Dear World

Despite what may seem to be overwhelming evidence to the contrary, not all of my countrymen are bigoted, homophobic, whackjobs. Really.

The vast majority of us are decent, hard-working people – who don’t spend our time protesting government programs that we ourselves benefit from (and we actually know which programs are funded by tax dollars, and which aren’t). The vast majority of us don’t wear two-sizes-too-small American-flag stretch pants, or teabag-festooned hats – no, not even in the privacy of our own homes for laughs.

Most of us don’t look down our noses at immigrants. We remember the fact that our forebears were once immigrants here, too – and, truth be told, a lot of them weren’t “legal” when they arrived either. Most of us don’t use the term “them” when speaking of someone whose skin colour or accent is different from our own; we tend to think in terms of “us”.

The vast majority of us don’t live in constant fear that if the gay couple down the street is able to marry, our own heterosexual marriages will implode within seconds. In fact, the vast majority of us wonder who came up with such a lame-brained idea, and why anyone would believe it in the first place.

The overwhelming majority of us do not show up at the funerals of fallen soldiers armed with God hates Fags! placards. In fact, the overwhelming majority of us probably wish that God would “arrange” some funerals for those who do.

Most of us can speak coherently – in complete and grammatically-correct sentences. Most of us can actually spell.

Most of us think Rush Limbaugh is a tub-o’-lard with a mouth, and Glenn Beck is buffoon with a blackboard. Most of us think that Sarah Palin is a fifteen-minutes-of-fame punchline to an incredibly bad practical joke gone terribly awry.

Most of us don’t engage in histrionic displays of hysteria at the thought of our tax dollars being used to feed the hungry, or house the homeless. Most of us don’t believe that those who sometimes need a helping hand are just lazy no-accounts looking for a handout.

Most of us are pro-choice and anti-war; pro-separation of church-and-state, anti-torture; pro-live-and-let-live, anti-government in-anyone’s-bedroom. That doesn’t make us baby-killers, heathens, adulterers or wusses – that makes us who we are. And for the most part, we’re pretty decent people all around.

All of the above being said, I know what you’re thinking – those of you who only know us from what you see on your TV screens, brought to you by our beloved mainstream media. Having witnessed what you have, day-in and day-out, you are convinced that the crazy people are representative of my country – because they’re on TV, 24/7, spewing their nonsense into the cameras (between commercials for pharmaceuticals that may or may not be right for you, so please call your doctor and ask him, ‘cause why the fuck not?)

But here’s the thing. Remember I said up top that the vast majority of my fellow citizens are not bigoted, homophobic, whackjobs? Well, most of them aren’t. But those who are have control of the media. Hence (just threw that in there because I love using that word), we all look like on-screen idiots, because the lunatics who are running the MSM asylum tend to seek out their own, and give them as much air-time as possible.

Think about it. Do you honestly believe that we could maintain our nation’s position as a super-power if Wolf Blitzer was the best “journalist” we could come up with? Do you think the vast majority of us could hold down jobs, raise families, and contribute to society if we were all actually like the bat-shit crazy people you hear on FOX-News? Do you imagine we could dress ourselves, feed ourselves, and manage to function on a day-to-day basis if the best little political team on TV (aka the perpetually clueless) was representative of what we think, and who we really are?

I’m beggin’ you – please don’t judge my countrymen by what you see/hear being passed off as “news” on the boob-tube. Admittedly, we have some loonies runnin’ around – probably the same as wherever you live. But, unfortunately, most of our loonies have jobs as “news correspondents” – and them that don’t are politicians with an “R” after their names, busy promoting the bartering of live chickens as the definitive answer to our healthcare woes.

So the next time you tune in to any of our alleged “news networks” and see thirty people gathered together to scream about Inglish being our offical langage, no amnety, and the pubic option, I ask you to remember that this particular lunatic fringe is only half of a small (and exceedingly trying) portion of our citizenry. And those who broadcast their antics are the other half.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x278000