Well, some of you may be too young to remember the Lassie
series but Gramps always ran and told Daddy and Mama
there was a dangerous situation and Gramps was basically
the messenger.
Today in this America, we need a Gramps and we need a Lassie. Lassie could bark all day and no one would come
to the rescue. First of all
if we had a Lassie the Collie, she would be hard pressed
to find a Gramps that would pay any attention to her in this area.
I just turned sixty and cannot believe how many Tea party people are the Gramps and Grannies of yesteryear. My high school mates are very tea party active and extremely republican. They believe everything....that Faux puts over the airwaves. Palin is a beautiful, wonderful, adored, and Rush is their hero. Glen Beck is their hero
and I stand in a wilderness of awe thinking, " What the heck happened to these people"?
Did they get educated beyond their intelligence or did they get richer than most or did our school only teach
to a few free thinking people?
These very same people are running for legislature, judges,
and most are members of the local Masonic Lodge.
They think Sherrard did make a racist comment. They think
Obama is not American, they believe Fox News is the only channel that can be trusted, and they believe they pay too much for taxes. They think Arizona is brave and right for their ridiculous law and they feel out of work people are
not looking hard enough for a job.
I just don't get it. These people I spent time with as a
kid, and teenager and yes I noticed none were rallying around Martin Luther King, but I was not that political in those days and thought they were just as busy as me with
homecoming, grades, the future and even worrying about Vietnam. These same people hate John Kerry because he in their opinion was a traitor. Oh yeah, they all loved Bush
for the most part and probably helped erect that billboard wherever it is, that says, "Do you miss me yet".
I grew up. I didn't believe all that I was taught. I didn't buy into the Dixiecrat attitude. I remain conservative to a degree but am considered a raging liberal from their point of view. They for the most part, ALL have more money than my husband and me. We try to help everyone to a fault and most of them had rather die than spare a little change for another vet while they are waving the flag and calling most progressives or all progressives unamerican. I live here. I had thought of leaving. I only know a few within a 20 mile range who share any of my progressive views. I think I shall stay because I almost feel it my duty to debate these folks and do. It is funny because when some of these classmates wanted me to serve on a reunion committe, they, I soon realized were the same clickish bunch who wanted to dictate everything from the music to the place for the reunion. Silly me, for thinking they had evolved into something bigger than themselves. In time they learned my politics from sources as I am not too very quite about them and I told them I could not be on the committee.
Slowly, I watched politics come into play about everything they were doing. I watched the 5 or 6 who were opposed to the Vietnam War start getting rhetoric on the High School blog. I was well known in school because my great grandparents
had settled the city. Founded it. My Father was a well known Baptist Minister and we did not have life hard as my Mother worked in the 50's and 60's outside the home as well. I was into a well known local Rock and Roll band and was a decent kid. My grandfather ran for state legislator and lost but ran a close race. My aunts and uncles were professionals. Doctors and Nurses.
I was just plain hard headed and still am. I traveled with my husband, I became an advocate for social justice and veterans and that is out of their realm of thinking.
The reason I thought of writing this diary today, is because I got an invitation to the Reunion of 68 in the mail. ROFL. They had a chance to actually have Chubby Checker at their reunion and blew it. I got to know his son very well during the Obama campaign. They had a chance to have a real live kick butt band on the circuit of oldies and they blew it. Not my old band but I am sure some of you have heard of Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders. They are going with a local person who DJ's (from our class) not on the radio but for weddings and reunions. They are having the event at a ritzy place that did not even exist until 5 years ago and how memorable will that be? They want 80 bucks to attend and a fee for reservations. Typical republican voodoo economics. The main planner is running for office as a tea party candidate and I just laughed as I forwarded my reply.
I just don't feel like attending a Tea Party and even though it is going under the heading of HS Reunion, a tea party is what this thing will end up. We could not even
have a committee meeting without the whole bunch having a discussion about the conservative candidates up for election and how the reunion in OCT. could help the cause.
So as I sit here thinking about the so called good old days, I could not help but think of Lassie. I couldn't help but think of the diaries I have rec'd and tipped regarding hunger in the US and the horror of war and the Gulf of Mexico catastrophe, the lack of leadership or bipartianship on the republican aisle and the party of No.
I thought of the Reunion. I thought of neighbor helping neighbor and then I thought again. There is no Gramps coming to help America because Gramps is caught in a time warp. In Gramp's world, there is no real danger other than Lassie. Lassie being we the progresives.
Gramps, as I would see him today, would be yelling for someone to shut that dog up. He would basically keep
doing what he was doing and couldn't do much anyway because
he was glued to Fox news.
Gramps Would just want Lassie gone and to shut up because the old way is the only way even if it is wrong and causes the destruction of
America or Timmy, however you want to look at it.
Thanks for listening.