The Republicans have been waging a war against liberals for at least the last forty years. They have demonized us, they have shamed us into silence, and they have spewed their hateful rhetoric to avoid discussions about real solutions to very real and pressing problems.
It's true. I am sick of the lack of real political discourse in this country. I am tired of being called a socialist or communist for my political views. I am troubled by the claims that my support for the gay/transgender communities is to go against the will of God. I find disturbing their fears of anyone who isn't white. I am very uncomfortable with their ability to marginalize the poor. I have a real problem with their claims that unfettered capitalism is the altar on which we all should worship. And I am furious because, we as liberals, have let conservatives marginalize us and our core beliefs.
My America is obviously not their America, and in another time or place that would have been okay, but today they want to shape America in their image. It would be an American in which the poor would have no voice, no opportunity to rise above circumstance to succeed. Their America would be a place where gun control would not exist and everyone would be allowed to have assault rifles. Their America would be an America in which women would have no access to family planning and abortion. Their America would be an America with no safe air and water, no safe food, no safe pharmaceutical drugs, or devices. Civil rights and labor laws would become a footnote in a history text and we all would lose the rights we previously took for granted.
They have slowly made us second class citizens because of our views. They resort to name-calling and talking points, because they are unable or unwilling to engage in thoughtful or meaningful discussion on the issues challenging this country. They are mouthpieces to their rich overlords and will say anything to keep their masters happy, and will leave the rest of us swinging in the wind.
To a large extent, it is capitalism that created this quagmire. It allowed corporations and the very rich to undermine the very foundations on which this country was created. It allowed them to buy influence in legislature, regulatory agencies and elections. Money has created a different version of reality through the manipulation of the media; and much of the truth will never reach the general American public. It means that my voice will likely be ignored by some politician who is a shill for the Koch brothers or Monsanto or Bank of America.
The conservatives in the country claim to love America, but conservatives love those who are white and Christian; and they love anyone who panders to them like fawning sycophants. The rest of us are the enemy, minions of Satan who will surely send this country to hell in a hand basket if we are allowed to have our way. They say they want to make America great again and that liberals can't be true patriots because we have different views and beliefs. Yet it is the conservatives who want to strip away the protections, the social programs that have historically benefited so many Americans.
But what would an America shaped solely by Republican policy look like?
1. No minimum wage.
2. No social security and medicare. That includes disability.
3. No housing assistance for the poor.
4. No family planning or access to birth control.
5. No taxes for the wealthy.
6. No new roads.
7. No repairs on existing roads or bridges.
8. No maintenance of the electrical grid.
9. No rights for immigrants.
10. No safe drinking water.
11. No clean air.
12. No unpolluted earth.
13. No access to medical care for the poor.
14. No food stamps.
15. No safe conditions for workers.
16. No protection from discrimination or harassment.
17. No science taught in schools that is contrary to Creationism.
18. No limits on the number of hours employees would be required to work.
19. No limits on defense spending.
20. No restraints on the monitoring of U.S. citizens.
21. No assistance or restitution for workplace injuries.
22. No gun control.
23. No free speech, unless of course, you are a corporation.
24. No privacy protections.
25. No voter protections.
26. No right of habeas corpus.
27. No alternative energy initiatives.
28. No healthcare for those with pre-existing conditions.
29. No healthcare for those unable to afford insurance.
30. No recourse for consumers injured or killed by faulty products.
31. No recourse for consumers injured or killed by tainted food and medicine.
32. No privacy rights.
33. No protection from predatory lending.
34. No Head Start programs.
35. No government day care programs.
36. No welfare safety net.
37. No unemployment insurance.
38. No national parks.
39. No endangered species protections.
40. No food labeling.
41. No farm conservations rules.
42. No wildlife protections.
43. No protection from corporate malfeasance.
44. No freedom of religion.
45. No freedom from religious persecution.
It is clear to me that the Republicans are trying to create a new system of slavery in which we are all the groveling peasant property of the Koch's and their ilk. There is a class war, and the Republicans are out to win. Too often, we let ourselves be cowed when we should have made a stand for what we believed in. Too often we compromised, believing that Republicans wanted the same outcome, a better government, a better social net, a better economy; when the whole time they were scheming to kill America as we know it.
They were using our compromises against us and marginalizing us to engineer a society in their image. They said labor unions were no longer necessary; that workers were duly protected by law. Then they did the same with immigrants, and affirmative action, and different ethnic groups, and financial regulation, and women, and so on. And we believed them, but they were lying. And they were lying with their fingers crossed behind their backs.
From now on, I intend to call them out for the social-engineering, election stealing, Koch pandering, faux-Christian, propagandizing, manipulative, lying politicians they are.
They are the real traitors. They no longer have our best interest at heart, preferring instead to sell us out to the highest bidder. It is a game of money and power to them and they want everyone else to lose.
We need to re-embrace the causes of the poor, the immigrants, the elderly, the disabled, of women, of minorities, of religious freedom and of labor. We must do it without hesitation and without restraint. We must do it now. We must be vocal. We need to stand for all of these and more. And we must remember that the Republican party is working tirelessly to derail us once again; using any means and all tied up in a nice pretty bow of patriotism and God.
I hope it's not too late.
