We're Heading For The Hills

I am really disturbed, on so many levels and for so many reasons, with the tidal surge of hate and intolerance that has emerged with the Tea Party gang. I hate to say it, but I find, in their numbers, many old friends who used to lean a bit to the left or, at least, were on the moderate side. The ignorance about and vilification of President Obama has left me with jaw dropped about the way these people lap up misinformation. I have my own criticisms of his performance, but I don't swallow hate-based lies. This is the kind of mindset that prevailed during the EMS. Seeing it out there, alive and squirming with malice, makes it more urgent for us to head for the hills, literally and figuratively.

Where we are moving, the nearest neighbor is a mile away and people mind their own business. If we are careful about what we watch on TV and read online, maybe we can put some kind of distance between us and the madness. I feel like there is a huge, nasty monster nipping at the heels of the moderate sector of our population. We are in very real danger of seeing religion worm its way deeper into our government. What that has to say about the future of family preservation is really frightening.

Since I know, personally, a few of these TP's, let me tell you what I know about just them. They are members and true believers attending fundamentalist, evangelical Christian churches. They were avid supporters of both Bushes and despised Clinton. They tend to question our president's citizenship and shudder at the thought of any social program to aid the people who need it. They see anything with the tags of "socialism" or "social welfare" as lurking shadows of communistic evil. They are unaware that with Medicare, Social Security, EOE, unemployment benefits, disability income, free public education and many other things that we take as our due, we are already dabbling in socialism. These people are appalled at the sexual behavior of others but feel very self-righteous about any war in which the US is involved, even  those predicated upon outright lies (and for every lie we bring to their attention, we get back, "well, Clinton got a blow job."). These are people who are hanging on to the repressive and bloody legacies of the Puritans, the Native American-killing "pioneers" and the McCarthy era. They really, really liked Ike and think Nixon got a bum rap. Reagan is, to them, a demi-god.

They see Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin as great, political minds and will believe outrageous things if these sickos say they are so. And they believe that adoption is just the best damn thing since sliced bread. They want to keep maternity homes running and build more. They are the kind that blame the victim for her rape and blame the mother for her loss. They are the kind that think records should remain closed and that no single mother is good enough to raise her own child. Please note that this applies to the ones I, personally, KNOW. And it breaks my heart to see a couple of them, really intelligent women, go down this road. Rather than being the kind of friends that will say, "Hell yes, you got taken," they are the kind that are quick to assure me that I have been forgiven for my sin of fornication. I wonder at the group as a whole if these folks are so involved in it.

We have two choices, those of us who are middle of the road or lean to the left and who want to bring Big Adoption down. We can either fight or run. My husband is 70 and I am 65. We are not very scrappy at our time of life. I can write and I can blog, but I can't get out there in the hot sun and debate people who have no intention of allowing reason of any sort to sway their thinking. I can vote and I can write letters telling our leaders that something really nasty is going to happen, but I cannot, on my own, influence the US congress, the state legislature or even our town council.

If what I fear comes to pass and this political scenario becomes fact, then I am going to be glad to be hidden in our very private retreat in the hills, far away from neighbors, neighborhood associations, political block parties and surrounded by rugged individualists who mind their own business. I have even tried to persuade Hubby to emigrate to Canada, but the hills of WV is as far north as he is willing to go.

If I sound like an alarmist, so be it. I've been leery of this kind of political activism since Robertson tried to run for President and Falwell started up the, so-called, "Moral" Majority. Every time I dare to look, I see these monsters gaining steam and gaining ground. In fact, they are right on our heels. Unless we are really equipped and ready to fight for our rights and freedoms, I guess we had better run. But I hate to sound like a coward. I really want to preserve the momentum that began in the 60's when so much became so much more open.

Say, what about a group, with a PAC, banners and media coverage? We could, maybe, call ourselves, "The Humane Majority?"

It might be worth a shot.