I’ve been trying not to write this for weeks now. I couldn’t stop myself any longer.

So….Republican friends….If you ever see a Democrat so intellectually dishonest in his words and message as Paul Ryan was last night, please send me a note and link so I can speak out against it. (I always keep an eye out myself, but it will mean more coming from you).  If I had a son or daughter, I would be ashamed to have them see me vote for someone who used their words to deceive so many about so much at a time when so many important things were at stake. (And yes, I’m well aware that this might keep me from voting from anyone at all, and you can tell me that, but as of now that’s just the usual cynicism that prevents us from imagining change.)  I don’t want to debate. I’m just asking a favor: alert me to deceptions on the my side.

Notice I’m not telling you who to vote for. If my post makes you think about your choice and the kind of person these two men are, that’s on you.  You’re welcome to make me think about the kind of man I’m voting for. I’ve actually thought about it a great deal. I think about often as I:
* happily pay my taxes
* plan my wedding to a *man* I love
*use my healthcare and know that my mom, dad, and family have care
*pursue an advance degree using (an albeit too small) government loan
* have (some small) hope that my niece and nephew just might have a viable environment when they grow up
* feel safer that Osama Bin Laden is longer a threat
* feel pride that my gay brothers and sisters can serve openly in the military (if they choose)
*know that my home state got bailed out and that it worked, etc. etc.

I should add how happy I am (nothing against you, and I’m not aligning you with your party) that at least my side (despite its many flaws) isn’t coming to be defined (even by members of its own party) by
*religious extremism
* dangerous views on women, women’s rights, and women and violence
* several degrees of hate (even toward our armed service members)
* greed
* racism
*a pathological ambivalence toward helping others (“let him die!”) that somehow co-exists with anti-abortion views
* and a virulent distrust of science, education, the arts and the intellect in general.

(I know you do your best to disown members of your party who take part in these views. I do the same when I see it in my party. But to be honest, and I’m not being a dick, I don’t see these things in my party.)

So, yes, I’m especially okay with my party not being the party that seems hell-bent in going in that direction. Go ahead and imagine the Democrat’s direction. I’ll be you at its worst it’s not so noxious, dangerous, anti-American, and destructive as the direction you see above—especially when you consider (because I know you’re saying Obama and the Dem’s will ruin our economy) how obstructionist the Rep’s have been when it comes to plans to improve things. And I know you’re not one of those people who think Obama really is out to ruin America on purpose, because you’re my friend and I don’t have friends who are crazy.

All that being said, I’m also okay if you want to call me naive, tell me the Dem’s are just as bad. I’d rather be thought naive that any ONE of those things I list above.

PS: Looking at that list I think to myself, Romney and Ryan most certainly would see me as ‘taking advantage’ of big government, as part of the problem, and hurting American’s “traditions” and threatening its future. If you feel that way too, well….