VOTE REPUBLICAN!

C’mon, folks! Let’s be serious. Why in God’s name would anyone in their right mind vote for politicians whose every word and deed serves only the wishes of their billionaire masters?

Want to see what America would look like as envisioned by these lackeys to Wall Street and the Oil Companies? 

Vote Republican!   

Better yet, imagine an America where the government has been crippled and hogtied when it comes to serving the needs of the poor, the infirm, the elderly or the middle class. Hell, just by gaining a majority in the House of Representatives they’ve been able to castrate the financial reforms voted in by the last congress. Just imagine what they could do with control of both the presidency and the congress!

The Republicans see no evil, speak no evil, or hear no evil when it comes to their billionaire bosses, even the ones most guilty of turning our once prosperous country into a nation of dogs fighting for scraps tossed from the tables of the wealthy.

Medicare and Social Security? Say goodbye to those quaint outdated concepts once the Republicans gain control. If you think I’m being alarmist, recall how George W. Bush campaigned to privatize social security, or how the republicans all voted for Paul Ryan’s Medicare-emasculating budget.

What happened to America, this once great country of ours, that men and women of the lowest possible moral standing—with no regard for the welfare of others, no concern for the rights of individuals, no limits to their jingoism, no higher priority than eliminating all reasonable taxation of the wealthy, no interest in protecting even the most vulnerable among us from predatory lending or banking practices, no concern for the planet we inhabit or the air we breathe, no shame about raining war, destruction or torture on foreign countries or their people, no shame about crippling America’s own leaders or its economy if it improves their political status—are given a platform to spew the most venomous lies and accusations, then voted into office to pursue their small-minded, self-enriching political agenda?

We voted Republican, that's what happened!

Want to eliminate Social Security and Medicare as we know them?

Vote Republican!

Want to shift every penny the government spends on food stamps, education, health counseling and job training into building the word’s largest, best-equipped, most threatening and unnecessary military presence on the planet?

Vote Republican!

Want to see homosexuals lose all the acceptance and credibility they’ve gained in the last 20 years?

Vote Republican!

Want to see unregulated drilling in coastal waters, uncontrolled pollutants from smokestacks, and official U.S policies that actively deny and advance global warming?

Vote Republican!

Want to see the children of undocumented immigrants treated like criminals, thrown into prisons and deported?

Vote Republican!

Want to see millionaires and billionaires continue to buy elections unhindered by law or conscience?

Vote Republican!

Want to see thousands of eligible voters barred from the voting booth because they might not vote Republican?

Vote Republican!

Want to see election districts gerrymandered to ensure the election of Republicans in perpetuity?

Vote Republican!

Want to see your children move back in with you because they’re broke and deeply in debt?

Vote Republican!

Want to see your mother working as a Walmart greeter till she’s 95?

Vote Republican!

Want to see your life savings and your 401(k) scooped up by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan every few years?

Vote Republican!

Want to see the Supreme Court continue to be as dishonest and politically biased as it’s been for the last 10 years?

Vote Republican!

Want to see the value of your home and the equity in your home disappear in the wake of the next financial crisis?

Vote Republican!

Want to see every public and private sector union in the country dismantled or disemboweled?

Vote Republican!

Want to be tricked into voting against your own best interests, election after election?

Vote Republican!

Want to see America turned into an international laughing stock by policies so unenlightened and self-serving they resemble those of South Africa under apartheid?

Vote Republican!

Want to lose your home to foreclosure?

Vote Republican!

Want your children to grow up in a country that only provides equal opportunity for the offspring of the wealthy?

Vote Republican!

Want to make the stupidest move a sentient, well-meaning American can make?

Vote Republican!

Want to prove you’re even dumber than that?

Tell your friends to vote Republican!

      

LISTEN TO THE WIND

1.

Long ago, when I was a child, like you, my grandfather told me about the wind.

He pointed to a willow whose branches were dancing in the breeze and asked me what I heard.

