Introducing Jackie (Morganfield) Lambert

I would like to introduce my many avid readers to my friend the incomparable Jackie (Morganfield) Lambert who happens to be the great niece of the legendary blues man Muddy Waters. Jackie, as I call her, offers a powerful commentary each week on "LET'S TALK ABOUT IT" every Tuesday night at 9:00 PM (est) on Spreaker.com with me and the Wild and Wonderful Brenda White. You must join us for the fastest growing political talk show on the air.

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Taking our country back?

As this political season makes its inexorable march to the 2012 elections, I’ve noticed a common theme among the republican candidates – “take our country back”. I’m sure that many of you have asked yourselves the same question that I have, take our country back from whom?

Upon further reflection, I’ve determined that it is not that the republicans want to take our country back from someone in particular. It’s more a matter of taking our country back in time.

If you can bear to listen to the rhetorical thunder coming from republican presidential candidates you will notice a common thread. They all rumble that abortion must be illegal. And, in some places, they are working very hard to criminalize most forms of birth control to boot.

Government should not regulate anything. Wall Street Robber Barons should be free to extort profits in anyway they choose. In pursuit of greater profits, manufacturers should be free to pollute our environment as much as they like.

Government should not care about or, have any involvement in the general welfare of its citizens. Medicare, social security, food stamps, health care for poor children, early childhood education, public education and any other program designed to give citizens a modicum of security or a chance at upward mobility should be abolished.

And, my personal favorite, wealthy citizens should not be asked to contribute a little more in taxes. Actually, the very rich should be exempt from taxes entirely because they’re just superior to the rest of us. Who knows, they may take some of their massive wealth and create a minimum wage job or two.

So, you see it is not so much that the republicans want to the country away from some one - they just want take us back to say 1920. What a novel idea - time travel through legislation! Let’s talk about that.

The Politics of Fear

While using the emotion of fear to sway the electorate is nothing new, it does seem to have reached a fever pitch over the past several years. The rise of the so-called “Tea Party” is the most prominent example of the emotion of fear driving a portion of the electorate.

Instead of using the current economic down-turn as a spring-board to bring out the best in us; the republican tea partiers are using it to appeal to the lowest common denominator in our society. In their America, each group of citizens is required to retreat into a small tribe, tribes defined by race, tribes defined by religion, tribes defined by sexual orientation, and on, and on and on. In their America, there is no such thing as the common good. In their America, citizens must view one another with fear and suspicion. This is the only way they believe they can stay in power.

This tribal attitude is not merely a symptom of the thinking of small minds; it serves to starve the spirit of a great nation. It is imperative that no matter what’s going on in our lives, we do not succumb to the politics of fear. The emotion of fear in the political process serves only to divide us and prevent us from realizing our true greatness as a nation.

You can catch "LET'S TALK ABOUT IT" every Tuesday on SPRAKER.COM

Now that is a THOUGHT PROVOKING PERSPECTIVE!