Conning the Poor. The Associated Press reports that many West Virginians have received a mailing piece from the Republican Party claiming that “liberals” want to ban the Bible. How stupid do they think West Virginians are? Can anyone believe that liberals want to destroy the First Amendment? We all, liberals and conservatives alike, understand the importance of neutrality on the part of Government when it comes to religious conscience. No liberal — repeat, NO liberal — wants to ban the Bible. The claim that they do is a flat-out lie.
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What liberals do want to do, however, is prevent religious fanatics from imposing the Bible upon nonbelievers. If believers wouldn’t want the Government to issue coins that say “There Is No God” on them, they must understand that nonbelievers don’t like “In God We Trust” on money, nor do we want children forced to say that this Nation is “under God” when they recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Make no mistake: a country that forces people to mouth religious slogans is a country that can abruptly change what religion is compelled or even go over to the side of compelled atheism. Russia did that in 1917, when the Bolsheviks changed Russia from officially Orthodox to officially atheist overnite, because Russia didn’t have a First Amendment to protect religious conscience. The best way to ensure that Government will not interfere with believers' religious conscience is for religious people to protect the rights of nonbelievers.
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As for the pretense that this election is about gay marriage, I’m sorry to say that this is also a flat-out lie. I’m the man who in 1970 coined the term “Gay Pride” as it is used today. I am saddened to see that both major parties are opposed to gay marriage, so I’m not allowed to marry anyone I could really love. Neither John Kerry nor George Bush favors gay marriage. They are both enemies of gay men. Maybe that makes simple-minded bigots feel better, but it shouldn’t.
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West Virginians should understand that all this “culture war” crap is designed to distract poor and middle class people from the fact that the Republicans HATE you and want to take your money away while keeping their own, and get richer and richer while you get poorer and poorer, until you are virtual slaves to the debt they inflict on you at very high interest rates, interest paid to the banks and credit card companies they own.
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Republicans who live in million-dollar homes filled with paintings and sculptures and luxurious furniture covered in the most expensive fabrics or butter-soft, imported leather; who eat the best cuts of meat every nite and drink imported wines; who dress in $1,700 Italian suits or designer dresses, wear Rolex watches and platinum rings with huge diamonds; drive Mercedes or BMW sports cars (several cars, of different colors); and who pay off their credit card bills to the last penny every month so pay no interest at all, are the very people who are sending the people of Appalachia messages telling them that the most important issues that affect their lives are nonexistent designs by Northeastern “liberals” to ban the Bible and impose gay marriage!
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Forget your credit card debt (or the fact that you can’t get a credit card or a car loan because you’re not “creditworthy”); forget your rusting car that guzzles gas at $1.80 a gallon and keeps needing repairs you can scarcely afford; forget the repairs you can’t make to your house, or the kid you can’t send to college, or the doctor you can’t visit, or the job you are scared to death of losing because if you lose that, you lose the house. Forget all that and vote Republican.
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The rich need every vote they can get because if the poor and middle class ever wise up, they will start “soaking the rich” with much higher taxes the rich can easily afford, paying off the national debt, and chopping interest rates on credit cards and consumer loans, so the poor and middle class might actually start living well. How are the rich supposed to feel good about their trouble-free life if everybody lives well?
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Would it really matter to you if gay men could marry if your mortgage was paid off, you had not one cent in credit card debt, your kid could go to any college he or she could qualify for, your car was new and ran well, gasoline sold for a dollar a gallon, your schools were well funded and filled with computers and the best technology, you could go to any doctor you need any time you want, and you could tell your employer that you aren’t going to take crappy raises or even wage cuts and cuts in benefits, because you don’t need his crappy job because there are better jobs everywhere around you?
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We’ll never know as long as the poor and middle class keep voting Richpublican.
- posted by L. Craig Schoonmaker @ 1:52 PM