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I wrote this and sent it to the online newspaper, chattanoogan.com. They did publish it as a rebuttal to a teabagger, then promptly buried it to a back page. It still got some responses. I wanted to share it with you guys.
The tea party says they want to take the country back. I am very curious as to what is meant by that. Should we take the country back 2 years, five years, 30 years, 60 years, or all the way back to the wild west and beyond? Tell me how much back do you really want to go? I grew up in the changing world where I was a part of realizing women's rights, freedom of speech rights, and the right to protest wars we didn't agree with. I remember the civil rights police actions and the atrocities that were done to human beings trying to stand up for their rights. Or maybe you mean back to 1960 when girls at school were made to get on their knees in order to see if their hem line touched the floor? Do you think we would all be better off if we went back to times like 1952 when the democratic party was in control of the southern states? Or how about 1946 when the Pledge of Allegiance didn't contain the phrase "under god"? How about back to the 1900's when immigration was booming and many of our parents came to the United States to have a better life. Or maybe to 1863 when "in god we trust" wasn't on our coins. Maybe they think we should go back to when slavery, wife beating, and rape was the norm and people treated people like property. Or maybe they mean back to tyranny and terror, when government spending was for wars and not for the welfare of the American people. Or do they mean back to the time of the pilgrims, when we were all the invading immigrants? Or maybe back to when as a nation, we acquired Arizona and made a treaty with the indigenous people allowing them to cross the border without papers. If the people of Arizona realized that their leaders had set them up for a prison scheme, how would they feel? I find it so funny that they keep saying the federal government was not doing their job, not realizing that John McCain is their federal government. Yet they welcome him back.
Or maybe they mean back from the Americans that put this President in office? "Progressives" is the term often used. Progressive usually means to progress; to grow, to learn, to succeed, to go forward. If the tea party's beef is with the progressives, then does that mean they want to regress? With all the faux noise it is not easy to hear the successes. Many Republicans as well as tea partiers are scoffing at the stimulus, and at the same time submitting requests for their state telling how many jobs it can provide. The Republicans want to stifle any success or progress, but take credit when it happens. Even our illustrious Bob Corker voted no to the stimulus, then tried to take the credit in Springfield when it helped save jobs. And whether tea partiers like it or not, they are repeating the same talking points the republicans are, although a bit crazier. Maybe they think we should go back to a time when sixty six million people spoke their voice. That is how many people voted for President Obama. That is more than the number that voted for Gore in the 2000 election where he literally won. Don't forget, over 1 million voters in Tennessee voted for President Obama. Or maybe they want to go back to when we were lied to about why we simply must go to war. Should we go back to before the new healthcare law passed? Back when sick people and children were treated like trash and dropped when they got sick. Back to when women wouldn't get a mammogram because anything found then became a pre-existing condition or maybe to when being abused by your husband was a Pre- existing condition. It is ironic that it was the Republicans that demanded the insurance mandate, but then voted no on the legislation. But surprise, they vote no on everything. They vote no on education, supporting the troops, and aid to people that they helped put out of work. Or maybe they think the student loan program should still be run by the corporations. We knew when we elected this president there would be backlash from the elites and lobbyist trying to control the country and the money.
I know the tea partiers are mad. But I think the anger is misguided. If you look very close and follow the money, the tea party "progressed" by the use of corporate money. It may have felt like a grass roots effort, but the money and signage showed it to be an arm of the status quo elite and same lobbyists that see themselves losing a grip on the American public. I have no doubt that there are many good people in the tea party that really just want to change things for the better. But being a pawn to the media machines is not the way to go. Calling for little or no government is like wishing to live in Somalia. Calling for no taxes is also a call for no roads, schools, police, fire fighters, or the right to recourse when you are done wrong.
There are a few things I would like to go back to. I want to turn on my tv and hear truth out of the news. I think we shouldn't be able to tell which party our news anchor belongs to. Back to a time when a Saudi couldn't own controlling interest in a faux news channel to sway people with. Back to a time when Christians thought the separation of church and state was necessary to protect them as well as their neighbors. Back to a time when foreign corporations, like Bin Ladin, couldn't sway elections with unlimited amounts of money anonymously. I want to go back to a time when being human meant you treated people with humanity and integrity. I want to go back to a time when the statue of liberty was not in danger of being meaningless. I want to go back to a time when Americans were united in their stance about terror against terrorists and not against the freedom for a person to worship they way they choose. I want to go back to a time when our treaties and agreements stood good for the words they were written with, and that the average American actually knew what treaties were in place. Back when civics class was required so all Americans knew how our government worked. How about back to a time when liberty meant liberty for all and not just for those that subscribe to a specific religious dogma.