           “Just the wind,” I answered.

           He smiled and ran his hand across the top of my head.

          “If you really listen,” he said, “you will hear spirits speaking to you. They live in the wind. Some day you will hear them.”

          “That would be nice,” I said.

          I was a very polite child.

2.

       When I was a child, like you, I was afraid of my own shadow. I was also afraid of everyone else’s shadow. I was afraid of the dog, the mailman, the refrigerator. I secretly knew that every stranger I met was the devil in disguise.

        I was actually quite a scaredy cat.

3.

One night, I thought I would try to be brave and sleep with the lights out.

Do you know how scared I was?

Too scared to get out of bed and turn on the light.

Too scared to call out to my parents.

Too scared to open my eyes.

Too scared to get up and close the window.

And so the wind came in…

4.

Be like me,

Said the wind blowing in,

Shake free of your fears,

Like leaves let them spin.

If you can outrun your demons,

They won’t chase you again,

Be like me,

Said the wind blowing in.

Be like me, child, said the wind,

And know that nothing in the dark

Can ever stop your breeze from blowing.

5.

When I was a child, like you, I had a special collection. I didn’t collect stamps or baseball cards like other children. I collected worries.

In fact, I had the largest collection of worries in America.

I was a very worried child.

6.

What were some of the things I worried about?

I worried about how much toothpaste to put on my toothbrush. I worried about light bulbs going out. I worried about rain. I worried about getting cavities. I worried about going blind, or deaf. I worried about getting lost at the movies. I even worried about my baby brother getting all my clothes before I was finished wearing them.

7.

One day I was so worried about my homework that I decided to tell my mother I was sick, and stay home from school.

I went outside to find her, and noticed the wind playing with the wash on our line.

I didn’t stop to worry about it.

I just listened…

8.

Be like me,

Said the wind racing ‘round,

Don’t let doubts fill your sails,

They’ll only slow you down.

Fly above all your worries,

Leave them stuck on the ground,

Be like me,

Said the wind racing ‘round.

Be like me, child, said the wind,

And never stop long enough

To let your worries catch up to you.

9.

When I was a child, like you, things always got in my way. Big things, little things, things that lasted a long time, things that came and went quickly.

My father said I was naturally attracted to obstacles.

That meant if I walked across an open field with my eyes closed, I would naturally walk into the only tree standing there.

10.

But trees weren’t the only obstacles that got in my way. There were bullies to pass on the way to school. Homework to do before I could watch TV. Chores to do before I could get my allowance.

If I wanted to join a basketball team, I’d be too short. Or too young. Or too something. If I wanted to go somewhere, I’d arrive too late, or go to the wrong place, or get there on the wrong day.

The world to me was a very difficult place in which to live.

11.

One day I especially remember. I was coming home early from the library. The reason I was coming home early was because the library wasn’t open that day.

          When I got home, the front door was locked and nobody was home. The reason nobody was home was because I wasn’t supposed to be home yet.

          I went around back, to the window box where we hid the extra house key. The reason the key wasn’t there was because I had gotten locked out the day before, used it, then forgot to put it back.

         That was enough to make me start crying. 

         Looking up, through my tears, I saw the wind shifting clouds around in the sky.

        “So what have you got to say about this?” I screamed.

12.

Be like me,

Said the wind on the fly,

Never run into walls,

Keep your breeze flying high.

Leave those obstacles below,

Where they can’t make you cry,

Be like me,

Said the wind on the fly.

Be like me, child, said the wind,

And pass quickly over the obstacles

In your life.

13.

Many years passed before I heard from the wind again. By then, I was no longer a child, like you. I was a man. An old man.

I had lived most of my life by then. I was famous. I was admired. I was asked to speak at schools. My picture appeared in newspapers and magazines.

All in all, I was pretty hot stuff.

14.

 Yes, this was the same person who was once too frightened to get out of bed and turn on a light.

            The same person who worried constantly about airplane crashes, and about having to pass on his pajamas to his brother.

