Maverick

Sarah Paliin lieks to call herself a maverick. Does she know what baggage the word entails? According to dictionary.com, some synonyms include "bohemian, dissenter, nonconformist, stray, extremist, malcontent, radical." Probably not what Sarah Palin would like us to think of her, let alone what she thinks of herself. Truth is, "maverick" hasn't always been such a "bonus point" word. It's historically been just what dictionary.com says, a word applied to those who can't live within accepted societal mores, but tend to live outside the rules and regulations applied to us "normal" people. Indeed, this word most frequently heard in relation to TV westerns has not before meant "someone you should vote for," but someone who can't follow rules. Dictionary.com tells us the word's origins are in Texas, with rancher Samuel A. Maverick, an 1800's homesteader who refused to brand his cattle (so he could claim ownership of others'? so he could cause disputes when his cows mingled? they don't say... as with Palin, the questions remain unanswered). The idea of "a lone dissenter, ... or a politician who takes ... a stand apart from his or her associates" is rather disheartening in this time of national and global turbulance, when we should be fighting with all our might to make connections, to heal our nation, to restore unity amongst our people and the world. If Sarah Palin wants to be known as a maverick, let her. Just don't expect me to support her for the job of leading our nation: a job requiring a philosophy of unity, not segregation; of brotherhood, not alienation. I, for one, do not need a "nonconformist, loner" to be my president. I need someone willing to embrace the whole wild gamut of our country, the black and the white, the red and the brown, the yellow and pink and in-between and every raiinbow blend that God has made. I need someone willing to open his arms to all, regardless of wealth or poverty level, regardless of social circumstance. Do I think Palin is capable of doing that? No. Do I think that incapacity flies in the face of evrything I have been taught as a Christian to believe in? I do. I am voting my conscious this election season. I am voting my faith and my upbringing. I am voting for a man who will, I believe, work to support the widows and the children, as the Bible commands us to. I am voting for Obama. Any other choice would make me, well, a dissenter.