An Open Letter To American Secessionists
It started as a few muttered complaints the day after Barack Obama's election, but the foot-stomping tantrum chorus of folks threatening to take their ball and go home if we don't agree to play by their rules keeps growing.
"This is not my America" you lament! "This is no longer the same country I know and love!"
Huh. You know what- you may be right.
Because frankly, if you believe that America in the 21st century should function under the same assumptions and with the same values that America did in the 18th century- then no, this actually isn't your America any more.
If you believe that "Freedom of religion" means that you have the right, based on your religious beliefs, to make decisions about health care, family planning, equal rights, evolution and education for people who do not even share your religion- you're in the wrong place.
If you think you have the right to say who other people can love, this isn't that place.
If you believe that bullying and abuse is ok as long as you do it for Jesus, and that kids are better off in orphanages than with gay parents and that rape shouldn't be an 'excuse' for an abortion because hey, some girls rape easy… this is not your America.
If you believe that the working poor, pensioners and veterans in America just want 'free stuff' but of course the wealthy only demand their personal income tax cuts for the good of the nation- no, this is not your America.
If you believe that it was wrong for your Irish and Polish immigrant grandparents to be called 'dirty'and 'lazy'and 'stupid' 100 years ago but its ok to assume that Latino immigrants are all carrying Ebola, or that middle eastern immigrants are all terrorists (while you strut around the zoo with a gun strapped to your back)… I don't think so.
If you think that the reason there are so many single parent families today is a lack of shame attached to the mothers, and that the proper way to encourage better attendance at school is to take away the food stamps from the families of kids who miss school… you don't understand what that "beacon of hope" thing is supposed to mean.
If the idea of massive walls, and ID badges and internment camps for people who are different is a good thing- but that a gun license for you is government oppression… you probably would be happier somewhere else.
If you think that it is communism for a government that calls itself "By the people and For the people" to help take care OF the people and that "promote the general welfare" shouldn't include making sure citizens don't die from treatable illness just because they can't afford health insurance, you may have taken a wrong turn.
If you believe that black people only vote for a black man because of race but white people never vote for a white guy because of his race… if you believe that a 90 year old veteran who has been voting for 50 years should be denied a ballot because he no longer has a driver's license… then it's really not your America any more. If you believe that having your candidate criticized is abusive mud-slinging but it's ok for you to call the other candidate "The Antichrist" then yeah, you may be in the wrong place.
It's not a country where you can just 'opt out' when things don't go your way, and where a bunch of people whining that they want to leave will make us turn our backs on our principles in order to appease and accommodate them. It's not a place where beginning a sentence with "I'm not a racist but' makes it ok to call the President a ni**er or to say that an unarmed man deserves to be shot down in the street because he looked 'suspicious'. Or where rape threats are an acceptable response to a woman concerned about the rape culture in America.
It's not a country where a rich, privileged old man can attack a young woman's character in vicious and almost pornographic ways simply because he disagrees with her politics- and not suffer consequences.
It's not a place where we believe that a helping hand in the middle of a natural disaster should come with a price tag or that hungry children in a land of plenty should hunt through dumpsters for food because if they ask for bread, they're lazy.
America is not a nation where we think it's ok for poor people to die from treatable diseases because millionaire CEO's don't want to cut into their profits. It's not a nation with endless tolerance for those who disdain science and reason or for the hypocrisy of decrying 'government 'freeloading' by other people when you have your hands in the cookie jar.
And, thankfully, it's not a nation where bitter, obscenely wealthy men can buy themselves an election. Not yet.
So now you say you want to leave. That's strange, because you are the same people who yell "America- love it or leave it!" at us every time we're trying to fix what's broken around here. You think it's unpatriotic for us to feel dissatisfied with the status quo and that if we don't like poverty, injustice and inequality then we don't love America.
Now, it seems like you don't love America enough to stick around and work together. That's too bad.
Look, we're not trying to run you out, but you are certainly free to go. I don't think many of you have actually thought this out from an economic, educational or military perspective, but critical thinking doesn't seem to be your strong suit anyway.
So pack your stuff, if you must.
Uh, no- you don't get to take your state with you. Sorry, but that 'Constitution' thing you're always going on about says these states stay together. And you don't get to keep the flag you're always waving: that one belongs to America too.
But you can leave, if that's really what you want.
The border is that-a-way.
Tracy Meisky is a poet, writer, singer, songwriter and all-around boat rocker from way back. Feel free to look around, but if you break it, you bought it.
Yep, pretty much nailed it. I'd already set aside that photo for tomorrow's Funnies.
These children are throwing their tantrum. It makes them feel good. And tomorrow they can throw another tantrum. And that will make them feel good.
They are carrying so much gunk around with them, they have to do something to feel good.
Excellent post. The folks who can't recall history – or refuse to accept that the Civil War resolved many things – need to be handled bluntly, firmly, and without leniency. Their attitudes almost destroyed America once, when it was barely new. Talk of attempting that again is treasonous.
You write quite well. My blog is also sometimes doubled on DailyKOS – username MoGemStone. I haven't written much now that I am employed, so I appreciate someone else carrying the message.
Hey, I found a version of this on facebook. The poster had given you attribution and a link back to this blog. So, good on them. And good on you for writing this. It's a rant. It goes all over the map. But that's what rants are supposed to do. And it's a good rant. Be well and rock on!
Hi and thanks for visiting. Yes, it is an earlier version. It’s weird when someone posts a piece of yours, and you’re flattered and everything, but then you realize that the essay, which has gotten 60,000 hits on Facebook, is an early draft and has typos. Oh well.
Such a profound statement. The world is changing. Just hope it changes for the good of ALL the world.
hasn't ANYONE noticed that they don't know how to spell 'secede'?