I am just going to jump right in here and say the reason I would not even *consider* voting for Mitt Romney (timely, as his ‘people struggling’ commercial comes on and I MUTE it), is that this man pretends that he knows what it is like to struggle…. LOLOLOLOL!!!!
Don’t believe me? Just read his Wikipedia page.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney
It starts from his birth to present day. Can we say, Silver Spoon? Now I don’t begrudge anyone rich or poor but do not tell me you know what it is like to worry about how much of a gap there will be between jobs (1st marriage); what to do when there are no groceries and 3 days until pay day; how to make the electric, car insurance, phone and medical providers all happy and there is just not enough to do that. Don’t tell me Mitt has *ever* shopped for his $500+ suits in a thrift store! No, Mitt has NO clue what it is like to be one of “us”. You know, I might have a bit of respect for him if he did not bold face lie and say he understands. He does not… not a clue! Not a fraction of a clue! Politicians born with silver spoons that cater to big business and the rich lose any respect I may have had for them when they say they “understand struggle”. At least be honest and say, “While I cannot fully understand what it is like to be without a job for months/ years on end, I will do my best to _____”. That…. now, that may, just may get my attention and respect. It may and probably won’t change my vote, but it may not make me hit mute and cringe every time I hear your nasal ridden, irritating voice. Phony Baloney. That is all I see. I see it, I feel it I discern it. I have a good gift for discernment…. and baby the creepy crawly’s are all over this one! Bush Sr’s was the Republican’s “Jimmy Carter”…. a decent human being, he just was not the person for the job. AND, I adore Barbara Bush… would love to have lunch with the lady. We would avoid the topic of politics, but I think she is one class act. Bush Sr…… heart in the right place was just over his head. Bush Jr. was too much of a hot head and trying to finish Daddy’s job. He was too busy focusing on that to care that his people were crashing and burning. It was all about “Weapons of mass disappearance.” What about Bin Laden. Getting Hussein was all good and well, but what about the man that caused 9-11? It was swept under the rug. And hot head, that man was defensive. Again, lovely wife…. once his daughters grew up, lovely young ladies; don’t agree with their politics, but again, as people, lovely ladies. When people thought Obama was so quiet, not doing much oh, lets see… that is because he was ******DING DING DING!!!! TAKING OUT BIN LADEN!!!! Hello?****** He had one go and one go only. Dang, I was so proud to be an American and my husband was so PROUD to be a permanent legal resident and the minute we have the flippen $700 greenbacks to get his citizenship, NO prouder American will you find and I will take ANYONE to the mattresses on that one!
Finally, he has “Blinders Syndrome”
……an “as long as I am OK, the rest of the world does not exist for me” mentality. Most… not all…. but most Republicans I know have never known *real* struggle. If they are working hard to be in that position, it is certainly their right. IF they were born into a comfortable family and married and never have known unemployment or became disabled and had to ‘wait it out’ while having a medical condition that runs close to $400 a month out of pocket, they are blessed. I was born to two hard working parents. They worked hard but did not make a whole lot of money. That was one of the reasons they only had one kid…. me. I was NOT spoiled. I wore 2nd hand and hand made (polyester) clothing that my Great Aunt made and I was proud and happy to have it. I remember my Mom’s friend Bobbie had two girls a few years older than me and she would occasionally bring bags of clothes and books they had outgrown. I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. I was proud and appreciated what I had. When I walked in that Christmas when I was 12 and saw that old upright piano sitting in that living room, I later found out THAT is WHY DAD had been working 2nd jobs cleaning churches on Saturday mornings. He did that so I could have a piano. She was a beast (an old player piano upright), but she played and was my most loved possession for many years. We were not rich…. not with money. When my parents divorced and we sold “The House that Built me”, that small 2 bedroom house that saw me through my Wonder Years, my world crashed. Us Democrats may not have fancy party dresses, social clubs and big fancy birthday parties, but before the hell of my early teens to late teens broke out, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Struggle… my whole life; 1st husband; union welder, and you bet your sweet behind I may not be married to him anymore, but I still firmly believe in unions. Fair day and fair pay. We never saw that ‘trickle down’ stuff that Reagan talked about and we were so poor through the 80’s and all… finally after Clinton took office and during those 8 years things turned for us a bit. We were never super comfortable, but it was not hell on earth. After the divorce when fibro began to rule my world and especially the last few years…. it has been NOTHING BUT struggle. No one has a clue unless they live it.
