Harold Johnson and the GOP thinks I’m despicable and invaluable too (updated)

I heard one of Harold Johnson’s latest radio ads which kept me awake the last couple nights.  It has since been pulled for it’s falsities.

UPDATE:
It seems the false ads have not been pulled off the air. My understanding is they were supposed to be but I guess that is still being worked on.  Regardless, the ads are untrue. Mr. D’Annunzio has come out with a counter radio ad refuting them and asks you to attend a tele-townhall meeting tonight and or tomorrow night (Tuesday, June 8th and Wednesday, June 9th) to ask your questions of him.

You can hear the ad here and get the tele-townhall information in another of my posts here:

Seek the Truth in NC District 8 : Here’s your chance

or you can go here to Tim’s website

I am posting this as I want you to read it and really ponder it. It is very long, but extremely important.  I promise you’ll find it relevant, informative and enlightening.  Relate it to yourself or if it makes you feel better, someone you know.  I will also be posting a couple other ramblings from my great mind and heart in the next few days.

I am a ruminator. The ads got me thinking.  I thought about Tim D’Annunzio and all he is facing right now.  I thought about what most of Harold Johnson’s ads are really doing. Yes, they may be swaying the public, but at what cost?  Does the ends justify the means? Sure, they hurt Tim, but they also hurt his children. Even worse, they hurt me and you. They hurt every American who’s had to struggle, who’s faced obstacles and despair in their lives. I don’t mean minor ones where Sally said no when I finally got the courage up to ask her out.  Those are nothing. I mean horrendous acts, those perpetrated by others and those we internalize and punish ourselves with. I mean abuse, homelessness, loneliness, and failures. No man can punish another worse than man can punish himself.

Harold, the GOP, the Media, and yes, even those who mindlessly follow without seeking the truth, are telling us that no matter what we’ve done to overcome, we will never be as good as they are. Regardless of what we’ve had to endure, some of it caused by others, much of it done to ourselves..we can NEVER be forgiven. We can never truly be successful, honored or have integrity.  We are therefore, undeserving.

Why I guess I was thinking of all this is because if it doesn’t deserve forgiveness and praise then am I worthless and unfit, as well?  Perhaps even more so, as Tim dealt with his shortcomings and life’s challenges better than I did and Tim’s life turned out a whole lot more successful and fulfilling then my own.

Although Mr. D’Annunzio’s life and mine are not the same, nor are our acts and our ways of dealing, (mine may be worse) I too have had a troubled life full of misfortunes. I THOUGHT I had overcome, that is until Harold and the GOP (or some other idiot) comes along to tell me I’m wrong. I’m forever broken. I’m not “fixed”. I can never be.

You see Harold, I was a severely abused and neglected child. I was uncared for and unloved. I did a lot of things to rebel against this, to fight, to shout to the world I’m here, help me.  At the time, that’s the only way I knew how to fight: for me, my siblings, my life, and for my very soul.  My intention is not to use those past acts as excuses for my mistakes,  I am 100% responsible and accountable.  I am using it to show that we aren’t all blessed with a good life.  Even that is no guarantee as some are fortunate enough to have a good life, but screw it up anyway.  We take what we’re given and try to make the best of it.  We fall into life’s traps and temptations.  We also do not deserve to be judged.  We do whatever we have to do to cope and survive.  You do not know my life, nor Mr. D’Annunzio’s.  If not dealt with, however you do that, this all follows you as an adult.  I am a flawed adult but I’m thriving. I get stronger and stronger each day. I even consider myself one of the lucky ones.

Without going into the details, let me tell you how it feels. This is a small clip of a quote by Michelle Mace. Although she was talking about the heartbreak of losing a man, it still applies to someone you thought loved you: 

“You will never know true pain until you look into the eyes of someone you love, and they look away.”

Now imagine this feeling as a small child or as a stupid, awkward, thinks they know-it-all, teenager. Even as an adult.

Through the years I kept most things to myself. Much is still secret today. I cannot risk the reaction of others, the rejection, nor do I want to bring up those memories. 

To exemplify this, here is more of the quote by Michelle Mace: “The scars are nothing compared to the pain that put them there”

As you can see, Tim is much braver than I am.  He didn’t keep the secrets.  Harold, I don’t have disdain for Tim.  I have great respect and admiration for him and it’s growing more each day.  He went to the Republican Party BEFORE running for office and told them the details, NOT the ones you’re putting out there, the TRUTH.   The teaparty went to him early on in his run for office.  He also volunteered the information to them.  Harold, you, the GOP and some members of the teaparty are now all of a sudden acting surprised and dismayed? Really?  You already knew, and you know the truth. 

Additionally, Mr. D’Annunzio is not hiding from the public either.  He is facing the unintended consequences, so is his family.  Instead of believing what we were hearing, I and many others went to seek the truth.  We went to Tim.  In public settings we shared with him our doubts and what we had heard and asked for explanation.  He truthfully and honestly answered every single question until there were no more.  He talked to us as a group and individually.  He talked to us for hours and on many different occasions.  He even provided us with the factual records and documents.  Funny how the truth is nothing like what you are telling us.  Regarding the actual, true missteps and errors in judgement he did make in the past, Mr. D’Annunzio did not blame others nor did he defend or excuse those actions.  We got a chance to really see the man.  Not the candidate.  Not the personification of who you and others made him out to be.  The man.

