Tea Party “Terrorists”?

I don’t know if you’ve heard this said before, but I sure have.  People who are anti-Tea Party often call the baggers “Tea Party Terrorists”.  Wow.  That’s pretty harsh, but is it accurate?  I wonder…can you call them “terrorists”?  Let’s explore this.  First, you may be surprised to find that I’m a bit in support of where the Tea Party movement began from.  It was kind of cut from the same cloth as the whole “$250 for an ice cream scoop” thing.  We’ve always heard it but many of us were like a teenager in front of a news program–couldn’t give a shit less.  However, something magical started taking place a few years ago.  It seems that as soon as recession hit, the “ice cream scoop” people came out of the woodwork.  It didn’t matter that the recession didn’t have much to do with the government or its deficit in the beginning.  The government got dragged into a mess caused by societies addiction to credit, greedy mortgage companies, and investment banks with a gambling problem.  But all that aside, it caused would-be Tea Baggers to get concerned with how much government was spending on crap, and rightfully so.

In any other normal situation, the Tea Party, like so many other grassroots movements of old, would have been ignored like a white-bearded “end is nigh” man on the corner that smells like curry-fried dog shit.  They would have gone on with crowds of a dozen or so Ben Franklin-clad folks marching down Main Street ruining perfectly good bags of tea.  But they instead caught the eye of some resourceful people in the GOP that saw an opportunity.  We can’t forget that the Republican Party (again, not conservatives in general) is the party of money and power.  I can’t think of many major GOP pushes in the last thirty years that didn’t have to do with money.  Think Reagan deregulation of corporations and finance, think George H. W. Bush and “no new taxes”, think overseas wars in oil-rich countries that can benefit the corporate contractors and oil companies who contribute billions to GOP campaigns.  They will cut anything out of the budget except things that benefit big business.  When they talk about socialism as evil and privatization as the way to go, that’ all about personal wealth of people that want to stay that way.  Making the world safe for democracy is really Americanizing and broadening economic empires in those places.  It’s all about money, and when they see people pissed off at what the government spends money on, they’re on it like Bobby Brown on a crack rock.  They figured they could give the little movement a shot of steroids in the form of some Wall Street capital contributions, send it mainstream, and then ride it into the House of Representatives.

The GOP set to energizing the Tea Party with slogans and notions about socialism being bad.  One memorable Tea Party sign read, “Keep your government hands off my Medicare and Medicaid, you damn socialist”.  Yeah, keep your government hands off my taxpayer-funded, socialist program, you damned socialist.  Yes, there’s a reason you keep hearing the same slogans in the Congress Tea Party as you’re hearing at the corner store from Aunt Maude.  The GOP Tea Party leadership has millions of people actually convinced that the national debt has doubled under Obama.  First, they count 2009, which was under Obama administration, but was not under his budget–it was under Bush’s.  Second, Obama inherited two wars, a recession, and the lowest revenue intake in the modern age.  And it’s his fault?  But no one explains this to the common people who support the Tea Party.  They have their loyal, trusting constituents convinced that government economic legislation operates on third grade math.  Really?  I guess that’s why they’ve so easily figured this whole thing out, huh?  They’ve simplified something to the constituents that is complicated enough to spur debate among Ivy League economics professors.  You can’t simplify these things.  Don’t patronize the American people with its “simplicity”.  Just tell them the truth–it’s really fucking complicated.  They actually have people basically convinced that every economic problem we have has to be Obama’s fault just because he happens to be in office for it.

It’s a shame that an organic, meaningful grassroots movement had to be sold out to politicians and funded by the corporate execs that the GOP keeps rich and powerful.  But the good news is with the debt ceiling fight, people have begun to see how retarded the Tea Party congress members have been acting.  They had John Boehner turning down deals in which every left wing aspect had been removed, inching us closer to default over faulty information and a general lack of understanding of the economy on their part.  Putting Tea Party congresspeople in charge of the economy is like letting a retarded chimpanzee defend you in court.  But the people have watched these assholes make a fool of themselves and put the whole economy in jeopardy over faulty ideology.  The Tea Party is about to collapse in on itself.  And with the division they have already caused in the GOP, we could see those guys sink to the bottom of the tea pitcher as well.

