On April 14, 1865 Abraham Lincoln was shot as he sat in Ford's Theater watching a play. He died in the early morning on April 15. The young country, which had just endured four years of war and was looking forward to peace, now had to deal with death of the President. The man who called on his fellow citizens to dedicate themselves to ensuring "that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth" had himself perished. The man who wanted to "bind up the nations wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations" would not be able to help his torn country reunite.
We, as a country, do not commemorate these days. We used to celebrate Abraham Lincoln's birthday as a holiday, but then a decision was made to combine Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays into President's Day. Perhaps it is fitting that the "father of our country" and the man responsible for saving the Union are celebrated on the same day. So why should we recall the day Lincoln was assassinated? Or the day he died? Why think about Abraham Lincoln at all?
President Abraham Lincoln believed that the United States of America could not and must not be divided. Rather than allow the southern States leave the Union, he called on the citizens of the northern States to come together and preserve the Union. Certainly letting the States secede might have been easier than engaging in a war. But he could not allow this "last, best hope of earth" to fail because he feared it would be the end of any chance of democratic government. He understood the horror of a war the lasted much longer than anyone expected. Photographs of Abraham Lincoln throughout his term as President show the toll the conflict took on him. But he was determined to preserve the Union.
So why should we care about Abraham Lincoln? Because he showed us what determination can do. He was primarily self-taught with little formal education, yet his words are often included in literature books. Despite being ridiculed and insulted, Lincoln kept moving forward. He showed us that against all odds, we can achieve more than is expected of us. Most important is that he cared about us, yes, us in this century. He wanted to ensure that our country, our democracy, continued and he died for his beliefs.
Shouldn't we care enough about him to recall his assassination and death? Shouldn't we care enough about him to dedicate ourselves to preserving our country and not allowing The United States of America to be once again torn apart by those who want to stop us from moving even one step closer to the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence?
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Truth about who receives assistance
I saw a picture of a highway with cars headed away from the photographer and north out of Florida. When I saw the word "goodbye', I was expecting the picture to be about the annual exodus of the snowbirds. I was wrong. The original poster wrote about gleefully saying goodbye to all the "deadbeats who don't want to work and drug users" who would be leaving Florida to go to States where drug testing is not required to receive public assistance. I am still stunned, though I shouldn't be, at how many people not just here in Florida, but across the country, really do believe that drug users and deadbeats are the largest group receiving public assistance.
There is a reason so many people believe this misconception about who receives public assistance. Fox News, Right Wing television and radio personalities and the Republican Party have made this one of their biggest messages in an effort to gain support to destroy social service programs. Painting a vivid picture of deadbeats and drug users really does have a tremendous effect on how people perceive those receiving assistance. Would anyone really feel so angry about senior citizens on Social Security, people with disabilities or veterans receiving assistance? Of course not, unless a person is so heartless as to really believe people deserve to starve.
Some working people also receive public assistance because they are unable to find full-time work or find a job that pays enough to feed their family. Raising the minimum wage would certainly help. But that is a difficult conversation to have when wealthy corporate owners are spending so much money to prevent that from happening. There is also the impact raising the wage would have on small business owners who would struggle to meet payroll demands. The tendency is always to focus on the big corporations as though big corporations own and operate every business.
Surely demonizing people is not the answer, yet that is what is happening. Worse is that the lie is being endorsed by staunch, proud conservative Christians who quote from Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians that people who do not work, should not eat. They, of course forget all about Jesus saying sell what you have and give to the poor. (Matthew 19:21, Mark 10:21, Luke 12:33, Luke 18:22) There are also verses in the Old testament as well as the other verses in the New testament about feeding the poor, caring for the elderly and taking care of the sick. All of which are conveniently ignored in an effort to destroy life saving programs.
If only people would actually take time to find out if the information they pass along is actually truthful instead of allowing their emotions to be manipulated, this country might actually move forward, rather than backward. If only this outrage at all those drug dealers and deadbeats who refuse to work who are receiving so much public assistance, which in fact is not the millions about which conservatives rant and rave and whip people into a frenzy, was directed at those who are not paying their fair share in any type of taxes, the deficits would drop and social programs would be infused with life giving money. Where is the outrage about this?
Where is the outrage about children who are starving/ Where is the outrage about the elderly who have to choose between eating and paying bills? Where is the outrage about veterans living on the streets? Where is the outrage about anyone living on the streets? Where is the outrage about people digging in dumpsters for food?
There is a reason so many people believe this misconception about who receives public assistance. Fox News, Right Wing television and radio personalities and the Republican Party have made this one of their biggest messages in an effort to gain support to destroy social service programs. Painting a vivid picture of deadbeats and drug users really does have a tremendous effect on how people perceive those receiving assistance. Would anyone really feel so angry about senior citizens on Social Security, people with disabilities or veterans receiving assistance? Of course not, unless a person is so heartless as to really believe people deserve to starve.
