"Because Clinton was a Replicrat! That's what I call him because he didn't have the courage of his convictions! He was so afraid of Congress that he would find out what Congress wanted and then decide what he would suggest that they would accept. Even when he had a good idea, he wouldn't stand behind it and push it through. He rammed through the NAFTA idea which belonged to Bush and then he "reformed" welfare to the point that, now that it's needed in this Republican "prosperity", it just ain't there for the people who need it. In the long run, all he ever did that was good for the people was to get a balanced budget, and he did that on the backs of the poor and the disadvantaged!"
"But", I ventured, "why can't they understand that it really makes economic sense to make friends rather than to create enemies?"
"Well, I hate to say it, but that's just the way some warped minds work. They think that, so long as they have the power and the control of the money, they can buy friends when they need 'em and then, once they have helped us to whip our enemies, we can just whip them, too, and take over their countries as well. What if those greedy idiots would realize that, with programs like the Peace Corps, the poor nations could become strong trading partners and make their own contibutions to a world that is peaceful and prosperous for all. What if they ran the numbers and found out that it would cost less to help other nations grow and prosper than it does to kill the people and devastate their land ?"
"Okay", said Aunt Tildie, "Now you're thinkin'! That would have made a whole different kettle of fish, wouln't it? Now, I know you have to drive to Topeka for that meeting, so you'll have lots of time to play the game while you drive."
"Aunt Tildie", I protested. "I seem to remember that you were not a particular supporter of the Kennedy brothers. Why do you recall them with such fondness today?"
Aunt Tildie fixed me with the same stare that she used to give me just before she whacked me upside my head, heaved a sigh of impatience at my ignorance and replied, "I was carried away by the fact that they were born stinkin' rich and looked like a coupe of Ken dolls! Thought they were a couple of fancy-pants like George W. and that Tony Blair, all lips and hips! But, in the long-range scheme of things, Kennedy was the last Democratic President. He was born rich but he had a feel for the needs of the people, all people, and he tried to meet them. No wonder "they" had to kill 'im! His thinking was dangerous to the capitalist system."
As I made my way to the door, I playfully tossed over my shoulder, "Aunt Tildie, in fifty years will you have changed your opinion of GW?"
The door closed on her angry response, "I ain't a-gonna live THAT long!"
Mary Pitt is a septuagenarian Kansan who is self-employed and active in the political arena. Her concerns are her four-generation family and the continuance of the United States as a democracy with a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people". Comments and criticism may be addressed to mpitt@cox.net .
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