A Thought

I was looking forward to the election being over for many reasons, but one of them was this. I am really saddened by outright anti-Republican bashing. I was hoping it would stop; but it just seems to go on and on. I am not speaking to any particular person here-- but I just spent several minutes on a message board I used to really enjoy as a cool place where fun people hung out and at least half the topics were seriously negative and bashing. It made me very sad. It made me leave. I'm tired of it.

Listen. It's as as bad as any kind of bias to bash an entire group, which is made up of millions of people, and which is just as horrified by the vocal kook section which many people associate the whole group with as any other.

Are you a feminist? Do you hate it when people say "oh, well you must be a man-hating non-bath taking chick who doesn't shave and wants to abort babies daily"? Yes. It probably bugs you. And you probably say "Not all feminists are represented by the radical wing of feminism that you speak of. There are many of us who are moderate in our beliefs and just want a certain principle of fairness and equality."

Listen. NOT ALL REPUBLICANS are card-carrying evangelists and right-wing nut jobs with a gun-rack who shop at Wal-Mart and weigh 300 pounds, and until you can understand that, there will never be real understanding in this country, let alone for people outside who don't get Americans.

How do I know this? I am actually a Republican. It is mostly because when I first registered to vote, at the tender age of 18, I didn't really know the difference between the two parties. The League of Women Voters came to our high school and we had to pick one. I picked the one my family was. In the intervening years, I have decided to stay this way despite being more liberal than the typical picture of Republicans because I feel a moderate voice NEEDS to remain in the party to keep the kooks from taking over completely. I have also stayed registered this way because as a Libertarian (which is more my philosophy) I pretty much waste my vote. I'm tired of voting for someone who doesn't have a chance, and there's not really much hope for third parties in the US. I also am sort of contrary, and since, in Academia, pretty much everyone is a liberal Democrat, I stay this way just to spite the "herd."

But here is another good reason for moderate to liberal folks to stay where they are, and the reason I'm most proud of being here:

When there is word that there is a chance a radically right-wing policy might be used as a "litmus test" I write to my representatives. As a Registered Republican, they actually listen to me a little bit; my voice gets heard cause I am their voting block (or so they think). I am a member of the group Republicans for Choice. I am veryliberal socially, but I believe it is up to the individual to choose their path-- not the state to force it on anyone. That actually fits very well with the official party of what Republicans are supposed to be. It wasn't until the 1980s that the radical kook factor took over with a loud voice, and there are many people who refuse to give up and try to change FROM WITHIN.

I have voted for Democratic presidential candidates in virtually every election I have voted in. And Nader. Which was a waste of time, unfortunately. So I am the coveted "SWING VOTER." My voice gets heard a bit.

So every time someone outright bashes every single Republican, it only serves to reinforce frustrations and division from the moderates and liberals who really really are a part of the Republican party, making them more firmly to believe that other groups hold an entire body of people in contempt, dislike, even hatred, simply for the reason that THEY BELONG TO A DIFFERENT GROUP. And that the other group is totally different and never can the twain meet.

The first step to making war against, and hurting another person, is to dehumanize them. To make them into something BAD, EVIL, OTHER. When you say things like "Repugnicants" or "Republican'ts" or whatever, you make the human beings like me feel like you hate us; it hurts me every single time. And even worse, it also only makes those who are kooks feel justified in their kookiness. It makse the smug jerks like the dittoheads feel justified in their smugness.

And it makes those of us who are really here, trying to fight the good fight to drag the country back to the center where more of us live than on either of the radical wings (either left or right) feel more frustrated that it's a lost cause.

Think of it this way, if I have not yet convinced you. Substitute my group membership in a party that really is NOT that different from the other party in many ways with any other "Group" that one might bash. Would it be okay to use nasty, hurtful, divisive names for say Blacks? Latinos? Jewish folks? Gays? Catholics? the British? You get the picture.

If it's not okay to judge every single black person if one black person has done something you disagree with then it's not okay to judge every single Republican for something you disagree with. Be mad at the Rush Limbaugh's, sure! Fine! I don't like him either! Be mad at Bush if you're upset with his war principles! Fine! I'm not thrilled with it either! But those two folks do NOT represent every single person in the party!! There are many of us who are NOT kooks and we try our damndest to keep our party from going insane.

Conservative religious philosophy as a political litmus test? NO WAY! But neither should there be anti-religion as a litmus test. Choice in everything is crucial.

Abortion? Ought to be up to the individual, and the Feds should protect the rights because each state cannot be trusted in this case.

But should you, who have worked hard all of your life to make a good living have to pay for it all? Should health care become this huge bureaucracy that will be worse than any government office you've ever been in? If you've ever been on welfare or government assistance, or gone to a free clinic, you know how bad, how frustrating, how dehumanizing and alienating that system could be. YES we should have health care for everyone. Now let's think of a way to make this a centrist issue, and not continue to create a divide between two groups that aren't really as different as naming names and creating hateful labels make them out to be.

Yes, they each have the crazy uncle who gets drunk at family gatherings and spouts off. But that doesn't represent the entire family.