Living in America these days, I sometimes feel…for a lack of better words, like I’m walking on broken glass. Did Lennox have the foresight to know what type of world in which we would live in the new millennium?  We are at a brink of a revolution but it is not the kind of revolution one would think it would be.  We live in a hostile world. Everyone is afraid of everyone else. No one trusts anyone. The patriarchs of this nation have come home to roost; and because we live in a country where there are too many Chiefs and not enough Indians, we are becoming a nation divided against one another.

When I watch television and see the endless tides of “tea baggers” and their hate-fueled signs I have to ask myself, “Where did we go wrong?”  When did health care for all become an omen of evil taxation? When did helping our fellow man, woman and child become a non-Christian thing to do?  But I digress.

If we keep up with the times, we find that everyday a new species is becoming endangered. From the blue whale to the Siberian Tiger, we understand the concept of what it is to be endangered…near extinction. In a nation constructed from a long line of patriots (both American and Native American), we find ourselves on that same distinct level of endangerment. We have become inadvertently preoccupied with fad movements, which are based on hyperbolic euphemisms facilitated by a few political handlers who know how to manipulate the masses and how to deviate from the real threats facing us today.

Terrorism

The real “terrorism” that we encounter today does in no way parallel the acts of September 11 – a date that will forever live in infamy. In fact, the terrorism we now face is directly staring at us and we do not even notice it. It has become a subtle psychological warfare that has been waged on US citizens in such a contemptible and manipulative way that those who have been swept away with the flood of anti-Americanism and highly disrespectful slogans by touting “No-Bama” “WWRD* (What Would Reagan Do)” “Bury Obamacare” and numerous other incendiary phrases and racist depictions* are the ones who will suffer mainly under the guise of an “anti-socialism” movement.   These same individuals are being duped by the same party that brought us two wars, a near-economic crash, and a record deficit that will take decades upon decades to repair. Now is not the time to divide and conquer. Now is not the time to divide this nation any further than it already is.

I have to wonder sometimes what Limbaugh must have been thinking when he said that he hoped that the President of the United States would fail*. Sadly, many of his listeners were in agreement with this unbelievable statement. Does that make them patriots? No. That makes them enemies of the States…or in other words, “enemy combatants” as former VP Cheney used to love tossing around in speech. I may not have agreed with the past administration but never in a million years would I have pined for the President or any other president for that matter to fail. Does no one realize that if our President fails, so does this country?

I cannot begin to imagine what type of scrambled-egg mess President Obama walked into. Nearly eight years of war, an economy on the brink of collapse, thousands of American war dead, Wall Street holding the US hostage, and a left-over monument of debt to foreign nations, among a click of naysayers going only to bat for the wealthy and well-connected. Yet here we are today in a land of idiocracy where it has become mob-rule with a handful of misinformed, (some uneducated) vulnerable Americans who believe everything they see and hear on certain propaganda news channels. Am I missing something?

Time to wake up!

Real American Patriots of this Nation are standing up and fighting for health care rights for all US citizens. Real American Patriots are trying (and have been trying) to bring our troops home from major conflict zones. Real American Patriots are open-minded, unbigoted and ready to roll up their sleeves to make this nation work again by putting our people back to work in green jobs, health care, and in education. Real American Patriots act and lead with human moral conscience and are prime examples of “WWJD”; irregardless of faith, religion, sex, race, or age. Real American Patriots would not let a fallen brother fall to the wayside because they would be the first ones to carry him to safety. Real American Patriots are not reversing the hands of time to bring us back to a pre-civil war era where slavery and women’s inequality was acceptable. Real American Patriots stand up for those less fortunate than themselves just because it is morally and ethically the right thing to do. Even God said not to judge less ye be judged…but I digress.

Real American Patriots are becoming an endangered species because our nation has come to a heated boiling point where everybody’s wrong and nobody’s right. At what point do we move forward so that we can begin enjoying the freedom and liberties that our countrymen fought so hard to achieve and retain? At what point to we bury our murderous, racist and sexist past so that all men, women and children can lead healthier, happier lives in these United States? As a real American Patriot, I am a representation of what a genuine American is. With roots from my Cherokee ancestors, I am also Irish and German…but I am an American first. I refuse to let this Nation go to pot so that a few elite can hammer away the justice and equality that we continue to fight to achieve and preserve still to this day.

OPED: Real American Patriots – an endangered species?

