Submitted by Richard J. Palmer, Mar 19, 2008 02:14

The hard line conservatives and by hard line, I mean those who don't want to make any waves and want to keep the U.S. in the status quo ante bellum area (I am referring to the Civil War) make me sick. I am white and 81 years old and I get tired of all that stupid criticism by the Bret Humes and Pat Buchanans of our country. I hear people saying, I wonder if this country is ready for a black president, the same garbage they said when Kennedy was running about catholics. We need more than a change in government. We need a change in prejudice. Ever since I was a child I saw how we hated every immigrant group and had a name for them all, even some jingles included a lot of them. While I am put off by all the excesses of political correctness, I still think we have a long way to go if we are to be an all-inclusive nation of Americans. We have to stop thinking that things will go back to the way they used to be. I would not want that. There are still many groups who are put down by the majority of our population, blacks, muslims, gays, hispanics and a whole lot more. When are we going to wake up to the fact that criticizing what is and trying to change it for the better is not being unpatriotic. I see too much concern about the price of gasoline and what Lindsay Lohan is up to. We have to get a life before we lose it. In order to know what prejudice is like, you have to be the object of it. Obama is the first inspiring speaker I have heard in years. Hilary has become a snappy little dog. I hope that human justice will prevail but I have lived a long time to know that most of the time that does not happen.

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