Friday, September 17, 2004

Why I am Not a Democrat (even though I care about the poor)

When I arrived in the U.S. in 1994 I knew very little about the two major parties. I was still enamored with freedom, and all the other niceties young immigrants can barely take in - Super Wal-Marts and 99-cent cheeseburgers! Soon, however, I began to pay attention. At first I was taken in by the Democrats tall tales of “evil Republicans.” I instinctively came to bristle at the mention of “Rush Limbaugh.” I thought Republicans hated immigrants, and didn’t want me here. I came to like Bill Clinton (actually I still do). I even “campaigned” for him in 1996, urging my girlfriend (now wife) to vote Democratic. And still, I simply paid attention to the national debate. I watched. I listened. I often saw both sides of the argument. I tried to be fair and objective. But then the Democrats finally made a big mistake. It was November 2000.

Like other power-hungry groups in history, they didn't know when to hold back. The Democrats and their standard bearer, Al Gore, attempted to thwart an election not in the quiet of the night, but in broad daylight, before the cameras of the world. That November I was angry. Even Bob Dole got angry. It was thanks to the Democrats changing ballot-counting rules, their emphasis on hand counts in only those Florida counties they dominate, their invalidation of military ballots, their sending Jesse Jackson to rouse race-based anger and Alan Dershowitz to smear Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris that galvanized my identity as someone opposed to the Democratic party.

I had spent six years watching in silence as the Democrats came to rely on fomenting anger among Americans for its victories. The more that blacks are angry at whites, the more they vote Democrat. The more that Jews fear Christians, the more they vote Democrat. And the more women distrust men, the more they vote Democrat. In November of 2000 I finally realized that I was a part of that large block of America between New York and California that Democrats believe to be stupid, racist, bigoted, anti-Semitic, homophobic and misogynist. Since November 2000 I have come to see the problem – I was intimidated by the Democrats claims of goodness. You aren’t allowed to point out their lies and failures, because they have good intentions. Now, I still find Democrats frightening, but I no longer find them intimidating. I am still wary of them because their socialist ideology is pure fantasy, and thus their tactics are strategically incomprehensible! But thankfully for America, and me, they made a big mistake in November of 2000.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Never fear, my friend--Florida's votes won't be counted this election because they will be too wet!