I Dreamed Of A Teapublican

 

 

Just before I woke up this morning, I dreamed of a Teapublican. I am aware of her via social media. I will call her Lisa.

I write for the political blog Addicting Info, and I utilize various websites and public Facebook pages for content. Lisa is one of the many Teapublicans I follow. She is also aware of me and has said some pretty nasty and scathing things about me, so my association with her feels more personal, even though we’ve never met.  While following her, I have learned a little bit about who she is. She has a pretty good sense of humor. She has sadness in her life, which she has made public. She loves to laugh. She loves her family. But because she is a Teapublican, she also picks on people – some celebrities, some political, and I will grant her they are fair game. But when she picks on them, she becomes quite nasty. She uses hatred to ‘entertain’ and it clearly works with her Teapublican following. They latch on to her negativity and when I see it, I feel anger. I get very upset with how divided we are as a nation.

I often use sarcasm in my articles and blogs when writing about politics. I don’t believe I have used hatred or been the ‘mean girl’ and I do make an effort to promote voting and making sure I am truthful, as well as backing up my work with valid sources. I have found that Lisa also uses sources but many of them are very much like FOX. She likes to source Breibart and Drudge often and they are not always – or even often – reporters of the truth. But I digress.

In my dream, Lisa and I attended some kind of conference. It’s a bit fuzzy, so please forgive the fact I am not super-detailed, but I think the conference was not political and it gave me a chance to view her as a woman, a mother and a person who might be a friend of mine if the parties weren’t so divided. In the last part of the dream, we were on a bench and she had a cute animal on her head (it made sense at the time) and I was cooing to the little critter. I looked at her and felt love (not romantic, just to be clear) but in that moment, I didn’t see her politics at all. I recognized that we have differing views but I genuinely felt love for her as a human being. I remember feeling so sad that we were unable to really connect because our political passions kept us on different sides and frankly, I cannot stomach the hate and lies she preaches to her loyal followers.

I wish to add that neither side—the left or the right—are completely innocent or perfect. If you are familiar with my opinion and writing, you know that I am often sarcastic and get in my zingers. I am not afraid to call out the trolls and I say it like I see it. Often the other side sees that as offensive. But I don’t lie and I don’t promote hate. Tea Party folks have called me an “ugly liberal,” “ slut,” and  “ baby killer.” I have been accused of being part of the left’s fringe and my personal favorite—on Twitter, a woman said I was a “disgrace to humanity.”  I have an agenda: I want people to vote. Of course, I want everyone to vote Democratic down the line on November 6, 2012 but more importantly, I want EVERYONE to wake-up and get their butts to the voting booths and let’s see what shakes out. It should be about what the majority wants.

Getting back to the dream: Before I woke up completely, I continued to dream about Lisa. I dreamed about writing this blog. A strong feeling overcame me and I felt like for some reason, even if only for me, I needed write about the fact I felt love for a person who in my waking hours offends me. It’s not that I think it will make any real difference or that all of a sudden, everyone will come together in love but maybe it’s just an exercise in compassion and an opportunity to not bitch about what ‘the other side’ is doing.

I’m sure as my lovey-dovey morning fog wears off and the caffeine kicks in, I’ll be back to reading her posts with my jaw on the floor and a complete sense of disgust. Before that happens, I just want to immerse in the idea that underneath it all, we all just want to be loved and happy. Maybe if Lisa were happier, she would see things differently. I don’t know. I DO care. And I hope the U.S. is able to overcome all that divides us. I believe with some real effort, we can —and with a second term for Obama and a Democratic majority in Congress, we will. (Ha ha – had to get that in there!!!)

 

 

An Open Letter To The American People - America Is Dying

WTF America????

Is this the kind of country our forefathers envisioned?

Remember when life was kind of normal? It wasn't too long ago. It's not hard to pinpoint when the downfall of this country started. November 2000. The fixed election. And yes, it was fixed, they made a movie about it - Recount.

The Bush Administration. It wasn't George W. Bush. He didn't have enough intelligence. It was Rove and Cheney and they were/are ruled by people like the Koch Brothers and The Rockefellers. The people with big money. Money talks. George was a pawn in the game, chosen because he was 'likable." "The kind of guy you could have a beer with." And when the numbers didn't get him the win, they manipulated the system and boom, WE ALL ACCEPTED IT!

We accepted this man, even though we knew it was fraud because life was still good. Big screen TVs, new cars, homes, vacations. No one was uncomfortable so no one did anything other than bitch and complain. We made fun of our idiot President and the stupid things that came out of his mouth. This was where our focus was. NOT WHAT WAS GOING ON BEHIND THE SCENES. The bigger picture. The demise of the middle class and ultimately, the American way.

