Who's Bearing the Load?

One of my professors in college used to say that the line most often said in movies (usually very earnestly) that was never said in real life was:

"You just don't get it, do you?"

And this hits me as something I feel like saying to so many middle class voters in America that have a McCain sticker on their car or a sign in their front lawn.

And I'm not saying this in a condescending way. In all seriousness, I'm not.

And I'm not saying this to the ones who are so blindly religious that they dismiss me because:

(a) I don't care if two gay people get married.
(b) I support a woman's right to choose
(c) Of some other Christian moral value that has been rammed down the throat of our "secular" society.

Because those people's mind's cannot be changed. Fine. I won't even try. Feel free to dismiss me.

But I am saying it to those that voted Bush because he felt like "one of us", or because you could "have a beer with him", or who fell prey to smear campaigns.*

And I'm saying, look at what it got you. And look what it's going to get you. The American middle-class is in terrible shape. From health care, to the housing market, to the declining dollar, to gas prices, etc, etc, etc.

And most of all, your sons and daughters. Let me introduce you to a little known but very interesting fact. There is no spin here. There are two sets of hard statistical data: the US population and the number and hometown of US troops killed in support of the current Iraq campaign. (The red-state/blue-state breakdown is as it was in the 2004 Presidential election.)

Look at the fact that 9 of the 10 states most over-represented in casualties are RED STATES.













And to make it even more clear, 7 of the 10 states that are most under-represented in US casualties are BLUE STATES.



To the 'red states' of middle-America (in a broad sense): You are sending your own sons and daughters to war. And disproportionally, it is your sons and daughters who are dying for this country, in a war that was unjustified and has gone on too long. I have very close friends and relatives that have come back from 2 and 3 tours of duty. And I know that they don't politicize the war like the rest of America does. They go over there, they do their job, and they see the good and the bad that comes from the US being there.

But that's not what's I'm getting at here.

I'm simply observing that red states paid a greater (proportional) price for the war than the blue states did. And yet it is the red states who are more apt to vote in another candidate who supports the war and agrees with the policies of George Bush. A candidate who has said he wouldn't mind staying in Iraq another 1000 years.

Like I said, there is no spin. But there is a hypothesis. And that's my hypothesis. And you can disagree with it.

Now, back to those religious people who flock to the polls more vehemently in support of a few social issues than they do in support of their own lives and self-interest;

To all of you-- is it really worth more of the same, in defense of social issues that look to impose and not to liberate? You can choose to practice abstinence and discourage a woman's right to choose... in your own families and homes.

In the history of America, as in most countries, there has always been a struggle between liberalism and conservatism. And looking back at the junctures and the biggest forks in the road over the years, it seems that each time we took the more liberal path -- whether in abolishing slavery, giving women the right to vote, instituting free speech, protecting Civil Rights -- it was, in hindsight, the virtuous path.

As it is now.

And maybe you disagree that those past decisions were "correct". And in that case, you are a bigot, a sexist, a racist, or a fascist. Sorry, you are.

I'll end this whole thing by just saying to our troops abroad: Stay safe, we support you, and we hope you come home soon.

Bless America.

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*(And if we're keeping it real here, many Republicans deny smear campaigns on Democratic candidates or say it happens both ways. In all honesty, I want someone to point out a smear campaign against Bush or McCain. Not something regarding either of their stances or policies, but something that unfairly used a quote or action or piece of history to prey on the fear and cynicism of American citizens.)