By CarolAnn Bailey-Lloyd – Social Media & More

Copyright – ALL Rights Reserved

REAL AMERICAN PATRIOT PARTY

Had someone asked me over a decade ago what the state of the Union would be, I would have clearly imagined that we would still be living under the umbrella of a National surplus and that economic growth would have been at full speed ahead. But I digress.

911 ushered in a new era of “feverish patriotism” that was never seen before in our lifetimes. The “shock and awe” of such a horrific event threw most American citizens into a tailspin of all sorts. We wept; we were angered beyond imagination, and then came the rest of the story…

Suddenly, “patriotism” was the word of the day. No longer could we keep our emotions unbridled and in check. We were out for the jugular. We were going to stamp out terrorism wherever it was because how dare some other country or radical group wage war on our soil? Initially, I was one of the patriotic folks ready for vengeance. Then came a sigh…and a rational that overcame my senses. The corporate media, of course, helped propagate our innate hatred by beating the war drums. They did not stop there, however; they even spoon-fed us bits and pieces of “who done it.” After all was said and done, we were not merely entangled in one war but two.

Let’s fast-forward to 2010. The cost (of both these wars) has now reached beyond one trillion dollars ($1,000,000,000,000.00). That’s a lot of greenbacks. Not only is the cost inconceivable, it is coming directly out of the pockets of hard-working American taxpayers. Sadly, billions upon billions of those tax-payer dollars are unaccounted for thanks to American Government contractors like DynCorp, among others. Sadly, these conglomerates and their employees earn far more in comparison to our American soldiers who lay their lives on the line daily. Beyond that, corporations as such have had the whistle blown on them time and time again for shoddy workmanship, wasteful and erroneous spending, as well as more clandestine offenses to include child sex trafficking. Yet we continue to bankroll these companies whilst giving their employees tax-free, hard-earned American tax-paying dollars. To top it off, with Justice Roberts’ latest ruling, companies like Blackwater and DynCorp now have the right of “personhood,” which only furthers their greedy and corrupt agendas.

How much of your hard-earned dollars is tax free? Have you ever asked yourself that question? If you haven’t, isn’t it time you did? Let’s fast-forward a little bit more…

The United States is not a third-world country; however, if you actually take a look at the economically-challenged people of this country, you will find that over 43.8 million American citizens are without health care. In any case, these sad statistics are not by choice. One American dies every 12 minutes (men, women and children). That’s a fact. Most of these folks are hard-working constituents just like the rest of us. Some may be unemployed due to layoffs; others are working in service industries where the economic pay scale has not caught up with the actual cost of modern-day living. And where would the good ole’ United States be without our food-service workers (you know…Mickey D’s, BK, KFC, etc.), farmers, retailers (i.e. Wally World), hospitality and tourism industries, and school bus drivers and crossing guards, among others? The argument against these impoverished citizens is that “they could have gone to school.” Yes, they could have if the opportunity and funding was there. Education is extremely important. However, without these fundamental and capitalistic services, where would this Nation be? To top it off, many of those with access to health care insurance, are commonly denied benefits due to caps and the “fine print,” which are intentionally not revealed until an individual has to fight to obtain services for his autistic child; or when an individual is diagnosed with a terminal illness like cancer, heart disease, or other detrimental disorder. The real “death panels” are not run by government, they have been run by big health insurance companies; who are eager to cut the purse strings as soon as a client truly needs the help…shameful. But again…I digress.

Let’s rewind… the cost of a Medicare-for-all bill would offer valuable savings not only to small businesses, but to individuals and large companies as well. More importantly, it would reduce the heavy emotional and financial burdens that big insurance corporations levy on the average American citizen.  Can we really put a cost on preserving life and limb? There are so many groups in this Nation who are pro-life proponents and will stop at nothing to prevent abortions; yet some of these same groups are eager to let their American fellows die needlessly due to lack of health care. Where is the justice?

Up-front and center! Multimedia marketing campaigns were launched by money-hungry mongrels to fool the American people into believing that a Medicare-for-all bill (or a “Public Option”) would be touted with “death panels,” would hurt our economy, and would god-forbid: raise our taxes! Shame on those wasteful-spending bureaucrats… the truth, however is that the overall, long-term cost savings and pro-life benefits in this type of health care bill, far outweigh the financial burdens and hardships that have been placed on the average American citizen (including our Stateside soldiers and families) for two wars without end, wasteful spending of hard-earned tax-payer dollars to corrupt government contractors,  and super-wealthy insurance CEOs who’s rare joy is to pass cruel and thoughtless judgment on whether or not someone lives or dies.