As Americans, we are so easily distracted. We have the attention span of a gnat and when we allow insignificant information like the size of Kim Kardashian's butt or the funny Facebook picture to over-shadow what's really important, we feed the cancer that is killing our beloved American pursuit of happiness. Maybe because it's easier to deal with than the fact we are losing the country we grew up in, that we loved, that offered us promise. Nobody wants to believe this but sticking your head in the sand is not the answer. Pretending everything isn't that bad is only making it worse.

For nine months in 1981, when I was 12, I lived in Moscow Russia. I saw communism with my own eyes. I hear Republicans screaming that Liberals are Socialist and Communist and they've succeeded in making people believe these words have the same definition. They do not. What I observed when I lived in Moscow was that people had NO choice. They were told where to work and how they could live. Seven people squeezed into a one or two bedroom apartment and slept in the kitchen by the stove for warmth. Societies under extreme constraint never last. Ever. It's not equal or fair to the majority and whether it's for economic reasons or because people finally can't take it anymore and decide to revolt, those societies fail. This is slowly happening here. Our choices, our freedoms are, one by one, being stripped away. Extremism NEVER works.

As a country, we have fallen victim to fighting against ourselves rather than uniting and fighting against those who are slowly and very successfully stealing our freedom.

The answer is much simpler than we are allowing it to be. WE are the answer. This is OUR country. What terrifies me is that we are becoming so divided, fighting amongst ourselves and not doing what's important to secure our own and our children's future. We are doing exactly what the ones who are out to cut the middle class want us to do. I honestly don't know if we've gone past the point of no return. Hatred, fear and ignorance are trumping truth, common decency and remembering what this country was supposed to be: a melting pot with people of all colors and all religions. Not just wealthy white Christians.

In February of this year an elderly woman, Hallie Jean Mayes Knauss Culpepper fell and refused to see a doctor because Fox News told her that "Obamacare" had death panels. This woman was not stupid. She had run two businesses in her youth. She was a lifelong Republican and her news source lead her to believe that she was in danger of being killed if she visited a doctor. She died days later. This story proves that we are failing. We are doing ourselves in by refusing to seek the truth and instead believing the propaganda from those who wish to dominate and control everything. Call me paranoid but take a look around people. Our country has changed for the worse in the last ten years and these changes are snowballing.

We can't find jobs, we don't have enough money to pay for our own health insurance, we have extreme debt, both as private citizens and as a nation. We don't trust each other. And it's just getting worse every single day. The GOP is fighting to destroy the middle class. They hate Obama and will do anything, including opposing the very ideas they came up with if Obama decides to move forward with those issues. They call him a “Muslim” to this day and the die-hard Tea Party members refuse to accept his birth certificate as legitimate, providing a platform for extremists like Orly Taitz. Bullies like Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter continue to further these lies. Coulter recently suggested that the right should now go after the Obama’s two young girls.

The responsibility lies with the people as a whole. Not an individual. It's not Rick Santorum or Mitt Romney, Ron Paul or even Barack Obama. None of these individuals are going to save this country from what is really happening. It's up to the American people. Either we stop hating each other and come together as a nation to have all the things that make life WORTH living or we continue to stew in our fear, our anger and our hatred and allow victory to those who want to create a country where the rich have all the power and the rest are left to serve. That is Communism. It's a decision YOU make to be tolerant. To work for the greater good for everyone. Otherwise, in ten more years we will be facing a very dim existence where no one is going have any choice, except the very few who have all the money.

I am not saying only the Liberals have the answer. Both parties have flaws. There have always been disagreements by the two parties. Before the Bush Administration, we were able to exist with compromise. Even centerist Republicans are saying their party is out of control and they don't like the direction their party has taken. It's not about Republicans against Democrats or the reverse. Barbara Bush was spot on when she said “I hate that people think compromise is a dirty word." “It’s not a dirty word.”

We all want the same things, no matter what political ideology we have. We all want good health care, an education, a nice home and some security, and then when we're old and no longer able to work, a system in place that takes care of us that we've paid into our whole working lives. Not hand-outs.

Educate yourself with the facts. Vote. Stop hating. Can we do this? Will we do this? Will YOU do this? It's really much simpler than we are making it. But we as a people must wake up and make the change ourselves. Otherwise, Hello Big Brother. Good-bye Freedom.

One person cannot provide the answer. It's each American choosing responsibility. Doing what's right for all of us. Not just a group or an individual. Not just a group or an individual. Vote. Participate. Volunteer and make sure that the GOP doesn’t steal the presidency again.

I ask this of you, if you choose to make a comment, make it productive. You can disagree but be civil and offer what it you can do that's positive and can help us unite rather than keep us divided.

Thank you for reading