Rush and the Repubs are Lost

11/7/2012
An open letter to Rush Limbaugh and the Republican Party.

Rush, I listened to your confusion and lack of understanding on the radio today, the day after the 2012 election, because I honestly wanted to hear what your reaction would be to the results.  I guess I was a little surprised at the confusion you demonstrated during your broadcast (which followed the same confusion I've heard over subsequent days from many conservative media outlets). I think you are all substituting your theory that all Democrats want a free lunch for what most of us on the opposite side actually used the election for.  If I might be so bold, I'll explain what I was fighting for as much as fighting against with my vote.

I was fighting against the well-known fact that the Republican Party decided not to play well with the Democrats.  You might remember 4 years ago when you decided to rant and rave on the radio about the fact that you were going to push for no holds barred obstructionism.  I recall you and others going on the air and to the press and stating how you were not going to work within the reasonable expectation of compromise that politics and all politicians should be ready to support (a mainstay that most politicians have forgotten today).  Because of that obstructionism, I would not seriously consider any republican candidate this time around.

I was fighting against big money in this election.  There is no way I wanted to see any United States election be bought by the big money that was being poured into the conservative fight.  I did not want a decision like "Citizens United" to work, as a matter of fact after this election I hope the country sees how much money went into these campaigns for a Democratic gain.  And I will continue to push against this.  To think that a corporation is a person is as ridiculous as the conservatives believing (with no real evidence) that there is an in-person voter fraud problem in this country, and that the path to win is through fraud and voter disillusionment.

I was fighting for the freedom of women all over this land - making sure they have the ability to determine what they do or do not want to do with their bodies.  I will always fight against the government that feels they have a right to put themselves between a woman and her right to determine her own path forward.  I am a Catholic that is also an American.  And any American that wants to take away any right to decide what I or any other American wants to do with their body is not a decision I should make.  Instead, I should be teaching responsibility and consequence when and where it is most effective.  Sorry, but if Republicans and conservatives want to partner with the NRA and allow guns that are meant only to kill as many as possible in a short amount of time as is possible for sale in the US, then don't be surprised when there are also people out there that don't want to bring a child into this world and will do what they feel is necessary to prevent it.  Yes, I know I'm mixing 2 political positions here, I'm demonstrating to you the absurdity of the stance you are taking.  I wish that there was no need for another abortion to ever occur in this country and on this planet, but the reality is that it is not my decision to make.  If we guarantee life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we have to let the people responsible for bringing that life into the world to make whatever decision they feel they must at the appropriate time, regardless of your own belief. PERIOD, end of story.

I was fighting for the freedom to marry for anyone.  Again, being a Catholic, I do not have the right to condemn a person or impugn their lifestyle choice (only one person does, and he'll do that when he is damn well ready), because as an American I should be making sure that if I have a right to do something that I not stand in the way of anyone's ability to do the same within reason.  And I ask that conservatives don't stick their faces into the bedroom where they don't belong, regardless of their beliefs.  I seem to recall a day not too far in the past where there were certain individuals who thought that skin color denoted or dictated the mental acuity and the capabilities of that person.  I also seem to recall that being abolished, not the least of which because it was ridiculous. I also was told by my parents (white parents) that even though I was all of 6 months old at the time, that our entire family marched in the civil rights marches of that day to show support, that same spirit of equality for all survives today.  All they are asking for is the ability to have the same rights as anyone else that is loved, married, has a loved one in pain and in the hospital, provides for financially, on and on.

I know you won't do a thing about your viewpoint, but until and unless you recognize you're living in the past, you will be doomed to repeat it.

P.S.  I am a very self sufficient person, and don't want a handout, hell I paint my own house when it needs painting because I want to save a little money and enjoy the fruits of my own labor (besides, no one is going to do it the same way nor to the same level of quality that I am because I'm doing it for myself), mow my own lawn, fix what I can because I can, but I do want those that are in dire straits, those who have worked their entire lives, and those who cannot fend for themselves to be able to depend on us as a nation to support them.  I think it is something that the greatest generation would gladly support. I am not waiting for Santa Claus, I can be Santa Claus by backing a social safety net for our country through some redistribution. Unlike you I guess.....

P.P.S.  Added on 11/19/2012 AND one additional postscript. The programs that provide support are redistribution only in the fact that they are "PAY-IN" programs. They are not free. Anyone who has ever worked pays into the system, and should be able to depend on getting something out of that system. My dollar value today is submitted against what a fair return for those services should be in the future. It is not a handout. So anyone who feels like they got a gift from Obama just doesn't know how this "redistribution" system works. Time to take a civics class again America.....