So what do you think?  Blind, idiotic ideology driving their governing.  Scaring the shit out of people to get them to support whatever the Baggers want.  Toying with our economy over stubbornness, rhetoric, and childishness.  Calling everyone who supports human compassion or progress a socialist.  Supporting the cut of education and healthcare so we don’t have to raise taxes and cut defense. I guess you can call these guys terrorists, but I wouldn’t.  It might give real terrorists a bad name.

 

Insanity

Republicans and Tea Party politicians are completely out of their mind.  This is a very dangerous game to be playing with our economy.  The other day, I sent a message to the US Senator from this area, Kay Bailey Hutchison.  I thought she seemed nice enough and perhaps open to a plea from a citizen whom she represents and WORKS FOR.  To my dismay, she turns out to be as big of an asshole as John Boehner and Rand Paul.  I asked–no, begged–her to take the smartest of the deals on the table but she politely informed me in her form reply that she would ONLY vote to raise the debt ceiling if big cuts are made (I’m with ya) AND NO TAX INCREASES.  Are you insane?  You want our government to default over that?  not to mention, the 14th Amendment stipulates that we do not default, so it’s unconstitutional not to raise it.  To illustrate close to home, let’s say you needed to cut expenses for your household and save some money.  This is not an uncommon scenario for the American family.  Cutting your cable plan to basic and eating out a couple of times less per month is a great start, but what happens when something else occurs.  Your A/C takes a shit on itself and you have to put $2,000 on your credit card, not only increasing your monthly bill, but perhaps putting you over limit and increasing your interest rate.  Or maybe it’s August and your electric bill is$450.  And here’s the big one–inflation of prices on EVERYTHING.  There’s always something to put you right back in the same situation or worse.  If you really want to increase your income, cutting expenses AND increasing your revenue doubles your pleasure and doubles your fun.  That helps us save money while adjusting for inflation.  If we, as a government, ONLY cut spending, it’s a Band-Aid and when it gets ripped off, it’s going to hurt like hell.  It’s a temporary fix. Inflation will eat us alive.  And God forbid some sort of major catastrophe happens that the government has to shell out for (and no, I’m not talking about another Kardashians spin-off show).

Kay Bailey Hutchison could not give me a reason why she wants the expense-cutting solution with NO tax increases because her reasoning is embarrassing.  It’s offensive.  It’s simply because she signed a pledge to some jackass that she would never vote to increase taxes.  That’s it.  Taxes have become evil to Republicans.  These are the same Republicans that like to claim Lincoln (who was a liberal).  Lincoln worked to pass the first income tax because the country was at war and they needed revenue.  Guess what Bush did.  Fought TWO wars and CUT taxes for the people who can actually afford it.  Smart one.  And why?  Trickle-down economics has never, ever, ever, ever worked so there must be another reason he and the rest of the GOP favored it.  Oh yeah, those Wall Street and corporate big-wigs that go to campaign finance fund raisers.  They need extra money because they are suffering so bad.  And if they aren’t paying taxes, guess who is?  Government has to get money somehow.  Oh yeah…it comes from you, silly!  The average hard-working American.  And amazingly, the GOP has you convinced that’s okay.  They have you convinced it creates job when there’s proof that it doesn’t.  They have you convinced that it’s bad to “punish success”.  They could probably convince you that the Smurfs really did cross over into our world and worse, they did it illegally to take all of our high-end fruit-picking and slaughter house jobs that every American wants.  And why not?  They figure the church convinced you that 150 years of SCIENTIFIC research on genetics and evolution is complete bullshit.  You should buy all that Reaganomics crap, too.

