I know too many people who are voting Republican because they think that the Republicans will uphold their family values, protect the holiness of their marriages, protect their dubious freedoms, keep them employed at healthy corporations, make the price of gas come down, keep their stock dividends high, cause the sun to shine and the birdies to tweet, and bring back "Morning in America."
How do I tell them that it ain't so, Joe? How do I tell them that the Republicans in office and running for office hold only their own values - getting money and power for themselves - in esteem? This video might help.
I'm writing this diary to encourage everyone to go to the I'm Voting Republican web site to see a YouTube video. The site is http://imvotingrepublican.com/ and the video was sent to me by a Republican friend who thought it was twisted logic. I sent it on, because if the values rather sarcastically depicted in the video weren't actually traditional Republican material, it wouldn't be funny. And it is funny.
The Republican Party as of and after Reagan has been a party of the wealthy, by the wealthy, and for the wealthy. Their values include making money and nothing more than that, and they've used everything in their power (and in their wallets) to promote their making of more and more money. The Republican pitchmen have played every potential audience like violins, pandering to every perceived need other than genuine human needs. For example:
1. I have an Aunt who votes Republican because she thinks it's better for her stocks. She has Exxon stock (disclaimer: she gave me some). However, she's in New York City and has never driven a motor vehicle, so she doesn't see the $4+ that people like me have to pay for gas. Somehow, she seems to be willing to give people like Lee Raymond gigantic wads of dough ($400 million) to go away, as long as she gets that 40-cent-per-share dividend. She has been convinced that the christian evangelicals she's voting for give a damn about an elderly Jewish lady with stock.
2. I have a nephew-in-law who's a fireman. His department - a government-funded organization - pays for his health care, but he's vigorously against "socialized medicine." He has been convinced that although he takes "socialized medicine" whenever he goes to the doctor, "socialized medicine" is evil. When I tried to point out that "socialized medicine" is nothing than government-paid health care, he accused me of playing word games. Samuel Johnson, forgive him. He has been convinced to ignore the basic fact that insurance companies' profits are supported by Republican officeholders who themselves get "socialized medicine" at the expense of the rest of us.
3. My Mom, an elderly Jewish lady, is afraid of black people. She's decided that it's a tough call between McCain's pandered-to evangelical base and Obama's wife. She knows one thing about Obama's campaign - yep, that one infamous sound bite about his wife being proud of her country for the first time. The Republicans have played up her irrational fears, smeared a candidate's wife, managed to ignore McCain's wife's drug addiction and brewery fortune, managed to ignore McCain's many comments about not loving his country until he was a POW, and uber alles, somehow convinced my Mom that Obama's wife's one comment outweighs everything else in Obama's candidacy. Although her daughter's job was outsourced overseas, she has been convinced that corporations that can do whatever they want are good for America. If corporations make money, she'll make money.
4. An evangelical anti-war woman I work with is sure that McCain and his Republicans will do the right thing. She's also absolutely against gay marriage, but is unable to point to even one hetero marriage that has been affected by a gay marriage. To add insult to injury, her son (in his thirties) has never had a girlfriend, but she's positive it's a genetic hormone deficiency. He couldn't possibly be gay. She will vote for Republicans to ensure that her church's idea of family values will be upheld - by a divorced man. She thinks that education does need better funding, but can't make the connection that the uneducated adults we serve got that way partly because Republican-funded schools didn't have enough teachers and educational supplies to educate every child. She's been convinced that the "rich jerks" of the Republican Party actually care about her Wal-Mart-employed son and her religious notions.
Grumble, grumble, grumble. There are many, many other things in that cute video about Republican values - but I fear that the bottom line for Republicans still is... well... the bottom line.
Addendum: I noticed - after publishing the poll, of course - that I can't type "voting." Sorry 'bout that...