If you truly believe in the pledge of allegiance, hand the GOP a defeat at the polls

If you truly believe in the pledge of allegiance, hand the GOP a defeat at the polls
By Mary MacElveen
November 6, 2006

Tomorrow’s elections will tell us whether or not our fellow Americans truly want a change or live as we have lived since Bush took office. If we are truly a freedom loving people our only moral choice at this point is to stop America from bleeding out.

I see America as if she were lying on a battlefield mortally wounded. Do we pass her by or act as a medic and through our vote act as a tourniquet to stop her from bleeding out? Ever since Bush took office with the support of a GOP congress and as we have seen so much death and destruction, it is as if we are suffering from a collective case of the Ebola virus. As we all know, Ebola is a hemorrhagic disease.

Tomorrow we must prove to not only us, but the rest of the world whether or not we are truly the land of the free and the brave. We have got to use our freedom to vote and act bravely to stave off the further erosion of our freedoms. We must stand up for the United States Constitution if it means anything to us and put a halt to its further erosion.

We have got to be the ones to tell Bush and the GOP that we will no longer live under the veil of fear. We must tell them all that we are tired of the fear they have given us all and we want to live with some semblance of hope. Without any form of hope, Americans are prone to future violations of their freedoms. We all need hope in order to live.

As I was speaking with a friend who lives in Queensland, Australia last night, she stated that the world is looking to us through our elections whether or not we will be a shining example of freedom and democracy or one that will continue to dictate. My friend has only the highest regard towards Americans, but she is fearful of our government. I suppose that is how the rest of the world feels.

As we hold our breaths till the election results come in, the rest of the world does as well. She stated how we govern or in this case under the GOP we rule that it does affect her fellow countrymen. She told me to send a message to my fellow Americans to act bravely, go to the polls and say “The world has had enough”

If I could speak to those in the heartland as Bush as been speaking to with an urgency surrounding him in which he is trying to save himself, my message would be, just how has he and the GOP made your lives any better? What hope has he truly given to any of you as you have seen your quality of life erode before your very eyes?

You do not give people hope through fear and the use of military force. You do not say that everyone is equal under the law, then trash the Constitution in the next breath.

As Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death in which Bush is trying to prove that he has done something to make all of us safe, we must remember he has failed at capturing Osama bin Laden. He has failed! It has been five years since that attack and it was not Saddam that attacked us. We should take nothing from that verdict and sentence. It is smoke and mirrors. It was handed down in a timely matter in which it may affect the direction of this country and we should not let it. Nothing has changed with the handing down of that verdict.

To those who would normally vote Republican who feel that Democrats give away your tax money, one only has to see it is the complete opposite. As you are living pay check to pay check, the corporations that Bush and the GOP look to protect are being protected. Many of these corporations place the profits made by them in off shore accounts to shield them from being taxed. Now take a look at how your taxes have gone up.

Do you actually think that he cares if an American family is forced into foreclosure? Do you think he actually cares that you live in fear of going to the doctor since you have no health insurance? With food pantries going bare, do you think he actually cares that many Americans go hungry? Do you think he cares whether or not you have to work longer hours or in some cases work more than one job just to get by? In all of these cases, no he does not.

I cannot stress enough how much this war has cost all of us. It has cost us the lives of our brave soldiers who did not have to die, but if you are one who likes to look at the bottom line then it is up to you to look at how the bottom line to fund this war has affected your quality of life. Look to see what your communities could have done with these funds. That is what Bush and the GOP is NOT telling you.

To those of you who would vote based upon Gay marriage or abortion, we have much bigger problems to solve and those are again fear tactics used by both Bush and the GOP to divide us. Those are personal issues as opposed to issues that affect society as a whole. I care more for a family that goes without, those that are dying overseas then who is marrying who. In Iraq, and this goes to those that would base their vote on abortion, innocent children are dying a senseless death based upon lies. If you truly care about the lives of the innocent, your only moral choice is to deny any Republican candidate your vote. These children are NOT collateral damage but children who deserved to grow up just like yours. As your children play in the back yard, many of these children will never play again. They are dead! We must also remember that children here in the United States are losing their fathers and mothers over in Iraq and that is where we must come together and say we have had enough and stand up for these children.

Ross ‘Rocky’ Anderson who is the mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah stated in an August speech “Blind faith in bad leadership is not patriotism” and it is up to all Americans to rip the blinders off tomorrow to see that we have only been led by bad leadership. Patriotism means standing up for the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Patriotism means we live our lives in freedom instead of fear. Patriotism means we do not let anyone or any group divide us, but in which we tell them, we only wish to live in a United States of America and NOT a divided states of America.

Thomas Jefferson once said “When the people are afraid of the government, that’s tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that’s liberty." So, in that light, let us all reclaim our liberty tomorrow and send Bush and the GOP a message that we have had enough and we will no longer tolerate the lies, the fear and the division of this nation.

If you are truly a flag-waving American patriot, then tomorrow you must truly believe in these words and vote accordingly.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

This column is dedicated to our founding fathers.

http://www.marymacelveen.com/blog/_archives/2006/11/6/2477279.html