The truth is that a lot of these people on the right (at least the leadership) would like nothing more than to see the economy fail.  They’ve already started blaming it all on Obama.  They love to talk about deficits for the last two years but won’t mention the trillions in debt racked up for the eight previous years.  If the economy collapses for real this time, they know they can convince people it’s the president’s fault, just like they could convince them he’s a Muslim through a chain email.  And there would be the ticket back to the White House.  And they’d have the policy in place to continue giving to corporate executives and privatizing, as Mitt Romney once said, “everything that can be privatized”.  You don’t think they’re using this dire situation to their advantage?  Because of this hold-up, the FAA cannot at the moment (and hasn’t been able to for days) collect the taxes needed to pay air traffic controllers and other employees.  People are being furloughed without pay and taxpayers are losing tens of millions in revenue (guess who’s going to have to pay–hint:  not millionaires or billionaires).  Air traffic controllers are having to double and triple shifts.  Remember a few months ago when those guys were already being overworked to the point they were falling asleep in the tower?  Well before you blame a president unwilling to compromise, look at the fact that some of the Republicans in congress won’t sign off on the budget deal until language is inserted blatantly making it harder for FAA employees from unionizing–you know, to fight for better working conditions.  Working conditions that won’t have them working for 18 hours straight by themselves and falling asleep in the tower.

Stop the insanity.  There is no reason these Republicans aren’t taking the deal that gives them what they want (spending cuts) and what the Dems want (increased revenue).  That’s compromise.  I don’t give a shit about your pledge you signed.  As my friend Tim said the other day, the US literally has forever to pay off its national debt.  But defaulting on our debts is something that will absolutely happen and absolutely screw us.  Whatever you do, just raise the damned ceiling!

Compromising Situations

We’re Americans.  We live beyond our means.  That’s how we roll.  Why?  Because after World War II pulled the US out of depression, our society went ape-shit to compensate for over a decade of rampant poverty.  Our economy was great, unemployment was down, people were taxed based on what they earned, the dollar was strong, unions fought for fairness in the workplace, building our middle class.  For a few decades, people got used to not having to want for anything, and generation after generation were given a better living than their parents.  But let’s face it.  Americans have always lived a little beyond their means, and starting in the 1970s, the buying power we once had slipped away.  Credit became king and cash went the way of the Jonestown cult.  Debt is something we live with, and a little of it is a good thing–gives us a credit history and credibility for future loans.

But let’s say you’ve fallen on hard times.  Maybe you got laid off from your cubicle job in some financial institution.  Now with your household income cut at least in half, you have to pay bills with your backup plan–your credit card.  And you have to do it unless you want your children to look like an Olsen twin.  Let’s say you end up maxing out your card as you begin to get back on your feet.  The credit card company calls you up and says, “Sir, you’ve reached your limit.  You will have to make a payment to get your balance below the limit.”  You say, “I can’t until I get my first check in a couple of weeks.  I just got a new job.”  That doesn’t cut it.  They want their freaking money.  So the associate on the line verifies that you have been a very good customer with no late fees or credit problems.  You’ve at least payed your minimum payments every month for years.  So the guy on the phone offers to raise your limit to keep you from being maxed out, buying you time until you can make another payment.  What do you do?  Please tell me you would take the deal and raise your limit to keep your interest rate from going all Mr. Hyde on you.  Sure, I know it’s a gateway drug, opening you up for more senseless spending, but it beats the shit out of the alternative.

That is the situation our country’s finances are in.  If we don’t raise the debt ceiling, we will default on our government’s loans and that hurts the US Government’s credit rating.  Sorry.  I don’t want our country to be the Whitney Houston of the global finance community.  Sure, I know it’s the gateway mentioned before.  Who’s to say Congress doesn’t start throwing money around again like Juvenile in some booty-bouncing rap video of yore.  I think we have to take that chance.  The question should not be whether or not to raise the debt ceiling–that should be done.  The question should be, “What steps can we take to make sure not to dip into that money?”  You see, our politics work in extremes.  Everything is portrayed by the parties as black and white, when they almost always are quite gray.  I don’t disagree with the Right’s vision of “fiscal responsibility” (although I disagree on some of the things they like to cut, i.e. education, Planned Parenthood, etc.).  We should be watching our spending.  But we have to be smart with where we cut and where we spend.  Cut defense, corporate welfare, and oil subsidies?  Yes!  Cut funding to green energy, technology, education, health care, and infrastructure?  Fuck no!!!!  Are you nuts???  And on top of that, you can’t reduce debt or balance the budget without getting rid of these tax cuts.  Is it any wonder that the highest national debt in history coincides with the lowest tax rates in history?  It’s like quitting my job and expecting to be able to continue the way I live.  Guess what happens when my revenue takes a hit–I lose my fucking house!!!  That simple.  It’s not just about reducing my spending.  I have to find another source of INCOME which is what taxes are.  We all love pay raises.  Gives us money to pay down debt and get a little security.  Give the government a pay raise and watch the good stuff happen.

