If I wasn’t already cheering loudly for our cousins across the pond after Obama pledged to close Guantanamo Bay within a year, and immediately banned ‘trials’ there, I’m now positively HOWLING for joy.

Obama has lifted the Global Gag rule, that prevents organisations providing services in foreign countries from receiving US aid if they so much as mention abortion. And he yesterday said that:

“On the 36th anniversary of Roe v Wade, we are reminded that this decision not only protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters,”

‘Nuff said really. Can we have an Obama now please??

Being as I’m British, I haven’t really had much to say in Bloglandia about the American Election. I just wish our elections got as much coverage stateside as the American one gets back here in Blighty!!

That said though, I do have to question exactly what the hell John McCain was thinking when he picked Sarah Palin. I mean really, you would think that being an experienced Statesman (not to mention a POW *rollseyes*) he would have considred that picking a candidate with foreign policy experience, Senate experience and well general ‘has lived outside of Home-state at least for college’ to be important. You would think he would have considered that he is in fact old. And it’s a stressful job running America. Whilst I’m not for a second going to say someone old isn’t capable of running a country (because that’s bollocks and also highly ageist), I am going to say that given his age, he should have considered the likelihood that he MAY pass away whilst in Office and be looking to pick a candidate for the position of Vice President who is capable, at least on paper, of taking over the leadership of the USA at a moments notice and doing a good job of it.

Instead he picks a candidate who has no foreign policy experience and who appears to know very little about ‘truth’, ‘decency’ and ‘working for the good of the people’.

Palins pick is historical- for starters she’s a woman, she’s a working Mother (which is not an easy thing to be). The more I read about her though, the more I am absolutely convinced that either a) John McCain has taken complete leave of his senses and picked an idiot or b) John  McCain has made what he considers to be a shrewd political decision in picking a WOMAN regardless of her abilities or qualifications to be VP on the grounds that it will curry him favour with the scores of women pissed off that Hillary didn’t get the Democrat Nomination and the scores of women pissed off that Obama then chose Joe Biden to be VP.

Actually, I think both a) and b) are true. Thing is McCain hasn’t just picked a woman, he has managed to handpick perfectly a woman who represents just about everything I think is wrong with the Republicans and conservatism in general. She’s anti-choice, pro-abstinence, she hunts, she’s pro-drilling (and lying about it), her morals are distinctly questionable (*see Troopergate, ladies and gentlemen) and to top it all off, we all now know about how her actions meant that rape victims in Wasilla were forced to pay for their own Rape Kits leading to Alaska having to pass a State Law making this illegal.

So erm yeah. Palin = More of the same old Republican shit, dressed up in a package to try and appeal to women and fool the people generally that voting for McCain won’t be another 4 years of the last 8 years of shite.

Don’t do it people please. For the love of any deity/non-deity/the universe at large please vote for the nice people who have a reasonable grasp of economics, a non-isolationist approach to foreign policy and a decent track record of reproductive rights, women’s rights and fighting against VAW.