Why I dislike Republicans!

I was listening to a Republican (not sure what faction he belonged to) a few days ago talk about what's wrong with this country and why Obama has to go, and why Democrats and liberals are bad people.  It helped me clarify to myself why I so dislike Republicans.  It's not philosophical differences or ethical differences or even the difference in what we believe works or doesn't work in a modern society.  It's that they're such mean, selfish people.

Essentially what this gentleman was saying was that the Democrats are taking us to a European model of socialism and he said it with such horror and hatred in his demeanor that I had to ask, so what's wrong with that. I've lived in Europe, in both Italy and Spain, and I admire their model of socialism. They provide good health care to the majority of their populations no matter their income levels as well as decent housing and many other social benefits that are not available to the citizens in the United States.  Socialism is good! His response was outrage, very bluntly stating that he worked hard for his money and he didn't want anyone else taking it from him. And outrageously, he claimed that it was his money, earned in the United States, that was providing social benefits to Europeans. At that point, I couldn't listen any longer to his ridiculous views and tuned him out.

What I came away with after listening to this man, this Republican, is the essential meanness in the views of those on the right. It comes down to this. Whatever it is they have, whether earned or inherited, it's theirs and no one else should get any. They're like those children that we all dislike (and most parents are ashamed of) who refuse to share their candy or their toys with other children.  If they're lucky enough to have a bag of chocolates or toy cars and others don't, tough. Get your own!

In the end, that's what it's all about. I listened to the speeches of Romney, Paul, Gingrich, Huntsman, and Santorum last night after the New Hampshire results were in, and even in their differences (and there are many), essentially what they all said was "we're the greatest people in the world and we're going to keep it that way." If I were to reframe it to "we have more marbles than the other children in the playground and we're going to make sure it stays that way," it doesn't sound so noble, does it?

If any Republicans read this blog, I would ask you to think honestly about who you are and why you believe what you believe. Does it really give you satisfaction to have more stuff than everyone else? If the answer is yes, you should reflect on what this says about you and acknowledge that it's an ugly trait, certainly not one to display proudly on a bumper sticker. None of us are perfect, certainly not Democrats, and we're all selfish in our own ways, but unlike Republicans we still believe in and try to practice the values we were taught as children by our parents and our teachers. If you have candy or ice cream and the other children don't, you share.  That's what it's all about, really!