Wednesday, September 10, 2008

WHERE ARE AMERICA'S PRIORITIES?

Can we have a serious talk - please? Well, I will spew and you can respond…..

In a time of:

- The highest energy costs (with temporary relief to appease us during the election)
- The economy in the sewer
- Soaring healthcare costs (the highest in history)
- A Republican lead illegal and unpopular war
- The diversion of our military from catching those behind 9/11
- Thousands of jobs being shipped overseas to fatten the wallets of the corporate bandits
- Eroding civil rights
- Record government deficits
- The warming of the planet
- Underfunded and inefficient school systems
- Republican corruption
- Our seniors choosing between food and medicine
- A decaying infrastructure
- Our veterans being treated with little or no appreciation and inefficient medical care
- Our friends around the world ignoring us – or worse
- A record trade imbalance
- Our family farms dying
- Unemployment on the rise

Why are John McSame and Sarah Pallid the new “IT” couple of the political world?

Are the American people so self-absorbed, and cynical, or too lazy, to understand the consequences of inaction? Do we care so little about our country, planet, children, elderly, and family and friends, that we would elect the old guy and the beauty queen?

See beyond the smoke and the mirrors people.

As the most successful and powerful nation in the world, does it all boil down to:

- Abortion
- Gay Marriage
- Illegal Immigration

Are these the only issues we are supposed to care about?

My Republican-leaning friends, do you not care about the elderly, poor, children and the planet? Is your hatred so deep for the queers, baby killers and fence jumpers that nothing else matters and it outweighs all the other issues?

Churches, and more specifically rabid pastors, ministers, and priests, are doing a huge disservice to their congregations when they spew hate and discrimination from their pulpits instead of preaching love, tolerance, economy of resources, and compassion.

What happened to love thy neighbor, and to use the old, and over-used, expression, “What Would Jesus Do?”

Jesus would not want us ignoring the planet – this glorious Eden made for us. He would not want us squandering all that was given to us so that the rich could enslave the weak and poor, and strip the planet – leaving it parched and barren. He would not appreciate the meek, infirm, youngest and the oldest among us being ignored or mistreated.

Many people, along with the planet, are being either judged, maligned, forgotten or disregarded, in His name.

Have our priorities skewed so far that all that matters is stopping the wet-backs at the border, the faggots from loving one another, and the baby murderers.

Since the corporate owned media is not scrutinizing the stances of our political leaders, or asking the difficult and uneasy question, we as citizen need to take over and do their jobs.

We all need to stand up and say, as I said in the first video I made, “Enough is Enough.”

America was created by dissenters and as citizens we need to question the priorities of our leaders and not just listen to the same “talking points” that are regurgitated over and over until we start to believe their propaganda to be the truth.

Read, listen, Act, and React!

A friend of mine recently told me that there are few differences between the two major parties and I have to publicly say WTF?s There are fewer similarities then there are differences.

At first glance there is a slight resemblance, but when you lightly scratch the surface it isn’t difficult to see the chasms - there are few issues that the two parties really agree upon.

What I find the most hypocritical is that for many years, one tenant of the Republican Party platform has been limited government involvement and intervention, but yet they are the same folks trying to intervene and take control of a woman’s body and also to legislate love and morality which includes writing discrimination into the Constitution of the United States.

These don’t sound like people who value the word of Jesus Christ or those who wish to remove the government from our lives.

This entry is the companion piece to something I wrote nearly a year ago “What Do Americans Value the Most,” which turned out to be the most “Googled” entry of mine, and has been seen by hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of random folks from not only in the United States, but around the world- particularly Canada and Europe.

One year after I wrote it, it is getting more “views” than it did when I first wrote it.

At present this piece is randomly searched for and viewed between 10 and 20 times each day. This piece continues to generate interest and after that one year, not much has changed in the political spheres.

The republicans continue to worship their two almighty’s – the dollar and Jesus – in that order. I know I am over-simplifying, but the two main factions of the party are the truly wealthy and the evangelical Christian.

What surprises me are those that do not fall into either category – the number of deaf, blind, cynical or just plain lazy folks that do not know what is in their best interest – those who continue to support the self-serving platform of hatred, discrimination, and lust for money, control and power.

The Democrats may not be perfect but their warts show, and their truths are evident and far from self-serving.

Weigh, meditate, and pray on the priorities. Not only those that effect you personally but those that effect others - in your neighborhood, the United States, and abroad.

I have to hope that in the end we will come to the realization that voting for a cleaner and safer country and planet, a country that values and protects the rights of all of it’s citizens (whether they be young, old, infirm, able bodied, black, white, gay, straight, female, male, wealthy, middle-class, or poor), a government does not dictate or legislate hatred and discrimination, is far better than the alternative.

If all you covet is money, a hatred for gays, illegal immigrants, and women who find themselves in a no-win situation and choose to have an abortion, then by all means stick with the shallow, dim and disingenuousness of John McSame and his bait-and-switch, stunt-casted VP hopeful Sarah Palin.

Just don’t come crying to me in four years. I will not be voting us into this mess!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

it is my hope, also, that America has a wake up call, and they put aside their fears and hatreds. we have a real struggle in challenging others to accept REAL CHANGE.
a very good friend of mine who was looking for inspiration in life decided to start attending church a few years ago. she sought out several churches to find one that "fit". in the last weeks the churches pastor was replaced. without missing a step, as if led by an agenda, the new pastor starts his sermon discussing politics. At the top of this agenda was much homophobic rhetoric. She couldn't believe her ears. How and why is the house of God spewing a hate message. truly disheartened by this she has stopped attending.
I feel proud of her for her convictions but also sad that she has lost an outlet of inspiration. I can only hope that more people stand up against the fear/hate mongers.
can we really withstand another administration that seems determined to remove ANY rights that we minorities have?

jon_duflo said...

Your argument is well put. There is a lot more to this country than gay mariage, border jumpers, and abortion. Personally abortion shouldn't even be an issue. It has already been through congress and passed that it is a womans right to choose, get over it! Lets start focusing on something a little more partical like the hundreds of people losing their jobs to foreign markets, the increasing cost to live, medicare for the elderly, affordable health care nation wide, and the bigest stop the war and mend ties with our alied countrys.

tammy said...

Chris, I agree with you 100%! I also keep asking everyone in my neighborhood, what the hell happened to seperation between Church and State, because every church I look at has some friggin light up billboard with some such hatefilled rant which in some way has something to say about which way God wants his Parishoners to vote. makes me sick!Maybe I'll start picketing the House of God next...

Sparroweye said...

Chris, I can only tell you that people like my born again sister in law and other born again friends think they are voting for the so called "christians" i.e. Republican candidates. Now, if you could somehow debunk that theory, you could sway their vote. My sister in law thinks Obama is some secret planted Muslim who will then take over the United States if elected. How can you respond to someone who's thinking is so flawed. And there are many more like her.