RACISM & POLITICS...ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC

With the 2012 Iowa caucuses scrawled into the pages of history, the candidates for the GOP Presidential nomination, minus Michelle Bachmann of course, have shifted their theatre of operations to the Granite state of New Hampshire.  After Willard Mitt Romney’s victory, albeit a narrow one over Rick Santorum, many pundits have him as a cert to win the New Hampshire Primary and steamroll onward to the Republican National Convention.  It’s not earth shattering news that Mr. Romney is expected to win NH as even before the debate season started late last year, he was sitting atop the early polls in the north eastern state.  Mostly due to his previous stint as Massachusetts Governor.

Since NH is an uphill battle for all the other candidates, the endless tour of handshakes and rhetoric continue.  Not only are Mr. Romney’s fellow candidates trying to narrow the massive gulf in the polls between the frontrunner and the rest of the pack to an acceptable loss margin, they’re also viciously fighting among themselves in a tooth and nail death match to scrape a point of two from wherever they can in a war that promises to be more sadistic than a night of gladiatorial bouts in the Roman Colosseum.  The war they fight in NH, and for the rest of the election trail, is going to be one of sabotage, deceit, and verbal tactile nuclear missiles.

However, all the candidates in the GOP race have proved more adept at scuttling their own campaign.  The collateral damage caused by a campaign of rhetoric & desperation reaches much farther than merely the selection of GOP candidates, as the fallout burns at the very core of humanity and civility. With all the sound bites from this trench war that have been covered in the media, none have been more inflammatory than the recent racial charged comments from Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich.

Mr. Gingrich said, “African American people should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps.”

Mr. Santorum said, “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them someone else’s money.  I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money.”

In the world of politics, opinions can change.  Ideas on the economy, foreign policy, homeland security, the budget etc are malleable.   They are so, because we live in an eclectic world with vast differences in the way we take the country forward.  Neither far right nor far left political views can be wrong…as they are only one view point in the spectrum of what is the best course to steer the advancement of our civilization. 

Racist sentiments, on the other hand, have absolutely no place in, not just politics, but the world!  These recent comments, coupled with previous comments of vial racist hatred that have cropped up through the GOP primary season, should not be allowed to pass into the pages of history.  The stand needs to be made today, it needs to be made now, and it needs to be decisive.  Many view the political race as a battle of republican vs. democrat, conservative vs. liberal, us vs. them…but what every voter from every side of the aisle needs to stand up in unison, now more than ever, and scream…is that there is no ‘them’…there is only ‘us.’  We are not black, white, latino, we are human.  We are all human.

EDITORIAL NOTE: From now on out, I'm going to refer to myself as 'we,' as this is not a case of varying opinions on political direction, but a global stance that must be adopted by all to stamp out racism.

Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Santorum’s incendiary statements are based on disgusting stereotypes and in the year 2012, have no place on this earth.  We, as equal people, are locked in the delusional ideology and egregious mistakes of the past.  We are shackled to that history, and in order to move on as human beings, we need to leave that history where history is always left…in the past.

Voters of today need to adopt a zero tolerance policy on any sentiments such as Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Santorum’s.  When a discussion turns to words and ideas that divide us into a smaller group based on the color of our skin, it will always be counter-productive.  It will always be a step into the past, a step farther away from us realizing that we are all equal in being human.

Written by: Phil McCarron

WHEN THE INDEPENDENCE SUBJECT IS BROACHED...RACISTS CRAWL FROM THE WOODWORK.

I actually don’t have anything to do with politics in any shape or form. I agree with the whole basic notion of someone looking after your best interests, making sure that your wants and beliefs are taken into account, then going with what the majority wants.

But we know that doesn't always happen.Like for example if 9 out of 10 people want pizza for dinner, everyone gets pizza. However, sometimes you find that if the politician wants to eat Thai then the pizza doesn’t get a look in, regardless of the majority.

Hey Ho, what’s that saying then? ‘It doesn’t matter who you vote for, the government always get in’.In the UK there is no ruling majority party, so we have a coalition, which is quite frankly working as well as a chocolate ashtray, in my humble opinion.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has been around for only about 90 years, however previous incarnations of the British union have existed since circa 1706/1707. Consequently the question of devolution and/or independence for Scotland has been around for the same amount of time.

When this discussion about Scottish Independence arises it has a tendency to become very heated and very passionate, you see most of this is steeped in racism between Scots and English.I'll skip the history of Bannockburn, English Rule and being sold out by greed. I promise not to mention the play ‘The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black Black Oil’ which was incidently written by a guy from Liverpool. I don’t think it would be too leftfield to describe this as Scotlands version of ‘Roots’ by Alex Haley.

You see being Scottish, you are often brainwashed into thinking that you are way more unimportant that someone who is English, even though we are all supposed to be British. Try to hand hand over a Scottish tenner when you want to pay for something south of the border, you are stared at, snubbed and even in some cases, it will not be accepted, even though it is legal tender.

Watching 'The One Show' on BBC1 I've just heard the actor Paul Betany talk about being English and having English friends. Not British? No? Apparently not. This superiority complex from some English people, especially media related is very like fashion magazines telling women that your life is worth shit if you're over 25 and 8 stone.

Now, many English people are under the opinion that Scotland holds THEM back, no idea from what though, and if Scotland leave the Union, then it will have a massive drop in income and as a result become like Greece but without the nice weather. I ask you, if this was the case, and Scotland were all parasitic draining the already stretched resources of Westminster, would Scotland not be dropped like the proverbial hot potato?

Or could it be that some parts of England are jealous as hell that if you stay north of the border, where there is still a publicly operated NHS, free prescriptions and the education of future generations is supported for all, not just the rich or lucky.

The most amazing bit of a Scottish referendum on independence is that Scotland must first ask permission from Westminster in order to hold the referendum in the first place.

Yeah that’s right, the battered wife in the refuge, hiding her kids from her abuser has to ask permission to leave…..

Ok, creative licence there but you get the point.

I am not racist, I tell people I am British, I don't treat people differently because of where they were born or the fact that they wont accept my money. I've even been asked by a Londoner if we had electricity where I come from..... Yes seriously. Next time you hear someone saying something about scots people being drunk, eating fried food all the time and being miserable with money think about whether you'd use a stereotype for someone who is Asian/black/eastern European and if they would find it offensive.

Written by: Lynn Tulloch