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I have been having this back and forth email "debate" with a friend who is a RW. Every time I send her an article or tell her to research something, she always comes back with yes, but,but,but, and then proceeds to repeat RW talking points she heard on Faux news. I finally got tired of this game since it was obvious she wasn't really interested in the facts,:banghead: and sent her this rant. Haven't heard from her in 2 weeks :woohoo:
· I consider myself a left leaning independent, and so-
· I believe in the rights guaranteed in the first ten amendments to the Constitution, and that for an elected official to ignore or subvert these basic rights, for whatever reason, is a form of treason. The oath of office that the President takes says that he will, “to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution Of The United States Of America”.
· I believe in the Separation of Church and State. Thomas Jefferson coined the phrase” wall of separation between Church and State”. History is replete with examples of the bad results that occur when politics and religion mix, and the constitution specifically forbids a religious test for public office.
· I believe that a woman’s decision to have or not have a child should be between herself, her mate, her doctor, and whatever god she believes in. I don’t personally think that abortion should ever be used as a casual method of birth control, but there are enough unwanted children in this world and I believe that any argument that proposes to protect the fetus but gives no thought to the child after birth is cruel and hypocritical.
· I believe it is the height of patriotism to challenge the government when you think it is wrong, especially when it comes to sending men to war.
· I believe it takes a strong middle class to sustain a working democracy, and when that is undermined by economic policies which favor the additional accumulation of wealth by the already super wealthy, these policies should be seen for the power grab that they are, and the perpetrators of those policies should be thrown out of office as quickly as possible.
· I believe that Unions are essential to maintain the balance of power between labor and management, and that Unions have been the backbone of progress in working conditions, pay, and benefits that have lifted this country to prosperity.
· I believe that the job of government is to provide services that we cannot provide for ourselves and to protect the citizenry from harm physically, politically, and economically. Today’s world is very complicated in many ways, and individuals, no matter how diligent or knowledgeable they may be, cannot know everything there is to know about every aspect of even common events. When we buy a house, we get an inspector to insure us that the house is sound, and we get a lawyer to make sure we are not swindled. But we have to trust these people, and when that trust is violated, we need government to provide a remedy through oversight, regulations, and, ultimately the courts.
· I believe that without stringent government oversight, the marketplace becomes a dog eat dog, devil take the hindmost exercise in greed and corruption which ultimately causes pain and suffering to those left on the bottom due to no fault of their own.
· I believe that we, both individually and through the government, have an obligation to help those less fortunate than ourselves. Too many are born into this world with literally nothing, and it diminishes each of us when we stand by and do nothing. I believe that government has the obligation to help all its citizens equally to lead a more productive and fulfilling life, regardless of race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation.
· I believe that public education is not only essential to create and informed citizenry, but is the ladder upon which those born into poverty and ignorance have historically climbed to better themselves and their futures. Those who seek to destroy public education through various schemes such as vouchers and tax credits to attend private or parochial schools really seek to keep the lower classes “in their place” by starving the public schools of funds, and creating an inferior educational system. Separate is not equal!
· I believe that we should have a universal health care system. We are the only industrialized nation in the world that does not, and if you look at world statistics, you will see that we are nowhere near the best in longevity or infant mortality, two main measures of how effective a health care system is. Insurance companies typically spend 10% percent of each premium dollar on administration costs while Medicare spends only 1%. Universal health care is not socialized medicine, as some would have you believe. Doctors would not work for the government but would be paid by a single payer. Less paperwork, less waste, more time for patient care.
Bottom line: While I know that politicians of both parties have been corrupted by power and greed, I generally believe that the principles of the Democratic Party are much closer to my own.
Democrats believe in a strong middle/working class with the ability to earn a living wage and live in decent housing and the right of workers to join a union.
Republicans are anti-union, and anti middle class unless they can tax them.
Democrats believe in strong, fully funded Public Education.
Republican seek to destroy public education and replace it with private and religious schools by voucher and tax credit schemes.
Democrats believe in the Separation of Church and State.
Republicans believe that our laws should be based on the bible(what they won’t tell you is whose bible) and that religion should be a major part of public life( but whose religion?) .These people are no better than the Taliban in Afghanistan. After all, that’s exactly what they want too.
Democrats believe in a woman’s right to chose.
Republican believe they have the right to legislate a woman’s body. It might surprise you to know that many religions, including Judaism, do not see abortion as murder and don’t want someone else’s belief system to become law.
Democrats believe in three separate and equal branches of government, not an executive dictator.
Republican, who were in total control of the congress for six years, did nothing to curb Bush’s power grab and excesses, not to mention his shredding of the Constitution.
Democrats welcome people of all colors, religions, national origin and sexual orientation without discrimination.
Republican have made it clear that while they may tolerate “people of color” because they need their votes, they are not really welcome. If you don’t believe me, look at pix from the Repub. convention. How many brown or black faces do you see? And gays;
Fuggedaboutit.
Democrats believe in a strong national security, they just don’t believe we have to shred the “Bill of Rights” to insure it. If, in order to defeat the enemy, we give up those freedoms that have made us a great and admired country worldwide, then we have already lost. Remember what ole’ Ben Franklin said about freedom and security.
Certainly, if I ever had any doubts, these last eight years have erased them. I am absolutely convinced, without a shadow of a doubt that George W. Bush will go down as the worst president in US history for so many reasons they would take volumes to list. Actually, they already have.
John McCain voted with Bush 90% of the time. A 10% “maverick” just aint good enough.
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