I've spent too much time reading a particular thread on another blog -- the bilious Republican rhetoric is corroding my soul just reading it -- I can't imagine how people who actually BELIEVE that crap manage to remain even moderately sane or moral. The last straw was someone taking issue with the assertion that he was "lucky" to be in the upper income brackets and that others were "unlucky." He claimed that luck had nothing to do with it, that he worked hard for his money, blah blah blah...
I just don't understand someone who believes there's no LUCK involved in being born a) in America, b) white, c) middle-class or upper-class, d) healthy, e) intelligent, f) to parents who helped foster in him self-esteem and confidence -- the list goes on. Sure, many people are born with no advantages and manage to survive -- fewer manage to thrive.
But for the most part, if you're living in America and you're rich and healthy, the chances are it was mostly about CHANCE. You CHANCED to be born American, white, healthy, intelligent, with good parents.
By CHANCE, you were someone who has managed not to be gravely injured in a car accident and then dependent on the largesse of the state for your survival.
By CHANCE, you were nurtured in your chosen field, given the right opportunities to succeed, advanced in the right company and were not laid off or outsourced.
By CHANCE, you had healthy children whose medical needs did not bankrupt you.
It's ALL luck. There are millions of people who, through no fault of their own, live in poverty, disease, unemployment -- desperate circumstances -- that, through no fault of their own, they have no way to pull themselves up out of by their "bootstraps." Millions of people, in fact, who don't have BOOTS.
THESE PEOPLE ARE OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN THE EYES OF THE GOD IN WHICH MOST OF YOU REPUBLICANS CLAIM TO BELIEVE. "Blessed are the poor..." MY ASS, you hypocritical, appalling, despicable excuses for Christians.
As for George's war -- "THOU SHALT NOT KILL."
As for George's love of the death penalty -- "THOU SHALT NOT KILL."
As for this reprehensible vilification of gays: "LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF."
I could go on, but I am developing a migraine considering the UNBELIEVABLE HYPOCRISY espoused in every tenet of the Republican, right wing, "Christian" mindset in GEORGE W. BUSH'S AMERICA.
SHAME ON YOU. SHAME ON GEORGE W. BUSH. I cannot WAIT till November, till John F. Kerry becomes the 44th President of th United States and I can once again begin to believe that our civilization stands a chance of redeeming itself.
Anyway, that's what I wanted to say on the other blog but decided instead to write here, where the choir just loves to be preached to. (Ack -- I saw no way to avoid ending that sentence with a preposition.)