single quote (the last line, which I’ve italicized):

“Since that day, Carol’s attitudes have changed completely. Having moved to Phoenix permanently, she now runs classes teaching other female shooters how to hone their skills and heads a group called the Arizona Women’s Shooting Association. Every time she leaves the house she reaches for her handbag, her keys and her gun.”

While her commitment to gun safety is commendable…why the hell does she need to tote a gun around at all times? You live in Arizona, not Detroit! That’s not safety, that’s a sickness.

After the horrible Virginia Tech shootings last year, pro-gun pundits and the NRA came right out and said that if students were allowed to carry guns on campus to protect themselves, the shooting never would have happened. The leap in logic there astounds me; sure, I suppose it’s possible, but it’s a pretty big assumption that another college student would have the courage to stand up and blow away another human being, crazy or not. You’re also legally introducing deadly weapons into a culture where drinking, partying, and fighting are very common. I don’t think I need to paint a detailed picture for you here; the ramifications of guns in the hands of drunken frat boys aren’t pleasant. Yes, I know not all college students are like that, but as we’ve seen, it only takes a few. When you’ve got guns thrown into the mix, the threat of death, accidental or otherwise, is going to skyrocket.

It’s a shame, because the NRA used to be a gun safety organization, and we certainly need those. Over the past few decades, though, it’s become nothing but a lobbying group for gun nuts. The guys who run it should never, ever be allowed near a firearm. They’re clearly a danger to society. Don’t believe me? Listen to some of Charlton Heston’s insane speeches while he was president, or the rantings of CEO Wayne LaPierre. (Even Heston decried some of those as “extreme rhetoric.”) The NRA has even hired security firms to spy upon and infiltrate anti-gun protest groups. What the hell are they, the FBI? If you’re so secure in your position, then why wage a cold war against your opponents? That’s not to say that there aren’t anti-gun nutballs, either; trust me, we’ve got plenty of those. However, they don’t have anywhere near the power or reach that groups like the NRA enjoy; they’re strictly relegated to the lunatic fringe.

What scares me the most is while many of these gun nuts proudly proclaim patriotism and the Second Amendment, their gun fetish — and that’s really what it is, a sick fetish — proves that they have no compunction about pulling the trigger against a perceived enemy. We’re talking about ending a human life here; it doesn’t get more serious than that. For an entire group of “enthusiasts” to be so casual about killing is frightening beyond compare. I believe that they can keep their guns, but the rest of us deserve a strong measure of safety as well; we need a freely accessible database of not only every gun owner, but exactly how many guns they own, as well as their criminal records (if any) and mental health. Furthermore, if you commit crimes and/or aren’t in the best mental shape, you don’t get to own a firearm. Period. (You lose your driver’s license for DUI, after all.)

On a final note…there’s no need to own assault rifles. Ever. Those are for the military to use, not you. If you think you need an assault rifle to protect yourself, then you need to check in for psychiatric care immediately.

You know, just once I’d like to see a presidential candidate actually have the courage to go up on a podium and say this:

“My opponents have attacked me, claiming that I’m going to raise taxes. Well, they’re correct: I am going to raise taxes. Why? Because freedom isn’t free. We all want improvements made to our great nation. Someone has to pay for it, and it’s time for all of us to do our part. Taxes will be fairly charged based on one’s income. The more you make, the more you’ll be required to pay. If you can afford multimillion-dollar mansions, then you can afford to give something back to the country that made it all possible in the first place. Thank you, and God Bless America.”