I would like to begin my Post today by extending my sincere sympathy to all of the Americans who are suffering in Aurora, Colorado,and elsewhere, due to a gun purchaser gone bad.
Sadly, before we deal with this problem we will first have to see more families suffer personal loss. When we as a Nation refuse to recognize the symptoms and deal with mental illness as the disease it is but instead sweep it under the rug in embarrassment and denial, while allowing the NRA the control they have in our government, we will and do predict another tragedy waiting in another neighborhood in America.
Common sense tells all of us this, but instead we just rush out and buy more guns that only add to another tragedy. We have allowed the powerful lobbyists in America to tell us that the unstable with guns is a safer way to protect ourselves against more guns. Many of us will pay a harsher price for more guns being made available to the unstable Americans that we refuse to acknowledge in our own families and neighborhoods and still we will buy more guns, instead of seeking the help they need because of the stigmatization that is placed on mental illness in America.
An accidental and real killing in our own homes with guns that either are mishandled or used to play Russian roulette by children, unfortunately, denotes more stable behavior currently than acknowledging a family member suffers from a disease that is genetically transmitted through no fault of their own, and needs professional help.
When profit due to a large order of ammunition is more important than reporting that order to a law enforcement Agency then we as a society fail on our obligations to keep all of our children safe. To compare a one time incidence that occurred with Timothy McVeigh’s use of fertilizer in Oklahoma to the hundreds of thousands rounds of ammunition ordered by civilians as an excuse not to regulate ammunition, is just a cowards cop-out and the fear of our politicians to acknowledge the same or to stand up to the threats made by the NRA.
Since it affects every family in America, on some level, we only add to the disgrace of our failure to acknowledge that family members who suffer from mental illness or drug abuse are not getting the medical care that they need but instead we are buying more guns to turn the mentally unstable loose to use them against us again and again. God help us all when those who arm themselves start shooting back at each other in a mall or public place under the current “stand your ground laws.” We can be certain when this happens that the size of the massacre will double and only end in an even larger lost of innocents and life when the untrained amongst us start shooting back, but still we buy more guns that can easily end up in the wrong hands in our own homes and neighborhoods.
While America is burning and States from Nebraska west to Oregon are seeing fires claim more pasture land and crops than at any other time in their history as a State, I would also like to extend my condolences to the people in these States that also include Colorado, Wyoming,Nevada, Utah and Idaho. To all the families who have lost their homes and whose livelihoods are threatened by these fires, my prayers and thoughts are with all of you. My husband and I traveled through these States and smelled the smoke and saw the destruction and we did not need to speak to the people affected most by these fires as their concern showed on their faces. It was as prevalent in the faces of the people who they do business with as it was in those who make their living through ranching and farming and yet we have heard little to nothing about it through the media. I know that this winter will be particularly difficult for you when it comes to the herds that you feed and manage.
When we add the drought that spreads from Indiana to Ohio and South and West to Oregon, we add hardship not only to the families that earn their living providing for “We the People” but we will see increased prices at the stores and lack of food for the charities that feed the poor as well. The fact that the agricultural programs were drastically cut by Washington during the Bush years, will only add to all of our hardships.
Now I would like to correct just another erroneous statement being spread by Mitt Romney on the campaign trail. President Barack Obama and those of us who constitute the middle class and working poor do not begrudge you, Mitt Romney, the financial success that you have gained. We also aspire to dreams of financial success through hard work and dedication. It is not about the’ have nots’ versus the Billionaires,so much as it is about the arrogance that you, Mitt Romney, hold dear.
When a person reaches financial success and refuses to acknowledge that they did not gain that success alone but rather through the sweat and tears of others then we react to your arrogance when you say you do not care for the poor because they already have enough. Every truly successful person in America, as well as elsewhere, is humble enough to say,”I did not earn my success alone as it took an entire crew of people to help me get to where I have gotten.” We have not even heard a whisper from you, Mitt Romney, in regards to any manner of this fact. Instead we only hear you say,” President Obama discourages people from becoming successful” when we know that he works tirelessly for reform in education, preventing outsourcing,bringing in and establishing manufacturing jobs, and the acceptance and promotion of the rights and freedoms of all of us.
We begrudge you your acknowledged success when you refuse to acknowledge that you gained more wealth by using tax dodges for yourself as well as offered your wealth for other people to gain their wealth through not paying their fair share of taxes with your over-seas accounts, as well. We begrudge you your wealth by your refusing to be honest about the way your financial success was gained. We begrudge the fact that when you speak about your financial success you only speak about the Olympics or starting up Staples instead of acknowledging that a great deal of your financial success was gained by the skillful management of your funds by others.
Your arrogance, Mitt Romney, and constant statement of fact that “You gained it all yourself and do not have to apologize for it” rings hollow to us when you refuse to disclose to us just how you did it by showing us your tax returns for 10 years, like every other candidate running for the office of President with the exception of John McCain.
