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| Thursday, March 10, 2005 |
| The United Sharecroppers of America |
To my regular readers: This isnt my usual witty dark commentary, but it needs to be said.
Transcript: Bush's Radio Address
Saturday, February 26, 2005
"This past week I was in Europe, where I had good discussions with our friends and allies about how to meet the mutual challenges we face: spreading freedom and democracy, defeating terrorism, expanding prosperity and promoting peace. "
Dear Mr. President,
I just got home from a 5 state, month long comedy tour. I saw you on television while you were touring Europe and I was touring the Northwestern United States. You stated over and over again that Americans LOVE freedom.
Let me paint a picture of Small Town USA: Imagine a gigantic rectangle shaped box, bigger than two football fields with a parking lot twice that size. The sign is clean and unadorned. It reads, "Wal-Mart Super Store." Across the street is a Rent-A-Center adjacent to a Check Cashing storefront. The local playground is at the McDonalds which sells food that isn't good for you or your children. The water in the town isn't safe to drink. The factories (if the economy is lucky enough to have them) spill a foul smelling haze into the air. This is Any Town, USA.
The people work hard. They work two, sometimes three 'jobs'. They work long hours. They can't take vacations. They love their children. They work hard. They are willing to send their children to fight and die where ever you want them to go. They never have money. They barely make ends meet. They proudly display American flags and yellow ribbons. They work hard. Their version of retirement is working only 40 hours a week. They don't have health care insurance. They watch multi-million dollar commercials about new drugs they can't afford to talk to their doctor about. They go to church every week and pray for strength. They work hard.
After the Civil War in this country, the black slaves were given their 'freedom'. Very quickly, they were renting and working land that was owned by their former masters or 'entrepreneurs'. They were deeply in debt. They bought what they needed on credit at the general store owned by their landlord. They were STILL slaves. They were slaves to economics while being told that they were free. They were told they were free to have the American Dream like anyone else. They were told they had Constitutional Rights. They were lied to. Sharecropping is a dark part of American history.
Today, this country has millions of Wal-Mart Sharecroppers. They owe. They work. They don't get ahead. They work for Wal-Mart, the check cashing places and high interest bank loans. The big conglomerates all take their slice. Big businesses pollute the air and rape the landscape and the people receive price cuts at Wal-Mart. These people don't write letters to their representatives. They don't have time to protest. They don't research who's being paid by the government to sell them policy. They trust you because you flub words like they do. They think you can't be sneaky if you talk about Jesus and don't use proper syntax. They aren't stupid; they are just too busy to inquire. They love God and trust you because you use His name 'liberally'. You use His name who, ironically preached about taking care of the poor and the unfortunate.
We think the American Dream is an epic struggle to come from nothing and become rich and successful. How about a dream of being able to raise your children without being fleeced? You can't classify positions as 'jobs' if they don't earn you a living! Why isn't there clean water and/or health care? How about regulating interest you can charge the poor? How about Social Security 'reform' that doesn't have rich Wall Street brokers drooling? What happened to the checks and balances? We hear about American values but what about our ethics? We have a War on Drugs and a War on Terror that we're losing; yet the War on Poverty has been a great success. They've been defeated.
Americans are being exploited while they are being told they live in the best country in the world. They are economic slaves while being told they are free. Their hearts and minds have been conquered and sold to the lowest bidder. Yes, Americans love freedom. This is true. Americans love freedom like a lover that will no longer return their phone calls. The more distance they have from it - the more they can definitively say they do indeed LOVE freedom and they've missed her.
Tina Dupuy @
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Stop checking out my code you PERV! |
