Why I'm Scared for America

My Army days were in the mid-90s from 1993 to 1997.  Back then, I didn’t care whether my battle buddy was Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal.  I bet the soldiers out there still don’t. Why in the world would we be so divided because of politics?  What has happened to America? We fight among ourselves and in some instances while the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.  I feel like so much of the world is trying to divide us when we agree on many things. Think about it. What issues do you really have with your friends?  Are they issues you could meet in the middle on? I bet there are more than any of us think. Yet politicians and the mass media seem to tell us otherwise.  Don’t you have Republican friends that you agree with? Democrat friends that you agree with? On something? 
I became a Democrat when I was in college at a small liberal arts school in southwest Oklahoma.  I had plans to become a Republican because I wanted to be a rich corporate lawyer but my best friend drew me into being a Democrat with the promise of bringing change to social injustice.  I find it fascinating to look at my thoughts now. I was going to be a rich Republican? How many of you feel like you’re a rich Republican? Let’s think about the social politics of the 90’s.  I couldn’t even be an out lesbian in the Army. Now, do you really care about the married gay couple who moved in down the street? Have they created Sodom and Gomorrah? My guess is you don’t and they didn’t.  For goodness sake, we have a gay presidential candidate who is getting tons of support!
I’m an Independent now.  Well at least that’s what I have to be called in Oklahoma when I choose no party.  I don’t like parties anymore. I think we have become so entrenched in these labels of Republican and Democrat, conservative and liberal that we don’t even look at the person or the issues anymore, just the party. I bet you want better health care and just want everyone to find a way to somehow give us some relief.  I bet Republicans and their Democrat friends gripe together about prescription drug costs and how your mom’s social security check can’t even cover her cost of living much less her diabetic prescriptions.  
So what do we do?  We ask for change. We vote this politician in and that politician in making promises to enact change and then one party tries to change everything the last party implemented.  All the while you and your Republican friend think it's shitty that Joe’s dad down the street still can’t afford his cancer medication so he just goes without.
We need unity. We are not Republicans. We are not Democrats. We are Americans.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Right and Wrong According to Betty Spencer...

Image
I was raised by a grandmother who was a Pentecostal Evangelist in the 1970's.  Now mind you, a woman evangelist in the 70's was a rarity.  She was a pioneer in her time and could bring the rafters down with her fiery fire and brimstone sermons.  Her voice was a gift of God and there's no one to this day who can come close to her rendition of "I Want to Stroll Over Heaven with You."  I stayed with her just about every day while my mom was working.  She adored me and I her.  To this day, there is  no one who can compare to her in my eyes. Grandma Betty spent her mornings in her room crying out to God to save her family and to protect her precious son Stephen who was taken away from her in a tragic car accident at the age of 16.  Her Bible sat right beside her on her end table at the edge of her recliner.  It was worn and covered in red, blue, and black ink marks on her favorite passages. In the back she had handwritten a letter to God beggi...
Read more

My Dad

For those of you have known me for a long period of time, you know that I've had a lot of potential dads. My biological father divorced my mom when I was 5. I knew him very little because he was stationed away from me for some period of time until the divorce and even after, when he was out of the military, I saw him only one time until I was 8.  He lived 2 miles away from me from me during this time of 5 to 8. I didnt talk to him until I was 18 and reached out to him to give him my senior pic. He had tried to contact me at 16 but I was not having any of it at the time. When he was asked to give me up a when my 1st stepfather wanted to adopt me at 8. He did. My 1st stepfather came in the picture when I was 6. He ended up molesting me from 6 to 14 when he was divorced. My 2nd stepfather was a good man. He raised me from 16 til I was around 30. I cant be exact sure when he was divorced, but 30 is close because it was before my Grandma Betty passed away. I have talked to him maybe t...
Read more

COVID-19 and America

April 29, day something of, I'm too lazy to count the days I've been locked up, 2020.  Been here in quarantine for almost two months and finally inspired to write something...anything.  So what inspires me to finally write on day something of, again I'm too lazy, living thru a pandemic? Something to tell my great grand-kids about.  America.   Let me start with this premise: I have been following the Coronavirus since it was first reported in November, 2019. I have listened only to scientists. No politician or political viewpoint is responsible for the following thots. With that in mind, here is my take on how we, as Americans, have responded to COVID-19 thus far.  For me, America is not only home. It is also the nation I chose to serve, under the principles of our forefathers. When I say I'm an American today, I am proud of being one. I'm blessed to be in a nation that has pulled together to combat what might have been a once in a century natural d...
Read more