by Glenn Mollette

I've heard a lot of discussion about political profiles in recent days.

The Republicans supposedly are the corporate greedy CEOs and the Democrats supposedly are all those standing in the government entitlement lines. Not true.

My father was a republican. For thirty years of his life he drove an older model truck almost two hours one-way to Holden, W.Va. where he worked in an underground coal mine. He worked eight to ten hours a day and then came home to farm two to three hours before crashing into bed. We worked a small garden, cared for ten to twenty cows, had some hogs, raised a large corn patch and you get the idea. My father was always exhausted during the workweek.

My mother was a democrat. For several years she worked in the school system. She raised five children, washed clothes with a ringer washer in the early years and when there was not enough rainwater we carried water from the creek. She made breakfast and had supper on the table every evening and kept the house immaculately clean. She worked with my dad in the garden, milked cows, tended her flowers and like my dad was usually exhausted.

On Sundays they got dressed up and went to church. They sang in the church choir and often sang in a quartet in other churches.  Life was not always easy and as with many families there were those times when we wondered if we would make it.

Looking back I can say my father was a hard working Christian Republican. My mother was a hard working Christian Democrat. Together, they built a house, raised five kids, entertained family and friends and both lived to be 85. They were not wealthy in retirement but with a thirty-year miner's pension, Social Security and a balanced lifestyle they did fine.

If only all Republicans and Democrats today could be as blessed. Imagine what our states and nation might accomplish if we worked together? These are tough times. We have to make some unpopular decisions in this country. People are hurting, stressed to the max and even in the streets hungry.

We cannot go on with the "Us against them" syndrome. If we do we are only going to lose more jobs, incur more national debt, lose more corporations to other countries, increase taxes and watch our communities drown in drugs, violence and poverty.

Abraham Lincoln was quoting the Bible when he said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."

 
Glenn Mollette is an American columnist read in all fifty states. Contact him at GMollette@aol.com.

Like his facebook page at www.facebook.com/glennmollette and find his books at barnesandnoble.com.

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