I lay awake last night thinking about the demagoguery that parades each day as news and freedom of speech thinking what can I do about it? I was thinking about the demonizing of a good man and his family, Barack Obama, and how some people in our country have made every effort possible to de-legitimize his Presidency since before he even took the oath of office. From the attack upon his religion, his birthright, his effort to reach out to America’s young people by talking to them on the first day of school, his efforts to encourage volunteerism, and on and on. We are at a very low point and I fear it will only get worse as we approach mid-term elections in November, 2010.
The 24/7 news cycle contributes to the anxiety and uncertainty of Americans. Republican Party politicians with a few exceptions march in lock step to block this President on each and every solution he proposes to resolve our immense economic, international and social problems. Now the Right Wing is talking about doing away with the
Constitutional 14th Amendment’s right to citizenship by birth . No, it will not happen, but they care little about that. They would fan the flames of prejudice as hard as they might to get their voter base out. America is the shining light of liberty that so many people have struggled to come to and, yes, have their children be born here as free people with opportunity unknown in their own countries. Because many voters are massively in debt, under-employed or unemployed, trying valiantly each day to maintain family, home and a life, so few have time to look deeply into daily news stories and only hear the endless chatter and repeated snippets of one scandal or depressing fact after another.
Americans are faced with enormous problems that grew uncontrolled in the first 8 years of this century brought about by the greed of Wall Street, and many banks and corporations. We still have a very weak economy and a war against radical terrorists who think nothing of killing innocents in the name of religion. We face the spectre of world war among nuclear-armed countries like North Korea, Iran, Israel and Pakistan. We face a world-wide environmental disaster due to global climate change with little to no control over its consequences. Still, these tiny-minded demagogues would continue to fracture our country with their snarkiness, their hate-speech and xenophobia. Now Fox News and the political Right are fanning hysteria over the building of an Islamic religious center near the World Trade Center site that continues to fracture our country. It is a battle of ideas, and ultimately for the soul and preservation of our nation, that we are in.
We elected a President in 2008 who has stepped forward to lead during these dire times. He has vision and fortitude and humility. He cannot please everyone nor fix all of America's ills in one sweep, but he has tried to live up to his campaign promises and he has achieved a hell of a lot in 18 months. Now is the time to row together putting America first and Party second. We have much more in common than the politcal pundits will admit to. Self-promoting political commentators/entertainers have an interest in keeping the American people stirred up and angry all the time. They take advantage of the people's distrust in government and politicians because it makes them very rich selling books and TV shows. They really have no interest in solving problems and creating unity in our country.
When the going gets tough, America has always come together and got the job done. I believe the majority of Americans don't agree with the demogoguery being spread by hate-mongerers in our country. They will go to the polls in November and elect leaders who are working with our President for unity and progress, not tiny-minded demogogues.
