Yeah...it's that time of year again.

The following entry is in response to a...misguided...comment by a reader.

Gross generalizations are the refuge of those with no real argument to bring to the table. If you can't beat your opponent, demonize them. Call me a racist if you like, I have a Herman Cain sticker on the back of my truck. If you want to see racism, look at the way he was treated by the media. When they couldn't find anything else to pin him on they went with "He's a typical black guy who can't control his carnal desires." They found a few women who made specious claims (all were debunked as I understand), and used a tactic they would never have tried with a liberal candidate of his ethnicity. He was called all sorts of horrible things, because he didn't follow in lock-step with those who wanted to silence him. When he got out of the race, I decided to go with a third party candidate. I won't say which one, because I see no need to endorse anyone.

Anyway, I'm not a fan of Romney, and I won't be casting a vote his way. I will vote for someone with whom my conscience is able to be comfortable. I have family in Massachusetts and what his health care plan did in that state ended up costing them more in the long run.

I find it humourous how disagreeing with our current president is considered racist by many of his supporters. I'm sorry, but I'll judge someone by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. It's shameful that many people voted for President Obama based on the latter rather than the former, just so he could be the "first black president." I've had first hand testimony to this fact from friends and acquaintances, not to mention the various articles I've read on the web with testimonials to the same end. It's sad but true.

For me, I look at the man's record. He had two years in which he had a Democrat controlled Congress and Senate, and he barely got his health care plan passed, even after shady deals were made. He has had a democrat controlled senate for the last two years, and still he blames the last president (or whomever else is handy) for governmental failures. If Romney blames a previous president for anything, he'll at least have company. 

As for FDR, the manufacturing boom started by the war brought the economy back, not anything he did, but that's history for ya.
 
I'm not going to go into details about how "I'm not a racist because I have friends of various ethnicities etc. etc." There's no reason to because the idea is silly. I've even been told by a friend that "all white people are racist, just because they are white and don't understand the plight of black folks." It doesn't follow any rational train of thought, but this is the kind of thinking that is out there.

It is high time we simply put aside all sorts of divisiveness and live together in peace. We should revel in our history and our ethnic diversity. The more we focus on what separates us, the more likely we are to relive the horrors of that second world war mentioned in the comment on my previous blog entry. Yeah, my wife's grandfathers both fought in that war. They were both there on D-day. My great-grandfather's second wife lost her first husband and all of her children in one of the camps. That little bit of family history is the main reason it burns my biscuits when people start throwing the race card into the mix.

The lesson I suppose is this: If you don't know what you're talking about, don't throw idle accusations around just for the sake of trying to shame people into agreeing with you. It's a bullying tactic through and through and it won't work on me. Use real facts, and I'm happy to have a discussion. If you'd rather use gross generalizations and baseless accusations, I hope you enjoy the taste of feet.

In the end, I do not care how the election comes out. In the scheme of things, the outcome of next Tuesday's voting is outside of my control. God knows the outcome and I'll leave it in His hands and be happy for the freedoms I have in His grace. The prophet Daniel wrote: "He sets up kings and kingdoms..." How can I compete with that? I'll love my family, enjoy my friends, play with my cats and puppy, and enjoy leisurely (and not so leisurely) rides on my scooter. And I'll be happy. :)

And KZ- No hard feelings, just don't do it again. :)