But do you know what the argument almost always defaults to?  Whose fault it is.  Please spare me.  For some reason, the Right wants to blame Obama.  I mean, the national debt climbed from $5 trillion in 2000 to over $14 trillion now.  Most of that time was spent fighting two Bush wars (and I’m not talking about some sleazy lesbian porno movie from the 1980s).  So how is Obama to blame as president for only two of those eleven or so years?  Let’s also not forget that he inherited those two wars and now has to clean up the mess.  Can’t just stop it just because you’re the guy in office now.  Oh God, the blame for debt and doom in our economy is so complicated.  Just because the a guy is in office at the time doesn’t make him to blame or thank.  The recession can be blamed on everyone from Reagan to Clinton to Bush(es).  The economy moves slower than the elections.  But moreover, who gives a shit whose fault the $14 trillion debt is at this point.  The point is that, like it or not, we have a $14 trillion friggin’ debt!!  It’s like some pregnant girl spending nine months bitching at her loser boyfriend for not pulling out in time.  Sorry, the deal is done.  Get past it and start thinking future and solutions.

But this will not happen my friends–not as long as Tea Baggers and John Boehner are on the case.  Do you know why?  They want Obama to do all of the compromising (and he has caved and done this to the point of pissing off a lot of people in his party) and offer none in return.  Obama offers bigger cuts in these debt ceiling negotiations than most of the Republicans.  Isn’t that what they want?  Not if Obama wants it.  They just want the opposite of what he wants.  Bush got us into Afghanistan and Iraq without a peep from anyone.  Obama offers backseat assistance to NATO in Libya and they fault him for it.  And some fault him for not taking the lead.  Jesus, can these people be pleased?  The GOP is like a naggy trophy wife.  If it were a marriage, irreconcilable differences would have been cited long ago.  Obama is being expected to cave again and what happens when Boehner doesn’t get what he wants?  He LITERALLY gets up and storms out of the room like a teenager who didn’t get to go to Stacy’s party this weekend!  Seriously?  And not just one time, either.  I’m waiting to hear on the news that John Boehner sat in the negotiations for an hour with his fingers in his ears going, “lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala!”

But what’s more interesting is WHY this is all happening.  Pledges.  Have you heard about this?  95% of Republican Congresspeople and Senators have signed some sort of pledge to do or not to do something.  This is that whole Boogeyman thing that the GOP thrives on.  What?  What do you mean you don’t know what I’m talking about?  The GOP is simply a rich, corporate exec and elitist special interest group designed to fuck the average American out of more money while keeping them distracted by grassroots issues like abortion and whether or not Obama is wearing his flag pin.  And when they feel like they’re slipping or losing their constituency, they create a Boogeyman to scare the shit out of white people and promise to fight said Boogeyman (Sharia Law, gays, and brown people).  And if you think what I’m saying is off-base or unfounded, look it up.  Google the kinds of “pledges” Republican politicians are being pressured to sign:

• End Sharia Law (like it exists in this country)
• Protect the institution of marriage (notice how that never focuses on straight people divorcing for no reason)
• Overturn Roe v. Wade (nothing screams “end big government” like telling a woman what to do with her own body)
• Save the 2nd Amendment (from what–a big dude with a a gun?)
• Get prayer back in classrooms (because everyone’s a Christian, right?)
• Keep women out of combat (having a pussy doesn’t make you a pussy)
• Never, ever, ever, ever, ever raise taxes under any circumstances (95% GOP congressmen have signed)
• Get Grover Norquist laid (impossible)  (Google him)

Ah yes, you have to love that the party of reducing government sure likes to tell you what’s right and wrong and would love to pass some legislation to make it happen.  They don’t loathe regulation as they would like you to believe.  They just loathe liberal legislation.  It doesn’t fit their agenda.  For the party of freedom and dressing in tricorn hats, they sure do love signing documents to do as they’re told.

