Dear Tea Party Person,
I haven’t a clue as to who you are nor what you are like. Everything
I know about you people comes to me second or third hand. The few tea partiers I do know, I go out of
my way to avoid. Besides having little
in common, I see you as racist, angry and hateful, narrow minded, xenophobic
and, quite possibly, mentally or emotionally ill. But how did you come to be like that? Better yet, how is it that I have come to see
you as I do? Might we both be influenced
by xenophobia and similar mental health and emotional issues?
But like I already said, what little I do know of you may be
flawed. Mostly, I know you by clips I
see on television news and it’s usually of very angry people saying very ugly
things about our president or, crowds of people wearing costumes from the
1700s, who insist on taking “our country back” from the rest of us.
And your politicians are just as ugly as the bullies in
Murrieta, California, verbally abusing a few busses full of women and children.
Your Tea Party Conservatives vote for
less regulation on Wall Street and are in favor of decreasing government’s
ability to protect the environment. And
while you call yourselves “freedom loving,” you elect people who want to take
away other people’s right to vote. So,
when you call yourselves freedom loving, does that extend to the “others?” People who, for instance, might be less like
you and more like me? What about a woman’s
right to determine how she lives her life? Should gays and lesbians have the same freedoms as everyone else? Does religious freedom give corporations the
right to come between doctors and patients when it comes to determining what
kind of medication and procedures their employees are allowed to access?
Yet, even when the hate and venom spews from the mouths of those
elected officials and religious leaders, it’s hard to believe that you and I
can be so different and intolerant. And
while I consider myself open minded, I am as guilty of avoiding and stereotyping
you as much as you are of avoiding and stereotyping me.
On the other hand, I believe that we probably agree on more
than a few things. For starts, neither
of us trusts Wall Street and big banking and we’re also suspicious of big
corporations. But your Tea Party politicians want to
deregulate both banks and Wall Street.
Worse yet, they are fine with corporations being people and have no problems
with the ruination of our environment in search of energy and profit. How is it that you continue to elect people
who want to lower taxes for the top one percent at your expense? They pay less, while we pay more and you
continue to vote for them, and against your own best interest. Makes no sense to me.
So, how about we plan a picnic in the park next
weekend. It might be fun. We could exchange iPods and listen to each
other’s music. Bring burgers, hotdogs
and potato salad. Bring the kids and
board games. If near a lake, bring swimming
stuff. Maybe we can even have a
conversation, ask and answer a few questions.
It could be informative! It could
be fun!
A picnic in the park.
Let’s make it a plan. But
whatever we decide, please leave your guns at home.
Sincerely,
Wally
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