I am not a democrat.

I am not a republican. I am an American. As Utah Phillips says, "Loyalty to the country always, loyalty to the government when it deserves it." My government has made choices that do not represent my values. I dislike the concept of pre-emptive war, torture of any kind, holding people without due process, and politics in the name of religion. But I love the variety of the american people. I love the chemistry of a good debate between passionate believers. I believe that our differences make us stronger, our diversity is a challenge that forces us out of our comfort zone and into bigger worlds and better places.

There is a lot of rhetoric around the upcoming election. Rhetoric that tries to draw unswerving lines between liberal and conservative, republican and democrat. This rhetoric is often about fear, their fear of losing power, and less often about what we actually need, which is leadership that will look beyond the limits of dogma and remember that when the election is over, we are all americans.