(Community Matters) While the GOP seems to promote men & women with great intellectual & character flaws hoping for practical achievement, do Democrats demand perfection from human beings?
A journey I went on this summer – 14mm unemployed Americans, another 9mm involuntarily underemployed, another 3mm “marginally attached,” which means so long unemployed they’ve quit looking for work – I considered throwing in the towel. Is it right for me to continue fighting to elect a Democrat, to reelect a President when I know the other side is stepping on any efforts we promote for recovery?
I don’t care about politics as much as I care about these 26mm Americans, too many who go to sleep hungry, are losing their homes, can’t adequately provide for their kids, and too many of whom are slipping so far out of the middle class they are not likely to return. If we just give in, will Republicans ease off obstructionism and allow the economy to recover enough to save these families?
I was an ass to some of my political colleagues this summer because of the pain I felt for the American causalities of this political war and recession (and Texas’ 112 heat). I came out of this funk realizing, not only would these 26 million Americans be worse off if we gave in, convinced millions more would join their ranks. The GOP has been hijacked by those billionaires, corporations and politicians whose economic interests are served by their (re)election. And, we’re at risk of being outwitted if we allow the GOP to claim the values of faith, freedom and responsibility.
Americans cannot allow sophisticated self-interests to turn us against each other. As we formulate our responses to each other, what if we try substituting we for you, us for them, and ours for yours?
Community Matters 