During the
months preceding the elections in the great country south of our borders, I was
amazed at the passion of the Democrats, and by their efforts to protect the
rights of the (relatively) poor, perhaps even the indifferent. They did so
bearing full wrath of the Republicans, who have proven on many occasions, with
many public statements, that anyone who is against their policies is
anti-American.
Amazing!
As an example, the friends I
have outside the States recognize the Fox News as a source of daily humor. This
opinion was broadly supported by great many of my FB friends who are very much
US citizens. Not one of them took the news channel seriously. And yet they, the
newscasters, insist on making a public spectacle of themselves, seemingly
unaware of the effect they have on many people.
The Democrats, on the other
hand, within a mere four years, managed to restore the respect, which the USA
held throughout the world, yet which was virtually lost during the Bush years.
Perhaps they managed to do so by showing respect for other people’s views,
without treating them all as ‘anti-American’, just because they disagreed with
them.
My problem is that, at heart, my
sentiments lie with a group that has no hope of ever achieving hegemony in the
States, a group called the Libertarians. In my insignificant way I support the
concept of limited, constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, honest
money and many other aspects of Libertarian philosophy, though never at the
expense of helping those which are in need. What I do not support is ignorance
replacing common sense, rudeness replacing politeness, lies replacing the
truth, hate replacing love, and other unfortunate traits which seem to have
become dominant in the political environment.
I am sure there are exceptions.
Yet the majority of my Republican friends seem completely oblivious to the
observation mentioned above. Not so the Democrats.
Yet there are also men in the
USA who have little to do with any of the parties mentions, who try to restore
real democracy to their Great Country. Men like Chris Hedges, who, as an
example, asks his compatriots to sign a petition to “Take profit out of
war”.
Perhaps the best example of the
enigma that exists south of our border is Warren Buffet, who although a
billionaire supports the Democratic cause. I am willing to bet all I have that
he (like me) is also a Republican at heart. It would be a shame if he could not
follow the dictates of his desires for reasons created by the media or,
perhaps, some poorly chosen politicians.
On the personal side, my own
paradox is that most of my friends south of the border are Republicans (or were friends until they read this), and they in
no way support the image which their media had created for them. They are the
nicest, friendliest, most generous people. They just choose questionably
characters to lead them.
Pity!
Or, perhaps, it’s all just a DELUSION.
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