We wish that you would have told us that you, Mitt Romney, suffered great regret when you did find it necessary to fire people, so we can be assured that you do have our future success in mind, if you win, and will fight for our right to feed and educate our families in the most prosperous Country in the World. Sadly, instead we hear you say,as you did in Wisconsin, “Didn’t Barack Obama get the message that Wisconsin sent him and that is that we need to fire more people such as teachers,policemen and firemen, instead of hiring more?”
We know of the huge numbers of the middle class who had their own dreams of financial success ruined permanently and were fired by you when you outsourced their jobs or drained the remaining profits and retirement funds from the Companies where they worked, and then sent their job over-seas to enrich the pockets of the already wealthy. Unfortunately, instead of saying that the middle class suffered, at the expense of your actions, you are claiming that President Obama said you did not build your business alone when you do know that is true and are taking the President’s statements out of context.
We all know that No man ,woman, or child has ever built their idea or business into a success in a vacuum. We had the help of a teacher,or an employer who understood our strengths and paid us a fair wage in the process, or a banker who believed in us,or a family member funding us, or the loyalty and dedication of our employees or a family member who helped encourage us,etc.. To turn around what President Obama said only makes you more offensive to those who struggle amongst us and did not have the help that you or we had due to the greed of those who they had to deal with in order to realize THEIR dream.
We,along with those who struggle like you and your financial success even less when you say,”Don’t you just love firing people? I just love firing people.” It is not only those who have lost hope that are looking towards you for credibility but also those of us who also know and understand that we realized the American dream because we also had the help that you have had, who recognize that you are only giving lip service to the middle class who you would have vote for you. Many of us who realized the American Dream will remain always grateful to those who helped us make it and acknowledge that it wasn’t us alone who realized it, unlike yourself.
If you would listen to the American people you too would realize that it is not “class warfare” nor envy Mitt Romney, instead it is as the British headlines state, it is that, “Mitt is a Twit”, and you only prove that you refuse to understand us the middle class and working poor each time you open your mouth.
None of us believe even for a micro-second that if regulations are lifted on Banks and the Wealthy that it will trickle down to us in form of jobs or income, unless like you they do not have a clue that it is the middle class with discretionary spending who are the ones that both hire us as well as turn around a bad economy. We know that it is the Obama Administration that fights for the small business owner and who tries to pass through Congress the chance for the Middle Class to regain its footing. The Tea Party members along with the Conservative Republicans are the ones who deny him and us the opportunity to improve our own circumstances and we have run out of patience with the lies that you continue to promote. It is your problem to deal with, Mitt Romney, and instead of attacking the one person in Washington who is fighting for us you need to first understand us.
We personally do not think the wealthiest of Americans paying miniscule taxes is a problem that needs to be decreased even further. You are clearly running to help those who need the least amount of help in America and we who deal in reality have picked up on what it is that you truly do care about. Sadly, it is not us the working poor or the middle class, unless you plan on firing even more of us, which you openly admitted to in Wisconsin.
Too many of us know you never will understand that your success was gained on our backs. This is what hurts you far more than any campaign ads ran against you ever can. Own it Mitt Romney before it buries you in your lies. It isn’t as the main-stream media likes to refer to as,” just a difference in philosophies.” but instead all about the statements you made while running for Governor in Massachusetts, the Republican primaries, and now while you run for the bid for the office of President. I like many who have followed your career, Mitt Romney, know “Oh what a web you weave when first you practice to deceive.”
Unlike the other statement running rapid in America, “that the Democrats are not enthusiastic about the election this year”, those who spread that misconception, be they media or complainers, I can only say for many of us, “You are dead wrong.” We have changed perhaps our enthusiasm to more of a determination to defeat the conservatives and Tea Party members who will deny us our freedoms, along with any member of Congress who does not understand the needs of “We the People.” Anyone who sees that as a lack of enthusiasm will certainly fail to also see the commitments we Democrats are making to this election year.
The Youth vote,Women, the gay and transgender populations,the white-collar members who have realized who makes us successful,blue-collar workers in States where it will matter, minorities, and finally the Senior vote who understands that the Paul Ryan team, who are formulating the Mitt Romney economic plan, will deny Seniors their paid for benefits are all ready to show up and vote for the Re-election of the Man who understands truly why Americans mourn and that OUR Country burning is also his as well as all of our problem. We know President Obama gets that while you, Mitt Romney, worries instead about cutting the taxes of Billionaires another 4.6 trillion and adding it to our deficit while embracing the very thing that led to our economy failing and that is the policy’s of the Bush leadership.
We have a choice in November so I urge all of us to make a point to show up and vote for the candidate who you feel is the candidate of your choice. It’s not a tough call to make,folks, but a very important election year to have your vote count. Your freedom and financial success depends on it. Re-elect Barack Obama.
