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Obama or McCain: What Does the Future Hold for Us? Election Year Musing is a question.

What does the future hold for us? A youngish Black man bold enough to run on Change or a white older man intent on defending the Fort of Yesteryear. The older white one waves a red, white and blue flag and the younger Black man carries a globe in his hands.

Obama smiles broadly while McCain smirks as "he knows better" most of the †ime. Our fate is in the hands of a few states and swing voters (who have no philosophy and no rooted idea). These anchorless mindless forces can swing The Electoral College one way or the other. Those who might cast a vote against Barack based on myths about race and national origin also may hold our fate in their hands unless we rise up and vote in large numbers that overwhelm and surprise. Barack himself says he is not the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Our faith in Obama may be too deep, too broad. He is not an FDR, may never come close. But he is all we've got now. I look to his policies and find hope that we may get something to hang onto- some universal kind of health care, a safety net, jobs that government may have to manufacture to get us through bad times. The alternative is living through 4 years of smirks though Congress may succeed as it goes Democratic in keeping the worst of the greedy dogs at bay. I wonder if Barack wins, if we will really leave Iraq and turn our attention to Afghanistan. I wonder if that is another dark hole we will enter rueing the day we made that fateful decision, looking sadly behind, for many of us our only regret the totally veiled woman we might have to leave behind. Or will Barack get lucky, track down and kill Bin Laden and then declare a victory of sorts, leaving peacekeepers behind to hold another kind of Fort. Yes, what does the future hold? It can't be McCain! What if it is then what do we do then, move to Canada or some other place, hibernate underground, join the revolution. It is too utterly hard to digest that happening again, again. No!. The future can't be that mean, can it?

Some Pics taken at SAGE/AARP Conference in Brooklyn, NYC

Here in NYC at Lesbian and Gay Center for OLOC and SAGE Meeting

Pics above of OLOC members taken in Brooklyn, New York at SAGE/AARP conference Oct. 08.
(Marriot Hotel at Brooklyn Bridge)

Hi All,

Here I am sitting in a computer room at the Lesbian and Gay Center in New York City in the Village. Just came from an OLOC NYC Chapter OLOC (Old Lesbians Organizing for Change) meeting. The OLOC women are real activists and get right to the point. Myra Brahms is the chapter organizer. I like these women. Mina and I are here for a joint AARP/SAGE Conference which is being held at the Marriot Hotel in Brooklyn near the Brooklyn Bridge. The weather is beautiful, clear and sunny.

Also saw my cousins who live in New York yesterday. Went to Central Park with the grandkids of my first cousin Helen. Her husband, Gus drove us all around Manhhattan to different ethnic neighborhoods including Williamsberg, an ultraorthodox Jewish area, and a Polish neighborhood where he likes to get sausage. What a blast we are having.

Preparing for our panel presentation on Old Lesbians Challenging Ageism: Taking Our Power. I am presenting on Research Gatekeeping for OLOC. Mina is presenting on Why over 60. Looking forward to the whole conference and networking at our OLOC table and meeting people interested in aging issues from all over the country.

I love seeing the beautiful skyline of NYC and the aestheticallly pleasing buildings, huge and tall as they are. Finally saw the huge hole in the ground that was the World Trade Center. The empty space left is very large from my perspective and the memory of what happened overwhelming to get your mind around.

Alix Dobkin, the Lesbian folksinger, is driving us around today. Enjoy her companpy. Myra had us over her place in Manhattan for a great brunch. Loved the bagels and lox and all the good delectables. It was nice to experience how a (single Lesbian) person lives in the City not just my relatives.

I am loving New York this week and looking forward to the SAGE Conference.

Posted from computer room at the LGBT Center in NYC. Manhattan NYC.

Best to everyone.

Sharon Raphael