Guess what?
September 27, 2009
This month readers will be spared my ponderings. Due to the elections and three seats up for grabs October 5th, I dedicated a large amount of space to the five candidates in Thurmont. I had the opportunity to interview the three commissioner candidates as well as two mayoral candidates. Please see “Breaking News” for all five of those interviews. Publisher Ponders will return next month just like a pesky fly. I will leave you with columnist Mark Smith Ramblings this month which appeared in the printed edition. Til next time-Peace!
Remembering Post 9/11 Bi-Partisanship Mark Smith
Upon reflecting recently of the 8-year anniversary of the tragic events of September 11th, 2001, I can vividly recall so many emotional memories that occurred that day. I remember when the news broke, and then broke again, and then again and again. I recall my initial reaction that this could be the beginning of WWIII and how scared I was of that actually happening. One thing I distinctly remember was the impromptu “God Bless America” sing along by both Republicans and Democrats together in Congress later that afternoon. I also can summon up the sentiment that this was going to be a “different America” now. Partisanship was less important; Patriotic unity was going to be what made our country resilient and strong after this horrific day. How long did that last? 6 months? A year, maybe?
The bickering between the political parties is now again full-blown. Democrats are too busy defending their newly elected President by continuing to live in the past and blame the Bush administration for the state of the union. Republicans are too busy attacking the current administration’s policies without offering any solutions to the existing problems this country is submersed in. Instead they choose to basically proclaim that President Obama and Josef Stalin are one-in-the-same.
Hey, I recognize the importance of the two political party system that we run on in this country. The balance of power HAS to be shifted back and forth for us to stay unified and be able to have the freedoms and liberties that makes of the UNITED States of America. If one set of beliefs and values is all we can rely on in our leaders, we essentially WILL be communists and/or socialists. If you look back in history, it has been proven that this is indeed the case. The Democrats seize control of the country for a while and then the Republicans will have it for a period of time. And back and forth, and so on and so on…
To me it is very frustrating to see the negative propaganda that is being put out by the Republicans these days. I am sent so many emails from my conservative friends that are intended to be humorous, comparing Obama to a socialist and a Nazi, and some other ones making disturbing references to his race. Regardless of how you voted this past November, one thing we all should be proud of as Americans is that as a society, we have escalated above the point where race is a factor anymore. I am so proud to see the next generations, which really are the ones that determined the outcome of this past election, do not even see the color of a persons skin when making judgments about leadership capabilities. Let’s not go backwards again and make race an issue here, please?
The boiling point for me was the bumper sticker I saw that read, “Obama lied; the economy died.” What exactly is that supposed to mean besides being an obvious retaliation the other bumper sticker about President Bush and the war in Iraq. What did Obama lie about? And again, please tell me how HE killed the economy? How can you kill something that was dead when you took it over? I distinctly remember how Obama wanted to make it clear during his campaign that there was NO quick fix to the mess our economy was (and still is) in. This is just a convenient opportunity to attack the man eight months in to his four-year term. Like Jerry Reed once sung in a not-so-famous song many years ago, “We’ve got a LONG way to go, and a short time to get there”.
And Democrats, can you please articulate how Obama’s policies are going to pull this country out of this mess without attacking the Bush administration, please? That’s all you hear from them. “We’re in this mess because the Bush administration did this or didn’t do that.” Please, let’s move forward. You got the power of the White House back, do something with it now instead of attacking the Republican party.
The message every year on September 11th is “We shall NEVER forget!” We will never forget so many things that happened that day, but that short-lived sense of bi-partisanship and unity I feel is long gone.
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