Such A Message

Well, big whoop de doo. Obama has been declared Emperor of the Democratic Party. Great. Tonight, he'll don his toga, rise up onto the stage of his Temple, and speak to the minions, bestowing his gaze upon them...

Okay, I have to stop before I throw up. Here's the thing. Obama "won" the Democratic nomination through theft, bullying, intimidation, coercion, and collusion. Personally, I have a problem with that. Not just because I am a minister-type who specialized in Ethics, but as a human being with a conscience, as a US Citizen, and especially as a (former) Democrat. TO say it offends my sensibilities is a massive understatement.

What is this teaching our young people? What does this say about Americans in general? Apparently, you can plagiarize with reckless abandon, and now university professors will simply shrug it off as no big deal, as long as you are their favorite, I suppose. When did it change that plagarizing would not result in expulsion from an institution? At the very LEAST, the student would be brought up on charges. But Obama does it? No problem - "his policies are pretty much the same as Clinton's anyway - and he is more electable" would be the retort. Well, hell to the yeah they were the same - he would take her policies, and often take them whole cloth as his own. Not even bothering to change a WORD. Then the media would report what HIS policy was, and say Clinton's was similar. Ask each one to EXPLAIN them, and only one could - Clinton. But that's okay, because he is the Hope and Change candidate!! So, stop worrying about those pesky little details already! He just has to read froma teleprompter, someone else's words, and he is their hero. How shallow and superficial can people be that they will accept this kind of behvior from someone who wants to lead this nation? And where will he LEAD us, if this is how he acts?

And bullying. I could have SWORN schools(and hopefully, PARENTS) were trying to teach students that bullying is wrong. It diminishes the one being bullied not just in a physical manner, but in emotional and psychological ways as well. Yet bullying was all too evident in this Primary season, from DNC elites trying to get Hillary Clinton out of the race prematurely (and I contend, she SHOULD be the Nominee even now), to pushing around elderly women and others in caucus situations. The use of intimidation and threats of violence toward Hillary Clinton supporters was off the charts. And it was accepted (promoted?) by the media, the DNC, and the Obama camp. Not just accepted, it was seemingly encouraged, if not a flat out strategy of the Obama camp. Add to that the media's constant refrain that is Obama DIDN'T get the nomination, there would be hell to pay in Denver. Riots would break out, and the young people would DEMAND he be made the nominee. It was an attempt to cower people, and to bully delegates and Superdelegates into selecting Obama.

Then there was the cheating. There were NUMEROUS documented incidents of cheating in the caucuses. Texas alone had over TWO THOUSAND documented complaints. TWO THOUSAND in one state. No doubt, there were more incidents that did not go reported out of fear, people leaving the polling place who had been strong-armed.

But by FAR, the worst offender was the DNC. They did everything in their power to manipulate this nomination from stripping FL and MI 100%, while allowing states more favorable to Obama to go unpunished, to the very worst thing I think a political party, a democratic COUNTRY, can do. They stole votes. They flat out stole votes from citizens in Michigan. THAT was the tipping point - for Obama, for the Democratic Party, and for me. That was when they fully and completely crossed any line of decency. That is when they betrayed not just the citizens of Michigan, but the citizens of the United States. That is when they blew to smithereens their moral compass, and it had already been pretty roughed up by that time.

And there was so much more, so much more that went on this Primary season that others have written about more eloquently, and in more detail, than I can here. We all know what happened, and how it happened.

So, everyone puts on their best frocks and suits, smiles big, and acts like this was all legit. Meanwhile, they expect the vanquished one, the one who should have won, who got the most votes, who did not lie, cheat, and steal, to act as a gracious loser, to step up and support The One whose ascendancy was aided and abetted by the most nefarious means, while The One could act as a petulant, arrogant, vindictive, petty punk. And the loser has to smile, and ask for everyone to get on board with the Selected One. Smiles all around, acting as if none of the immoral, unconscionable acts had not happened.

Well, I won't forget. I DO have a moral compass, ethics by which I live my life. And I will NOT support a candidate or a Party that engages in such immoral acts, that ENCOURAGES such activities by its members. No way. I still have a soul, and won't be selling it for the likes of Barack Obama. Hell to the no. And I know that I am not the first, and won't be the last, to decry what has happened to our political party, to our country, to our young people. But I do know what I won't be a party to it.

And so, my new course is to work as hard as I can to restore the integrity, the honor, the ethics, of the Democratic Party. Or any party that will act in a way that does not demonize and dismiss candidates and their millions of supporters, that acts with integrity and a sense of good will towards others. One that, yes, follows the Golden Rule of treating others as you would like to be treated. Bill and Hillary Clinton demonstrated just that this week. This wil be a long hard battle, the fight to return the Democratic Party to democratic ideals and principles. But fight we must. We cannot allow this travesty to become the standard. I cannot allow it. I hope you will join me. I hope we can make this right. I still have hope - not in Obama - but in human decency.