It is a dark and stormy Saturday morning so I think I will blog about the Tea Party. They are the scariest thing I can think of next to clowns with sharp teeth. What in the world would cause people to turn so vehemently against their fellow countrymen and women? I have a lot of family who are supporters of the tea party and I am reminded of their somewhat less than kind spirit daily via facebook. For the purpose of this blog though I will concentrate less on my distant relatives and more on the tea party in the media and what most of you are already probably familiar with. I speak of course about the recent CNN/Tea Party debate and two specific occurrences at that debate that have stuck in my mind.
The first thing from the debate that really jumped out at me was the applause that erupted from the audience after moderator Brian Williams questioned Texas Governor Rick Perry about his state's application of the death penalty. The Lone Star State has executed 234 prisoners since Perry became governor in 2000, more than any other governor in modern times. Asked if presiding over the deaths of more than 200 individuals had given him any pause, Perry was detached, praising the Texas justice system and saying that anyone who has received a sentence for capital punishment likely deserves it. "No, sir. I've never struggled with that at all," Perry said in response to Williams, to the strongest applause of the evening.
I am not anti-death. If someone was in my house trying to hurt my family I do not believe I would have any problem killing them. That being said I am not a supporter of the death penalty. If just one innocent person is mistakenly convicted and put to death than I don’t believe it’s worth it. There is also something to be said about death being easier on criminals; why not let them “suffer for their sins?” All that aside, I thought it was a little hypocritical of governor Perry to say that he doesn’t struggle at all with the large amounts of people his state puts to death. Because, in another argument with Congresswoman Michele Bachmann over his failed attempt to make it Texas policy that every young girl have the HPV vaccine he stated that, "at the end of the day I am always going to err on the side of life." Oh really? I guess that does not apply to inmates…
Last but not least was Ron Paul’s take on public health. When asked by Wolf Blitzer to comment on a scenario in which a healthy 30 year old man decides to drop his medical coverage to save money Paul responded with, “what he should do is whatever he wants to do and assume responsibility for himself,” adding, “That’s what freedom is all about, taking your own risk. This whole idea that you have to compare and take care of everybody…”The audience erupted into cheers, cutting off the Congressman’s sentence.
After a pause, Blitzer followed up by asking “Congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die?" to which some of the audience members shouted “Yeah!”
I cannot be the only person who finds this completely and utterly disturbing. Where are we headed with this train of thought? Where are we headed as a nation with this kind of rhetoric and is it a future we want to see? I hope for my distant (way distant) family’s sake that they are never without the funds to take care of themselves since that is the future they advocate for.
*Not my distant family, but it could be! LOL
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