November 17, 2012

Letters to Romney on "stuff"

Dear Mr. Romney

By PolitiSisFollowNovember 15, 2012

Mitt Romney
PO Box 149756
Boston, MA 02114-9756

Dear Mr. Romney,

As a registered Libertarian during the primaries for the 2008 elections, I very seriously considered you a viable candidate as President of the United States. Had you won your party’s nomination then, I would have had a very difficult decision. At the time, I felt that you were an astute businessman who would be able to maintain an even temper and would be a good negotiator–skills I feel are important both in foreign policy and while working “across the aisle” with Congress.

In all honesty, by the time the primaries for the 2012 elections were over, there was zero chance that you would get my vote. Even if it were not for the fact that President Obama has done an outstanding job as President (displaying exactly the two qualities I noted above as important to me), your poor performance and far-hard-right position was disappointing to say the least.

But the elections were over, and I would have been happy to move forward except that you had to show your lack of character yet again while speaking to your donors on Wednesday. Mr. Romney, I am not young, nor black nor Hispanic, nor poor; but you have made me angry enough to write my first ever letter of this type. How dare you insult me by claiming that President Obama bought our votes via the Affordable Care Act?

More importantly, your obnoxious excuse illustrates exactly why you lost this election. The Affordable Care Act is not “buying votes”–it is a critically necessary step towards bringing the United States up to par with every other first world country and most second/third world countries. The United States spends more per person yet has worse outcomes in nearly every category because we still operate on the failed “for profit” health insurance system. I won’t get into the moral implications of that with you Mr. Romney, but I will note that the Affordable Care Act is a small step towards allowing people like me–not young, not Hispanic, not black, not poor–to make sure our sons and daughters have health coverage until their careers are launched.

Mr. Romney, my daughter is Type 1 diabetic. Let me emphasize–she is Type 1–the kind that is not lifestyle related. She didn’t choose to be an insulin-dependent diabetic, nor is there a single thing she (or I) could have done to prevent her being diabetic. Insulin-dependency is a life or death situation, Mr. Romney. There is no pulling one’s self up by the bootstraps–my daughter either gets her insulin to stay alive, or she dies. When she turned 19, she was dropped from the health insurance policy she was on because she was no longer a minor; but because of her pre-existing condition we could not find a replacement policy… at any price. It came too late to help my daughter, but one of the most important provisions in the Affordable Care Act allows parents like me–not young, not black, not Hispanic, not poor–to keep our adult children on our health insurance policies until they are 26 years old. This is not “buying” our votes, Mr. Romney. This is good public policy! And the health care situation in the United States is a "big issue for the whole country," one of the biggest!
I’m Black and I Want More “Stuff” and “Things”: An Open Letter to Bill O’Reilly

By Jesse HagopianDear Mr. Bill O’Reilly,

On election night, as it became increasingly clear that Mitt Romney was going to lose the election to Barack Obama, I watched Fox News host Megyn Kelly ask you, “How do you think we got to this point?”

You responded by saying,

Because it’s a changing country. The demographics are changing. It’s not a traditional America anymore and there are 50 percent of the voting public who want stuff, they want things. And who is going to give them things? President Obama. The white establishment is now the minority. And the voters—many of them—feel that this economic system is stacked against them and they want stuff. You’re going to see a tremendous Hispanic vote for President Obama, overwhelming Black vote for President Obama and women will probably break President Obama’s way. People feel that they are entitled to things. And which candidate between the two is going to give them things?

It is my hope that a great artist takes brush to canvas to capture the contours of your furrowed brow when you uttered the words, “It’s not a traditional America anymore.” It was a look of depraved beauty that made my heart sing. Watching you, Mr. O’Reilly, before a national audience, realize that all of your racist lies and hatred could not change the fact that people of color exist and will not be bowed by your insane denunciations, was an inspiration to me and millions of others.

Yet, on one account, O’Reilly, you are utterly correct: Black people definitely do want “stuff” and “things” as you so eloquently put it. And I am one of them. To very loosely paraphrase the rap crooner of the West Coast, Warren G: I want it all, money, fast public transportation, fully funded public schools, Medicare for all, Social Security, an end to all wars, and every damn thang.

While you are right that Black people do want “stuff” and “things,” your paranoid fears (refracted through the racially outdated retina you use to view the president) that we will receive a cornucopia of benefits from President Obama is merely another thing about the election you incorrectly predicted.
Comment:  For more on the subject, see Republican Says Black Voters = Fraud, Romney:  Obama Gave "Gifts" to Win, and White Men Lose to Demographic Change.

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