Some working people also receive public assistance because they are unable to find full-time work or find a job that pays enough to feed their family. Raising the minimum wage would certainly help. But that is a difficult conversation to have when wealthy corporate owners are spending so much money to prevent that from happening. There is also the impact raising the wage would have on small business owners who would struggle to meet payroll demands. The tendency is always to focus on the big corporations as though big corporations own and operate every business.
Surely demonizing people is not the answer, yet that is what is happening. Worse is that the lie is being endorsed by staunch, proud conservative Christians who quote from Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians that people who do not work, should not eat. They, of course forget all about Jesus saying sell what you have and give to the poor. (Matthew 19:21, Mark 10:21, Luke 12:33, Luke 18:22) There are also verses in the Old testament as well as the other verses in the New testament about feeding the poor, caring for the elderly and taking care of the sick. All of which are conveniently ignored in an effort to destroy life saving programs.
If only people would actually take time to find out if the information they pass along is actually truthful instead of allowing their emotions to be manipulated, this country might actually move forward, rather than backward. If only this outrage at all those drug dealers and deadbeats who refuse to work who are receiving so much public assistance, which in fact is not the millions about which conservatives rant and rave and whip people into a frenzy, was directed at those who are not paying their fair share in any type of taxes, the deficits would drop and social programs would be infused with life giving money. Where is the outrage about this?
Where is the outrage about children who are starving/ Where is the outrage about the elderly who have to choose between eating and paying bills? Where is the outrage about veterans living on the streets? Where is the outrage about anyone living on the streets? Where is the outrage about people digging in dumpsters for food?
Saturday, April 11, 2015
we can not give up
Once again, the inspiration for this blog post came from a conversation with my sister. We were talking about the influence Fox News and the right wing conservatives have on the voters. As my sister pointed out, millions of dollars are constantly being poured in to advertising to promote a very specific message that appeals to a group of people who vote in every election. Along with the money, there is also the problem of gerrymandering which is not a new issue but has certainly become more prevalent. All of which seems to bode well for conservative Republicans and doom the Democrats.
But money cannot not vote. Corporations cannot vote. The 1% can not cast more votes than the 99%. Yes, the corporations can try to persuade their workers and the conservative Christian preachers can often sway their parishioners. But I still believe there are more people who oppose the policies of the Right Wing Republicans than support them. The problem is that all those people do not always go out and vote. The core voters in the Republican Party, the ones that will vote in every election, out-number those same voters in the Democratic Party. Why? The simple answer is that the Republicans are much better at getting out their message than the Democrats are at getting out their message.
The liberal groups on Facebook constantly post about what the Republicans are doing and how harmful their policies are. But that didn't seem to matter enough to prevent Republican victories in the last election. So what does matter? When people choose to stay home rather than vote, they allow others to make choices for them. Why do they choose to not vote? Some people do not think their vote will matter, but it will, if only they would cast it. If only they would add their votes to all the others who also believe their vote will not make a difference.
We are stronger when we stand together. We can create change when we work together to make the change happen. We can not and must not give up because that is what the conservatives and billionaires are counting on to happen. They want us to believe that we are defeated. They want us to believe that our votes do not count. But the only way our votes will not count, the only way we will be unable to create the change we want, the change that is what our country needs, is if we stay home and do not vote!
Stand up, stand together, go to the polls, vote and with each vote we will echo the words of Abraham Lincoln "that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from this earth."
But money cannot not vote. Corporations cannot vote. The 1% can not cast more votes than the 99%. Yes, the corporations can try to persuade their workers and the conservative Christian preachers can often sway their parishioners. But I still believe there are more people who oppose the policies of the Right Wing Republicans than support them. The problem is that all those people do not always go out and vote. The core voters in the Republican Party, the ones that will vote in every election, out-number those same voters in the Democratic Party. Why? The simple answer is that the Republicans are much better at getting out their message than the Democrats are at getting out their message.
The liberal groups on Facebook constantly post about what the Republicans are doing and how harmful their policies are. But that didn't seem to matter enough to prevent Republican victories in the last election. So what does matter? When people choose to stay home rather than vote, they allow others to make choices for them. Why do they choose to not vote? Some people do not think their vote will matter, but it will, if only they would cast it. If only they would add their votes to all the others who also believe their vote will not make a difference.
We are stronger when we stand together. We can create change when we work together to make the change happen. We can not and must not give up because that is what the conservatives and billionaires are counting on to happen. They want us to believe that we are defeated. They want us to believe that our votes do not count. But the only way our votes will not count, the only way we will be unable to create the change we want, the change that is what our country needs, is if we stay home and do not vote!
Stand up, stand together, go to the polls, vote and with each vote we will echo the words of Abraham Lincoln "that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from this earth."
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