Conservatives, You Have Convinced Me

You have convinced me. There have been so few Republicans since Teddy Roosevelt who have advanced the cause of democracy that I could count them on the fingers of one hand. So, when you say “better Russian than democrat,” the lower case “d” is not a typo. You have convinced me that this is exactly who you are: people who do not believe in the democratic form of government or in justice, fairness, equality, or basic decency. You have convinced me that you do not believe that individuals are as important as hyper-rich people or corporations. You have convinced me that you will do anything to turn the United States into an authoritarian state; a nightmare for most and a fascist’s wet dream. I believe you when you quote James Madison’s claim that democracy is “the tyranny of the majority”; a statement meant to justify the defense of slavery that was built in to the US Constitution. You have convinced me that you believe your false flag: that preventing a single illegal vote is worth obstructing thousands, even millions, of your fellow citizens from exercising their most precious and important civic responsibility: the right to vote.

You have convinced me that you believe “blue (and white) lives matter” more than any other life. Nothing is more important, to you than a police officer’s life and lifestyle, regardless of how many citizens have to suffer to protect that officer’s comfort and security. “Protect and serve” was never meant for all. The police department is who you expect to “protect” your entitlement as a white person, as a real American. When a cop, or even a random white person “standing their ground,” shoots an unarmed person of color, it is always justified. You’ve convinced me that is what you believe.

You’ve convinced me that you believe your right to play with guns is much more precious than the lives of children, let alone the rest of society. That attitude has spread into a portion of the public who now believe their right to possess or do something always overrides anyone else’s health, safety, or peace of mind. The prior adage/understanding was that your liberties ended at another person’s nose. However, now your pursuit of happiness is grossly more important than anyone else’s.

With your indefensible commitment to Donald Trump, you have convinced me that you imagine your religion to be the “one true religion” and anyone not believing exactly the same vision as you is a heretic. The idea of “freedom of (or from) religion” is, in your mind, un-American. You would love for the Dark Ages to return so that you can torture anyone who disagrees with you as a witch, an infidel, or a terrorist. The fact that a man who has happily admitted to committing every one of the seven deadly sins is now your “holy warrior” has cemented what your religion represents: the constant pursuit of money over all other values.

You have convinced me that you believe any news source not telling the story you’ve decided is true, regardless of evidence, is “fake news” and no evidence will ever convince you otherwise. In fact, I am convinced that you do not believe any evidence that conflicts with your beliefs. Truth is a casualty of your beliefs. Facts are an archaic construct that is incompatible with your belief system.

You’ve convinced me that you believe “education” should only tell the stories you’ve decided are true, the stories that make you comfortable with your country’s history and your race and your family history’s part in it. I am convinced that you imagine the world can go back to where some people were called “master” and that you deserve to be one of them.

You obviously believe a man who calls himself “the greatest President in history” is actually that, as if bragging makes it true. You have convinced me that your definition of “great” is in no way similar to mine. You’ve convinced me that every movie I’ve ever watched that had “bad guys” also had people in that same audience cheering for the people I thought were wearing the “black hats.”

You have convinced me that you believe all those things. You have convinced me that the United States of America you desire is a different place than the one I once hoped we were trying to build. You have even convinced me that there isn’t much point in hoping that you might understand the idea “my country, let me right the wrongs.” Patriotism and jingoism are not the same thing. There is little to no self-sacrifice or service involved in your version of patriotism.

You have convinced me that you are willing to go to war with your neighbors and anyone in the country who doesn’t believe these things. I do not believe that you understand the consequences of your actions and beliefs. I am beginning to believe that there is no way back to “normal” in the remains of this country because the distance between your “values” and mine are so vast that we might as well be two different species, let alone citizens of the same country. You have even convinced me that humans are incapable of surviving good times together, let alone the harsh and difficult times that we will experience because of the climate we are altering with our selfish and careless use of fossil fuels. You have convinced me that we have degenerated below the kind of Americans who worked and fought together to defeat Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan and who worked even harder to recreate a post-Great Depression  economy and federal government that had the hope of allowing “the pursuit of happiness” for all Americans. The best we have ever imagined, and never realized, was that bare hope and you have convinced me the light of that hope has been extinguished.

I cannot say I appreciate the education you have provided in these last four years. My friends often remind me that I am no optimist and I always counter that with “a ‘pessimist’ is what optimists call a realist.” I think the last 40 years in this country have proved that being a pessimist is the most accurate path to take in the declining years of the United States of America.