I want my Republican Party back!

I’m starting to get tired of people opening their mouths without checking their facts first. With the upcoming election, I’ve been seeing a lot of things being posted on places like Facebook spouting off things like “What did the liberals ever do to offend the Republicans so much?” Then continuing on to list things the liberals (meaning Democrats) supposedly did. In one it was listed that the liberals freed the slaves. In another is was listed that it was the liberals who gave blacks the right to vote.

In a way they’re right. It was the liberals who did these things, but they were called Republicans at the time.

I’m sure many are cursing the screen right now shouting about how I don’t know my facts and how I’m just trying to come up with some way of defending Republicans, even if it means lying. To them I say Google it. Bing it if you prefer. Or better yet, open a history book or talk to a US History teacher. That guy who pushed like hell, moving heaven and earth to see the 13th Amendment ratified, Abraham Lincoln, was the very first Republican president. He might have been the 16th president of the United States, but he was the first Republican president.

He was followed by Andrew Johnson, who happened to be warming the vice president’s office when Lincoln was assassinated.  Johnson officially had no party, but he sided with Democrats at the time. Acting as a Democrat he chose to speed along the reconstruction of post Civil War America instead of insuring the rights and freedoms of everyone. Republicans of the day chose to impeach him for this.

20 years later the Democrat parties of several southern states began to repeal the black right to vote. The direct result of Johnson’s closet-Democrat politics.

 Here we are over a hundred years later and the parties have switched roles. Now the Republicans are the conservatives and the Democrats are the liberals. But, there are still some major differences. The Republican party was not founded on extreme liberal principles. They were firm believers in change, but not change for the sake of change. They realized that you could change an entire nation, an entire culture by changing only one key thing. The original republicans were believers in Universal Sufferage, not communism. The current Democrats are leaning more and more towards communism, and some are even starting to say it straight out. The idea that those who have should be legally bound to pay for those who have not, no matter the reason those who are have nots have nothing.

Meanwhile, the current Republicans are actively working to begin stripping people of their rights. The word “republican” has become synonymous with “conservative”. In truth, the word “conservative” doesn’t even begin to describe what the current Republican party is trying to do. “Regressive” would be more accurate. A conservative wants to keep things the way they are. A regressive wants to put things back the way they used to be. In this case, 200 years ago.

So, now we see liberals acting like conservatives as they try to battle the regressives, and all the while people are taking credit for things their opponents did, not realizing that their opponents were them when they did these things. Confused yet? You’re not alone. The entire nation is confused right now. We’re in the middle of a massive political identity crisis that has Abe Lincoln turning in his grave. If someone posted a picture of the Lincoln Memorial Monument crying I would believe that. And the caption would read, “I want my Republican party back!”

Not in God's Image

I always find it interesting when a leader who claims to be Christian decides that he or she can pick and choose what parts of the bible are important, and which aren’t. Which of the teachings of the prophets, or even Jesus (Remember that guy? The one that died a slow and painful death for you?) is relevant to human life. I’m not going to waste time talking to the moron in question this week. Instead I want to talk to other Christians... real Christians.

First, I should let you know that I am not a Christian. I’m Asatru, a believer in the ancient gods of Asgard. But, I have read the bible. In fact, I’ve read it more times than the average Christian. So, I find it very easy to look at things from a what is supposed to be a Christian point of view. I know what the most sacred precepts and tenants of the Christian faith and life are supposed to be. Foremost among them is that Man was created in God’s image.

Now, having said that, I would like to talk about Georgia State  Representative, Terry England. Here is a man who wants to make women carry stillborn babies to term, or at least until they go into ‘natural labor’ like “cows and pigs do.” I know what you’re thinking. It’s either A) he’s an ass, or B) it’s God’s will.

If you answered A you’re right... and I’m not talking to you. You don’t need a talking to. You’re head is screwed on right. But, if you answered B then we need to have a discussion. Sit. Down.

I know it’s tempting, and even seems logical to go with “God’s will”, but I would like to ask you something. How is it God’s will? We’re not talking about abortion here. We’re talking about a baby who’s heart has stopped beating, it’s neurofunction is flat, it is dead. I’m going to say that again... we’re talking about removing a baby that is already dead. God has already spoken. He has already made His decision and decide that that particular child would not enter the world. How is it God’s will to make a woman continue to carry it?

Let’s examine what excuse Mr. England used. He pointed out that cows and pigs do it. Tell me, as a Christian, does that make sense to you? Every single version of the bible says that you were made in God’s image and that you are above the beasts of the land and sea. But Mr. England says that’s if it’s good enough for a cow or pig then it’s good enough for you or your wife. Cows defecate in their own beds and pigs bathe in mud. These are animals with hooves, not hands and feet, which the bible squarely says are not equal unto Man. So, why would a good ‘Christian’ like Mr. England say such a thing?

Well, lets examine the options. First, he’s probably one of those people that think women fall into the same category as animals, that they are not human, therefore not part of mankind. Or, he’s betting that you’ve forgotten that part about being above the animals of the land and sea. Maybe he doesn’t believe that any of you, male or female, were created in God’s image. I tell you though, I’m kinda hoping that it’s not option one. After all, if it were then that would mean that he believes that he, and every other heterosexual man on Earth, was fornicating with farm animals. Maybe he thinks that’s a good thing. Maybe Mr. England gets off on it. (Suddenly homosexuality doesn’t seem so bad, eh?)

