We are socialists

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				THE
Column Archive				VIRGINIA GAZETTE
				WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA
We are socialists				December 23, 2009

Since the end of the year is almost upon us, I thought it might be useful to reflect on some of the mail I’ve received from Gazette readers over the last couple of years and perhaps attempt a general reply to those who found several of my columns somewhat, shall I say, distasteful.

Most of the negative comments I’ve received fall roughly into two categories: I’m a socialist, and I hate Republicans.

Evidently Socialist has become the new polemical buzzword adopted by rightists who, having attacked and excised “liberal” as the byword for tree-hugging lefty loonies, found the term “progressive” too difficult to overcome.

Frankly, I don’t find socialism all that abhorrent, and, if the truth be known, all of us who enjoy the benefits of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, community parks and recreation, public schools, state colleges, public transportation, recycling programs, garbage pick-up, state retirement plans and a host of other programs run by the federal, state and local governments are on the Socialist bandwagon. And, despite all the bluster and blither, we in all honesty don’t want to get off.

So, yes, I’m a socialist to the extent that we’re all socialists now, like it or not, and most of us do like it.

Quite in agreement with the philosophy expressed in the New Testament, I really believe that there should be a redistribution of wealth, that it’s harder for a rich person to get into heaven than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle and that we should give what we can to ensure a better life for our poorer citizens. I also have high hopes that the meek will inherit the Earth. I’ve had it with the warriors.

Do I hate all Republicans? Of course not.

What I do detest is the agenda of those on the right who assiduously and rigidly advocate second class citizenship for some based on race, sexual orientation, gender or class. Or who think that protection of the rich leads to the economic salvation of all. Trickle down trickles right back up, despite the wisdom of Ronald Reagan.

I also have great difficulty with those who insist on mingling church and state to the point of establishing an excruciatingly rigid moral code that leads to exclusion and fosters hatred toward some segments of the population and their beliefs. Thomas Jefferson had it right. We should trust him on this one.

Finally, it is distressing to see what has become of the Republican Party as a result of purity codes and litmus tests. While the Democrats have to deal with any number of cranky members who run the gamut from conservative to liberal, the Republicans have withdrawn into a life-sucking cocoon of entrenched conservatism. Gone are the days of Jacob Javits, Nelson Rockefeller and the moderate wing of the party. Now, once you get beyond Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, what’s left of the Republicans in the Senate? A bunch of grumpy old men.

But trust me, I don’t hate Republicans. I just wish we had a more inclusive group of people willing to engage the Democrats in serious discussions that involve more than knee-jerk negativity and nay-saying. As Republican Joe Scarborough recently announced on his morning TV show, “The Republican Party has become completely inept.”

Switching gears somewhat, perhaps the most humorous response I’ve gotten to my columns came from my buddy John Magliola and the good folks at WMBG.

After I chided the radio station for not including Democrats in their political interviews and Magliola specifically for his off-the-cuff right-wing advocacy, they developed an award-winning intro to his afternoon radio show that disclaimed the station’s association with any remarks he made or that anyone else in the world made, including me.

I enjoyed it thoroughly, and I still tune in to Magliola occasionally to hear what bons mots are burbling up from Zeus only knows where. True to form, Magliola informed me a few weeks ago while reading an anniversary list that in November, 1978 San Francisco mayor George Moscone was shot and killed by Harvey Milk. It was, in fact, Supervisor Dan White who shot both Moscone and Milk.

However, this was soon followed by Magliola’s inspired request that anyone who takes umbrage at the name Beyond Boobs, as someone did in the Last Word, could kiss the mistletoe attached to his behind parts. Nice touch, John.

And that’s about it from the mailroom. Happy holidays (sorry, John).