The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth

Like most of my progressive, free thinking friends, I get forwarded, to my great chagrin, the immature drivel and pack of absurd lies that are right wing nut Republican chain emails. Any person with a third grade education and who even pays the most remote attention to current events can immediately spot these for what they are: jokes. The one thing they have in common though, the string that runs through them all is that they play on the most deep rooted and primal fears, hatred and bigotry that are the themes of current Republican politics.

Case in point, the other day my dear friend, a man whom I greatly admire as a man and a wonderful role model to my kid and countless young people forwards me the following cliches and absurd lies that is your typical Republican chain email:

Which side of the fence?

If you ever wondered which side of the fence you sit on, this is a great
test!

If a Republican doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.
If a Democrat doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.

If a Republican is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.
If a Democrat is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for
everyone.

If a Republican is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
If a Democrat is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.

If a Republican is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his
situation.
A Democrat wonders who is going to take care of him. ..


And it goes on ad nauseam. Well just to prove a point I finally decided to respond, with heavily borrowed thoughts from Angela Glover Blackwell:


You know you are an idiot if:

If you ever wondered if you are an idiot, this is a great
test!

If a Republican likes guns, he'll vote for the Republican NRA backed candidate and against his own self interest, even if he is a felon and cannot possess a firearm or even vote!
If a Democrat t likes guns, he owns one without making a big deal of it or as if it compensates for a small penis.

If a Republican is a vegetarian, he eats cucumbers in a stall at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport with the rest of the closeted gay Republican senators.
If a Democrat is a vegetarian, he eats whatever he wants and doesn't make a big deal out of it because who the hell's business is it what you eat.

If a Republican is homosexual, he loudly denounces all homosexuals out oF self-hatred E.G. SANTORUM and his public life crashes flaming to the ground. SEE GAY CLOSETED REPUBLICAN SENATOR ABOVE.
If a Democrat is homosexual, he demands to be treated like anybody else.

If a Republican is down-and-out, he thinks about what everyone else gets and points fingers.
A Democrat wonders how he can help because there by then grace of God Goes I.

YOU SEE IT IS NOT HARD TO COME UP WITH GENERALIZATIONS BUT IT TAKES AN ADULT TO DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN JERK (KNEE OR ?)

At this moment we really are two, or three Americas. And one of the Americas is really scared, really frightened, really feeling that everything they thought that they could depend on is disappearing. People who have that fear can go a couple of ways.

They can get involved, and they can think about how to change things, so that the decisions that are being made don't keep taking us down this road of insecurity. Or they can just circle the wagons, decide that anything they don't have, they don't need.

That anything that people are trying to get, that will help them to do better in life is going to be a threat to what they, and they and their children might have. And so part of what's happening is we have a good number of people in this country who are just scared, and they're shutting down. And they're closing off opportunities.

In many ways they are prepared to be a pull-up-the-ladder nation. “I got mine, and I'm pulling up the ladder so you can't get yours, because I think I have to keep you out, so I can stay in”. That group is really going down, in terms of their connection to what the future is really going to be like.

In, and by that I mean they are nostalgic for a time that never was. And avoiding a future that is inevitable. Then you have another America that sees the future. They know that the future depends on education. They know it depends on being able to make sure that those who are being left behind are educated, and brought forward. That understand that they can't get the policies and strategies in place that they need, unless they begin to tell a story that allows other people to see themselves.

And that's what I'm trying to be part of. Trying to help create a narrative that both draws together the people who understand that they need investment to go forward, and allows other people to see how they, too, could benefit from buying into that story.

So you see my friend, you do not have to be frightened. Instead of putting up fences and pulling up ladders you can show the courage to stand up for yourself and fellow working class Americans or you can continue acting like frightened children, too scared to think for your self or to help your fellow man.

Love and Happiness.