People Over Everything

Nuance. Conflicting Thoughts. Critical Thinking. Words and phrases that are not synonymous with America’s political landscape. Part of it is a by product of the lack of education; the policy of passing everyone so we don’t have to teach anyone. Part of it is the dumbing down of society because we really don’t have to learn anything, we can just figure it out by searching it on our phones. And a major part of it, are the wedges that Dick Cheney, Roger Ailes, and Fox News decided to put between us. You can say that I am bias, but it’s a fact that former Vice President Cheney and Roger Ailes colluded to establish a power and influence over people. All of this has coalesced into a powerful storm of uninformed thoughts, and the loss of being able to decipher between fact, and fiction, between truth and lies.

Politicians don’t want you to think critically. Politicians want you to believe that issues are simple. And sometimes they are. But a lot of times issues arise because they are complex, and don’t have easy answers. Politicians on both the left and right have made it their life work to use these issues to wedge people, and try to gain some type of an advantage. The last few months have been the grand finale, to the plot that was leading us here all along. Issues such as gun control, climate change, taxes, and abortion were the separators. If you believed one thing, you were on the left, and if you believed another then you were on the right. People told you that you couldn’t waver or believe something different than where the line was drawn to separate us. It has been going on for years, and has lead us to 2020. Where voting, the mail, wearing masks to help people not get sick, and re-opening school safely became wedge issues. When they shouldn’t have.

The gun control debate is the most frustrating. For years, Republicans have painted Democrats that are for sensible gun control laws as being for the government coming to steal everyones guns. And the Democrats have let them. The Democrats have always had a communication issue. Specifically there are two who did not have that problem, and both of them were elected as President twice. But why can’t I support gun control laws that keep military grade weapons off the streets and still support the right to bear arms? Why can’t I be for background checks and still support every hunters right to carry, and hunt? Why can’t I say that all research indicates that the more training you have, the more likely you are to fire a gun correctly with poise, and at the same time protect the right of those have a gun in their house to protect their families? I can believe all of those at the same time. Because that is thinking critically. The wedge issue has always been painted as freedom against control, when really it is every citizen thinking critically versus certain groups maintaining power.

Let me tell you what isn’t a wedge issue; people. This country was built on the premise that every human is of infinite worth. Words like “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” in our Declaration for Independence, and President Lincolns proclamation that this government is for the people and by the people at Gettysburg are ideas that helped establish this democracy. For decades, women and men alike have fought to make sure that these words weren’t empty. John Lewis and Martin Luther King Jr, Susan B Anthony and Ida B. Wells, and the countless others that fought to make sure that all men, and women were created equal. They fought for the idea that this government is for all people, and by all people. People are not a wedge issue. People. The fact that we should be lifting all people up to have the chance not just to survive, but to thrive is not a wedge issue. The fact that we should treat all people of all races with the same decency and respect is not a wedge issue. The fact that black people in this country are hurting is not a wedge issue. Helping others by wearing masks in the middle of pandemic, is not a wedge issue. Yet, President Trump has made every last thing on this list an issue. If you believe that all people should be able to vote in an orderly and timely manner is to be a “dumb libtard.” To believe that people should be given a head start by the government is to be a “communist like Hitler.” We have always been trending this way, but now the years of dumbing things down has now reared it’s ugly head.

I am here to tell you that I will be fighting for people. You can call me what you want. Jesus was for people. All colors, all creeds. From the righteous to sinners, Jesus was for people. From Jews to Gentiles, from blacks to whites, from middle easterners to Africans, Jesus was for people. Jesus also was for leaving the 99 to save the 1. All lives matter, yes. Thank you for that clever line, but black people have lived under the assumption that its not true in America. And its time to say the words that Black Lives Matter. Jesus is for that. He showed us time and again how to live, and how to treat people. The religious right would tell you we are a Christian nation for divisive reasons. Our actions will tell us otherwise. If we are who we say we are, then it is time to be for all people.

“These aren’t principles that should just be Republican principles, or Democratic principles, but these are principles that should be American principles.” This quote from President Barack Obama last night is a truth we all need to hear. It is the common thread that he has wove since his convention speech 16 years ago where he said we weren’t just red states or blue states, but the United States. It is a truth that he believes to be true because he was able to be President in this country, and he was able to the best of his ability to fight for people. Voting, ending racism, helping others, aren’t wedge issues. They don’t make you a raging conservative , they don’t make you a commie liberal. They make you American. They make you for the people, and show you what is by the people. They show how to hold all of these principles as truths for everyone.

November 3rd is important. Extremely important. But no matter what happens we will get through it. It won’t be a finality to our country, but it can be a start to be who we truly are. A vote for Donald Trump is not a vote for people. A vote for Joe Biden is. This time, it is that simple. No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, your heart should be for people. From now until November 3rd, we must fight for that fact. But after November 3rd, no matter what, we must continue to do the same. People over everything. A truth we know to be why this country was founded. It shall be a truth that this country uses to pull us through this dark time. Let’s go do it.