All Presidents - Democratic and Republican - have opponents and certain demographics that will never agree or try to seek common ground with them. Some folks just have philosophical and fundamental disagreements that are legitimate and open for discussion. It's normal. It's healthy. It's democracy.
But since President Obama took office, opposition based on fact has seemingly become a lost art. Those today who proudly call themselves "Tea Partiers" march in the streets carrying their signs preaching hate, violence, rebellion, secession, and racism. And while they aren't gathering in the streets, they are sending death threats to public officials with whom they disagree or shouting down their Congressmen and women at town hall meetings - meetings used to have civil discussions about where our country is and where it should be going.
Just last year, I went to one of these Tea Party events at Wes Point Park in Willoughby. It wasn't in my plans for the day but I was driving by and I heard shouting and saw signs much like the ones I described earlier except with a smaller degree of hate since it was still early yet in the Obama administration.
What made me stop as I was driving by was the shouting I heard from the loud speakers. They were talking about the people they opposed - the President, House Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Reid, and Democratic voters as a whole. They didn't speak with respect or with the acknowledgement that we're all Americans who want to see this nation succeed. Instead they gave speeches - one after the other - talking about who 'real Americans' are, where 'real America' is, and how they want their America back without actually being able to name a right they've lost or which piece of America is suddenly missing.
This is opposition fueled by partisanship and blind hatred and the Republican Party has been spending all of it's valuable time either inciting that hatred or obstructing progress in this country - or both at the same time.
So to the 'Tea Partiers' who claim to have a monopoly on patriotism: All of us put country first. All of us love this country. All of us want to see it succeed. As a group, all of you are doing exactly the opposite of what you claim to be doing. You are, in fact, pressing the pause button on progress in this country by blindly opposing measures your own party used to support before Barack Obama became President.
We need to march together with an understanding that everyone may not agree on each particular issue but we should work together to make sure we can agree on some common sense solutions for problems that need to be solved.
As you all take orders from Sarah Palin's Facebook page or Glenn Beck's televised nonsensical classroom lessons, remember what America stands for. Hate, violence, and mob rule weren't what this nation was founded upon.
It is the 21st Century. Hate like this shouldn't exist anymore in the United States of America. But it will continue to thrive so long as the Republican Party and its followers are more focused on provoking fear than solving problems.
Sean, it is truly unfortunate that you write the same way you accuse the tea partiers. That is without facts. I have been to tea parties here in the south. There was no hatred, there was no racism or anything ugly as you described. I agree with you and the country must come together. But it must come together under the foundational rules and principles that it was built upon. The far left liberals want to believe what they hear on the nightly news or from the mouths of MSNBC. You accuse patriots of being robots and just listen to Glen Beck or Sarah Palin. But you are doing the exact same thing, speaking without basis or fact. I have seen nothing but opposition to the policies and direction this administration has taken this country at the tea parties. Liberal media want to disguise it as racism just because we happen to have a black president. It is truly unfortunate that he must use his race and skin color as a crutch simply because he is the most inept unqualified person who has ever stepped foot in the White House. But see, the liberals including you will qualify that statement as racist. But if you look closely, I said nothing about his race, just his qualifications. So what do the liberals do, they attack the tea parties, calling them racist, calling them hate- mongerers. Conservatives are calling for the government for the people again. I have reached out to my elected officials and sadly, they do not have the time of day for their constituents anymore. It has nothing to do with party affilitations, it is about America. We want elected people in office to represent us. I believe that most of the people in government office in Washington today need to go. Last time I looked Sean there are republicans there too. Tea parties stand for taking our country back, providing a future and opportunities that are slowly going away in this country and making sure our future generations still have the opportunites to succeed. You can do yourself a favor and get past these MSNBC talking points and news from Comedy Centrtal and get out there and see what is happening to our country. This is the last stand for freedom, if we lose it here there is no where else to go.(R.Reagan)
ReplyDeleteI actually read 2 or 3 newspapers a day. And like I did say in my post, I have been out there and I have been to one of these events. They didn't speak of what should be done or what freedoms they claim they have lost, but instead they speak of their hatred toward those who oppose them.
ReplyDeleteI do not give much of my time buying into anything on cable news be it Fox News on the far right or MSNBC on the left. Those are all more talk shows than they are news shows. And as I've been taking my journalism classes at Lakeland, we've learned what the best sources are for objective reporting and I've been looking at those.
The tea party folks are anti-government, anti-taxes, anti-election results that they don't like. If they get there way then they actually would be losing freedoms but right now you can't name one right you've lost.
