Hamlet Was Right...

Maybe it is time "to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them..." Oh, I'm talking about suicide here. I'm talking about killing the dragon in the United States of America that begins with each and every one of us, the fire-breathing dragon know as "PREJUDICE." Call it "elitism." Call it "racial profiling." Call it "uncovering truth about birth." Call it "patriotic zeal." Call it whatever you want, but what's going on in America today is PREJUDICE, BIGOTRY, HATRED, MEANNESS, VILENESS. It is all "PREJUDICE." 

I don't believe that we ever overcome the biases that were infused in us from our earliest exposures to them in our lives. I believe that we are all brought up with some in some way. That's the point from which I am proceeding.

On the other hand WE CAN AND DO OFTENTIMES OVERCOME OUR REACTIONS TO OUR OWN EMOTIONS. We can and do move into the revelation that what we were taught by family, neighborhood, community, geographical location on the planet may be worth ignoring. That the emotional reaction to skin color or sexuality or social status is just an emotional reaction.  That is the secret to ridding America of the PREJUDICE that is killing us. Rid ourselves of our reaction to that which we were taught that was WRONG.

That insanity to which I am referring is the mentality that says, "Make Obama A One Term President." To that end, those who have no real rational basis for their thinking are actively engaged in the process of opposing him on every issue. It makes no difference if he is right or wrong. It makes no difference if he compromises. It doesn't even make any difference if he completely acquiesces. He is always wrong to them, and they always oppose him on every issue.

Let me give you an example. Someone quite close to me is and has been on the balls of his ass for years. He  got himself on Social Security Disability years before he ever could have even thought of retiring. His rent is contributed to by HUD. I'm sure that he gets food stamps and whatever else the government is willing to hand out.

He hates Obama and is in total favor of all of the cuts that are being proposed by the anti-Obamaists. He sees no need for adequate medical care for everyone regardless of whether they have money or not, even though without that aid he'd be desperately ill. The jobs that the illegal aliens take he would never even consider consider doing. Yet, he is totally against them because they take jobs away from Americans, cost the government money for services that they have no right to, just as he does. He disregards that for years the Social Security that they paid and never collected back helped support Social Security so that the government could unwarrantedly borrow from it for programs it was never designed to support.

This person is gay, and he still is against Obama and for the Religious Right. He never even thought of serving in the military, and he is in favor of Iraq and a hard line in Libya, and supporting the Egyptians and all of the others fighting for their freedom with guns and ammunition and help of all kinds that our taxes would pay for. He sounds like that Fascist Pig who stole the White House, Bush. At the same time he talks about the need to cut spending and cries that he needs more of what the government gives him - free aid.

Another example is... NO!

I can give you more and more examples, but why bother. They would all go toward my same point. Those who are talking about making Obama a "one term President" have no real intellectually, morally or ethically sound interest in this country. They want the N%*_$+ OUT. I've heard the word used that way.

Oh, they say they don't care about the color of his skin. If that were true, they would be supporting him on issues where he is right and when he tries to ameliorate, not incite, conflict. They would not be spouting, "Make Obama A One Term President." They would be cheering on the person they thought was better than he. They have no one; therefore, they just sloganize, vilify and denounce.

So, it is time to take the knife to self and cut out the way we behave in reference to our internalized bigotry. Accept that we have our prejudices. Recognize what they are. Decide to look at our reactions in the cold light of honesty. Resolve to change and then stop ourselves from behaving in the demeaning, illogical, irrational manner on which unexamined bias flourishes and grows like a cancer.

Those of us who feel differently than these bigots need to stand up and speak out. Call a bigot a bigot. Ask the difficult questions, "Where are we going to get the money to pay for YOU when the cuts that Obama's opposition propose will amount to a little more than 3% of the deficit and big business and the rich don't want to pay their fair share? Will you go out and mow the lawn for the money that the illegal aliens get for that blistering work? Will you go back to work and help pay into Social Security so that it doesn't go under? Will you go patrol the border to stop illegal aliens as a means of earning your free check each month? On what basis can anyone support tax exemptions for the rich and big business when it is the middle class that has been supporting society for generations.  Why should I support your union when you voted into office the guys who are trying to do away with it? And on...And on...And on..