First They Came, A Poem By Martin Niemoller

I remember reading this poem years ago and I think it is relevant now. When I look around our country and see groups trying to restrict voting rights for people, I shudder. When I listen to groups that try to use women's health issues as a platform to control women and restrict their freedoms, I grieve. As I listen to groups that try to force their religious beliefs on others, I scream. I am breaking one of my own rules. Never compare anything to Hitler and the Nazis. I am not going as far as to compare the above mentioned groups to Hitler. Hitler was responsible for millions of deaths, either directly, as in the Holocaust, or indirectly during the war that had to be fought to stop him. There is no person or group that compares to this genocide or horror. However there is the fact of how Hitler and his thugs were able to rise and grab power in Germany. This is history. I ask each of you to read the following poem and think about the tragedy of silence.

First They Came... by Martin Niemoller
In Germany they first came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.

I have always thought this to be a very poignant and human poem. It shows how we all want to go along and get along. We are willing to keep our mouths shut and accept, even atrocities against other humans to get along. It is this, the silence that leads to rights being destroyed. It is the individual rights and freedoms that are at risk when we choose silence. Remember I am addressing individual freedoms, not the freedoms of the churches. The religious community receives funds from the government. It receives money from individuals. Now it wants to suppress freedoms for women and claims it is being attacked by the current administration. It screams about it's First Amendment rights being violated, while it attempts to suppress the freedoms of the people that work for them. This is not a violation of religious freedom as the right pretends it to be. It is a political attack on women.

At the same time, if you look, hard through the smoke, there are, people trying to suppress the voting rights of millions of American citizens. They use the guise of voter fraud in convincing people that we need to protect your vote. This is their way of keeping certain blocks of people from exercising their Constitutional rights, of voting. Right now they are focused on minorities and college students. Next they attempt to suppress women from voting. Finally they will get to white males, and suppress their rights. If we remain silent on either of these issues we are giving away our rights and who will be left to speak for you. NO ONE!

We Have To Start With Corruption!

Are our politicians corrupt? The short answer is. yes. They run around the country soliciting money, large amounts of money, and then tell the regular people to drop dead. During the 2010 elections all we heard from Republicans, were about jobs and the economy. Since then all we hear about is how they want to take away a woman's freedom to use contraceptives. They go on about gay rights. They attack unions, teachers, firefighters, nurses and police officers. They argue about global warming. They fight to protect the low tax rates for the wealthiest people. They have even attack the President, saying he is weak on defense. Ask Bin Laden about the last one.

Where is the job creation? Where is the tax reform? We even have Newt running around talking about outposts on the moon.

The starting point for change in this country has to be CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM. Take the money out of politics. Both parties are so immersed in campaign money from the wealthy and corporations, they do not have time to address the real problems facing America. Think about the direction we are heading in. The decisions that the political leaders make. Then tell me they are not making those choices based on who is providing the most money. Anyone who believes they do not vote or lead based upon money is one of the following. Under the age of three. Completely devoid of any intelligence. Lastly the most naive person on the planet. Yet, this is what the politicians tell you. How many times has a politician been asked or accused of trading a vote or stance for money, then we hear the famous, "I have never made a decision based upon the influence of money from a donor." Yeah, and even though I was born in 1952, I am only 25 years old. Are we really that stupid, or do we not care?

The only politician I hear talking about reform is Republican Buddy Roehmer. What, you have never heard of Mr. Roehmer. Why haven't you. The answer is simple. The Republicans, in their infinite wisdom, would not allow Roehmer in the debates, because he did not raise over five million dollars in one month. That is right folks. The former Governor of Louisiana, was denied because he did not ask the rich people to corrupt him, by giving outlandish sums of money. It is all about the money! Show me the money! Yesterday Buddy Roehmer decided to run as an independent. I believe he is worth a look, if for nothing else then to start the conversation toward the corruption that has become the way of life in our political system.

This is the beginning point to fixing the country. take the money out of the equation and now the leaders are looking at the problems and solutions that are best for all of us. Now, they are helping the people that placed them in their jobs, with loads of cash.  These people will continue to help them to stay there as long as they do exactly what they are told to do. If they veer away from the agenda, set by the wealthy class, they will have attack ads aimed at defeating them. We need to push the current candidates, Congressional leaders and the White House to change from a corrupt, cronyism system, to one that actually works for the people.

