My father sent me an email today with a YouTube link. His brief message said, "This guy says everything I believe in."
The title, Why I am a Republican, piqued my interest. It was the Senator of Louisiana, Elbert Guillory, who recently made a decision to abandon his loyalty to Democrats. I trust my dad's opinion, so I viewed it with an open mind.
When the video was complete, words began to fly out of me like projectile vomit.
Dear Dad, this guy is a great speaker.
He brings up some excellent, head-nodding points. He is also outdated and manipulative in several of his statements.
In today's day and age, saying what's right or wrong for ALL people is a kiss of death. That was a gigantic mistake he made, right off the bat.
Saying he knows what's right for all black people invalidates the diversity, experience and knowledge of his race. It lumps them all together, which is really about wanting to control them, not empower them as individuals.
He says men should be home being fathers. Dad, just like women who are "childless by choice," men are choosing different lifestyles too. They don't want to be viewed as less than their fellow man because they haven't procreated.
In fact, they're probably doing the planet a huge favor by consciously choosing what's right for them. We need more role models like that. By declaring men should be fathers tells men who choose otherwise that they're not really of value.
Last, he said, "To be truly free is to be reliant on no one other than the author of our destiny." And then he pointed UP.
I like what he means... take ownership of your life.
But again, nearly 30 percent of the American population says they're not religious. They also don't believe there's a "man" upstairs who is in charge of them. They believe God is an intangible force within them and in nature.
This notion of Heaven being up and Hell being down comes from religious fear. Those who consider themselves "spiritual, but not religious" don't follow that kind of direction.
You know, tons of people will love and applaud this. He seems like a kind and caring man. He's also probably clueless about the controlling and manipulative ways of his words. Most people are! This is the core of our issues, I believe.
I am so tired of having to identify with either one of these goof-ball, Democrat/Republican parties. They are homogenized ways of thinking (and thriving) in modern-day America. The marketing behind both parties is actually doing the "opposite" of what it publicly intends. It's keeping us small and dependent.
Thankfully, people are waking up in droves. I want to hang with those people and be a leader of independent, new-fashioned thinking.
It's funny Dad, I recently watched that 80s movie, Tootsie, with Dustin Hoffman. I actually thought, "Wouldn't it be sweet to have a president who can speak Tootsie-style?"
She fearlessly ripped open the curtain to reveal the dysfunction all around her/him. It woke everyone up in a painful, yet positive way. She modeled unedited honesty and challenged the status quo.
Tootsie for President 2016!
Thanks for sending this.
Love you, Dad.
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