“There’s a reason the problems we face today are so much bigger than they were several years ago. A big part of it is that George Bush and John McCain have been so focused on pursuing a flawed and costly war in Iraq that they’ve lost sight of our mounting problems here at home. Instead of working to fix our economy and lift up hardworking families, they’ve fought to extend a war that’s costing thousands of lives and billions of dollars without making us any safer – a war that has strengthened our enemies and distracted us from the real battle with Usama bin Laden in Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

                                                Barack Hussein Obama, yesterday-ish

It is a given that all Republicans are redneck, racist, sexist, backward, unthinking, religious relics stuck in a bygone era while all Democrats are progressive, tolerant, intellectual activists oriented to all things fair, diverse, uplifting, and sensitive. Republicans are hell-bent on promoting big business and the white male, and Democrats are the standardbearers of universal equality, the minority (unless it proves to be the Christian white male), and a society where we can all hold hands together singing “Kumbuyah” (minus any reference to my “Lord,” of course). Surely, if the Republicans had their way, slavery would still be an American staple, and race would determine liberty and independence. Thank Gawd the Democrats intervened.

Unfortunately for that perspective, history is not in agreement. Can you guess the presidential candidate ridiculed for his anti-slavery position and best remembered for the Emancipation Proclamation (declaring all slaves free) and pushing forward the 13^th Amendment (abolishing slavery and indentured servitude) as President of this great land of ours? Why yes, that was Abraham Lincoln, the >gasp< Republican. The Representative presenting the greatest obstacle to the Civil Rights Act of 1968? Howard W. Smith of Virginia, Democrat. The Senator? James O. Eastland of Mississippi, Democrat. The Senator guilty of the longest filibuster in opposition to the legislation? Robert Byrd of West Virginia… >yawn< Democrat (14 hours 13 minutes).

While it is very true that President Lyndon B. Johnson (Democrat) signed the CRA into law, that John and Robert Kennedy – both blue-blood Democrats - were mightily influential in bringing racism and abject poverty into the light, and that racism/slavery was not so much a political party issue as it was a regional one, it seems fairly obvious that slavery is still in full effect today in the good ole U.S. of A. It may come as a shock to you that the primary purveyor of this curse is none other than the Democratic Party.

You see, the Democratic Party is the party of poverty entitlements. It is the Party of the New Deal, welfare, Medicare, mandated minimum wage increases, and the beast that is Unemployment compensation. It is the party of equality entitlements, having birthed Title IX, abortion on demand, same-sex marriage, the hope of amnesty for illegal immigrants, taxation for government-sponsored program funding, and governance over all things. Such the defenders of equality are they that they pass hate-crime legislation to throw not just the book at offenders found guilty but the entire library. How noble, just, and righteous!

It all sounds so good, so how could one find fault? Well, it is because these entitlements are prejudicial, unjust, and almost completely wrong. Even if we could assume that these programs were started with the best of intentions, we must admit that the humanity was lost somewhere along the way in favor of human nature. We must admit that if the poverty entitlements are boiled down to their barest essence, the overarching message is, “You cannot make it without Big Brother.” At best, the message is, “You can do it, but only with the help of government.” The recipients can only get food, clothing, housing, medical treatment, and work if the government gives it to them. Should they attempt to escape the entitlement trap with job promotions and raises, government responds with immediate entitlement reduction rendering the increase null and void. With every child born to them, the single mother gets more entitlements while falling further behind. The message is so strong that those who need the help for a season generally settle for it for a lifetime. They are a thankful voting block – a constituency bought and owned for life.

How great is the entitlement lie that the Democratic Party can gain generational favor while simultaneously stripping its constituents of their freedoms, liberties, and dreams! The Party curries favor with perpetual kindnesses and empathetic (see “empty”) words that render recipients ultimately dependent and then plays it for power. Masterfully (or with increasing comedy) they turn any situation on its head, whatever it may be, and blame all who oppose them. Since it is infinitely easier to blame others for personal shortcomings and hardships, the slaves gladly echo whatever they hear their masters say. 

But for all the words that can be said and all the blame that can be given (and shared), rest assured that this is the slavery we face today in the 21^st Century. If the entitlements and programs are helps as so many claim, then why is there so much bondage and oppression? Where is the freedom and happiness? What are the fruits? Are there more people on welfare or less? How many tax brackets on average does a person climb into having gone through the welfare program? Are there more single mothers raising fatherless children or fewer? Is there less crime or more? Is government bigger or smaller? More intrusive or less? 

It’s been 40 years… and the people say, “Thank you, Big Brother, for my lot in life…” 

Maybe this country needs the Party of Abraham Lincoln now more than ever – for the sake of the Union.