August 3, 2003

A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY

A Letter to Republicans from a Buzzflash Reader:

I keep seeing bumper stickers that say, "United We Stand." However, saying it doesn’t make it true. I think we are about as divided as I have ever seen us. Just pick any current issue and ask a Democrat then a Republican what they think and you’ll get surprisingly different answers. But I’m trying to look at the larger picture here. I want to know what is the main difference between us, people who are Democrats (or progressives) and you, people who are Republicans (or conservatives)?

I want to know the real biggy, the one that is at the very root of how we feel about all the issues. And I’ve thought and thought about it and do you know what I come up with? It’s a gut feeling more than a descriptive word. And the only word that can accurately be attached to that feeling is "mean."

Republicans are just plain mean.

I hate to insult those Republicans who may not be mean, but I can only judge from the Republicans I know and those who are your spokesmen and women on the TV and in the media. Mean.

Mean because you hate everybody who doesn't look like you, make money like you, or believe in your religious outlook. Look at every issue and behind it, your view is based on your hatred of someone or something.

You hate gays and so you would marginalize them from society or worse pass amendments to our constitution to assure they will never have right similar to yours.

You hate people of other races, particularly the ones with darker skins. Oh I know you say you don’t but actions speak louder than words and it’s no secret that the Republicans do nothing to advance people of other races in this country or around the world. Actually an amazing number of you come right out and admit that you hate these people and cite the reason you hate Democrats as because we try to help them or give them rights.

You're mean because you hate poor people and always have some excuse as to why you shouldn’t have to care about them or help them. I especially love the way you quote the bible passage that says the poor will be among us always as if that one lets you off the hook for being selfish and uncaring toward the unfortunate among us.

You’re mean because you hate people who don’t believe in the same religion as you and because you constantly bully your religion onto everyone else and push for it be the favorite of the government by insisting kids pray in school and that we must be One nation under YOUR God (who must be very mean; maybe you've mistaken the devil for God). (By the way, my God is probably the same as yours, but you have no business assuming that notion for me or any other American.)

You’re mean because an alarming number of you have as your hero a man like Rush Limbaugh, one who makes a living just being mean. It’s a sad commentary on society that someone like him could rise to such fame and get filthy rich by being the voice of the meanies among us.

You’re mean because you hate environmentalists and you can’t see how animals and wildlife have any of the same rights as you. You’re mean because you would rather kill off an entire species, or allow poisons to remain in the air and water to make not just animals but humans sick, than work to find a better solution to our needs for resources.

You’re mean because lately you particularly hate anyone who doesn’t agree with you and has the nerve to say so. That hatred, I have to tell you, is downright scary, I’m sorry but when I have to be that afraid to talk about how I feel about current world events, then I am starting to wonder what kind of nation you want the United States to be. Wait a minute, I know…..Mean.

So now we are spreading our meanness around the world and you are all out there cheering it on. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said "Kick Their Ass,Take Their Gas." I don’t have to wonder too hard whether the driver was a Republican or Democrat. He didn’t bother to research and try to find the truth about our involvement with Iraq or he would realize that the Iraqis had nothing to do with 9-11. But he was too mean to care. (He also wasn’t very smart; He is not going to "take" their gas. He’s going to pay a very smart price for it to Halliburton and the like at the gas pump.)

So, yes, I’ve come to the conclusion that your Republican party is the party of mean people. I’ve been talking with my friends about this and they admit that they have the same thoughts about you. In case you haven’t noticed, most of the rest of the world harbors similar thoughts about you as well but you’re too mean to wonder if the rest of the entire world might have a point to consider and actually try to figure out why the world feels this way.

It’s better to just be more mean so they’ll be afraid to say what they think.

I use to have faith that Americans were really good people down inside, but with dismay I see that recently the mean-ness is spreading. It’s become downright cool to be mean. The Democrats actually have a stigma of not being mean enough! The real irony is that the Republican Party continuously insinuates that they have some sort of monopoly on Jesus, the least mean person who ever lived.

But somehow I just can’t see Jesus with a "Kick Their Ass, Take Their Gas" bumper sticker.

Signed,

"Praying for God to Intervene and Save Our Democracy from the Bitter, Mean Ones"

A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY