CARLTON FLETCHER: … you might just be a Georgia Democrat

“Democrat put us on our feet, These crazy women, they vote them out.”

— John Lee Hooker

EDITOR’S NOTE: As promised, here’s the other side of the political coin … and, as previously, we offer our apologies to Mr. Jeff Foxworthy.

With the political climate in this nation so partisan, decisions are made now not based on what may benefit the majority of the people in the country but instead on how an issue might impact one political party of the other. And, given that reality, it’s easy to tell when one might definitely be a Georgia Democrat.

♦ If you voted for Joe Biden, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in the last election because you believed you would get even more “free” money from the government, you definitely are a Georgia Democrat.

♦ If you made the statement “Socialism’s not so bad as long as we keep getting stimulus checks,” you definitely are a Georgia Democrat.

♦ If you opposed a proposal that would benefit a large majority of the country’s population only because it was brought to the table by a Republican politician, you definitely are a Georgia Democrat.

♦ If you think having more social workers and less law enforcement is going to solve our law and order issues, you definitely are a Georgia Democrat.

♦ If you see nothing wrong with healthy, able-bodied men and women receiving food stamps and other benefits, you definitely are a Georgia Democrat.

♦ If you think all historical markers or monuments in this country that have been erected in honor of white men and women should be torn down, no matter the significance of the honoree, you definitely are a Georgia Democrat.

♦ If you think all weapons — even those used for hunting or home protection — should be claimed by the government, you definitely are a Georgia Democrat.

♦ If you applaud the “political consciousness” of athletes who kneel during the playing of the national anthem, you’ve never had a close relative fight and die in a war or while protecting a community as a first responder, and you definitely are a Georgia Democrat.

♦ If you think that just because you have a one-swing-vote advantage in the U.S. Senate you should vote to do away with the filibuster — which will bite you in the rear the next time Republicans are in the majority, probably in a year or so — you are definitely a delusional Georgia Democrat.

♦ If you think the immigration issue at our country’s border with Mexico is “solved” just because our leaders fail to acknowledge that issue, you definitely are a Georgia Democrat.

I have received several messages of condemnation (and some approval) since publishing the column last week about being a Georgia Republican, and I expect as much for this column as well. But the point was not to ridicule individuals who profess to being members of one party or the other.

The point has been to point out the extremes that opposing party members use to paint anyone on the “other side.” And that is what is wrong with our country. Instead of utilizing common sense to decide what we think is right or best, we simply dismiss all attempts at legislation that are proposed by the opposing party.

As our president would say, “C’mon, man.”

If you are a Democrat and you “hated” Donald Trump when he was in office, that doesn’t detract from the very real truth that Trump’s administration did some things that were good for the country. And if, two weeks in, you — as a Republican — declared that Joe Biden is “the worst president ever,” think about how ludicrous that statement is.

People have labeled me a “liberal” or a “Democrat” because a lot of the things I believe fall in line more with that party or worldview. But to say that, “You’re a Democrat — or a liberal — therefore you want to kill babies and defund the police and give undeserving people more freebies or love that immigrants come into our country and take our jobs is not just ridiculous, it’s contrary to common sense and it’s simply adding to the big lie that has clouded your perception.

Conversely, if you declare that anyone with an R by his or her name has to hate people of color, wants to eliminate all services for the poor or is in favor of stockpiling guns for the coming civil war, you are just as wrongheaded.

There are people in both parties who believe these things. But I know of only one so-called leader whose overwhelming rigidity left no room for compromise or respect for people whose ideologies was different. And he ain’t around no more.