Anti-government and taxes? Well, then forget about the roads you drive on or the schools your children go to or the hospitals or the post office or Social Security that seniors count on or Medicare that folks really need or parks or clean food or safe drugs.
Democracy works now the same way it always has. Just because an African American man is in office trying to fix the mess that the real inept and unqualified former President helped to create, doesn't mean you are losing rights by the minute. You still have your country and I still have mine.
Like I said, always bringing race into the picture. Your way of disguising the truth. If you like paying taxes, get ready you'll have your chance. Wait until you get really engaged in this world. Right now you have no clue what taxes are really about. SO you and Joe Biden can be happy to pay more taxes, trouble is they have spent so much money, they will be taking home more of your paycheck then you do very soon. Just wait that change Obama was talking about is all you'll have left.
ReplyDeleteSean, we are so proud of you and the fact that you have the courage to speak out about the injustice in our country. There are so many citizens who listen to the person who speaks the loudest, and believe that they too are the most intelligent. "Wrong" If I can remember an intelligent English leader once said, "SPEAK SOFTLY AND CARRY A BIG STICK". The louder they yell, the less we will hear. But they love to play the game, without regard to the outcome.
ReplyDeleteThe Tea Party I believe is an organization that is out to try and get our President out of the White House, basically due to his race. They are overlooking his intelligence. If he only could get the folks across the aisle to listen to him and try not to have this negative attitude before he even begins, he would finally be able to accomplish what he set out to do. I absolutely believe that he can do what he promised us, and is trying hard in all areas to do so. But when you have dogs barking (I might say on both sides of the aisle} it is terribly hard to be heard. Each voice has an interest, which will help themselves instead of trying to come together into one strong unit that could finalize a very necessary issue, then go on to the next. Instead of that they are greedily hanging onto their misguided ideas that would benefit only themselves and the handful of associates that they cater to.
This is really nothing new, it has gone on forever. But this is the first time our past president has gotten this country into the decline it is now in. It will mean a lot of coming together, letting go of their egotistical ideals and working for the good of the people, and their country. God help us if this doesn't soon come to fruition.
Our children and grandchildren will feel the burden of their misconduct.
Another of our presidents, Bill Clinton, was treated in the same fashion when he held office. Granted he made a great mistake in his private life, not unlike other presidents, J. F. Kennedy to name one, but he had to fight every day of his presidency against the "Tea Parties" inside the white house that pounded on him day in and day out. They kept looking for something to make his tenure miserable and that same underhanded idea is being used on President Obama. How they can accomplish anything, while fighting all the opposition is remarkable. Some help must come from above, or they could not keep their sanity.
We must persevere, pray for our President and his leadership to guide us through this difficult time and somehow bring the country together. If we cannot we will be looking down the barrels of the guns of the other countries who hate us and see us weakened by the internal strife. They will see their chance to strike.
I hope you will continue your quest for fairness and equality Sean and that someday in the next few years we can see you in the political ring in some fashion. That is our wish!!!!
May God Bless you!
-Betty Lou
I'm an 18 year old employed American who IS engaged. I pay taxes like every American should and does. In fact, since and because of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law in February 2009, I see LESS taxes taken from my pay. I understand that we pay taxes that fund things that are crucial to the lives of all Americans - yes, even you. It enables the government to build roads and highways, build bridges, install clean water systems, build schools, pay teachers, maintain a fire department, have emergency services, train and have a military, have a police force, build jails for criminals, help the elderly, etc. Those are the basics.
ReplyDeleteTake for example roads though. Part of why we pay taxes is so our roads are safe to operate a vehicle on. If we don't pay taxes on those roads, then it would be significantly more expensive to transport those goods without good roads which would put the burden on consumers to pay more for those goods. This train of thought can be applied for other things.
You can complain about taxes all you want but they are put in place to pay for crucial things that play a part of all Americans' lives. And I promise you this: Barack Obama did not create taxes. And I'm also certain you weren't complaining when the man you cast your vote for in 2000 and 2004 waged wars and passed measures without a dime of any of it being paid for.
You say race is a way of disguising the truth. I say this anti-government, hyperbolic rhetoric trying to make this President illegitimate in any way you can is a way to disguise racism. Sure there are folks with some legitimate concerns out there. But I promise you, the main stream people who are concerned are not to be found marching in streets shouting, or sending hate mail to Congressman consisting threats, or throwing bricks through windows. They are like my grandmother, who always has concerns about certain things because she's been in this world awhile but she is willing to have an open mind when it comes to how we deal with it and is willing to write to her Congressmen - Democratic and Republican - with respect.
These people who blindly follow talking heads like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Sarah Palin, and Glenn Beck have no concern for moving this country forward. They are instead committed to belittling their opponents in a political game.
