Petition to Rush Limbaugh

The recent content of Mr. Rush Limbaugh's nationally syndicated radio program has irked many and provided him with even more fodder for his negative approach to program content. Many of us believe that party affiliation has nothing to do with patriotism; that constructive criticism is crucial to building sound platforms and a future that will sustain the promise of American freedom of thought, speech and the pursuit of happiness. Destructive criticism, on the other hand, is employed solely to ensure that the noise created by the criticizer is heard at a greater distance. Please consider copying the petion you will find below and sending it to those on your mailing list. Mr. Limbaugh loves to pound his chest concerning the large number of people who listen to him. Perhaps we can make him listen to a large number of people too.

Petition to Mr. Rush Limbaugh
Please be quiet. Please take a solemn moment and consider history, consider where the nation you purport to love finds itself at this moment. There are many things you and each of us CAN do. We the undersigned, hope that you will choose to be quiet. We hope that you will recognize that wishing for the failure of your president is NOT patriotic. We hope that you will recognize that creating dissention and vitriol is NOT patriotic. We hope that you will recognize that what you identify as humor and wit is nothing more than cynical anger that is often vulgar. We hope that you will recognize that calling women "babes" and environmentalists "whackos" plays to the lowest component of your audience but fully defines the height of your cultural contribution to our national reality. We the undersigned do not wish to silence dissent, we do not wish to eliminate authentic voices of conservative reason, and we do not wish to pretend that all is well or that the current government can do no wrong. Our sole wish is to recognize that the severity of our present situation demands that the majority of us pull together in the same direction, that the painful sacrifices we make today will protect us from greater, deeper sacrifices tomorrow and that fertilizing acrimony is not conducive to healing. Rush Limbaugh; PLEASE BE QUIET. Your mouth is the source of much of the fertilizer.

Please, be quiet.

Democrat Defined

Thursday, August 28 marks the day that the definition of a democrat was wrested from the jaws of Rush Limbaugh and people of his ilk, cleaned up to remove the dirt and grime with which it had been plastered by those whose purpose is to malign and dis-align truth and once again brought into focus by those who proudly bear the title.

There are many, many reasons why the acceptance speech by Barack Obama as the Democratic Nominee for the Presidency of the United States of America will be recorded and remembered as a historical and transcendent moment in the American story. The faces of the many who gathered in the Mile High Stadium showed that for each and every beaming face that moment was a distinctly personal moment...a moment that for one reason or another marked a milestone in a personal journey.

So it was for me.

My journey is one of an American citizen born in the United States, raised in many different places in and out of our nation and long term resident of the island of Puerto Rico; a territory of the USA without the right to vote for President. In my now 60 years I have never been afforded the privilege of casting my vote for President. While my excitement about finally being able to cast my vote is genuine and overpoweringly emotional my rational self has been in turmoil. How to commit to a candidate who faithfully reflects my views and positions? Each candidate seemed to have elements with which I agree AND disagree; both parties seem to have squandered and abused the power with which the people entrust them.

I can now say that my turmoil is over. Barack Obama has defined a party mission and vision that answers my longing for a clear definition. It is both truthful and too easy to say that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats live up to the ideals the parties' vaguely represent, primarily because the ideals of both have become fuzzy, vacuous, floating images that waft between one pole or the other depending on the breezes produced by one poll or the other.

Democrats, the body of people called democrats not the party, have allowed themselves to be defined by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and ultra conservative media. We have heard that Democrats are liberals, are leftists, are commies, are socialists, are doomsayers, are invested in defeat, are lazy, are whiners, are irreligious, are immoral, are amoral, are uneducated and uncultured, just to name a few!

Well Barack Obama looked at that same body of people and told us differently. He identified both the promise of the people and the promise of the party. In his words:

What is that promise?
It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.
It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs,
look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road. Ours is a
promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should
do is that which we cannot do for ourselves - protect us from harm and provide
every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest
in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.
Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should
ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for
every American who's willing to work.
That's the promise of America - the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's
keeper.
That's the promise we need to keep.

(From Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, August 28, 2008)

That's a promise that's meaningful and one I can feel proud to support.