It isn't very often that I'm rendered speechless.
It is such a rare occurrence that I'm not entirely sure how to even start this blog. Where can you start? Where does it end?
Most of you may not be paying attention to the midterms. If you think I'm talking about college essay exams, you have definitely not been watching the news.
In Delaware, the Republicans of that state have picked Christine O'Donnell as their representative going into the November elections.
In case you have been under a rock and don't know anything about her, let me go over a couple of highlights.
-- She's a member of the Tea Party
-- She was endorsed by Sarah Palin
-- She is an extreme right wing wanna-be politician. I know, I know...you're thinking, "Well, Dacia, coming from a liberal atheist, I'm sure she's really not THAT bad." Hmmm. Okay. Let me convince you using just two points -- these points, I should point out myself, have been confirmed via video footage of this woman in interviews.
1. She, like most republicans, is anti-choice. (I don't like the term pro-life, for one thing, I find it ironic since many of these people are pro-death penalty). Now, this isn't quite radical despite how much I disagree with this view. What IS radical, is that she believes that there are NO EXCEPTIONS to when abortion should be legal -- even in the cases of rape or incest. She actually has said that she believes that God has a plan for everyone, and that you need to turn to God for guidance and encouragement in the event of rape or incest and he will help you come to terms (no pun intended) with your pregnancy. This means that if a 14 year old girl was raped by her Uncle or Father, Ms. O'Donnell believes the government should force her to carry that baby to term because it is part of "God's plan."
2. As a founder of SALT (Savior's Alliance for Lifting the Truth) she went on video to state that not only are homosexuals an abomination, but that the "gay" can be cured. Even nuttier, she said that we need to teach children about sexuality at an early age because they need to understand masturbating is bad. Why? Because lust is a form of adultery, and you can't have masturbation without lust, therefore, in the eyes of God, you are committing adultery by pleasuring yourself. Oh, and I almost forgot -- the use of condoms, according to her, spreads HIV/AIDS.
Try having that conversation with your kid someday.
I wish I could say that this woman is just a crazy nut job that has no prayer of getting elected to our United States Senate. But, the truth is, she surprised a lot of people by winning the Republican primary. Now, I don't think the rest of the citizens in Delaware are willing to have a crazy loon as their representative (at least, I hope) and I'm sure they'll make sure the Democratic candidate gets seated. But, can we just stop for a moment and realize that this woman WON a primary?
I also wish I could say that she is the only radical that has a shot of landing in Washington this November, but unfortunately, she's not. There are a total of 5 confirmed republican candidates that successfully won their primaries that agree with Ms. O'Donnell's radical view of abortion - stating they do not believe abortion is acceptable in ANY case. Considering 1 in 4 women are sexually assaulted in their lifetime, this is a serious issue that dramatically affects the lives of almost half of our population.
My question for all of the GOP'ers out there is this:
How can you state on one hand that you want "less government" -- but keep fighting for all of these government regulations that take away significantly important freedoms?
From Don't Ask, Don't Tell to forcing pregnancies on women that had no choice in their circumstance, how is this less government?
I know it's asking a lot for people to be honest. But, for once, I'd like someone to stand up and say, "When I scream at these rallies that I want to take back MY country, what I really mean is that I want to take back my country from a black President."
The term "take back" in reference to this country is language that really rubs me raw. It's quite obvious what this means when the people at these rallies are older white people. **(As a side note that I really think goes without saying, not ALL older white people feel this way, so I don't need comments saying there are exceptions. Of course there are, if there weren't, Obama wouldn't have been elected.)
And, I would really like it if people that say they are "republican" can give me ONE good reason why they would align themselves with such a party other than "Well, I don't like taxes and I don't think government should be big."
As I've already stated, Republicans believe in government control too. It's just different policies/issues they are controlling.
Now, I'm not saying the Democratic Party is perfect. I know they both have their issues. But we are talking about moving our country radically in reverse by electing such zealots to our political offices.
The only way our country will ever be able to actually get anything done is if both sides are willing to work with each other. This means that people have to stop seeing "red" and "blue" and start becoming color blind when it comes to human rights issues.
There is hope. I can't believe I'm about to say this -- but, I actually have been intrigued by Meghan McCain -- the outspoken daughter of Senator John McCain. She intrigues me because while she's still a republican, and I disagree with her on many issues, she's young, smart, and isn't afraid to buck up against the republican standards when she thinks they are wrong about issues. For example -- she disagrees with her Father's position on Don't Ask, Don't Tell and believes it's repeal is long overdue. She also believes in gay rights and feels that everyone should have the right to marriage (non-religious civil unions, as it is not up to the government to mandate church policies). It's refreshing for someone who is a republican to openly state their support for these two items. Now, if I find out she believes evolution isn't just a "theory", I'll be really excited about our future.
I don't know what is going to happen to our country. I only hope that we continue to move forward, instead of feeling like we are taking two steps back.
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