To be American, one must believe in Freedom, personal liberty and the duty to conduct society for the mutual benefit of all those in that shared society. I do not believe modern Republicans believe in this.
If you look back to 1930's Germany and Italy, you find a very similar mindset to modern Republicans and members of the Christian Right. They are intolerant of Democrats, Muslims, Homosexuals, and just about anyone who doesn't agree with them. They spend enormous resources to attack those whom they hate, and spout things they know are lies, and even hold onto bad ideas and policies and beliefs even when they know they are wrong.
They facts are clear that our economy and society have done better under Democrats, who are usually mostly elected after Republicans have made a mess of things. The Conservative Right will bring the economy down, raise poverty and crime and hurt our nation then chant blame upon the Democrats, and use "Liberal" as if it was an evil term, and all anyone has to do is to look at bar graphs of who was in power and when to see how crime and poverty and the deficit and inflation were doing to see who breaks things and who fixes them.
In an idealistic setting, a two party system between idealistic Democrats and Republicans, or Progressives and Conservatives, can be effective and beneficial. But between special interests and an agenda of corporate socialism and class warfare, where the most wealthy get the gravy while the poor and middle class are unfairly burdened, the ideals of our Constitution are not being served well, and neither are our people.
I didn't understand how Hitler rose to power, how the good people of Germany allowed that evil to take and hold power, until I watched America allow Bush to steal the election in 2000 and Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rove, and the rest of the power elite take power and then give America's wealth away and set up the deregulations that promoted and allowed the housing and economic crash that has us on the verge of a depression and events like the BP oil crisis, the rise of Iran as a threatening state, the post-Katrina New Orleans nightmare, the natural gas mining that is destroying homes and lives by fracing, the continued and expanded top down mining of coal, and how we have ignored global warming and the need of all Americans to have decent healthcare, education, and jobs. We have allowed the corporate and business interests to export too many jobs, just so the rich could make a few extra dollars.
And now that we have Democrats in power, Republicans and now the Tea Party crackpots come along and blame everything on the Democrats, who were warning and fighting against the problems that made this mess in the first place.
It is insane that anyone, let alone 1/4 of all Americans, could believe that our president is a Muslim and was not born in America. How ignorant have we become as a people? I have a hard time grasping that. I could run on example after example of how the "right" minded people are wrong, how they are modern day traitors.
Take a look at the Texas School Board, basically re-writing history and giving "creation" equal credence with natural selection. How the Patriot Act allowed trashing the Constitution and Civil Rights, how the Energy Act under Bush allowed the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts to be ignored, and how under Bush we committed war crimes and tortured people, demanded a war on terrorism and instead invaded Iraq, then watch oil go to near five bucks a gallon, while oil companies made record profits. How Katrina destroyed New Orleans because of many reasons, but how after that our people were left to fend for themselves, then in the war and after Katrina companies made loads of profit because of human suffering.
Then after the crash, Wall Street gets bailed out while homeowner after homeowner gets foreclosed upon, and with that bailout money the people who caused the mess get sickening bonuses.
The fact is that the rich make money no matter what. Republicans will say that they don't want regulation of any business, and not to tax profits (capital gains), and to reduce programs for the working class and poor, but they are the first in line when they suck all the wealth out of the economy and send us into crisis. In the 80's it was the Savings and Loan Crisis, and the taxpayers bailed out the filthy rich, and they did it again, and got bailed out again, and then have the nerve to blame Democrats. They ignore their culpability, lie about it, wave a flag and demand to have their way like spoiled children and sell their views on lies and fears and with hate. Our Constitution demands that we "promote the General Welfare", because our founders knew that we all do better when we have concern for and care for each other.
This is why republicans are traitors to me. They would, if they could get away with it, set up social apartheid. They would live in gated communities and remove any sort of free healthcare, and if they could I'd dare to say they'd do the same to college grants and maybe even public education. I could see it, the logic is there to assume that.
The fact is that humans can be greedy and will break or bend the rules, and this is something shared Democrats as well as Republicans. The difference is at least the Democrats try to do something for the working class, and understand it is the prosperity of the middle class that drive real growth and makes society healthy.
I think some people turn to reactionary fanatics who would deny liberty because they are in fear or have been brainwashed into the belief that persecution of those they fear or who are not like them will somehow solve all their problems. The fact is also that most people are slothful and ignorant followers, and are too lazy to get informed or act to make the world a better place. They, and we, have become complacent, lazy, and demand gratification without being willing to work for the rewards we seek.
