I won’t tell you how old I am, ‘not going to assist the trolls! My mother and father were 92 and 94 years old when they died not that long ago. My parents were brought up by my grandparents, obviously, who were born before and right at the turn of the twentieth century. So, my upbringing might easily have been very different . . . if not for my very good fortune. Whatever lingering prejudices my parents and grandparents may have had from their own upbringing, they weren’t passed on to me.
I had good parents who took their responsibility to raise decent human beings very seriously, even, quite possibly, when what they taught us might have been at odds with what they were taught. Growing up in the fifties and sixties, I was smack in the middle of the civil rights movement and the woman’s movement. The woman’s movement wasn’t of vital interest to me anyway, since the second fortunate thing I got from my parents is the sure knowledge that I was as good as anyone and better than most. (C’mon – a little bias is forgiven! They were my parents!) No one ever dared treat me as a “second-class” anything.
Because racial discrimination was so raw and current, and we lived in the south, I can remember many conversations with my parents. Not so with gay rights, and I think it was probably because it was the fifties and sixties, and any talk of sexuality was far less likely than today. But being taught tolerance in one area seems to have spilled over in others for me, because I never felt intolerant toward my gay friends and coworkers either. And while I have a definite preference for my Episcopal Church, I don’t hold ill-will toward other religions.
I don’t approve of any radical or extremist, but if you behave like a normal human being, and not bother anyone else, I don’t really care what you do. So, now that I have established that I am not a racist, homophobe, sexist or religious bigot, I’ll tell you what’s on my mind.
I am very angry that my political affiliation causes members of one political party and various minority groups to automatically brand me anti-gay, anti-seniors, anti-black, anti-Muslim, anti, anti, anti! I am a Republican, and I have never been foolish enough to identify with any other political party. Even as a kid, I was smart enough to know that “big government” is big trouble and that self-reliance beats the pants off of dependency. So, the Democrat party has never held any fascination for me. I am Republican because of what I’m for, not what I’m anti.
At one time or another, because I have been so active in Republican politics, I have spoken, personally, with hundreds, if not thousands, of Republicans on the issues. Not one has ever expressed condemnation of the LGBT community or black people or brown people or Mormons or Muslims or women or poor people or old people, etc., etc. Some Republicans are very emotional about their support for unborn life, but even there, not all Republicans agree. Some of us can allow for certain circumstances that may justify an abortion.
But think about this. We are despised by women groups because we believe that life begins earlier in the womb than they do. What a thing over which to hate someone. Nothing is cheaper or more accessible than contraception, but some women insist that they should bear no responsibility for not getting pregnant. Rather, they insist that there be no limit on the procedures available to them, for free, to rid themselves of their little “oops,” including killing a baby that is partially born. What the hell is that!?
The aged? It was Obama and his disgusting Obamacare minions, like Dr. Ezekial Emanuel, that spoke of needing to prioritize certain persons to receive healthcare. His notion is that if you are senior, with fewer years left to live and contribute, you simply might not be useful enough for expensive treatments like hip replacement surgery, cancer treatments or heart valve repair. They will speak to you, instead, about palliative/hospice care and give you all your end-of-life options.
And Muslims? Look, I have had Muslim friends, neighbors and coworkers, and I am delighted that they are here in America. But what the heck is wrong with insisting that immigrants be vetted in an effective way before being allowed in this country? I don’t care who they are – Muslim, Catholic, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist or Protestant – I want to know who is coming into the country and what they can contribute to American life.
What kind of people insist on knowing who they allow into their country? Oh, how about Canadians and Mexicans and Turks and Guatemalans and Indonesians and Australians and British and Chinese and Thai, and on and on, to include just about everyone except the stupid Americans. And yes. It did take a couple of horrific attacks for the Germans and the French to wise up, but they seem to have done so now.
I want the American government to live within its means. I want the national debt eliminated. I want social security reformed so that my children and theirs have some hope of recouping their own contributions to the system. I want taxes slashed by, at least, 50%. And even that leaves more than government needs to pay for its legitimate purposes. I want able-bodied persons to work for what they get. I want the government to limit its regulatory interference to an absolute minimum to prevent safety hazards. I want the federal government to build roads and bridges, arm a strong military and sign treaties with foreign governments.
That’s pretty much it. In short, government should do NOTHING except that which is delineated in the Constitution. The rest is on you and me.
I don’t expect young people, who were taught nothing in our lousy education system about how the world really works, to agree with me. But one day most will. One day they will have children who need to be fed, clothed and educated, and they will curse a huge, bloated and expensive bureaucracy that accomplishes nothing except to steal from the citizenry in order to perpetuate itself. They will drive on a decayed highway system and cross over dilapidated bridges. Their kids will be uneducated and unable to afford the basics their parents enjoyed. Their cities will be overrun with crime and the homeless.
And they will pay high taxes to support illegal migrants who have nothing and can’t get a job because they don’t speak English. They will be paying to support people who came, not for work, but because America is the land of the “free” – free food, free rent, free healthcare, free education and free cell phones – and worse than any of that is free reign to continue dangerous gang activities and to go on crime sprees with impunity. How does that happen? Easily, when we defund and demonize police and ICE agents.
So, please, the next time you are asked to fund or vote for Democrats . . . think! The Biden years started in the Obama years. Obama turned an old-time liberal into a leftwing extremist, and between the two of them, they nearly destroyed America.
