Saturday, October 11, 2008

Racism not just about Obama

I just finished watching some of the anti-Obama video’s on You Tube.
Regarding Barack Obama’s association with Bill Ayers I can really see why the media are using this. Most people think the US should have won the war in Vietnam and really hate anyone who protested then and those who protest against the current government. They feel that protests are un-patriotic. Well they are. Patriotism is not good for people or the planet. Protests are humanistic.

I searched on line and could not find anything regarding the number of people who were killed by the Weather Underground. On Wiki Answers I did find this regarding the number of people killed in Vietnam:
• 58, 169 Americans killed (11, 465 were teenagers).
• 304,000 Americans wounded.
• 444, 000 North Vietnamese killed.
• 220, 557 South Vietnamese (this is not precise as the Vietnamese took away their dead.
• 587, 00 civilians killed.
• 6,72,084 ton of bombs dropped (3x the amount of the WW1 and WW2 combined)
• 3,500,000 acres of Vietnam were sprayed with defoliant, the effect lasts more than 100 years.
• Agent orange caused cancer in the people affected and mutations in the third generation.

Many people were against this war and subsequent interventions of the American government in South and Central America. There is no WE in America. America always was and still is divided.
There are people who support and accept anything the government does no matter how horrible it is and there are people who do not. Bill Ayers is one of those people who did not. The use of bombs and guns was not a good decision and I think history has proven that that was a mistake. Organizing, educating and protesting against unimaginable brutality is never a mistake.
There are people who vocally protest against the murder of innocent people and the illegal interventions of the US government in sovereign countries. There are people who protest for health care, education, shelter and food instead of bombs. There are people who write letters to the editor, who go to demonstrations and vigils, who engage their co workers in political conversations. There are people who pray for peace and go to vigils for peace. There are too many people who don’t do anything. Wake up. Get a library card. Go to the internet. Read Killing Hope by William Blum. There is nothing wrong with criticizing the government of the country that you live in-the country you pay taxes in. This is not only a right but a responsibility-a much more important responsibility than pulling a lever once every few years. People are the world’s most important resource. We have brains and talents that we never get a chance to tap because of the oppressive nature of our society. The bail out of Wall Street will force more of us out into the streets, cold, hungry and tired of being chewed up and spit out like we are nothing.

I am voting for Barack Obama because I believe Mc Cain-Palin supporters to be racist not just because Obama is black although that is a big reason, but also because I believe they support the racist propaganda that has enabled the US invasions of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the brutal interventions in Chile, El Salvador and Nicaragua, the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. What color are those people and why doesn’t it turn everyone’s stomach to think of these people being tortured and murdered? What kind of person can justify those actions?

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