I think the tea party people want to feel good about being an American again. Feeling helpless is not an easy feeling. I am proud that Americans stood up to fight for things that are not right, even though it is about 8 years late. But watching a group that does not welcome everyone and degrades our veterans and sick people is akin to watching our enemy extremists tear our country apart. There are many different tea parties and many different platforms with the only seemingly constant thread in Sarah Palin who doesn't know or care what the constitution says. Sarah Palin doesn't know the difference between witchcraft and satanism much like other tea party candidates we are seeing. If they have their way, we will have police in the bedroom and the churches. Is that really what Americans think we should have? Some of them say they want biblical law. And so do the extremists trying to tear our country apart. Any vote for an extremist radical will further the divide. In the latest effort to recall the Chattanooga mayor, we saw how "not knowing" fails. We see this in how these newest tea party candidates think we should have no education for our children. Their efforts will result in only the rich being able to afford education for their children.
I suggested a few years ago in this very paper that I thought the republican party was coming to an end. And I was right. What we are left with is a "Rapture Republican Party" that wants to control all facets of the American life. Their actions show this daily. That doesn't mean that all Republican Americans are that way. But the current Republican leaders keep promising the same thing that got us in this mess. President Obama campaigned on changing the way lobbyists control our lives. But he cannot do that without our support. Are all things right? Not at all. But our government cannot work if we do not hold our politician's feet to the fire. I do not know or trust anyone else to have the knowledge, passion, and stamina to do the job. I have yet to catch President Obama in a lie. But you will not be aware of this if you keep watching a channel that has been proven to lie and twist the truth to their own agenda. Many of the programs put into place by this President's congress are working. The TARP has worked for the most part. We have much of the money back and have actually made a profit. How how many of you know that? This president cannot do this alone and if the tea party helps to put the Republicans back into the controlling arm of congress, we will see our property rights disappear, our freedom of speech go away. They actually want to take our solidarity away from the land we live on. The newest Republican pledge to America is the same as it was back in the 90's when Bush was elected and took this country for a ride. This new pledge is actually written by a former AIG personnel. Do you remember who the AIG was? The Republicans have publicly stated that they are not going to change and will keep fighting for the rich and elite. The tax cut for the richest Americans while so many are suffering is just another example. Does the tea party really want to help them reach these goals?
I think the tea is tainted. From all I have seen, the tea party agenda is an even more radical attempt to an authoritarian type of government that has little resemblance to freedom. And so far has not been able to distance itself from the Republican party that got us in this mess. This is not to say that it cannot become what it needs to be. Dissent is the American way. Standing up for your rights is patriotic. But stepping on my rights is terroristic and will only create further chaos, which is what our enemies want. I am an independent. I am free to vote any way I want, just like you. I, as many other independents across this nation will be standing with the President and the Progressives. You may not hear that on the news, but we are smart people. We can see what the alternative holds. We did it in 2008 and we will do it again.
Become educated in the way our government works. Understand that not all "news" has your best interest at heart. Follow the money to see who is supporting your cause. Learn how to determine the source of something that is being presented as truth. Make sure you are not the one telling lies just because you heard it on the news. Stand up for the freedom of all Americans even if you do not agree with them. And look closely at the alternatives you are voting for. Simply liking what someone says just wont cut it anymore. The un-intended consequences and the ill-fated agendas will not further your nation and the freedoms we used to hold so dear. So to start with, find out who the Koch brothers are and how they are affecting your life. Ask yourself, if the terrorists that were blamed for the the 911 attack were from Saudi, and the Saudis own controlling stock in News Corp, which runs Fox news, why are you letting them feed you information? Ask yourself why so many of the Republican party act as if they are the God chosen ones? Find out who the "The Family" on "C" Street is and what their true agenda is, and why they have such a hold on our political leaders. Make sure that when someone starts talking God, they are really talking from the Bible and not money. The goal of our enemies is to divide, conquer, and control. Put your prejudices aside and search for the truth. If our government is broken, it is the Republican leaders that broke it. I have no wish to go back to that. In stead of repealing the healthcare law, fight to change the parts that repulse you, like the mandate. I don't think any company or corporation should be able to make a profit determined by my body or person. So I insist that my insurance is a not-for-profit company. If you don't like the taxes, get specific on exactly what you would do and become active in that taxing organization. Know that gun laws are state's rights. But if the Republicans have their way, states wont have rights. I know they say different, but when they talk about insurance across state lines, what does that mean? It means that they want the federal government to be able to dissolve state's rights to insurance laws. Remember that when you get an email telling you that Obama is taking away your guns, it is a lie. We have more gun rights under Obama than we did Bush. This latest lie about guns on the internet is directly from "Dudley" and the executive order he is referring to is really about sanctioning North Korea. We can actually go read the executive order. How many of you would be for dropping the sanctions against North Korea just so you could own a specific gun? Find out what supply and demand mean to our economy, and understand that demand must come first, thus the stimulus must be supported. Support those that want to bring our jobs back to this country. Quit buying products made elsewhere! Quit supporting companies that take our jobs out of this country. Wake up America! Democracy is not a spectator sport.
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