A Time to Vote

. . . with apologies to John Grisham and a shout out to rikyrah of Jack and Jill Politics.
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I try to imagine...that we are all equal
in the eyes of the politics.

That's not the truth.

The eyes of the politics are human eyes...

...yours and mine, and until we
can see each other as equals...

...electoral politcis is never
going to be evenhanded.

It will only be a reflection
of our own prejudices.

So until that day...

...we have a duty under
God to seek the truth...

...not with our minds...

...where fear and hate turn
commonality into prejudice...

...but with our hearts...

...but we don't know better.

I want to tell you a story.

Please close your eyes...

...while I tell it.

I want you to listen to me.
I want you to listen to yourselves.

Go ahead.

Close your eyes, please.

This is a story about a little boy...

...raised by a single mom on food stamps.

I want you to picture this boy.

All his life, he’s told in America he can be whatever he wants to be.

And after graduating from Columbia University, he works in the poor communities of south Chicago to help people fight for jobs and better housing. Later, he attends Harvard Law School, where he becomes president of the Harvard Law Review and graduates magna cum laude.

Instead of taking any of the several high paying corporate jobs or clerking for a federal judge, he decides to return back to those same streets in south Chicago to continue working for the people.
Soon, he ran for state senate where he passed laws increasing the minimun wage and making healthcare more affordable. In three years, he helped provide over $100 million in tax cuts to families across the state. He also pushed through an expansion of early childhood education. He reached across party lines to get things done for everyday people.

As a US Senator, he passed the toughest ethics laws in decades and worked with Republican Dick Lugar on new non-proliferation efforts.

Then one day, he ran for president. He won his parties nomination, then started campaigning to make lives better for all Americans. Then, while he was campaigning...

Two men grab him.

They drag him into a nearby field...

tied him to a tree and began punching him.

First one, then the other...

...lying on and about him...

...smearing everything
hopeful and pure...

...with a vicious false ad after another.

And when they're done...

...after they've...

...killed his good name...

...tried to murdered any chance
...for him to become president...

...to help all Americans...
...have a better shot at a good life...

...beyond his own...

...they use him for target practice.

So they start throwing
cans full of smears at him.

Elitist. (Uppity . . .)

Arrogant. (. . .Negro)

Out of touch. (Radical Negro)

Celebrity. (200,000 showed up to hear him in Berlin)

Unpatriotic. (Cause he didn't wear a flag pin)

They throw them so hard...

...that it tears the flesh
all the way to his bones.

Then they urinate on him...
...comparing him to Brittney Spears...
...and Paris Hilton...

Now comes the hanging.

They have the rope of taxes.

They tie a noose, accusing him...
...of wanting to raise everyone taxes...
...even the taxes on electricity...
...of wanting to destroy the economy.

Then they pour oil on him...
...cause he doesn't want to bend to the will...
...of Big Oil.

Now comes the hanging.

Imagine the noose coiling
tight around his neck...

...and a sudden blinding jerk.

He's pulled into the air
and his feet go kicking....

They don't find the ground....
...but he struggles enough to free himself...
...of the hanging branch...
...it wasn't strong enough.

It snaps and he falls...

...back to earth.

So they pick him up...

...throw him in the trunk of a Lexus...

...drive to the Foggy Creed Bridge...
...that's been polluted by spilled oil...
...(Because we can't drill here and now.)

...pitch him over.

And he drops some feet...
...down to the creek bottom.

Can you see him?

His tired...

...beaten...

...broken body...

...soaked in their lies...

...soaked in their smears and distortions...

...soaked in his blood...

...left to die.

All for working to make lives better...
for all Americans.

Can you see him?

I want you to picture...

...that little boy....

Now, imagine he's white.