Primary season is almost over and all focus will now be put on the Presidential election in November. Of course the title of this post is not something I can just easily sit down and write. There are many reasons why I am a democrat and the video and link below may be caricatures, but they are somewhat accurate.
I remember in the 80s talk of the “Moral Majority“. This was actually a political group which was the beginnings of the organized Christian right. But the name was meant to evoke the sense that the majority of Americans were on their side and that morals were their driving force. But it seems to me that was really an illusion that was used to try and get votes for the Republican Party.
I like to use a phrase that has usually been used by the Republicans. I believe that the “Silent Majority” in America are really moral people and see the war in Iraq for what it really is. These are people who believe in a woman’s right to choose and that guns should not be so easy to just go and purchase. The right would like you to think that this majority of people are really following their agenda, but I really believe that most people in America are much more middle of the road than they would have you think. It is just marketing that gets the right to where it is (and perhaps it is time for the left to realize that).
Anyway, no more sermonizing. I have two thinks that I hope you will look at. First is an advertisement that was put in many Jewish newspapers a month ago. It is part of a campaign by the Republican Jewish Coalition (if ever there was an oxymoronic statement!) They got a few prominent American Jews to say that they were Democrats and why they are now Republicans. This one is by Dennis Prager (whom I could write a book about). Take a look at the last statement. “The Republican Party fights evil. The Democratic Party fights carbon dioxide emissions.” Well Dennis, in trying to spell out why people should be Republicans, you actually make the point why we are Democrats! There will always be evil to fight. We need to still be here to continue that fight.
The 2nd thing is a clip from the movie 1776. I have talked about this musical before and it is one of my favorites. I need to say a bit about the song though. When the show was made into a movie, the producer, Jack Warner, showed it to his friend, President Richard Nixon in the White House. Nixon saw this scene and felt it was an insult to him personally and to the Republican Party. So Warner had it removed from the film and ordered that the scene be destroyed without any copies. Luckily there was a copy left and a few years ago a director’s cut was release with the scene intact. The song makes even more sense today and it probably was meant as an insult to the Republican party when the Musical was written.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bWK3c9CiaY&hl=en]
Politics have always been very partisan, even at the founding of our country. It is up to us to figure out what is best for America.