The conservatives will say they hate illegal aliens, but they are the first ones to hire them and to allow illegals to drive down the fair wage rate. The most warlike and hateful people I know are usually right-wing Christians. The most ones who are the most abusive of our Constitution usually seem to be Conservatives and Republicans. Our judges and courts only pretend to protect the rights of the accused, and our schools are more concerned about making sure their bureaucrats and contractors are well paid than in teaching our kids. I agree, the far left, the extremists, are just as bad. Democrats made the mistake of allowing any "liberal" cause to be grafted to it, to get a soapbox moment, and the idea of being politically correct has hurt Democrats more than anyone, but even though my personal beliefs are more conservative and my values family values, even though I hate the idea of burning the American flag, or an abortion, or gay marriage, I must, as an American, defend the right of others to do, by choice or conscience, those things.
A real American has to take a bite of something that tastes bad and swallow it without much complaint, or he they are a hypocrite.
My problem with republicans is that they know they are wrong and refuse to admit it, that they know they are out to hurt the poor and middle class and benefit the rich, and that they are sick enough to believe that making the rich so much richer will help anyone except the most wealthy of us.
Republicans would make species extinct to put in a luxury condo and a dock for a yacht, or allow eminent domain to remove people and relocate them to sell the land to private developers for a golf course. They believe wealth is God, and damn anyone who isn't rich, because they are not worth doing anything for. They as such abuse and twist laws and use clout and economic and political to insure that their attacks of class warfare work for them.
The fact remains that we do not need a welfare state, but we do need to sometimes subsidize those of us who are unable to provide for themselves or are disabled or undereducated. We have a responsibility to help those of us who need it to better themselves and do their best, and for those unwilling to make themselves better, if there is a clear intent not to work towards making a better life or being a decent productive citizen, sometimes help should have a limit and there should be some consequences. There must, in society, be responsibilities that people must live up to. No one deserves a free ride, but when people need help, there should not be a waiting list for it either. No one should ever die because they couldn't afford healthcare, and no one in this nation should ever go hungry.
I believe a Democrat would have a degree of empathy that a Republican would not. I believe republicans are more self-righteous as a rule, and Democrats are generally more considerate and understanding.
I believe the Tea Party is not far away from the early Nazi party, and that for the most part they are the most insane sociopaths our nation has seen since the McCarthy types in the 50's.
Just look at the bar graphs of things like poverty levels and crime rates and economic growth and the deficit and see who was in power and when. The answers are clear. Listen to any Republican or neo-con Christian and you can hear the intolerance and hate and insanity and the flat out denial of reality. You can show any one of them absolute proof of anything and lay it in front of them and they will still deny it, or lie about the circumstances or facts.
If Jesus came back today, the conservative I speak of would arrest him and execute him if they could.
Who does it hurt if a gay couple calls their union a marriage. I think they have the same right to be as happy or unhappy as the rest of us, or to serve in the military and die for their country if that's what they are called to do. If I believe in freedom of religion and speech, then what is wrong with a mosque and community center being near the World trade Center Ground Zero. What kind of bigot or hateful fool would dent this most sacred American right? Why is progressive heathtcare reform that makes it better for everyone such a threat? Is it maybe that pharmaceutical and insurance companies wind up raking in less profits?
And Wall Street? Obama saved our automobile manufactures and is trying to make green energy a priority, and has been on the ball and done a better job with a mess than anyone could have expected, yet no matter what the proof is republican would never admit this truth. They try by any means to sabotage anything Democrats try to do. They had their shot and screwed things us, and every time they do make a mess they blame it on Democrats, and have hurt America and most Americans every time they take the wheel. carter had to fix the Nixon mess, and Clinton had to fix the Reagan and Bush senior mess. Roosevelt had to fix the Hoover mess, which was a full blown depression. Now Obama needs to fix the Bush mess, and people need to wake up and understand that if we don't make and keep making progressive and fundamental changes then we may all be doomed, because yes, global warming is real, and yes, we have enemies that are a direct result of our hypocrisies, and yes, our runaway greed and allowing Wall Street and Big Business to have a field day had destroyed the middle class, and if we do not start making things again in an enlightened way, educating our kids, building for the future, and taking care of each other, then our future looks very questionable.
