The 2016 Circus Has Begun!!!!

Ted Cruz for President

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas

I watched in stunned and begrudging admiration today as Ted Cruz launched his run for the 2016 presidential nomination.  From my perspective as an African-American, Christian woman who believes in the freedom of speech and expression just as much as the next person, and even more than some, I am truly amazed and I can’t help but wonder at the consequences of a Ted Cruz win.  He coined the slogan “Imagine” numerous times in his speech.  

He artfully choreographed a speech targeted at a red-meat , ultra-conservative crowd, that was in many ways acutely tuned into all the catch-phrases and  rhetoric that is aimed at raising their collective ire getting rid of the guy in the White House. 

Indeed, I too echo the term Imagine in response to his call for support!  Imagine a country where Ted Cruz was our president.  A country where compromise and cooperation were despised, where no rules or traditions applied except winning the next election!  Where political one-ups-man-ship comes first always!  Where opposition to thoughts other than your own are opposed at all costs to the jeopardy of the common man-citizen.  Where no pain is too great for the country to suffer through as long as it opposes the person in the White House who is deemed inappropriate because of his skin color, belief systems, or political party, and who is demeaned at every turn., for any public position.   Imagine a country where the most vulnerable are forced to suffer just so a political party can make a point.  Imagine a country where the national parks and other federal services are arbitrarily shut down based on the political whim of politicians wanting to force budget issues. 

Imagine a country where there is no respect for duly elected authority.  Imagine a country where open, traitorous practices are tolerated based solely on the unacceptable race or ethnicity of the President.  Imagine a country where unprecedented rudeness at the SOTU is not only allowed but anticipated.  Imagine a country where the EPA, the Post Office, the Department of Labor, and any other federal agencies that are geared to protect our human rights and the environment, are targeted for destruction. 

Imagine a country where you can freely and actively undermine the strategies of the sitting US government and the legitimately elected President of the U.S.,  without waiting for your elected turn to impose your will on not only the country but the world.    Where you can say any racist thing about your president or colleagues with no consequences, either ethically or politically.  Imagine that country and tell me it is better that what we have now!  Imagine that country and tell me you would like it!  If so, then enthusiastically go and vote for Ted Cruz.

Violence and disrespect

The Modeling Starts at the Top!

Everyone does it!

Why are we shocked at the violence in our society and the blatant disrespect for any level of authority (fellow citizens, police, the President).  The kids learn it from their elders and I do mean their elders – the elder statesmen who are elected to run our country for the good of all it’s citizens.  There is no indecency that is out of bounds today to demean the president and his office.  The elders in Washington lead the way, where everything is about politics and one-ups-man-ship and anything to win.  No decisions are made these days with you and I in mind.  When politicians overtly work to overturn the policies that the president feels will work to benefit not only our country, but the world.  When politicians overtly delay the next cabinet nomination without just cause and no legitimate dissent.  When politicians overtly call the president a liar.  When politicians overtly write letters to other nations undermining the work of our state department.  When politicians overtly invite foreign leaders to come to speak to the governing houses of this nation in order to undermine a deal that neither they, or none of us really know anything about.  When politicians overtly vote 50 + times to overturn a healthcare law that is the law of the land instead of working vigorously to make it better! 

When politicians overtly seek to go back to a time when voting rights were challenged, women aren’t smart enough to make their own decisions and they don’t remember that there is indeed separation of church and state.  When politicians govern by deadline, blackmail and hijacking. 

I have not always liked or admired every president during my lifetime, but I always respected his office and position.  I was an educator for 30 years and today I feel that the ideals and platitudes I espoused to my thousands of students (a large number of whom were Arican-American, Asian and Hispanic) over the years were really untruths.  I remember saying repeatedly, year after year, "What a wonderful country we live in!   If you do well in school and work hard you can do anything you want to do in the US – even be president.”  I believe in free speech and freedom of expression just as much as the next person, but this current version is not the America I have loved and admired.  It is indeed becoming a lot like a circus, to be polite.