Finally, the ‘bleeding hearts’ syndrome: first and foremost I do not believe in career welfare anymore than the next guy. I have zero tolerance for women who have baby after baby because they know how to play the system. Here is the way I look at welfare, it is a temporary help for people to get on their feet and get back into the work force. Before I left CA career welfare was alive and well. I knew of a woman in Oildale where hubby #1 and I lived for 9 years (and where I grew up)….. to Roanoker’s, think of Roanoke, Salem and Vinton; Oildale would be Vinton. Anyway, this woman around the corner had 6 kids by the time we moved to SW Bakersfield (bought our first house) having one every 1-2 years. She got Welfare, food stamps, free lunches for the kids, free medical, free this, free that and lived in a older but nice HOUSE with a fenced yard and trees, etc. They even had a dog! I have no tolerance for that. When we moved to VA, it was refreshing to see they do not allow you to be on welfare more than two years. VA has the “Welfare to Work” program which gets woman back to work within that 2 years. Now they may supplement child care and food (in other words if they work at Wals World for only $8 an hour, they may get a Cardinal Card for a little bit of money to supplement food costs ) but that is OK! I would much rather see someone working and trying their best and maybe getting a little help than not working at all and being on welfare full time. I have heard California has adopted a similar program, I certainly hope so! In the meantime, whenever there is children involved, we need to be aware of the children rather than being angry at the abusers of the system. It sucks, but the kids do need looking after. The states are starting to implement the Welfare to Work policies, making women realize no matter how many kids they have, they are going to have to work. It is my understanding along with food (food stamps), child care is one of the things that is subsidized. If I were a young single Mom and I knew I would be heading back to work eventually…. whether I had 1 kid or 5, I would think long and hard before becoming a ‘baby producing machine’. Coming home after a long day and getting dinner on for 5 kids, baths, home work, bed time stories, etc when you are plum exhausted already is a real eye opening thought when entertaining the notion of ‘using the system’. I think if each state could do as Virginia and implement the “Welfare to Work” type of program, that may help encourage more people to look for work as they know sooner or later they will be working one way or another. And, if wanting to make sure our kids taken care and our our elderly are taken care of. I am right there with ya: the people on Cardinal Card day that have their cart filled to the brim with steaks and other great meat, veggies and fruit (I have to weigh my fruit and veggies because I have a tight budget). I have to take a calculator to the store at times. It sucks. However, I will put up with that if it means kids aren’t going hungry. There is no perfect system. All we can do is continue to better our system that we have. It will never be perfect, but it is much better at sifting than it has been in years gone. I won’t cry if our rich are taxed just a bit more. Why is it the rich cry foul when they are asked to give a little more; they have so much they will never ever use it all. They are the ones outsourcing…. trust me *as someone who lost their job to someone in India…. and Wachovia had the tact to bring the people FROM INDIA AND TRAIN THEM IN FRONT OF US! Yes, the “Blinders”, The, “As long as I am ok, everyone else is”… well I wasn’t, I was losing my job and my insurance!!!!!!! TO OUTSOURCING!
In closing, I vote the person that I can relate to. The working class, people that struggle, people that hope, people that work…. real people. Not fluffed up pretty boys that have the camera show them handing over a bag of groceries so they can ‘look’ like they are helping in the midst the biggest natural disaster to hit our country…. it was so staged and “just kissing babies and sleazy politician like”. Dude! Give it up, I literally had to take a pherghran, it made me nauseous. The camera carefully placed; someone hands Mitt a bag of groceries and Mitt hands it off to someone in a truck. Ewwww….. don’t get your tie crumpled now! This is what I see….I see right through it. Really? Handing a bag of groceries over to a truck when the 1st guy could of reached a whole 12 inches farther and avoided the middle man. Gotta hand it to him, however, way to look good! Our President was busy with the meat of the work! Even the *Republican* Governor of NJ thanked and commended him for what he did and is still doing. Much is left to be done. A whole lot more than playing middle man in handing over a bag full of groceries so the camera can catch your good side. This is the bull that just raws my hide! This is me. This is what I stand for. I am not trying to change anyone. I am simply explaining, Tales from the donkey. I don’t care who you vote for next week….. please vote! We have this right! MY DREAM!!!!!!!! Finally, for what it is worth, I truly believe we need a good 3rd party. The “Moderate” party. So many people are feed up with both parties. I hope someday there is a good strong 3rd party! Until there is, I am going with the ones that fight for the blue collar, working class. Finally…. my dream: watch this short video… this…. this is my true dream right here. Peace!
#####COMING NEXT: LIFE AS THE UNDERDOG#####
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCX3ZNDZAwY
Imagine: John Lennon
Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace
You, you may say
I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world
You, you may say
I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will live as one