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I was thinking about this last night during a huge bicker-fest at my Mom's. Disclosure--my immediate family is extremely diverse. Practically every one of us is a member of two or three discriminated-against groups of people--Black, mixed-race, Disabled, GLBT, Female, Poor, Atheist, Jewish, among others. Ever since this primary started, we've all been arguing with each other, albeit in a more civil fashion than the typical GD-P argument because...well...we love each other.
Anyway, tonight we were arguing yet again (big surprise) and my sister made an interesting observation during a frustrated moment. She said, "I don't know why we're all so pissed at each other--those asshole Republicans are the ones we should be pissed at. They're the ones who made it so that we've all been shit on by the system, and now we're just fighting about who's been shit on more. It's stupid." I think she'd have done better to say "conservatives", but otherwise...well...yeah!
I don't say this often, but my sister was 100% right. Those asshole conservatives have created such an enormous amount of rage on our side because they have marginalized and persecuted so many of us that all of us feel like *our* problems are the Worst, and should be addressed First, damnit. But when you strip away the infighting, the truth is amazingly clear--we've ALL been crapped on by conservatives. It does me no good to get pissed off at some of my family members for not seeing things my way; they've been hurt every bit as much as I have. They are not the enemy. The conservatives are.
They're the ones who've made it so that I can't marry my partner of nine years. They're the ones responsible for the racist shit my sister and brother-in-law endure on a daily basis. They're the ones who stripped away the money that paid for my older sister's home health aide (she has cerebral palsy, and is in a wheelchair), thus forcing her to lose a big chunk of her treasured independence. They're the ones who want to strip away my mother's Food Stamps and jeopardize her Social Security. Every injury that my family has suffered can be laid squarely at the door of the American conservative movement--the ones who just can't freaking *stand* it that they're forced to share a country with people like my family.
I'm under no illusions; I know that many of us have been hurt so badly, for so long, that it seems impossible to heal from it. But when you trace these issues back to the source, it becomes clear that they are the ones to blame. Not us. We're shredding each other over ideological subtleties that pale in comparison in the enormous atrocities inflicted upon all of us by them.
Not many folks want to hear this sort of thing right now, and that's fine. But when the dust settles and we have a candidate, please don't walk away because you feel like you "lost". It's not about winning or losing; it's about sending somebody to the White House and then holding them accountable. If the candidate you support doesn't win, it doesn't mean that your plight is being ignored by America. It just means that somebody has to go first. We're like starving people snarling at each other over who gets to eat the first bite, and completely missing the most important point--we're about to eat, dammit! Our side is gonna win this thing and start Righting the fucking Wrongs!
Come on...take a minute and celebrate with me! :party: :woohoo: :yourock:
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