Yesterday I was at the DuPage County Fair manning a table for the DuPage Dems when some true believer of this or that Christian Supremacist Society popped by the table to let me know that our candidates are the part of the Death Machine (by which she meant constitutionally protected medical procedure supporters). Glazed eyes and all. And she was not high, except for on the love of the Lord.
Now, I know that the correct response to this woman, is yes, I think is one issue upon which you and I will have to disagree. It can't be the only issue that's important to you and your family. I mumbled something to that effect.
The question is, how did the republicans get their legions of followers/admirers to internalize this level of buy-in on this issue? It is as though no kid went hungry last night, no one got laid off, no family went in need of medical attention and couldn't afford it. There were no other problems except for the Death Machine. I know goddamn well what the republicans' issues are (even if they are utterly full of shit and transparently phony when it comes to actually governing on those issues). And I hate their issues, yet I know what they are:
1. Family Values--we republicans believe that the God of our choosing knows how
best to make your fertility and family planning choices, and also that gays are
abominable. Aren't they? I mean, look at their pride parades. Downright creepy.
2. Guns. We love 'em. Will not, under any circumstances take 'em from
ya.
3. Taxes. Must be lower. At all costs. No matter who it puts out. They
will be lower. Every single time.
4. Military. We love 'em. We love the flag
too. We won't give 'em any extra benefits or actual support, but we will by God
use them as backdrops during elections (kind of like Democrats and labor!).
So here's what. I challenge anyone reading this to boil down what you believe in to four statements like the above. I'll go first.
1. People need a fair shake. The living wage is a family value. So is solidarity. Eviction and unemployment are not. Our country is rich enough to give most folks the necessities for them to make successes of their lives. Our economy needs to work for people, not against them. Companies that abuse people and their communities should be punished and brought into line. Fuck sweatshops.
2. We need to treat other people around the world with actual respect. Not
platitudes. We need less CAFTA. Less war. More fair trade. You can do more good for people you've never met from buying fair trade coffee than a million Free Trade
Agreements.
3. The government has no business, none, inserting itself into
my family's reproductive issues. I barely trust myself with the authority to
make those kinds of decisions, why in the world would I trust the arguably criminal
Tom DeLay or the reprehensible Bill Frist to decide what's right for my family? I don't, and neither should you.4.Education really is the great equalizer. We should value it more than we
value Pentagon contract shysters and crooks. More than Wall Street whiz kids and
fly by night fraudsters. We should actually fund it and quit shitting around
about it. Teachers should be paid what they're worth.
5. Our politics should look like the golden rule. Call me a naive fuck (and you'd not be the first do so), but I think we should treat people how we expect to be treated.That's it. Whose side are you on? Do you embrace winner-take-all cutthroat greaseball ideology? Or are you a solidaritist? Do you believe people working together are better than their various selves individually? Do you believe that no one has any responsiblity to their brother, sister, neighbor, fellow citizen? Or do you believe that you're only as strong as the weakest among us?
I know where I stand. Seven years of constantly thinking about this shit and that's what I've come up with.
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