Zee Write Stuff

End the Right Wing Election Hatred Cycle


Now they are going after Muslims.  The hateful actions of the right wing, left completely unchecked and uncriticized by any "leadership" on the right, call into question their love of the Constitution and the USA.  This nation's very existence is based on religious tolerance.  The Pilgrims arrived on the shores of this land because they sought refuge from religious persecution.  The reason we have a "First Amendment" is to specifically protect those freedoms we cherish.  And religious tolerance is the first and most dear on the list, combined inexorably with freedom of speech, which means freedom of communication with ANY deity, freedom to worship in ANY community, and also, freedom not to believe.  We hold the First Amendment (and the rest of the Constitution) as a sacred trust for which men and women have given their lives.  


How then, do these radical rightwing crazies justify their hatred and intolerance?  They cannot keep waving the Constitution in our faces and at the same time spit on it.  Okay, well... they "can" because they have no shame.  They seem to be ignorant to the core -- not only of the law itself, but of the real lives of their fellow Americans. Clueless, spiteful, and of course, in complete fear of "the other."  That's it in a nutshell.  They have been told that they (mostly white Christian males) are the foundation of this nation, that they are "special" and this nation was created for them.  When they hear "with liberty and justice for all," they see white faces and their own community, not a wave of faces ranging from Italian marbleworkers in Vermont to Cajuns in Louisiana; not Chinese building railroads in the West to Irish laboring in the bit cities of the East; not slaves shackled in the South or  Swedish mail-order brides riding across the prairies of the midwest. And they certainly never see the faces of the real owners of this land -- Native Americans of all tribes and communities.  No, these rightwing "conservatives" harbor little real knowledge or love of the history of this nation.  They see nothing but themselves and their narrow world of ideas.


If we want this hatred to stop we need to put a real face on the target -- just as we have with other groups the fringe-rightwing have made into targets right before elections. Muslims are real people, living and working and struggling andsacrificing for this country in our communities, next door to us, in the seat beside us on the bus or the desk in front of us in school -- every day. They aren't cartoon characters and they aren't stereotypes. We are all the same-- living life to the best of our abilities, caring for our loved ones, and loving this country -- and the more we understand this, the more compassion we have for each other and ourselves.

Trading on fear and hatred has become a way of life for the fringe-rightwing. If it's not gays, it's "liberals"; if it's not Mexicans, it's welfare moms. If it's not the unemployed, it's the "educated elitists." If it's not labor unions, it's "women who take jobs from men." Every election cycle they prod their base by heating up the fear rhetoric. When will the base realize they've been used? The right wing had house, senate, white house and even the Supreme Court and they didn't repeal Roe v. Wade, end gay marriage, stop illegal immigration, privatize Social Security and Medicare, or shut down welfare. Wake up, moderate Republicans; you're being used. 


End the hatred cycle now: VOTE!  


Vote for responsible leadership by putting an "X" next to the names of those who are on record against the hatred.  Read, in a variety of media, what candidates say -- and look for real answers, not evasions.  Research their stands on recent issues and look for answers that uphold the dignity of ALL citizens.