Letters to the Editor

Too much to endure

Saturday, Sarah Palin was the keynote speaker at the “Tea Party Convention” held in Nashville. I would first like to state that I am very proud whenever Nashville is selected for any major venue, political or otherwise. But the very fact that Palin was selected as the keynote speaker shows that the Tea Party movement is not in danger of being taken over by the Conservative Republican movement, but that it already has been. Their true colors are being shown right from the beginning.

One of the first things that Sarah Palin did was to mention good southern barbeque and sweet tea. I found that interesting as I was left wondering whether she had actually had any since she and others had lobster at several hundred dollars per plate.

In fact, all of the attendees had to pay over $500 to attend. I seem to recall that several weeks ago a similar Democratic event was held in which both southern barbeque and sweet tea were served which was, incidentally, free of charge. We did not partake of any lobster, but we did have important keynote speakers.

As usual, Palin stated the expected platitudes toward those who serve our country in uniform. While that is always admirable, these conservatives always try to make it seem that only conservative Republican types serve in our military. Let me be clear, there are many liberal Democrats proudly serving their country in our military also. But Conservatives like Palin tend to forget that.

Soon after that she referred to “Alaska” as being a “beacon of hope” for the rest of the world. Well, at least that was her only gaff! But she went on to state that we need more than tough talk from the current administration while ignoring the fact that this administration has literally conducted more missile strikes against the terrorist threat than any administration before has done. 

And she invoked John F. Kennedy by stating that it should be recalled that “all of the world’s problems aren’t his [Obama’s] predecessor’s fault.” Of course, she forgets that during the previous administration everything was blamed on the Clinton administration. They can dish it out, but they can’t take it.

She mentioned TARP without recalling that this was a Bush administration “fix” for our economic problems, insinuating that it was all an Obama administration idea. And, of course, she was highly critical of TARP and stated that we are in the worst economic situation ever due to the consequences of Obama administration policies. Never mind Bush administration policies.

She mentioned annoyance with the national debt without acknowledging that it was the Bush administration that took us from a surplus back into greater national debt in the first place.  Republicans never made a single peep concerning the national debt while the Bush administration was in charge, but can’t shut up about it now as they insinuate that the Obama administration has somehow caused it all by itself. There is no thought to how bad this “great recession” might have been if the present administration had not taken measures to reign in the negative effects of the runaway conservative agenda.

Finally, she made reference to “liberal intolerance,” which is an oxymoron if I ever heard one. It is, in fact, conservatives who are intolerant of others, not liberals. And almost in the same breath she insinuated that liberals reject children with special needs, which I found particularly insulting since I happen to have two nephews with special needs, one of whom, I am very proud to say, is a Freemason and a Shriner and has been elected as chaplain for Hendersonville Lodge this year. 

If Palin wishes to insinuate that Democrats like myself reject those with special needs then she should come to understand that we accept people no matter who they are and believe in providing them with opportunities as they grow and develop in their lives. We are not solely focused on the yet to be born, but acknowledge and support those already born as well.

In the end, the chants encouraging Palin to run for President of the United States of America were just a bit too much to endure. I implore the American people to thoughtfully consider what it would be like for this nation and their families if she were to become the most powerful person on this planet. Do you really want that? Think about it.

John M. Browder, 37211