           The very same person who walked into walls so often people thought it was a habit.

           I had forgotten all that. I was too busy signing autographs and talking on TV shows to remember stuff like that.

15.

  But then one day I was standing on a hill. I was standing on the exact spot where they planned to put up a statue of me.

 That’s how big a big shot I was!

 I was standing there, looking down into the valley, thinking about how small everyone else was. How small they all looked from up here. How small they all seemed compared to me.

Then, all of a sudden, I wasn’t standing on a hill. I wasn’t standing anywhere. I was lying on the ground. A strong gust of wind had blown me over.

What else could I do?

I sat up and listened…

16.

Be like me,

Said the wind standing tall,

If you puff yourself up,

Then be ready to fall.

Don’t go looking for praise,

When you answer a call,

Be like me,

Said the wind standing tall.

Be like me, child, said the wind,

And know that every tree you bend down

Will straighten itself once you’re gone.

17.

Long ago, when I was a child, like you, my grandfather told me about the wind.

He told me there were spirits who lived in the wind, and I would hear them if I listened.

Since then, I have listened to the wind. And I have grown from being a child to a man to an old man in my time.

Now I have spent all my days and I no longer listen to the wind.

18.

           Now, I am the wind.

Declaration of Interdependence

WE THE PEOPLE of the free and independent United States herby declare our interconnectedness and responsibility for one another. Recognizing that we were originally formed as a political unit to throw off the cruelties and deprivations of a despotic ruler, we re-commit ourselves to those principles which set us apart from nations whose inhumanity and enrichment of their ruling classes have repressed and inflicted undue harm upon their general populations from time immemorial.

In light of recent activities and political maneuverings by the moneyed classes of our society, we feel the need to once again state those values we believe are embodied or implied in both our nation’s Constitution and Declaration of Independence, namely that…

       • All citizens are entitled to unhindered access to those essentials necessary in a modern society to foster Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, including (but not limited to) a healthy diet, safe and affordable housing, an advanced education, an unbiased political system, freedom from fear or repression, and a government committed as an overriding philosophy to the avoidance of war and the pursuit of peace.

       • To secure such essentials, it is necessary to immediately develop and institute such rules of behavior and political jurisprudence that acknowledge and reestablish the equality of all individuals in our society; those actions to include…

-Removing the power and influence of money from all democratic institutions and political activities, understanding that, far from engendering free speech, the unfettered flow of money only allows moneyed interests to drown out the voices of those with lesser wealth or influence;

- Restoring a fair and equitable tax system that recognizes all individuals benefit equally from systems, protections and services provided by our  national and local governments, and that more should be expected from those who because of circumstance or dint of effort have a preponderance of a nation’s wealth, while less should be taken from those who have little enough for themselves;

- Restoring equal justice and punishment to those at all levels of our society, so that those who  caused economic chaos and destruction in pursuit of their own selfish outcomes, as well as those who unleashed the dogs of war for no good cause, and those who authorized or committed acts of torture, are given a fair and impartial trial before the eyes of the world, as a lesson to others and a clear indicator of our commitment to the rule of law, even for the most powerful among us;

- Gradually reducing the country’s dependence on, and thrall to, the military industrial complex. Recognizing that, as we’ve recently seen, weak-minded or short-sighted leaders can make unfortunate military decisions that often result in unnecessary death, destruction and wasteful expenditure of national wealth. Also recognizing that the maintenance of a large global military footprint not only increases the likelihood of a country being drawn into war, but significantly reduces those assets available for keeping commitments to its citizens at all levels of the socio-economic ladder.

We offer the above Declaration of Interdependence as a road map for our country to begin returning to its rightful path, to once again become a beacon on a hill to other nations, a paragon of virtue among world powers, driven equally by principle and compassion, and untroubled by the internal strife that rules public debate when blind self-interest and self-righteous bravado hold sway.

So offered for consideration on this Fourth of July, 2012.