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I was talking to my husband today on the phone. He has been in Tennessee since July (we live in NY). He went down there to find some work. You see, he had been unemployed since last April. Prior to that he had work for about 3.5 months and had been laid off prior the job since September. Last year he had 39 weeks of employment. He is an IBEW electrician.
So, he was telling me about the job he is on and said, "I'm really getting sick of this Yankee thing." I asked "what do you mean?" He said "Every day, it's Yank this and Yank that. Finally I put my foot down and said something to the guys I was working with."
He said "Do you know what we call the Southerners up in my local when they come up to work in our jurisdiction?"
They said "What?"
"Brother." Silence.
I've read some really mean, rude posts on here to members who have a right to voice their concerns and anger over the pickle we find our country and economy in here today. This situation was not created by Republicans alone. Someone had to vote yes to legislation, clearly there are politicians who took advantage of the easy corporate money and perks that were offered-- we can name a few Democrats among them. Granted, there were underhanded methods employed by Republicans but still, we have the right to expect our elected representatives to have a backbone and vote with integrity. We don't deserve to have people call us names when we bring it up. We are not robots. We are thinking people. We certainly don't expect to have the administration that we had such high hopes for doing this.
Those that feel betrayed by the lack of intestinal fortitude for the kind of change they hoped for- and they have fought for are important here. They are the voices that keep politicians careful of their words and their votes for good reason. Elections are the only place where we the people give a politician their job evaluation.
One state senator local to me had a very sobering last election. He barely squeaked by in a seat he fully expected to win without much effort. As a result he has become much more responsive to his constituent's concerns, answers their emails to his office, calls and sends communications on what he is doing, what bills he is supporting and why.
As people with progressive values, we don't always agree, but we can at least respect each other's opinion. Instead of throwing everyone under the bus that is not repeating the party mantra (honestly, I don't know how the wheels touch the ground anymore); why not at least acknowledge the issues? The black and white (with us or against us), name calling (Naderites-- really? I didn't know if that was a compliment or whether we should be offended, I"ll counter with a Dorothy Dayite), insults (whining, must be on drugs, retarded etc.) -- all cause to separate and divide. I don't understand the administration's (Obama's) point of scapegoating those that support him in his most liberal positions, it sounds like ego to me or maybe its something else. I don't know what it is and I don't like it. When it comes down to it, once this election is over... I hope that the people that come here will still work hard to fight for equal rights, economic justice, an end to war, against government suppression of social activists, fair labor practices, and liberty (freedom from oppressive patriot act actions), our rights of free assembly in addition to being able to keep the freedoms and benefits of a free and educated society which includes public education, a public health policy that works for all Americans, affordable higher education for those that wish to pursue it, publicly funded libraries, solid infrastructure and a clean environment.
Let's earn that peace prize. Let's tell the Democratic Party leadership that they must inspire us with what we can do to make American lives better instead of scare tactics. Talk to people instead of at them. It is true that most people have not felt relief in these times from the Democratic legislation. Particularly those that were the hardest hit and it gets more difficult every day-- have you seen the price of gas? the price of food? You cannot deny that is true. We are all in this together. We have to work together.
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