I'm really upset with conservatives and our media right now. I'm an unabashed liberal, so, I suppose you could argue that I am always just a little bit upset with conservatives, but this time it runs a little deeper. And probably because of my educational background, I've always been kind of a wishy-washy defender of the media. I know what its true purpose is supposed to be, and I know both how hard it can be fulfill that purpose, and how exciting it can be to try.
Our world is on fire all around us. There is so much going on right now that is more than just important, and even vital to our survival and our children's futures. Until now, the only stake I had in tomorrow was for myself, but now my husband and I are responsible for the future of our little girl. And I feel almost as if it is time to hold everyone's feet to the fire who will in any way impact my daughter's education, freedoms and future. Maybe that seems crazy, but my feelings about it are strong.
We are living in a country thats "vision statement" guarantees life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We are living in a country that declares itself to be a land of acceptance and possibility. I'm not a flag flying patriot, but when I think of what it means to be fortunate enough either to be born American, or to become an American, there's a little tingle of red, white and blue in my toes that just fell asleep.
All of the things about being an American that we ALL profess to care about are under threat.
It seems as though we can't learn to live with our differences. Instead of accepting that we are a vast and diverse melting pot of people from different nations, different races, different beliefs, and not always clear sexuality, we allow our most vulnerable citizens to be targeted for discrimination and inequality. The groups ripe for targeting may change, but the hate and fear remains. And what's more, so does the distraction--the distraction from issues that ACTUALLY matter.
Right now, multiple states are trying to institute and defend laws that prohibit transgendered individuals from using the restroom that feels most appropriate to their psychological gender. And they are doing this under the FALSE guise of protecting girls and women from sexual assault. The idea behind this ridiculous situation is that predators will pretend they are transgendered so they can infiltrate our women's restrooms and attack us.
Here's the thing: We are constantly being told that we cannot have stricter gun laws because criminals ignore laws. So do sexual predators. And statistically speaking, most sex offenders tend to be people we know, and they don't come after us in public restrooms.
I happen to be a survivor of sex abuse. I knew my offender, and it happened in my home. It offends my sensibility as a survivor that people looking for the right to perpetuate hate and fear towards a group of individuals who are already at risk for discrimation and hate crimes are using the kinds of crimes that happened to me as their justification. It's just wrong.
Swirling around this stew of fear and hatred is the idea that transgendered individuals are being brainwashed as children to identify as the gender opposite from their birth gender. Can anyone fathom anything so absurd?!
If you look around, it's pretty easy to see that in this current "witch-hunting" climate of ignorance, fear and hate, encouraging anyone to be gay, lesbian or transgendered who was not born so would be completely counterintuitive. I love my daughter with all my heart, and while I would love her no matter her sexuality or gender identification, my heart would absolutely break for her if she doesn't happen to be straight, or if she came to me and said she feels like she's a boy. It would break for her, because as I look around at the current climate of fear and hate, I know all the obstacles and struggles she would unfairly face. And all I would be able to do is stand with her and lift her up any way I could.
While I am heterosexual, and decidedly female, I am truly sad for anyone in harm's way. Life is hard and challenging enough for all of us. Why must we work so hard, and with such ignorance to harm those who want nothing more than to just live their lives like the rest of us?
And yeah, I think our media bears at least some responsibility for allowing this kind of climate to flourish.
Forget Donald Trump's name. Forget that he achieved celebrity status as part of a reality television circus. Forget his foreign born wives, infidelities, bankruptcies, and a billion other things about him that may have drawn the media's attention. Make him just any other man who happens to be a billionaire. The idea that there would be a politician willing to pay his own way, and who cannot be bought is incredibly alluring. Granted, we as voters should accept responsibility for the fact that our leaders can so frequently be purchased, because we do nothing about it, and we voted for presidents who appointed Supreme Court Justices who said corporate money is welcome in politics as a part of free speech.
So, again, pretend we have just any other man who happens to be a billionaire, and promises that he cannot be bought, and that he will pay his own way. Watch as any other man who happens to be a billionaire starts to make outlandish statements that are just a little bit inflammatory and maybe even a little bit racist. It makes for pretty interesting television. And sadly, our media is owned by giant corporations who are in the business of business instead of news. Any other man who happens to be a billionaire sees how quickly the media responds to him when he says inflammatory and hateful things and realizes that he may not have to spend too much of his own fortune if he keeps the media's attention.
And it works. Like a dog with a juicy bone, the media seems to just salivate every time he opens his mouth. And in the process, everyone sets aside issues that really matter. Nobody is talking about global warming (even those of us who believe in it). Nobody is talking about how we cure cancer. Nobody is talking about how to end childhood poverty and hunger. Nobody is talking about how to reduce or eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels.
At least no one in the media is talking about these things, and none of our traditional political candidates really are either. The media is shaking its bone, and the traditional candidates have been struggling to garner any scraps the major media outlets happen to drop. Whether you like or agree with Bernie Sanders or not, you have to acknowledge that because he chooses not to play the same way everyone else on the field plays, he barely gets even scraps of the scraps.
And now, while we all have rubber-necked with gaping open mouths at the media feeding frenzy that is Donald Trump, we have allowed the false issue of transgendered individuals as a threat in public restrooms to draw away our attention further.
This is dangerous. When we fail to pay attention to the truth and to issues that really matter, our future can be hijacked. We lose our way. We lose all the ground we have gained when it comes to equality, decency, and freedom.
I have plenty of conservative friends who have always been proud to vote Republican. Most vote their conscience about pocket-book issues, and are concerned about personal responsibility, and the fair play that centers around hard work. We may not see these ideals with the same lenses, but I know they vote for the Republican Party that used to believe in personal freedom and small government. They don't identify with the fear and hatred that candidates like Donald Trump incite. They aren't racist. They aren't homophobic. They wouldn't encourage discrimation or hate crimes against people who are already vulnerable. But sadly, their voices and conciences have been hijacked, and they are going to be forced to make a lose-lose decision when November rolls around. If conservative voters with doubting hearts feel compelled to vote for Trump because he is the Republican candidate, we as a nation lose.
Even sadder is the fact that the media, which should be focusing on the truth and what really matters, is playing right into the hands of a handful of very rich individuals who control our economy, and a clutch of angry and fearful paycheck to paycheck voters who can be so easily distracted by words like "family values," "national security," and "patriotism." And yeah, they may deny it, but some of them are racist and homophobic.
We all recognize the dangers of impaired or distracted driving. When will we learn to recognize the dangers of distracted voting? When will we hold our media accountable for its failure? When will we hold ourselves accountable for allowing big money to compose the very seams of our leaders' pockets? I hope it won't be our children who pay for our distraction.
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