I wasn't raised like this. I wasn't raised to let a political party think for me. I wasn't raised to even let our church think for me. I was raised to think for myself. There is, of course, a practical need to join a party. With the Electoral College staring us in the face, it has, in recent years, boiled down to a reluctant choice between two parties. We might be better served with a Parliamentary system in which many parties could duke it out and leaders of Parliament must change when they can't get a consensus.
What is happening to us, however, is that we see these two parties layering—like stones in a wall. The parties are made up of those who have similar ideas but not necessarily exactly duplicate ideas. Then there are those in the middle who like to feel independent, but on Election Day they are forced to get off of their fence and make choice. I am a Democrat because I prefer to see myself as a democrat with a small d. I don't agree with everything the Democratic Party professes, but I long ago gave up the elitism I see in far right politics. I was a Republican until the Nixon years when I saw them lie and break the law in order to achieve their purposes. Democrats have done that too, but it's the small d that holds me there.
As David Sirota, journalist said in a recent article "The Truth about the Me-First Crowd," in the brash, loud actions of the Tea Party people we begin to see the real face of the far right-wing of the Republican Party. One of my friends said, "Just don't touch my insurance to pay for some illegal immigrant." Obviously, Obama knows that immigration reform has got to be part of the whole in order to keep down costs.
A "more perfect union" and "we the people" translates for this group as doing what their crowd defines as a more perfect union. There is no "we" about many of the actions they espouse. My 'we' is larger than the 'we' of many on the far right. It doesn't scare me that this country isn't like it was 30 years ago. There were lots of bad issues 30 years ago. It was not all peaches and cream. We should be proud that our country is one of the few places in the world where a black could be elected to the presidency.
But let's check our little d here. Our national trends toward social spending in the last twenty years by state have consistently leaned toward the states with the largest minority populations having the least social spending. Why? Americans, in general, have cut down on universal social spending since Nixon's presidency. Private beneficence seems to be more preferable to many Americans. Thru such giving they can feel good, please their God and yet avoid helping those people they see as lazy and shiftless. Race and elitism has gone underground, but it is still there. But charity is different than giving freely to any in need. It makes one feel sanctimonious but it allows one to also be selectively philanthropic.
I have wondered; would we have such a raucous argument against a health bill if Obama was not a black president? Is part of this anger a reaction against his apparent lack of "knowing his place", "Having uppity ideas" or the fear that he wants to take white prestige away from the whitest? I just ask the question. I just wonder.
I've been very critical here, but I liked the old Republican Party. I loved the oratory of Senator Dirkson, and the security one feels with a well-run government. I liked Eisenhower's stand on anti-war ideas, and the solid base I saw in his presidency. We do need to keep Republican ideas that are good and encourage that party to find its way back to logic and sound thinking. There needs to be a cap on malpractice insurance, and we need to make sure that the old and the crippled are cared for and that cuts are not made at their expense. I cannot see America becoming a Logan's Run state. Remember that movie. When a citizen reached a certain age a bright spot appeared on their hand and they were removed and destroyed; one way of dealing with scarcity. We cannot put our needy on ice flows. In this I agree with the far-right.
So, all I hope to do here is to encourage my readers to use logical reasoning, read for facts and don't let monied interests tell you what to do or say. If they do, you are being used, whether you are a Republican or a Democrat.
Pick and choose. Make a list of the facts of the bill that you like and don't like. Avoid generalizations. Write your congressman, email your friends, visit your Congressman's local office and voice your concerns. Don't go there just to scare the bejeebers out of him or her. That's un-American and does not fall within your right of freedom of speech. Let us use our heads—not for butting one another, but for thinking logically. Take care, one and all. And most of all, ask yourself, if your God looks down on us, would he be proud? Let's ask ourselves that question.
