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She is my daughter, she posts here as HannahBana.
Tell her why for years we banned stem cell research - which would have help her mom who has Parkinson's.
Explain to her why we let people torture others. Because that whole concept is foreign to her.
She is a little girl with simple dreams. She loves kitties. She loves spending time here with daddy, because I let her be her, but her mom often can't - and that is not a slam on her mom, she just has issues relating to her disease that takes away from her ability to be to her who she used to be.
She has two half brothers who will soon be heading to war. She looks up to my youngest son Zach, and does not understand it all when it comes to him going to the army and being gone for a long time.
She does not understand why when she is not feeling well we can't just go to the doctor, but when the house is on fire or someone is breaking in she can call 911. Why can't she call 911 when mommy or her are sick?
She does not get why when mommy is sick she stays with me, and I get sad. I stay home from work to care for her, and could well lose my job over it.
Her view on the world is that people are going to be nice to each other, that when someone is sick they get care. When daddy stays home from work to make sure she is taken care of I get paid and can still get her the simple little things she wants/needs.
She has a simple view of the world - that we all love each other and do what we can to help one another.
And it is a view I desired myself. Somewhere that desire has gotten lost. I may well be wrong on certain issues, my views might be old school to some - but I have always believed that we needed to stick together, help one another, and do the right thing for each other.
It was, I thought, a progressive view.
Health care for all, holding those in power accountable for their actions. Ending these wars. Making sure that poor people had a lifeline instead of us just giving the rich folks and banks one.
You tell her why we don't have such things. Because I can't.
I can't tell her that we might have such things later. That we might get health care for all somewhere down the road, but right now we are too busy to. I can't tell her that we won't bring people to justice who tortured people because we need to move on and that some crimes are ok if done in the name of the US.
I can't face her and make excuses. I can't just sit her and tell her it is all about politics, keeping powder dry, etc. I can't look at her and tell her gays serving in the military is considered bad while racists serving there is ok.
She wants to grow up in a better world than this.
She is depending on us to give it to her.
You tell her why we aren't.
This, to me, is not about DU vs FR, it is not about RW vs LW. It is about us coming together and getting those in power to do what is right and good.
So I go back to my title - you tell her why we don't, because I can't.
I just cannot bring myself to make excuses for torture, taking away rights people have, condoning wars we once fought so hard against etc.
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