Dear Editor,
“We’re going to take our country back. “ What they really mean is: We are going to take our country back—in time. This will be one of the big right-wing campaign slogans this year. I just Googled it up for over 22,000 hits. The phrase never fails to get the big roar of applause.
In the right-wing brain, there is a picture of America that is pre-Civil Rights, pre-immigration (of the brown type), pre-sell-out to big business, pre-outsourcing of middle class jobs, pre-9/11, pre-feminism and pre-drug wars.  There are tree lined streets with manicured lawns, churches on every corner with white painted steeples, happy white faces all around. Mom didn’t work. She stayed home to raise the family and had time to bake apple pies from scratch.
Sorry. Those days are gone forever. And we know it, but many of us don’t want to admit it.
The Tea Party crowd is steeped in frustration and fear. With good reason. They are protesting now–even if they aren’t sure exactly why—when they sat out the protests on Vietnam, on NAFTA, on Reagan’s union busting, on starting the war in Iraq, etc. They played by the rules and got screwed. Pension plans were ripped off, 401k’s were destroyed, real estate values dived and interest on savings doesn’t keep up with deflation.
It would be nice to go back in time—and try to get it right next time.
Patrick Hunter
Carbondale, CO
379-0274
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