Values mean something

When I was a child I was raised in a home by parents who valued many things.  My dad told my brother and me, time and time again, that "Your word is your bond."  He always believed that if you promise anything, if you give someone your word, it was something you were bound by and you must follow through with whatever was promised.  Keeping your word was a principled, morally correct and ethical thing to do.  My dad lived by those words.

Doing goods things for other people was a very big part of my mom's life.  Every day I was able to observe my mom doing things that not only enriched people's lives but literally saved some lives.  She raised money for charities (the March of Dimes was her special charity), she secured housing, household goods, groceries & jobs for refugees from the Holocaust, she provided an ear for listening to others' tales of woe (and there were many.) And she did all this anonymously.

So, through the years I observed how my parents lived and the good that they were able to do.  My parents didn't have much but they cared about others who had even less. 

Now, the bombshell:  they were Republicans.

If they were alive today they would be horrified at what the Republican party has become:  the party of greed, deceit, fear, hunger for power and money; a party that can be bought, a party with no scruples, the party of exclusion, a party that wants complete control of everyone's lives even though they profess otherwise, a Christian party with all other religions or beliefs delegated to inferior status, a party filled with double-talking hypocrites, a party who hates liberals, homosexuals, immigrants, poor people, people with no jobs, those who have lost their homes, the elderly, the sick, the homeless.  They have no compassion.  They are without a soul.

Yes, my parents, the Republicans, would be horrified.  And if they were alive today, they would be proud Democrats.

Question for blogspot bloggers

I posted the situation and question below in the Help Forum (Something is Broken) area of Blogspot and never received an answer.  Do any of you have a solution?

On my Dashboard under Reading List, Blogs I'm Following:  They (the blog titles) are listed on the right under "Items" instead of "Blogs."  And the words, "All blog updates" are under "Items" instead of "Blogs" on the left.  Why did that happen and can it be fixed? I followed the directions given for adding to the Reading List but it didn't work out the way it was supposed to.

Why, in G-d's name, don't they get it?

The imbecilic Republican House of Representatives is considering reducing Social Security raises, putting future increases in veterans' benefits and pensions for federal workers and military personnel in jeopardy.  Less people would qualify for Medicaid, Head Start, heating assistance, school lunches, food stamps, etc.  See a pattern here?  All these things benefit those in the U.S. who, without the help, will live life in misery, abject poverty, hunger and completely without dignity.

Since when has Social Security become an entitlement?  Those of us who paid into it all our working lives don't even get back that money.  The government owes it to us plus interest and what we get is a pittance.  Screwing with Social Security by reducing its benefits is theft, pure and simple.

Reducing the deficit is one thing.  Reducing it on the backs of those least able to afford it is just cruel, hateful disgusting and obnoxious.

Republicans only look out for the fat cats, the corporations, the very rich who grease the palms of Congress with so much money, that amount could probably erase the deficit.

Republicans:  the lowest common denominator of the human species who don't have a moral, ethical bone in their bodies and whose brains have been replaced with mush, rendering them incapable of understanding how the world works for everyone else.  They are a stupid, disgusting pack of wolves, drunk with power and intent on turning this country back in time, getting rid of women's rights, environmental protections, and all the good that has been accomplished in the last 50 years. 

We are no longer a democracy. Our elected representatives seem to do the bidding of a small group of people (the 1%), not what is in the best interests of ALL their constituents (the 99%). This country is becoming an oligarchy: a small group of people who have control, the money people who own Congress....the best Congress money has bought.  This country is not the best in the world.  It has become a third world country, pandering to the rich and denigrating everyone who is not white, Christian and/or rich.

The actions of Republicans in Congress will insure that the U.S. way of life becomes a tremendous burden for the 99% who don't fall into their favored categories.  Why, in G-d's name, don't they get it?