As for me, I don't want to negotiate with blackmailers or back away from terrorists. Groups, no matter how patriotic they claim to be, who would consider shutting down the government in order to hold their President hostage are just that. Blackmailers and terrorists. Cowards who cannot fight against a principle-become-law fairly and squarely but must go postal - holding the nation at gunpoint. Assault rifles.
It will be a long time before I call myself a Republican again or give the GOP candidates any campaign money. I'm ashamed that the Tea Party has made me feel guilty of right-wing closed mindedness by association.
I am not for big government. I cringe at the idea of a national health care system. I understand how and why (and that) the Affordable Care Act is going to become a hotbed of corruption, worse than Medicaid and Social Security Disability ever dreamed. It isn't going to be cheaper, fairer, all-inclusive, or the answer to the insurance corporation/drug company/hospital profit-driven travesty that we have now. Don't shout. Just wait. You will see.
I spent the day researching some of the key players in this week's political games. We voted them into office and it is they whom we trust with running our government. I wrote emails - much calmer pieces than what you are reading now. I tried to stay logical and professional. These people work for us. For me. For the country.
I've ducked out of facebook for a few days. Frankly, all the signs, slogans, and hot-headed words were getting to me. Don't tell me. Or the rest of your friends. Tell someone who can do something about it. Don't point fingers and call names. Make yourself useful. Email your elected officials; get involved; vote better next time.
The country is divided. I cannot guess where the silent majority is hiding. That group may be extinct from what I understand. What I do know is that talented, educated, charismatic leaders have acted like thugs and should be voted out of office - not for the principles in which they believe but for how they have behaved in a crunch - the ways in which they misused the power that is not theirs. They have shamed their constituents as well as their opponents in front of the whole world.
Think of the actions of the last few weeks as a wake-up call, Tea Party. Because that is what it is. Form your own gang of nay-sayers. Honest, patriotic, and centrist Republicans don't want anything to do with you.