Years ago John Wayne said something that still could have a lot of meaning today. "I didn't vote for him but he's my President, and I hope he does a good job."
That's the spirit we should all have. We might not have cast our vote for the President but we should all wish to see our country succeed and all hope that our President does a good job.
Continue to hide behind his race, that's all the liberals have. You can say all you want about the tea parties, they are fighting for a representative government. One that represents the people not their own interests. Which in this case happen to be a socialist regime. Nothing more nothing less. Obama is a poor excuse for a leader, has nothing to do about his skin color, but since that is all you want to talk about this is really a mute point with you. You will see very soon the rights that you say we will not lose will be gone in your generation. I say it again, you are not engaged in this society yet, still too young. Start paying property taxes etc and you will find out quickly that this government is wasting our tax dollars, at least those that pay it. The majority of Obama's votes come from the almost 50% of people that do not pay taxes. That is his vision of America. Even John Wayne would want him to fail!
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ReplyDeleteAgain you are belittling Obama voters - 54% of voters - and making general statements that are simply false. People like my grandparents who worked hard all their lives and paid taxes and played by the rules. People like your daughter who also pays taxes and plays by the rules and is informed. People like my mother and my step father and my aunt and my cousins. These are not the tax dodging uninformed Americans that you say Obama voters are. And it is simply insulting to call them that just because you don't agree with them. This is what is toxic about our politics and that's the rhetoric that fans those flames.
ReplyDeleteWhat you can't do - well, you can, but you shouldn't do - is confuse losing an election with tyranny. Your folks lost an election. A democratic election. Your response is to do all you can to question that election's legitimacy and stand in the way of the agenda that was voted for. So if anyone is forgetting what our Democracy is, it is the Tea Partying folks who can't accept election results. So instead they call it tyranny.
I use facts, not fear. And once again, I am an engaged American that will not fall for the nonsense being preached by those that can't accept democracy.
Sean,
ReplyDeleteThat is what I have been telling you for years. You speak out of emotion rather than truth. I get it, you like Obama and his policies. Problem is there are millions of voters who voted for him that fit into the category I described. There are also voters who were brainwashed into believing this unproven, unqualified candidate could unite this country. Many of those whom I have heard and read about are very sorry they wasted their vote on this man. You split hairs very well. You talk about race, you talk about economics. If these two things are so important to you, why do you live in an area that is mostly white? Why not choose to live in an area say like Collinwood, or in the areas near Euclid that are economically depressed and are mostly black? If you are talking the talk then walk the walk. I live in a city that is divided equally black and white and economically diverse. Your politics tells me that these people are oppressed and held down by rich, white America. I can tell you that there are millions of blacks that earn more money than I do. How did they do it? By the way Obama's 2009 tax return said he made over 5 million dollars, lets take some of his money away and give to those who have their hand out. And I will bet you most of those who are looking to live off the system voted for Obama not McCain, are you willing to take that bet?
That was a good comment in which you responded to nothing that I said.
ReplyDeleteI am not speaking out of emotion. And you lost me when you told me I should go move to an area that is economically depressed and predominantly black. I have no understanding of what that is supposed to mean. I don't know if I want to. Because I believe in the principle that those who work hard and play by the rules should have their shot to prosper means I should move to black depressed areas?
I do not speak out of emotion. I am telling you what is reality. My taxes and yours have not gone up. Not a dime. Next year (I believe) the Bush tax cuts for the rich will expire for those in the top 2%. You have not lost rights. In fact, when it comes to gun rights, Obama made one change in that and it was to expand gun rights and allow folks to carry them in National Parks. Really? He didn't take your guns from you?
You talk in generalizations. You talk in assumptions. I am telling you what is. You're stoking fear by painting this picture of Hitler's Germany to come. And those just aren't mainstream ideas and the Tea Party crew is way out of the mainstream. I just read a political fiction about Socialism. What you call Socialism just isn't.
I am telling you what is. You are speaking out of emotions.
We have to be careful about that.
Be very careful Sean. Obama has indoctrinated you. He and his group has targeted people just like you and they are successful at it. That is one thing I can say he has done well. You can say all you want about the tea parties and believe the racists shroud that is being cast upon them. But America will be very different if we are not careful. So we can disagree all we want, but be careful. Look at the stigma Germany lives with. We do not want the same here. I am sure they never thought the things that happened there would happen, just because you say rights are not lost right now doesn't mean that will not happen in the future. You are fired up about Obama, but I tell you to be careful about it.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Teddy Roosevelt said speak softly and carry a big stick, Bugs Bunny said, I ll speak softly and carry a big stick and I'll use it too!