What's Happening to America?

My older brother will go on and on about how much he loves this country. About patriotism, and being proud of America, and how freedom means everything to him. He'll espouse on the church he and his family attend, how the pastor is a father-figure to him, and how much they love it. And then he'll scream and swear at you, call you a traitor, feeble-minded, and stupid if you so much as disagree with him. In the same breath, he'll call the President of the United States a Kenyan, swear he wasn't born in the United States, advocate for his assassination, and call every Democratic politician and supporter idiots. 

A true patriot, don't you agree? Oh, and he's benefitted from unemployment, his kids are on Medicaid, they've been on food stamps, but those are all socialist agendas according to him. 

He's not the brightest bulb on the tree. 

Sadly, there are many, many people like him, and there seem to be more coming out of the woodwork every single day. People who think that social services are terrible, socialist institutions UNTIL it comes time for them to have to use them. People who are convinced that the ACA is a subtle takeover of America and who refuse to actually read the bill for themselves.

These are people who think that Rush Limbaugh has anything relevant to say. People who think that Glen Beck and Pat Robertson want nothing more than to save the country. Seriously people, do you think they really care? Their bank accounts are very full, thank you very much, and that's all they care about. And don't even get me started on people who watch Fox News. They're lost, unfortunately. It's going to take Roger Ailes (the president of Fox News) standing up in front of the camera and admitting they make stuff up. It's never going to happen.

There are Facebook pages aplenty that call for the assassination of the President. One page in particular is sending out "Enemy of the President" cards to its members. There are pages that are dedicated to proving that Obama is really from Kenya (good luck with that). Pages that promote a far right wing conservative agenda (AKA Tea Party) and dismiss anyone who dares to argue. There are pages that advocate basing all laws on teachings in the bible, and some of these pages actually call for deporting anyone who is not a Christian. There are dedicated web pages spouting the same nonsense.....these are pages that people paid for.

WHERE DO THESE PEOPLE COME FROM? You can argue all day long that this country was founded on Christianity, but the fact is, it wasn't. This country was founded on the idea of freedom of religion, and that includes the freedom to not have a religion. 

I saw a news article the other day about the Oklahoma State House. They allowed a religious group to install a stone memorial inscribed with the Ten Commandments on the House property. While I have no problem with this, several of the commandments are those we should all live by.......I do have a problem with anyone protesting any other religious group that would want to install their own memorial. Why is Christianity the only one allowed? Why can Muslims not install one, or the Jewish people, or Hindus, or Buddhists? Even a satanic group politicked to install one of their own. I'm sorry, but be careful what you wish for, people. If you're going to let Christians do it, then everyone else gets to do it, too.

I just don't understand it. I don't understand people who deliberately misinterpret the Constitution to support their own agendas. I don't understand people who judge others simply on the basis of the color of their skin, or what their sexual orientation may or may not be. I don't understand people who can be so intolerant of change. I don't understand how helping the poor, supporting our veterans, providing health care for all of our citizens, keeping our elderly healthy and comfortable, providing welfare assistance to those in true need, improving our education system, and raising the minimum wage to livable levels is bad. I just don't get it. 

Oh and to those who think you're supporting the second amendment by posing your baby with a myriad of firearms? You're just idiots. That's all there is to say about that.