I suppose I have started writing out of sheer frustration. I am surrounded by people, nice, ordinary, kind family people who for the most part are absolutely blind to what goes on about them. I guarantee that if these people knew what was being done in the name of the "conservative" label, they would absolutely flip out. Because they aren't stupid. They're busy. And they trust that the people who say that they hold the same beliefs are speaking the truth. They hear a lot of background noise (i.e. corruption, deception, money laundering, law breaking, manipulating, etc.) and from time to time they look up as if to question what is going on. But then they hear the leaders and the talk show guys and they nod knowingly "ah ha! liberal media. sour grapes. persecution.." hmmm. And back to their lives they go. They support the war because they support the troops and they honestly believe that releasing the citizens from the mania that was Saddam was a good thing, and granted things could have gone better but for the most part it's coming along nicely. They approved the constitution for crying out loud! That's progress! The liberal media would have you believe that it's all death and destruction and misery but darn it! It's getting better! The whole region is seeing democracy as a good thing and that's just great, isn't it? They shop at Walmart because you can't beat the prices. They give to their churches and volunteer. They staunchly proclaim that they are not racist while "hushing" their voice to express an opinion about the "darker" side of town. They laugh, with a false sense of embarassment when an off-color joke is inevitably made. They vote for the changes to the Texas constitution that would explicitly say that marriage = 1 man and 1 woman, because that's what the Bible says and gays choose to be that way. God doesn't make mistakes. Why would the word of God, the Bible, expressly say that homosexuality is wrong if it's not?
So, I live here, on the inside, because that's where I am. I would prefer that I was in a blue state...a blue town even, but I am not. I have two kids who are going to great schools - one of the pluses to living in a red area is that their schools are really good. I am a stay at home mom who gets to do a lot of "undoing" as far as the education that they are getting. Or at the very least, I am attempting to balance it a little more. The whole abstinance issue makes me physically ill. Mostly because these kids are getting no information, and the behavior hasn't changed. So kids are out there practicing and experimenting, with no information. At least the ones whose parents think the kids are getting sex education at school.
These are not arrogant, capitalist pigs, Bible bashing, anti-choice lunatics. I am surrounded by people who just do not look up and around. They get their information from the conserative sources because that's who they trust. They believe their leaders because they believe in them. They are loyal and commited. To say anything different is to underestimate them. To bash their leaders is not the way to get them see what is going on. They will rally. Constant, relentless, unbiased information is the only way to get them to see that the conservative leadership in this country is heading in the wrong direction. A lot of these guys believe that they should cut taxes to the rich because they are obviously very good with money and if they have more, they will create jobs and drive the economy. The left wing has got to stop attacking the right. The liberals in this country have got to do the following.
Stop apologizing. Liberals are pro-choice, which means pro-woman deciding for herself. We are not necessarily pro-abortion. We believe in caring for the dependents in this country. There is no contradiction here, there is no shame in this. We should be proud. We believe that national healthcare has got to happen. Now. Every other industrialized nation in the world has it, we don't have to go it alone. Send out teams of researchers to get the pros and cons from an assorted mix of countries that have a healthcare system that appears to be working. Interview doctors, nurses, professionals, patients, citizens, well people and sick people, single, married and divorced people and get their opinions regarding their system. Find out costs. Find out waiting time for pediatricians, surgeries, eye glasses. Have a uniform checklist. Then get all the teams back together, sort through the data and develop a system that would work in this country. There is nothing more dibilitating more stessful than having health concerns. Can you imagine the collective sigh that will rise up from this country when we finally tell the citizens of this country that their health matters so much that we will all pay to cover each other? The productivity would skyrocket. There would be a huge crush of people initially but it would calm down, and eventually everyone would be maintaining their health, not waiting until something really horrible starts happening or even worse happens for a while to get it looked into. I can't tell you the number of people that have died due to belated diagnosis. The cost of healthcare is the number one reason for bankrupcy in the middle class. Isn't that pathetic?

So, my goal in this blog is not to bash. Much. Oh I'm kidding! My goal is to try to vent some frustration, and look for viable solutions to the problems I see or run into. It'll make a difference for me since I am often very discouraged by what I see and hear, but if it makes a difference to anyone else, that would be total gravy!