HELP US, COMMON SENSE, YOU ARE OUR ONLY HOPE

At any hour of the day or night we can find hate and spewage to support any belief or leaning. Well funded, well developed half truths, falsehoods and propaganda permeate the airwaves. Turn on any form of media and it is right in your face. "Women who use contraceptives are sluts", "Obama keeps raising the price of gas", "your guns are in danger of being confiscated", "America is in danger of losing religious freedom", "if we lose this lizard every species on earth will vanish", "republicans are the spawn of the devil", "democrats are closeted fascists", "the Illuminati secretly runs everything", "aliens are waiting to take over earth", "Elvis is not dead", etc.

If all the hell had rained on us as promised by pundits over the course of my lifetime we would have anarchy and famine from sea to shining sea. Most of the people in our nation are intelligent and able to think for themselves. So why listen to people spread lies? People who opine offer validation, not information. I have heard many different people say the exact same phrases about what is wrong with America. These people have one thing in common. They listen to Rush Limbaugh and watch Fox News. I have not noticed this parroting among other network's viewers.  I had a long time friend scream at me in public once  about something the Democrats voted for as though I have control over Nancy Pelosi. I have seen people come to physical blows over whether or not Obama is a citizen. I know people who are very afraid that the United Nations is getting ready to round up their guns. I have read posts on social networking sites wishing other posters death, to get raped by Satan and/or get cancer for their political beliefs. This behavior has gone from shocking to funny to pathetic. It's time to take a stand and say enough. Reach way back in time, before we were surrounded by opiners and reach for your common sense.

The founding fathers of this nation were very familiar with tyranny, government unfairness and intrusion. The Constitution is the result of their collective experiences. The purpose of this amazing document is to maintain the balance of power in the nation and to provide all citizens with identical rights and opportunities. No King, no national religion, no defined social classes and a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Authors of the Constitution were forward thinking enough to allow for amending this document as necessary to meet the future needs of the Republic. For more than 200 hundred years their plan has worked quite well. The document has added amendments only by ratification of individual states.

Free speech is a right handed to our citizens. However, free speech does not mean speaking the truth. Free speech is the right to speak your mind even if you are a hate monger or a scam artist. Free will is the ability to believe or not believe what you hear. We are fortunate to live in a country where you don't have to worship the right God in the right way. You don't have to agree with the government or find yourself imprisoned. You don't have to vote for a certain political faction or soldiers come in the middle of the night to kill the men and rape the women.

Our fortune continues by living in a country where we can elect our leaders and not live under those who inherit or are handed power. This nation has prospered and failed under good and bad presidents.  It has prospered and failed under good and bad legislators. This nation has survived civil war and civil unrest. We have recognized our failings and tried to rectify them. Our citizens have disagreed on many critical, life changing issues and yet the Republic still stands. That is the point. We are a nation founded on freedoms of the individual citizen. We are a government of the people. We are allowed to vote for the leaders we want and if our candidate loses we are to remain law abiding citizens.

Those who spew rhetoric will use God, government, imagination, lies, hate and fear to further an agenda and earn a paycheck. That is their right. It is our right to be smart enough to recognize propaganda and exaggeration. Lately the GOP has chosen to put higher education in a bad light. Universities have been deemed a tool for liberal indoctrination and people with college degrees have been labeled elitist. The men using this rhetoric all have multiple degrees from well known universities. Logically, we should all know that college is great for some people and required for some professions. Common sense says that this issue is political drama being waved in the face of voters to divide them.

Recently, women's reproductive health has been a hot topic. Presidential hopeful, Rick Santorum, is using this issue to rally the religious right. His belief that birth control is a sin is based on his Catholic faith. Sorry, but that is the opposite of religious freedom. No one religion is recognized as the true religion in America. People are free to choose their religious beliefs or to have no faith at all. The GOP insists this women's issue is about unfairly forcing employers to pay for birth control if it is against their moral or religious beliefs. Pundit, Rush Limbaugh has started wagging the dog with absurd comments like, "If we are going to pay for women to have sex we want something in return. We want them to take videos of all this and post them so we can watch". Common sense tells me that Rush Limbaugh can always lower the civility bar, and that employers care about the bottom line more than any moral compass. Insurance that provides contraception is cheaper than maternity costs. This is a red herring flung to the masses to measure the morality of others.

In my lifetime I have known extreme liberals and extreme conservatives. Some of them are the exact same people. They voted for liberals and believed in their cause then took extreme right turns and now rail about what they used to be. And the opposite, I have seen conservatives take the left turn and hate their former selves. I have heard politicians and political operatives say that nothing is as important as their side winning. No, gentlemen and ladies, the most important thing is that the country survives and thrives. That citizens retain the freedoms granted them in our Constitution. That justice must be fair,n that citizens must not be singled out and punished for personal believes and non threatening practices. That citizens should not have to face retribution or humiliation in times of need or want. The survival of the republic is much more important than any side winning. Respecting the intent of the founding fathers and those who fought tyranny for our way of life is more important. Accepting that not every law will fit your personal needs or beliefs but meets those of other citizens is part of being an American. Working to reverse those laws as needed through our representatives is also part of being an American.
This is not the country I imagined as a child. False Gods, false patriotism and false standards are now the law of the land. We have completely lost logic and common sense. We don't need enemies as we are a nation of frenemies. Like junior high with meaner kids. When we refuse to pull together we rip ourselves apart. If we don't stop tearing at the fabric of our nation She will unravel.

Being a believer in free speech, I can't say, "take the spewers off the air". They have every right to say whatever they want. But let's not forget that we always have the power of the OFF button. Remember when there were polite rules of conversation like, "don't discuss religion or politics"?  Now we seem to have rules like, "say the most outrageous hateful, things you can to offend the largest number of people anytime, anywhere". Empires are being built on lies and hate. Our biggest enemies are no longer jihadists, they are political think tanks, media outlets and citizens willing to say anything for their own gain.

Always remember these things, no person or political party can make any changes to our Constitution on a whim, international law does not trump the law in America, free markets set the price of commodities and, most importantly, rarely is everything you hear the entire truth.

Ask yourself the following questions when considering any political issue:
"How does this issue effect me personally?"
"Who profits or benefits on this issue?"
"Can I actually do anything except vote my conscience?"

Always exercise your right to vote. It is the only act you perform that makes a difference in our political process. When your affiliated party isn't in power, maintain some dignity. When your affiliated party is in office, swallow your pride.

Every one's mom said it best, "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all".

You're welcome,
Lillybell Blues