This is my fear:
It’s ten minutes, and it’s very serious, about the violent rhetoric that incited the slaying at the Unitarian Church. What happens when we have a VP candidate who is being opposed by her own presidential nominee over the slavering dogs she allows to run with the mic at her rallies? When we have individuals in authority who state that one part of our country is more deserving of life and liberty than another, who allow a lynch mob to form without dissent or responsibility, we prepare the stage for serious violence against ourselves.
On the other hand, this gives me some hope:
NOTE: Not because it is about Obama. I’m not talking about hope that Obama becomes President (though I do intend to vote for him). I’m talking about the possibility that the right person saying the right things can make inroads in even the most racist of areas. That some people will choose to vote for what they think is best for them (policy wise), rather than against someone they don’t personally like.
It gives me hope that reason may return to us.
I’m glad you have that hope, because I’m not sure that I do. I wrestle nearly every night, lying in bed, about whether I need to start disregarding my other responsibilities and arming up in case this election gets stolen as well.
Luckily, it looks like Obama has plans to deal with that as well. I’ve HEARD but haven’t tried to google/verify that he’s got volunteer lawyers available in many states to help people fight voter fraud.
I also know that most of my online friends have been taking pictures or making photocopies of their early-voting ballots. So at least people are ready to speak up, if it comes to that.
Wow. Just… wow.
The fact that I try to avoid the venom spewed by radio hate jockeys made that video pretty shocking.
Does anyone else find it incredibly telling that even though neoconservatives have been playing fast and loose with our civil (and other) rights for way too long now, you don’t really hear about liberals shooting up evangelical churches? The doctrine of hate and fear seems to be the domain of the far right. That is so far from what the Republican party used to stand for that it’s almost surreal– I mean, this party was on the vanguard of the Abolitionist movement, and championed Civil Rights in the south. Clearly, change is necessary. Hate, like oil as a primary energy source, is not sustainable… I hope.
Maybe these are just panic and death pangs of an oppressive regime, but I think it’s more fundamental. I think that the neoconservative tendency to play on xenophobic fears now defines one of the major parties in our political system. That says some sobering things about the U.S.
Re: Wow. Just… wow.
I agree with that. I think the Republican Party used to be a valid alternative, where you’d find reasonable intelligent people with a difference of opinion on the operation of our country. Now it is being run by mad dogs.
This made me smile today: http://rednecks4obama.com/
I love the one where Obama is running up to the old fellas holding the sign. :D It warms the cockles of my heart.
that picture affects me a lot more than I would have expected… hope, indeed!