Peter Morrison, a Texas GOP official, and author of a
Tea-Party flavored newsletter, wrote in support of secession from the Union, expressing
exasperation at the “maggots” who voted for President Obama, specifically accusing
non-white voters of voting on an “ethnic basis.”
Wow, does the man know what irony is? Does he have an ounce
of humanity? Does he happen to know that millions of us Caucasian voters chose
to support our President, to champion his ideals, his compassion, his genuine dedication
to unity? Or are we “maggots,” too? Does he know just how many Tea Party-ers
and other arch conservatives would have voted for ANYONE other than an African
American? How many racial epithets, along with assassination threats, have been
hurled at this man who is the duly elected the President of the United States
of America?
I’m seeing some parallels here. Think back to the Civil War.
What was the main issue? Oh, yes. The enslavement of other human beings—black people
to be precise. You would think we had evolved beyond such barbarity, prejudice,
and irrational hatred. Apparently not. Continuing analysis of voting shows a
disturbing situation—where the majority of white folks in states south of the
Mason Dixon line went Republican, despite having strongly supported WHITE
Democrats in past decades. I don’t suppose they were influenced by “ethnic”
issues. Should we take a clue from the man wearing the now-infamous t-shirt to
the Romney rally that read, “Let’s put the White back in the White House?” I
believe so.
They can pretend it’s about economics, but it isn’t. President
Obama inherited a mess four years ago, courtesy of tax cuts for the very rich,
big breaks for corporations, deregulation and reduction of oversight of those
banks that raked in the profits and then failed. These aren’t problems that
could be solved by anyone in four years, even if he weren’t obstructed at every
turn by angry, rabid opponents who had few goals other than to ensure the
failure of the president’s policies.
Much as I believe secession is antithetical to the
principles of the UNITED States of America and the Constitution on which it was
built, and much as I abhor the goals of these venomous voices of hatred, I am
thinking it might not be such a bad idea to let them go. All the haters, the
elitists, those who think of other human beings as maggots, those who think God
is on their “side,” (as if God was a PERSON, capable of taking sides), those
who would deny people their rights, their choices, their beliefs. And we could
add the misogynists, the jingoists, the ones waiting for the Apocalypse, the
ones who picket soldiers’ funerals with signs saying God hates American because
we “allow” gay people to exist. Yep, it should make for quite a citizenry,
after they’ve weeded out the last undesirable, and perhaps even established a
state religion, and demanded oaths of loyalty and allegiance to the capitalist
way. Joe McCarthy would be proud.
Then the rest of us, who believe in peace, compassion,
tolerance, acceptance, and creating a better world in which race, color,
religion, gender, sexual orientation, or economic class have nothing to do with
one’s worthiness, one’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…can
get on with building up instead of tearing down. We can express our hope and
faith in the future. We can, indeed, keep discovering and valuing our
commonalities. We can commit our energies to seeing that all people have what
they need—including jobs, health care, safety, education, a clean environment.
We can teach our young people that being very rich doesn’t necessarily make you
very happy, or very ethical, or very spiritual, or very compassionate. (Wealth
also doesn’t travel well post-mortem.)
Is it really the American way, the ethical way, the grown-up way, to have a tantrum of these proportions because you didn't WIN? Because you don't LIKE the outcome of the democratic process, you want to start your own country? Isn't that sort of like the kids who lose the game and take the ball and go home to sulk? And figure out how to get back at the winners? Sad really... very sad.
