we have been told

We were told, during the Viet Nam War that to argue the value of that war, to protest America's involvement in that civil war was unpatriotic, we were told that you should love it or leave it if you questioned why and how America was involved in Southeast Asia? And yet very patriotic Americans, felt such love for their country that they fought battle after battle hoping to prove the politicians, the military industrial complex, the real red white and blue star spangles banner people were correct. And then we left Saigon in a helicopter, said goodbye to this nation and never saw the dominoes fall in Southeast Asia as we were promised would happen had we not intervened.

We were told that Osama bin Laden was number one on the most wanted list of America. We were reminded that HE embodied all that was bad and taking him out was job one. We were told that weapons of mass destruction were just awaiting the sanction of Saddam and we needed, no we HAD to invade that country before they had a chance to bomb Washington DC. We were told that water boarding was the American way and to only dance with the devil was not good enough, you had to drown him and make him weep with water pouring from his lungs. And we were told by the man who became President,(partly because he seemed like the person you could sit at a bar with and have a drink), and his behind the scenes manipulators like Cheney and Rumsfeld, that ANYONE who didn't hate like hell all those Arabs was not American in any which way whatsoever.

We are told that raising the taxes for the wealthy is the road to ruination and the most UnAmerican act one can perform. We are told after 8 years of trickle up taxes that if we even attempt to raise the fair share of taxes the rich pay, this nation will lie in rubble as job creation will flow off the coast and find its way to India, China and anywhere else where earning $1.00 an hour is reasonable. We are told that even though in the past years during the heyday of the Bush tax breaks we experienced the worst recession more jobs were sent oversees and the jobs still left in this country paid below minimum wage that NOW the raising of taxes for the wealthy would make a BIG difference. We are told the American way is to thank the rich for keeping Capitalism alive and punish the poor for wanting more.

We are told that Jesus is a bit picky about who exactly he created and who he loves by people who tell us they know Jesus better than most. We are told that when Jesus traveled on the Mayflower with the Pilgrims he insisted that this nation become a Christian nation and that when he was about to sign the Constitution with the Founding Fathers he never meant for a separation of Church and State, we are told this by men and women living in Ivory Towers, who like to raise lots of money from poor, uneducated people, and who love to find bias and bigotry in the Bible. We are told that according to the Scripture that all men and of course all women were not and are not created equal, unless that is they permit those in the know to describe equality in their own prejudiced way. And we are told that the downfall of America is because of the Gays, Women's reproductive rights, anyone non Christian, people of color especially if they live in places like Detroit and like hip hop, or speak in Mexican...oops Spanish!

We have been told and are told what it is that makes America great and of course who and what doesn't add an iota of Americana to this right wing Tea Bag evangelical Christian nation. We have been told and are told that a true American does not ask questions and if he/she does then there must be some communist agenda at hand. We are told and have been told that fair and equal is only fair and equal for some people and anyone who is not on the list as created by people like the Koch Brothers, FOX News, Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck is a leech and just wants something for nothing. We are told and have been told trust us, we know, our way is the right way by religious zealots, professional politicians, and wealthy men and women who like to restrict wealth to a select few, that to think on your own, to ask why, to question only leads to revolution, socialism and the Rapture coming way too early.

When is it our turn to stop listening and time to talk back? When is it our turn to have others listen to us and as we speak to communicate rather than being talked to? When do we ALL become smart enough to say you have told us and told us and told us, but have never said anything that makes sense?