 

Letter to the Governor of Louisiana

Here’s an email sent by Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana to his constituency:

 

 

Dear Friend,

 

 

It appears that Americans are not as sophisticated as the Obama Administration had hoped.  Thank goodness.

Despite the President and his Treasury Secretary constantly threatening us with the end of the world if we don’t all agree that more debt is crucial to American success….Americans are still against putting the country more in debt.  I guess the American people are just hardheaded.

In Washington they are making this into a very complicated debate.  It’s really not.  Our unprecedented 14 Trillion dollar debt is endangering not only our future, but also our present. Everyone talks about how damaging this debt will be to future generations, and that is true.  But it is also damaging our country right this minute.

There is not a sober person in America who does not realize that excessive government spending is at the root of our nation’s economic problems.

The smart guys in Washington insist that more debt is crucial to our economic survival.  We have to borrow more, because we have borrowed too much…or something like that.  This makes sense only in the 202 area codes.  The rest of America refuses to understand this, thankfully.

Let’s be clear, there will never be a time when it is convenient or easy to curb government spending.  That day will never come.  And the liberals will always say that curbing government spending is heartless, cruel, and wrong.

The guys on Wall Street will always say we have to increase the debt ceiling; there will never be a time when they don’t say it is crucial to our survival.

Republicans in Washington must insist that any bill to increase the debt ceiling include a Balanced Budget Amendment, caps on spending, and real cuts in federal spending.

Here in Louisiana, and in most states, we balance our budget every year.  It’s not easy, and almost every state has had to make spending cuts.  No one enjoys cutting spending, but it’s the only responsible thing to do.  Is it really too much to ask our federal government to balance our country’s budget?

 

 

Now is the time.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Governor Bobby Jindal

And here was my response:

Dear Governor Jindal,

I believe you may have mistaken the ignorance among the American people for prudential sensibility.  They aren’t hard-headed and right-minded.  They simply don’t know any better.  I don’t mean that in a derogatory way.  The fact is that most people have never attended a formal economics class.  Perhaps that should change, but for the meantime, that can’t be held against them.  They are simply relying on the Federal Republic created by the founders.  They certainly understood that Ted the potato farmer, while performing a very important duty, may not have known the first thing about running a government.  It would be irresponsible to form a true democracy in the image of the government of ancient Athens.  Instead, Ted the potato farmer can send a highly educated, upstanding member of society to make decisions in the best interest of the American people (and hopefully not just in his own best interest).  Why?  The elected official understands the inner workings of government and the potato farmer does not.  Most Americans think in very simple terms.  They call it as they see it.  You see, they keep getting reminded of the $14 trillion debt we face and see a democrat, particularly Barack Obama, in office, and immediately it makes sense that it’s Obama’s fault.  And guys like you and Sean Hannidy do not correct them.  Oh no, you take advantage of the fact that most people don’t know any better.  Why wouldn’t you want people to believe that?  That’s your party’s ticket back into the White House.  Nevermind the fact that most of that debt was rung up during the “fiscally irresponsible” days of the Bush administration.  And you certainly don’t want people out there to know that President Obama’s debt-cutting plan cuts more than any Republican’s plan on the table.  It seems that it doesn’t matter.  To your people, if it comes from Obama, you don’t want it.

Yes, the people may not know any better about the Obama plan to “send us into more debt”, but you do.  Unlike most Americans, you’re a Rhodes Scholar.  Surely you were required to take an economics class at some point.  You understand how the economy works.  It is for that reason that I know for a fact that you know that all of these things you say (as well as the rest of your party)are bullshit.  You want the economy to suck.  You want Obama and the Democrats to fail.  That way, it’s easy to pass blame and reclaim the White House.  You know that the Obama administration wanting to potentially temporarily increase the debt for the sake of investing in education and infrastructure is the right move.  First, it creates jobs.  Second, it ensures that the future of America is educated and innovative.  But most of all, you understand that to make money, sometimes you have to spend money.  You can’t start a restaurant without capital (that’s why they call it capitalism) enough to build a building and buy a stove.  You can’t win money at the Casino without paying to play the game.  But you’re not telling the people that.  You keep letting people doubt the president, rather than promoting them to help him help us all.  The parties are more concerned with power struggle, and not the best interests of the people.  I thought at one time that you were a real champion of the people, regardless of party affiliation.  Then someone apparently told you that you might have a chance at the White House.  That’s when you changed, going the way of John Boehner.  I’m disappointed in you, sir.