In the end, his motives are not clear, only his implications: that you, your wives, your sisters, and your mothers are no better than the animals of the land and sea. His implications are that you are not divinely created, and especially not in God’s image.

Next time you hear sacrilegious crap like that call it for what it is. Almost makes me wish ya’ll would bring back stoning people to death. Almost.

On Tea Baggers and Filthy Liberal Scum

A friend recently asked me how people can reconcile having special needs kids with claims of being conservative. He was working under two assumptions. First was that every conservative gets assistance from the government to help support their special needs children in the form of things like SSI. The second assumption was that by saying they were a conservative they must be saying they’re members of the Tea Party. I cannot speak for all conservatives, only myself.

Now, I’ve already had my discussion with my friend, and hopefully cleared these matters up for him. My friend, Justin, otherwise known as the Filthy Liberal Scum, is a smart man. He’s capable of asking intelligent questions and actually listening to the answers. I have not found the same can be said for the majority of the members of the Tea Party, or Tea Baggers, however. Or many on the extreme left for that matter. I found my conversation with Justin quite refreshing.

So, for the rest of you... On the Tea Party: Being a ‘conservative’ does not equate to being a Tea Bagger. Neither does being a registered Republican. From my point of view, the Tea Party is nothing more than a group of inbred idiots with too much money. This is what happens when we let rednecks marry their cousins so they can keep their bank accounts ‘in the family’.

Too harsh? Perhaps. But, from what I’ve observed, the ambient IQ of Tea Baggers isn’t on-par with the rest of the human race, or Republicans. It’s sad, really, when a woman yells and screams about having to pay for other people’s laziness, when her husband is a member of a Labor Union. Kinda makes you shake your head in wonderment. Or when someone else screams and yells about how they want to shut down every single 'welfare’ program, then bitches about people who don’t put their kids in public school like 'normal people’, instead of homeschooling. Really? Are we aware of the fact that the public school system is the single largest welfare program in the nation? I am. Obviously they aren’t.

No, I am not a member of the Tea Party. I’m a member of the Republican Party. I want smaller federal government, not a lack of it. I want the power to make my own decisions to stay with me, not some committee back in DC. I want the people who were voted into office to do the jobs they were elected to do (whether I voted for them or not), not hand their duties off to committees and super-committees filled with people I’ve never even heard of. I don’t want to see the end of all welfare programs, I want to see the ones we have fixed so they work right and we, as a nation, aren’t hemorrhaging cash out of every orifice. but no, I don’t want to see the creation of new ones.

On the note of receiving assistance for my special needs kids... what I get comes in the form of reduced or waved tuitions and fees for special teachers and therapists from local organizations. Some of these organizations are publicly funded and some are private. I do not get SSI for my kids. My husband and I work our tails off to provide for the children we chose to have, for better or for worse, disability or no disability. My kids do not get Medicaid. We have private insurance, which comes with that working our tails off part. I did apply for Medicaid at one point, but was informed we made too much money to qualify for the one that would be useful (Medicaid A). I didn’t yell and scream when we were denied. I shrugged, said, “Okay” and worked that much harder to provide my children with the help they needed.

Part of that 'working harder’ was quitting my job so I could homeschool my kids because they public school was failing miserably at dealing with my children’s needs. I went back to school myself to study graphic art and writing so I could open my own business that I could run out of a home office. I gave up things like nice clothes, parties, cable TV, and dates with my husband so that my kids could get the help they need and always have access to a parent when they need it. Which is about 20 times more often than a normal kid does.

Instead of hiring someone to do every single thing for my kids, I took classes on how to do those things myself. For instance, when my physically disabled child’s doctor said she was going to need daily physical therapy for the rest of her life I took the money I might have used to pay the daily PT tech for the first year, and had her main PT (the one with the PhD) enroll me in classes so I could learn to do it myself. When another of my kids was born with type-1 diabetes I borrowed the money from my grandmother, not the federal government, to take nutrition classes so I could ditch the dietitians at WIC… who didn’t actually have any clue what a T1D diet looked like anyway.

Do I do everything myself? Oh, hell no! I am not a medical doctor, and I will never pretend to be. And there are certain things that would just be inappropriate for me to do myself. My kids still see general practitioners, endocrinologists, developmental specialists, orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists, educational therapists, and more. I simply choose to do everything I am capable of doing for them myself. If that means I don’t get a smart phone, drive a new car, or go out to dinner with my husband every other week like we did pre-kids, sobeit.

None of this, however, means that I look down on people who cannot do what I do. I do not look down on the family that sends their autistic kid to public school, nor do I look down on them for receiving SSI for that same kid. It’s hard. Life is hard. And not everyone has the same strengths I do. It doesn’t make them weak. It just makes them different.

A friend of mine, a public school teacher, once asked me, “How do manage to teach three different kids at three different grade levels?” My response was, “How do you manage to teach 30 different kids without letting one or five slip through the cracks?” That doesn’t make me better than her. It doesn’t make her better than me. It makes us different. To each his own.

When it all comes down to it, that is how I reconcile being a conservative with having special needs kids: To each his own. Others may have their own reasoning, but I can’t speak for them. I can only speak for myself... and I do. Often.