Reply #45: Greetings, Tod..... [View All]

[democrank]

It`s possible for Democrats and moderate Republicans, Libertarians, Independents to find middle ground from which to launch a unified effort to make this a better place. You could cite crazed Hollywood elites to strengthen an anti-Democrat position. I could cite crazed Hollwood elites to strengthen an anti-Republican position. You could say Boortz is tops, I could tell you I prefer Amy Goodman on Democracy Now. That`s the beauty of it. The problem comes when either side adopts talking points that have no basis in reality, then spreads that stuff around like it was factual.

It`s the hypocricy that gets me. There are Democrats fighting and dying in Iraq as I write. I know some of them. If you were to do an in-depth study of members of Congress, you`d find many, many Democrats with military (and combat) service. Yet, many of the elites in the Republican party never served, even though they question the patriotism of Democrats and our party`s willingness to defend this country. Some of the country`s most vocal rightwing supporters of the war in Iraq chose NOT to serve when it was their turn. Rush Limbaugh never served. Sean Hannity never served. Dick Cheney got FIVE deferments during the Vietnam War. The list of Republican no-shows is very, very long. Democrats have in the past and will continue to defend this country. Period.

Democrats I know believe that corporations shouldn`t be treated better than people. If the CEO of a corporation can get $23,000,000 a year in salary, then the company can damn well afford a decent wage and reasonable benefits for everyone else.

I don`t want the environment to be destroyed either. I know that the balance between environmental protection and economic growth is difficult. I don`t want all the loggers in my village to lose their jobs. That`s why in my state we`ve reached a compromise. Bottom line...we all care about the state. On the other hand, I don`t want some "self-regulating" polluter to be able to dump crap in a low income neighborhood where the people don`t have the means to fight back.

On abortion. I`ve never had one. Don`t even like the idea. My adopted son and my biological daughter would tell you that nothing in the world means more to me than children. But...I never want the government to tell me what I can and can not do with my body. This, like religion, is a personal matter. The government should have no say in it.

I`m an old-fashioned liberal. Look it up in the dictionary sometime. You might be surprised. I was raised in abject poverty and worked like a dog my whole life. I would give my last dollar to a hungry child or a homeless vet. That`s why I belong to the "we" party and not a "me" party. When an AOWL aristocrat can stand before his kingdom and pretend he`s a common rancher hero, my blood starts to boil. When a president of this country can pre-screen an audience so tax-paying Democrats are kept out of his so-called "town meetings", I get mad. When our government can lie about reasons for a war that killed tens of thousands, I want to scream. When torture planes are piloted to other countries on order of my government, yet citizens are told "we don`t do torture", I want to throw up. When Dick Cheney can divvy up a map of Iraqi oilfields long before September 11th, I scratch my head. When Republican leaders can infer God is a Republican and the flag belongs to only one party, I just about want to drop on my knees and give thanks I`m a Democrat.