The Life Unexamined Is Not Worth Living

I have to admit, I am stunned at the stubborn refusal of GOP party leaders to engage in any sort of self-examination after their defeat at the polls. In a very short time, the new electoral strategy for the Republican Party has emerged -- "meet the new boss, same as the old boss." Gerrymander the electoral vote to reduce the Democratic share; repeal the Voting Rights Act, in order to deny voting rights to minorities without interference by annoying laws; implement Jim Crow laws again, targeted to prevent the poor from voting; restrict access to the polls by reducing the number of polling stations and the hours they are open.

 

THEY ARE ONLY DOING THESE THINGS BECAUSE REPUBLICAN VOTERS WANT THEM TO DO THEM.

 

Fundamentally, to vote Republican means supporting these tactics to deny the vote to as many citizens as it takes, in order to let Republican candidates win elections:  because they can't win on the issues. It's as plain as the face in the mirror: you voted for these leaders and you send them the money to pay the bills.

 

Your plans may work in the short term. Here's a big bite of reality sandwich: the number of Democrats is increasing every year; the number of Republicans is decreasing. The party of the white is inexorably becoming the minority party. Do you think that, when non-whites become the majority of citizens, they should treat you the way you treated them? Should they gerrymander your votes into insignificance, and deny you the rights and privileges of citizenship, the way you have done to them?

 

In politics, turn about is fair play. Your calendars are marked with a day of reckoning and keeping that appointment is not optional. I don't think you're going to have a good feeling, coming out of that meeting.

Who Are The Sheep?

President Obama: The path we offer may be harder, but it leads to a better place. And I’m asking you to choose that future. I’m asking you to rally around a set of goals for your country – goals in manufacturing, energy, education, national security, and the deficit; a real, achievable plan that will lead to new jobs, more opportunity, and rebuild this economy on a stronger foundation. That’s what we can do in the next four years, and that’s why I’m running for a second term as President of the United States.

Candidate Romney: If I am elected President of these United States, I will work with all my energy and soul to restore that America, to lift our eyes to a better future.

What is the difference between these two pledges?  In the first, the President tells listeners that they are themselves responsible for the success or failure of the nation's economy and society.  The choice is with the people who live here.  In the second, the candidate tells listeners that he will do it -- he will "restore America."  Obama says "we," Romney says "I."

Voters next week have a choice between a President who is telling them that we have to work together to solve our country's problems and a President who will solve those problems for them.

Now, who are the sheep? The people stepping up, accepting their own responsibilities in the success of the enterprise, accepting the challenge to "choose that future;" or the people lounging on their couches, turning the project over to the candidate, letting him do the work "to restore that America"? The people who get out and solve problems, or the people who wait to be told what to do? The people who ask questions, or the people who just accept whatever the candidate tells them? The people who say, "What can I do to help?"; or the people who say, "What's in it for me?"

Who are the sheep?