Where is your heart? Where is your mind? Where are you in your thoughts at this point? If you are a real, angry American Patriot, then do something to make a difference. Contact your local and national representatives to stop wasteful corporate spending and help get real health care reform passed today!

Just my two cents…

OPED: Fear Wombats and Regressive Politics in the Worst Way

Copyright – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED (Article may be republished with author permission)

CarolAnnB – Social Media Sorceress and More

Listening to a South Carolina morning radio show, I overheard the local disc jockey discussing the blockbuster movie, “Avatar.”  (Super movie, by the way!) What had begun as an innocent dialogue about how well the film was performing at the box office transformed into one of those one-way exchanges (about an aspect of the film) that I found particularly disturbing. While most individuals may have been subconsciously unaware of the racial undertones of the on-air conversation, I had a sudden epiphany when I heard what I heard…and then I thought: “This is how racism is fueled.”

The DJ, whether intentional or not, made a dogmatic statement about some of the character names in the film. Paraphrasing, the DJ said, “Well you know what this means…” (In reference to taking the lead spot in film popularity), “People are going to be naming their kids after the Na’vi Princess ‘Neytiri’, or ‘Pandora’ (after the planet), or the flying red bird, ‘Toruk’.”  Then came a brief pause with laughter, “Why can’t they just give their kids normal names, like Rick?” asked the DJ.

That’s when I had a flash of insight.  It is this warped sense of mentality, whether deliberate or not, which creates an environment of intolerance. Instead of applauding the film’s uniqueness and innovation of generating such distinguishable identities, the radio announcer made a point to deem the names as “abnormal.”  Abnormality translates into objectionable, which in turn converts to intolerance.

In this world, there are no “rights” or “wrongs” when it comes to the context of people; only people. It is a perspective of fear and small-mindedness to publicly announce an unabashed opinion of what is “rational” or “irrational” in his or her mind. A tree-cutter may look at a tree and say, “That tree appears old and withered.” This is his view. An artist may look at the same tree and say, “What a majestic tree.” That is his view. But here’s the difference between these perspectives and the one from the DJ: Neither the tree-cutter or the artist determined that the tree was intolerable. Instead, they made a simple remark expressing their feelings about the tree. Had the DJ said, “I don’t really like the names in the film,” that would have sufficed. Instead, he went on to differentiate the normalcy; rather, the abnormality from the “standard, wholesome, American name.” (I’m presuming, here.)

Martin Luther King, Jr. - Google Images

Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”  MLK’s words preoccupied me this morning when I heard the radio rep speaking. What was this man thinking? Here is a public speaker, who has the ears and attention of thousands of listeners. Some listen for the music, others listen to the commentaries, some listen to the commercials…but all in all, the announcer is in an authoritative position where he has the absolute capacity to shape public opinion.  He is, essentially, a media outlet. What happens when one, two, or several of these public speakers begin telling people what the appropriate mindset is; what the “norm” is and what it isn’t?

This is, in essence, one of the seeds of racism…at the least, the seed of intolerance. We cannot, as a collective people – the human race, begin filling minds with our learned definitions of “appropriate” and “inappropriate.”  There are no “bad” things, people or events…nor are there “good” things, people or events by our definitions. Deepak Chopra said, “Our thinking and our behavior are always in anticipation of a response. It is therefore fear-based.”  Our individual anticipation and thinking mind are ego-based. Our ego minds often control our actions, our thoughts, out deeds, our words. When we let go of the ego mind, and feed our thoughts through the spiritual self, we no longer hold onto, nor do we disseminate negligible feedback. Martin Luther King, Jr. knew this. His deeds and his words both reflected a higher consciousness and awareness as to how to effectively communicate with people. It wasn’t the right way, nor was it the wrong way…but it was a way to make a difference and for a higher purpose. That is what we were put on this earth to do. We are all interconnected to one another. No name, no race, no religion, no sex, and no special affiliation (etc.) make us better or lesser than the next individual. We are all born to simply “be”. To exist as a conscientious observant and participant in this thing we call life.

One would not cut off his arm to spite his face, but this happens each and every time a new seed of hatred or intolerance is planted. Deeds and words without love are the misgivings of humanity. What seeds have you planted…what seeds do you plan to sew? Chopra also said, “The possibility of stepping into a higher plane is quite real for everyone. It requires no force or effort or sacrifice. It involves little more than changing our ideas about what is normal.” Martin Luther King, Jr. knew this, as did some great men (and women) before and after him. That is the distinction.

A Reflection on MLK Day: How Racism is Fueled

By CarolAnn Bailey-Lloyd – Social Media Sorceress and More