What's Really Important A Time To Listen -- This Time!
For eight long years I’ve argued with many diehard Republicans about the wisdom of voting for George W Bush, not just once, but twice. I ended up being called a Bush hater and even worse, a “liberal,” and basically dismissed for my efforts. Actually a lot of people warned that the policies of George Bush would lead to serious problems for our nation, and guess what? They have! Besides all the families catastrophically effected by the war in Iraq, there are now millions facing the loss of jobs, their homes, and more recently the loss of their pensions, retirement benefits, and ultimately Social Security and Medicare benefits if another Republican Administration gets in office.
Now on the eve of the 2008 presidential election many of the same people, plus many renowned conservative Republicans are strongly warning against voting for John McCain, essentially for the same reasons – basically he offers more of the same, and the nation cannot afford it! Colin Powell and Christopher Buckley, son of the late conservative writer William F. Buckley Jr., just to name a couple, have actually endorsed Barack Obama because the alternative would be so bad for America.
To those who remain staunchly loyal to the Republican Party, and supported George Bush twice, I implore you to listen this time, and join all the others who are attempting to put political ideologies aside for the moment because they realize the grave danger that presently faces the nation. America desperately needs a change of course, not a continuation of the battle between parties and ideologies that has drastically divided the people, and so greatly weakened the country.
Don’t be fooled again. Most Republican candidates for office around the nation, as well as many of the conservative pundits, and the McCain campaign itself are presently running from George Bush and the Republican Party of the past eight years like a dog running from fleas. They know how their policies have failed the nation. John McCain can also run, but he can’t truly separate himself from this failure. He has been a part of it, and the continual attempts to change his image with speeches, and the Madison Avenue type PR creation of a new persona right before the election, won’t erase the image of the wolf under the sheep’s clothing.
We all know it is time for REAL change, and there are very few in their heart of hearts that actually believe John McCain represents real change. This is a man who himself bragged about voting with George Bush ninety percent of the time. This is the same man that said, “I am fundamentally a deregulator,” the same deregulation that has smashed our economy. If it had been up to Bush, McCain and other followers of this philosophy, who also believe social entitlements should be privatized, we just might have witnessed the demise of Social Security in the past two months. How many can actually afford to lose their Social Security benefits?
The time has come to give real change at least a chance and to actually put the nation first as a practical consideration, not just as a false campaign slogan. We are all aware of the political and ideological indoctrination and programming that has been created in the pursuit of votes and power. We have all witnessed its effects on the nation. The words, “united we stand, divided we fall,” have never rung truer, nor sounded more like a prophetic death knell that threatens our comfort and security.
A final word to those who fear change because they know it means embracing those they have been convinced are the enemy. Contrary to political extremist myth, liberals don’t actually hate America, religion, and the troops, don’t embrace socialism, and are not evil. They are people just like people anywhere. Many have some basic conservative foundations, but at the same time realize the world is changing, becoming smaller by way of global dependence, economically and socially. They also understand that the rift between the very rich and the very poor is larger than ever, and that too many people are suffering in this nation because private enterprise only cares about the bottom line, and that is money, not people, and that government has some responsibility to take up the slack.
This is worth considering before automatically assuming the worst, and voting as usual. In order for a nation to change, the hearts and minds of its citizens must risk change first!