Hope Is Being Destroyed By The Right!

I mean my title completely. Look at the proposals by the right wing and more specifically the Republican Party. I listen to the political rhetoric, when they say the President is destroying the future for our children and grandchildren, with mounting debt, I just think to myself, what future!  Do we have to address our debt. Absolutely, but the question is how do we do that. That is the difference between the two parties. The Democrats favor the way of cutting costs. They want to grow jobs, increase education, make everyone healthier and tax the people, who can afford it. They also believe in the Christian value of helping your neighbor, not destroying them.

The Republican way of reducing the debt is take everything from the weakest and poorest and increase the wealth of the richest. Eliminate education for the poor and middle class, then eliminate child labor laws, so they can start working now.  Cut medical costs, by having no prenatal care and after they are born, do not provide any medical services, so they will die quickly. Those that manage to live, we will only have low income jobs for them. they will never own a home, educate their children or have the opportunity to achieve economic growth.

What this does in general is obliterate the idea of hope. Once people lose all hope for a better life, they will settle for what scraps are left from the elite. They will accept their lot in life and stop fighting for equality. They will no longer have any motivation and productivity will collapse. Each subsequent generation will be born into their station and die without ever knowing or realizing their potential. The elite will continue to suck dry other countries around the globe. As they come in and devour the resources and workers around the world, those people will loose hope. What we end up with is masses of uneducated, unfed, under nourished and hopeless people. That is the fuel for revolution.

When people lose all hope they fight back. Right now the elite in America are destroying hope. They want to strip education. They want to strip women's rights. They are taking away jobs. They are taking away health care. They are leaving us with under or unemployed. They are leaving us with over population. They are leaving us with a destroyed environment. They even are taking away our right to practice our religion as we see fit. Listen to the politicians from Rick Santorum to Newt Gingrich, to Mitt Romney. They want to preserve the direction of the last forty years. The rich get richer and the poor die. That is their vision for America, and it scares me. They are the radicals and yet they blame others. They want your rights to be only what they see, not what is fair.

This election is important. Maybe the most important. It is, whether we want to continue in the same direction of the last four decades, supporting the elite, or do we want a new direction where once again the American dream is the light of hope for every American citizen.

Santorum Is Attacking Our First Amendment Rights!

Why, are some people, Republicans, so concerned with the freedom of religion and then trampling on the rights of individuals? They are concerned with the church not having to pay for contraception and yet there is no concern for the rights of an individual to choose. They say it violates the church to pay for birth control and yet they want to take away the rights of women to even use birth control at their own expense. The Constitution is first and foremost a protection of individual, personal rights.

My other concern is when religion is brought into the conversation, Rick Santorum is very hypocritical. He judges based upon his religious views. He wants everyone to follow his path and judges those that see their religion differently.  Santorum ignores the Bible about God being the judge, not people. "Judge not , lest ye be judged." This is  ignored by Santorum.  He stated the President has a phony theology.  I want a President that keeps their faith separate from their decisions on governing. I understand that faith and beliefs will guide how they make their decisions, but faith should not determine their decisions. Santorum is scary, in the way he twists everything around religion. Do you want a President that will force his religious views on everyone? This is an attack on the First Amendment.

The First Amendment states , "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

The right, and Santorum attacked the President for his, supposed assault on the first amendment, concerning the Catholic Church and having them pay for birth control. I do not see how this applies to the first. Where did he try to establish a religion? Where did he prohibit the free exercise of the Catholic Church?  Rick Santorum is trying to make everyone follow his beliefs and if you do not then you are a false follower. He is restricting the right for me and others to believe or not believe in religion. This is dangerous and in my opinion a direct assault on the First. Santorum will try and is trying now to make everyone accountable to him and his beliefs. To Mr. Santorum I say, stay the hell out of my religion. Stop running for President and start running for Pope, if this is your agenda. Stop hiding behind your candidacy for the Republican nomination and be honest. You want to change America into a nation of religious fanatics, driven by your agenda. That is the biggest difference between you and the President. He has his beliefs and this helps shape his views. You have your beliefs and this drives your views. Stop taking away my First Amendment rights.