Another reason why I'd vote for Obama if I could

I'll set aside (as I do from time to time) the poetry mandate of my blog to comment on significant world events. Obama's recently stated his support for same-sex marriage. Of course, religious groups everywhere and people with virulent social conservative agendas will feel stupidly energized as they begin to thrash out what is essentially a civil rights issue along purely religious grounds. There's no doubt in my mind that same-sex marriage is the single most significant social issue in North America today. And that, in this and other areas, Canada's already taken the enlightened path.

Obama also fought tirelessly for universal health care (and managed to get some version of ObamaCare passed in the Congress), championing the still unpopular idea that government ought to ensure that everyone get equal access to medical facilities and affordable health care insurance. The fate of government-run care rests with an important Supreme Court ruling to come shortly.

Sadly, Obama may become a one-term president since he's been saddled with the consequences of a horrendous economic melt-down begun with the Bush years. And now it looks as if Romney's hellbent on turning the upcoming presidential campaign into a fundamentalist side-show. It may very well be the last time I'll see an American leader inspired solely by a sense of dignity and fairness.

I applaud the president's courage and vision, again. If I were American I'd campaign tirelessly for a president who's come closest to realizing stateside what Canadians have been led long ago (by the great Pierre Trudeau) to call the "just society". Here's to four more years of Barack Obama!