Even through your manipulations of the facts and the outright lies, Tim’s still dealing with it all.  Your actions, Harold and those of the Republican Party, in my eyes, reflect badly on you, not him.  How did you get the “information”?  The Republican Party had to have given it to you.  In one of your press conferences, Harold, you alluded to it in advance of your attacks: something to the effect of “look at our records, look at our military and criminal records…” Robin Hayes even gave you a cursory look when you said this. He knew and YOU knew what you were going to do then. What’s most odd is that there are no dishonorable military records. As a matter of fact, not only is the record exemplary but so are the letters of commendation and recommendation.  Nor is there any criminal record.  Tim, himself had a professional background check done.  These negative records are nonexistent.

Why did Tim freely go to the Republican Party and with an open, honest heart tell on himself?  Why did he out himself to the Teaparty and We The People?  He did it because that’s who he is.

It reminds me of another quote that I hope Tim takes to heart:

“The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.” -James A. Garfield, 20th President of our great United States

On the other hand, Harold, you and the GOP showed who you are too and I thank you for that. You took simple truths, turned them into lies and innuendo, blew them out of proportion and exploited them for your own purposes.  These are all the political games and tricks we’ve come to despise of our candidates, parties and elected officials.  You showed us, after all our country is going through and is faced with, you haven’t changed.  You are just Democrat lites. You did something that you can never justify, the very same things we abhor about politicians and parties.  You and the GOP establishment lied to us.  Not telling the truth, not telling the whole truth, is a lie.  You also don’t mention when all those things occurred in his life, as god forbid you should tell the whole truth.  You never told us most of those things you’re spewing in ads (most of which is fabrication and exaggeration), happened 38 years ago when Mr. D’Annunzio was a troubled teen.  You also never tell us the things that happened about 16 years ago were said during a bitter divorce and most were the words of an angry ex-wife or from second and third hand accounts: a he said, she said and who can make the other sound worse.  

You also never tell us that he gave his life over to Christ over a decade and a half ago.   Instead you ridicule him for his Christian beliefs.  He never said the things you say about him, yet to the public you make him out to be a religious zealot.  Harold, you say (very quietly and with great subtlety) that you’re a Christian.  Many people claim to be Christians, few truly live it.  Mr. D’Annunzio does.  Even fewer really know their Bible, as if you did, you would know that the “religious rhetoric” you are using to impugn Tim’s character with IS ACTUALLY IN THE BIBLE.  You don’t even need to have some warped sense of interpretation of the Bible.  It’s in there plain as day.   Since you don’t know this, or do know it, and are willfully committing blasphemy against the Word of God for a few votes, I have to question your motives and dedication to being a Christian. I also further question it, as a true Christian believes in redemption.  They believe that whatever you did before you were saved is forgiven as long as you lead a righteous life from that day forward.  I personally am not very religious and have been turned off in the past by those that are more religious than I.  I’m not an atheist or agnostic either.  I do believe in people’s ability to transform themselves and the path they were heading down.  Not those that say they’ve changed, but those who’ve actually changed direction and shown it like Tim has.   His life deserves respect and celebration, not condemnation. So does mine.

One more instrumental thing about Tim’s religious beliefs needs to come out:  The Republican party told Mr. D’Annunzio to stop talking about religion, to stop saying he’s a Christian, to stop writing about the church and the Bible and to stop trying to bring others to Jesus Christ.   Tim refused.   This also shows me he has truly changed.  What hypocrits, you as well, Harold.  How can anyone call themselves a true Christian and dedicated to following and promoting the Word of God as is essential, stop doing this?  Well Harold, obviously you can and obviously that maneuver is working for you.  You want the Christian vote so you whisper you’re a Christian. Then to not get the reprecussions others will put on you,  or to lose the independent or center right voters, you neglect to follow your teachings.  How utterly Christian of you…cough, cough.

I am a survivor.  Mr. D’Annunzio is a survivor.  Something you don’t mention about Tim is the successful life he leads today, in family and in business.  He could not have achieved this if he weren’t level headed, even-tempered and determined. 

For now, I’ve given Harold and the GOP enough time towards their petulant, capricious and unreasonable behaviors and falsehoods.  Now, if you’ll excuse me I need to worry about what’s really important and consequential rather than the airing of dirty laundry and untruths.  I need to get ready to honor someone truly deserving of my time and respect. One who gave all for the love of his country, a fallen soldier, 22-year-old Pfc. Christopher Barton, who was killed in Afghanistan.  I was there when he came back to our beloved home and I’ll be there when he’s laid to peaceful rest, his final home.

In closing, to the powerful Republican party establishment and it’s chosen candidate, the condescending Mr. Harold Johnson, let me leave you with one pivotal remark: No matter what you say, my opinion matters. It’s called a vote and I know where to put it.