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If Republicans Are Lying to You An Open Letter By Punkerslut
Greetings, The Republican Party of California is a very curious experiment, especially its website. It is often heard that both the Republican and the Democratic Party are moving closer and closer to the center, trying to gain the undecided votes. There's a lovely little section on your website, written by Arnold Schwarzenegger, on "how to tell if you are a Republican." I'm going to start laughing if I see anything that says "I believe in liberty, freedom, individuality, compassion, and responsible government." That would make the Republican Party older than Jesus and Moses. The opening line is quite hilarious, though: "My fellow immigrants, my fellow Americans, how do you know if you are a Republican? Well, I tell you how." Fellow immigrants? Wasn't it the Republican Party that voted for the Arizona SB 1070 bill? All of the Republicans, except one, voted for making it a crime to not be participating with the state forces in fighting immigration. The Arizona government's website as a source: AzLeg.gov. And then, after the national government fought the immigration law, Republicans criticized this move, too. (NYTimes.com) To have any type of physical association with an illegal, "if the person knows or recklessly disregards the fact that the alien has come to, has entered or remains in the United States in violation of law," is itself a crime. For a newsreporter to even try to uncover the way that immigrants live, itself, would have been outlawed by this bill. But when it comes to knowing if you're a Republican, first, let's say "fellow immigrants," probably because of the high Hispanic population in California (currently more than a third). Somehow, I find that I'm being lied to already. Why begin with "my fellow immigrants," when your party has is so closely tied with creating a civil war against these people and anyone who sympathizes with them? Because you're more interested in getting people to obey and follow you! That makes money for you and your leaders, and it's doesn't pose any possibility of helping people free themselves from all artificial constraints and restrictions in society. Well, let's see. How else do I know if I'm a Republican? "If you believe that government should be accountable to the people, not the people to the government, then you are a Republican." No, that means you've read Rousseau's 'Social Contract' and you agree with its basic premises, but not its conclusions. Oh, sure, I bet if you go to a Democratic Convention, you'll see on the banners "Government shouldn't be responsible to you! You need to be responsible to the government!" How odd, then, that Republicans like Ronald Reagan spent their entire lives demonstrating how spending money on the poor (demonized as "welfare") while demanding that they should serve more in the military and armed services. What changes did the Republican Party make? It changed government spending, so that instead of buying houses and food for the hungry, the same money is spent on tanks and bombs so that those poor people can kill poor people from other lands. Doesn't it seem, then, that the individual gains more responsibility when it has to kill for its government? And doesn't it similarly seem that the government loses more responsibility, when it stops providing for the people that it has exploited, misled, and abused for decades? "If you believe a person should be treated as an individual, not as a member of an interest group, then you are a Republican." Ah, so then you're going to fight so that everyone faces the law equally? Like, for example, the murder laws? No, not even that. A police officer shot and killed a man, and it was caught on tape. Police officers rushed some of the videographers, detained them, and recovered the tapes. But, a cell phone video made it through. Did Arnold Schwarzenegger fight that? No, he supported it, and he urged "Californians to remain calm following the verdict," when the court found the officer NOT GUILTY of first-degree murder, NOT GUILTY of second-degree murder, and NOT GUILTY of third-degree murder. (News10.net) There wasn't even a charge for MURDER! To drag a man to the ground, bind him up, and then fire a weapon into his back -- this is not even charged as murder. Why? Why? Because that police officer wasn't treated as an individual, they were treated as a police officer. If you can show me one officer who was charged and convicted for murder involving police brutality, and I'll show you a case where the police officer was framed. "If you believe your family knows how to spend your money better than the government does, then you are a Republican." Then why is the Republican Party spending a trillion dollars a year on a military budget and only a paltry hundred billion on social services? You make ten bullets for every one sandwich you hand to the poor. Are you going to give us that trillion dollars back? I doubt it. "If you believe our educational system should be held accountable for the progress of our children, then you are a Republican." This sounds like a codeword for "cut spending to the education system after instituting some ridiculous test like the 'No Child Left Behind' Act." Are you going to let anyone drop out of high school that wants to? And then let them get a refund of the tax spending from the school, so they can support themselves while they explore libraries and museums at their own rate of creativity and impulse? No? It didn't seem so: NYTimes.com . The Republican Party is the greatest supporter of the "educational voucher program." What does that mean? It means that the Republican Party believes in the worst forms of education imaginable: private schools where paddling are common, catholic schools where sexual and physical abuse are rampant, and conservative "academies" where hazing is the norm. The voucher program means that students who attend private schools should have it paid for by the public. The Catholic Steeple and prayer beads of a church school, the wooden paddle with its holes so that it swings faster in the absence of air pressure, all that, shall be paid for by trawling money out of the pockets of the poor. Taxes to pay for bullets and churches -- but I can't even ask for a lousy sandwich. Sounds like the Republicans are all about using the government to spend money and taking it away from the families. The third to last for Arnie's list: "If you believe this country, not the United Nations, is the best hope for democracy, then you are a Republican." Yes, believe in our country, which you at least know about. That's a great way to draw support from a crowd that doesn't know a single thing about the United Nations, and consequently, could probably never offer any valid or meaningful resistance to it. If you told them that the UN founding member Britain was the greatest supporter of the United States in 'attacking terrorism' in Afghanistan and Iraq, they'd probably scream "GO UN!" (Note: "Attacking terrorism" is a codeword for "spreading terrorism and killing about a 100,000 civilians in the process.") Before the very last, we have this advice from the California Republican governor: "And, ladies and gentlemen, if you believe that we must be fierce and relentless and terminate terrorism, then you are a Republican." Yes, the Democratic Party, the Libertarian Party, the Progressives, Socialists, and Nationalists, sure, all of 'em are saying right now: "Terrorism, as in the indiscriminate slaughtering of masses of people, is great. I'm sure that's the message to send if we are going to get elected!" And, finally, "Now, there's another way you can tell you're a Republican. You have faith in free enterprise, faith in the resourcefulness of the American people and faith in the U.S. economy. And to those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: Don't be economic girlie-men." What about economists who are women? I mean, sure, you've got Ayn Rand and her book Atlas shrugged. But, she did reap what she sowed. She spent her life building up Capitalism as a desirable economic system. And now, the only people who point to her work as intelligent use her gender as a way to insult people. Capitalism at the price of any vague concept of gender equality. "Don't be an economic girlie-man." Yes, be "brave" about watching your family hunger and starve. Be courageous about streets awash with homeless children and a military that sacrifices your children! Be durable and steadfast when tyranny asks you to wait, sit, and to suffer only what is available at your feet. Be patient when you want to reach up and grasp at the air for something more -- be calm and sturdy when you worry about your job, when your family members get laid off, when the unemployment rate continues to grow and grow. Have resolve to be UNCONCERNED WITH THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITION OF YOUR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS. And don't dare be "girlie-men." I may not know if I'm Republican, but I know how to have my sexuality redundantly questioned for ends that have no virtue. Thank you, I patiently await a response. I know the country must want to hear what you have to say in response. Sincerely,
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