It may seem strange that a Democrat feels compassion for grassroots Republicans, but I do. Their party is being stolen from them; it is no longer the party of great people such as Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. The GOP (now standing for the Greedy Opulent Party) has been taken over by political strategist Karl Rove and giant multinational corporations.
You think presidential nominee Mitt (Mitt?) Romney will be our next president? Think again. Even if he is elected, he’ll be just a puppet for the real powers behind the throne.
Rove (AKA Bush’s brain) is the guy that gave us George W. Bush – the president who left office with the lowest approval rating of any president after embroiling us in a unnecessary, immoral war that cost us the lives of 6,000 of our young as well as trillions of dollars that was charged to a Chinese credit card.
The grassroots Republicans are decent people, concerned about spending money wisely and preserving personal freedoms. But for them to be so taken in by Rove and his corporate bosses indicates they aren’t as sharp as they could be (or aren’t really paying attention, what with working two or three jobs to keep their kids clothed and roofs over their weary heads.)
The corporations don’t care about finding jobs for the working class that built this country. Why should they? They employ slave labor in virtually every Third World country and are gradually lowering the standard of living here – reducing wages and benefits, gutting the power of unions and eliminating any laws that interfere with these noble (as in re-establishing the kingserf feudal system) goals.
They have worked for years to tear down what past presidents, Democratic and Republican alike, have put in place –national forests and wilderness areas, clean air and water, 40-hour work weeks, a living wage, the chance to own your own home, and the best PUBLIC educational system in the world.
This country has been in some tough times in the past and has overcome them all. We crawled out of a terrible depression and fought a war on two fronts and won in four years. Meanwhile, the women of this nation built planes, with one coming off the line every hour, and put ships in the water at one a day.
This country sent men to the moon and now is exploring Mars. We are the most innovative nation in the world and one of the most generous, always called upon to dig in our pockets to help others abroad and at home. Charity seems to be in our genes.
I ask the grassroots Republicans: Are you willing to turn this over to the likes of Rove and his corporate cohorts? I don’t think you are. If Rove and the multinational corporations take over our country, the national debt will seem as nothing. We will no longer be in control and our children and grandchildren will wonder what the hell we were thinking.
People worry about losing their freedoms to socialism, but they don’t think about the fact that capitalism gone too far can strip our freedoms as well. Think about the days when there were no unions and no regulations reining in the corporations. Adults and children alike worked endless hours under horrible conditions in sweatshops. Mining companies controlled whole towns. Every penny that a man earned went right back to the Company Store. Anyone who dared to complain lost his job and was lucky not to be killed. That’s pure, unfettered capitalism for you!
I for one don’t care to be told where I can live, what job will be provided for me and what my status in life will be, no matter how hard I strive. Don’t laugh; it has happened here in the past and also in many other countries.
This election is not about who is going to be president, it’s about our freedoms. You will be on your own but own nothing if Rove’s cabal has its way
People are concerned about the role of government. The government is our country, not the corporations. Do we want a government controlled by a few with lots of money, or a government by the people, for the people? I prefer the latter.
So here is the question. Do we want a democracy (or a republic as it’s properly called) or a plutocracy ruled by the wealthy? Obama or Karl Rove, take your pick. It may be your last chance to cast a meaningful vote. Just look what is happening in Pennsylvania – 700,000 may be denied their right to vote on the trumped-up excuse of preventing voter fraud where there was none to begin with. Who may be next? You and I?
Galen Larson writes from rural Montezuma County, Colo.
