: choosing a hill to die on :

I’ve chosen freedom. I like it; I am unabashedly pro-freedom. Know why? I get to think for myself. Oh, don’t look so surprised, I do think sometimes. While I’ve conjured some of the dumbest, most ill-advised decisions in the history of the frontal lobe, I don’t let that stop me. I could give you examples, but it’s humiliating. So let’s just say my decisions typically have backfire written all over them and move on …

Yet, in a rare moment of lucidity, I realized that’s the unbridgeable gap between a Republican and a Democrat. Democrats don’t want to be subjects. We don’t want to be ruled. We don’t want to follow a domineering, authoritarian figure. We want to participate in our future, shape our own destiny, forge new paths, make dumb mistakes, err on the side of hope and kindness. So we tend to vote for those representatives willing to listen and consider our opinions and interests and input.

Republicans, on the other hand, prefer a commander. They refuse to be governed, government is bad. It’s too inclusive. They demand, instead, to be ruled by someone with the same narrow, oppressive instincts as their own. The GOP doesn’t allow room for differences. There’s no tolerance for independent thought. It’s a forced march in mindless lockstep toward ignominy.

My biggest fear is, if the Republican party gains control of anything this November — House, Senate, or White House — we’ll need to change the inscription on the Statue of Liberty to ‘Abandon all hope ye who enter here.’

Please. We can’t let that happen. Let’s hang on to freedom and democracy and a bright, shiny future packed with opportunity.

And laughs, lots and lots of laughs, starting now! See below.

Thank you for attending my Ted talk. Have a terrific day.

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