Sincerely,

Josh Richardson

A Little Taste

Today, a jury in Orange County, Florida found Casey Anthony not guilty of any major charge against her relating to her toddler daughter’s death and disposal.  She was, however, found guilty of lying to the cops.  Why would she lie to the cops if she weren’t afraid of getting in trouble for something?  I don’t know.  Maybe she is a compulsive liar.  Anyone who’s been following the trial could tell you that’s not a stretch.  I don’t want to spend a lot of time speculating about her being guilty or not.  I think most people would agree that although there were no incriminating fingerprints of DNA pointing absolutely to Casey as a murderer, we’re pretty sure she was a terrible fucking mother.  She was the last to see the kid alive.  She did not report Caylee missing for a month.  The child was found near the home, disposed of in a bag.  There was duct tape over her mouth.  Casey spent that month without her child getting tattoos dedicated to her “beautiful life” and partying at clubs–not reaching out to the media every night for someone to find her daughter.  I don’t think any of us can say she killed her kid.  But the body was disposed of.  If there were an accident, why was the body dumped?  Why the cover-up?  Something here is fishy, and Casey is guilty of SOMETHING, even if it’s just being a really shitty mother.

But to me, that’s precisely the most important part.  Casey Anthony is essentially a kid.  Age means nothing.  Physical maturity means nothing.  She psychologically is a spoiled little kid.  Think about it.  She got knocked up out of wedlock, ruining her youth and opportunities.  Poor baby…  From time to time, a kid makes the adult decision to have sex, and finds that there sometimes is an adult consequence–pregnancy.  It’s an old story.  It’s been happening since the days that man were driving mammoths over cliffs for food.  Up until the last decade or so, most teenage mothers stepped up to the plate and accepted the consequences.  (Keep in mind, I’m only speaking about the girls that choose to have sex, not the obvious ones who may not have had a choice)  Hell, up until the last century, the late teens was an age that was normal to have planned pregnancies.  They either raised the kid, gave it up, or had an abortion (which, to me, is a better alternative to neglecting and dumping a toddler).  But something has changed in the culture of young people, and young ladies especially when it comes to this.  Obviously, pregnancy is the extreme situation,but in general, kids today grow up with a general lack of consequences.  Many, at least.  They’re not held accountable.  Fail a test, and they get to retake it.  Play football?  We’ll give you all season to make up that homework, Justin.  No one gets cut from the team, so you have 52 varsity cheerleaders and five JV teams.  Trophies for the losing team.  Pressure the teacher over failing grades, not the student (wouldn’t want them to feel bad).  One big self-esteem nightmare.  Casey Anthony longs for her youth, whether she killed Caylee accidentally or intentionally, she was obviously happy to be free.

What happened to motherly instinct?  What happened to that sense of caring for something you birthed–something that depends on you to survive?  That little girl did not judge her mother for the petty things or all the times mommy’s party friends came first.  That little girl loved her mommy unconditionally because that’s what children do.  She only needed love and care in return.  And Casey couldn’t even give that.  If she had a shred of decency, she could have given the baby up to a family that would have loved and cared for her.  Shit, she could have given the child to mom and dad.  Nope, instead she neglected that child and now Caylee is gone.  And then she destroys her family even more with accusations against her dad and brother that she was molested.  Maybe that’s true.  Maybe it’s not.  But her father and brother were not on trial, and it had nothing to do with why a little girl went missing and her own mother didn’t report it.  What I’m getting at is the cultural implications here.  Casey Anthony is not the only one.  She is likely not even the worst.  Sure, she’s a spoiled brat who has never had to account for anything.  I see kids with similar personalities in classrooms every day.  But this kind of sociopathic behavior is becoming pretty commonplace and in far greater intensity.

Casey is but a taste of what’s to come.  Most cases like this we’ve seen in the past where moms kill their kids, the mothers in question are bat shit, drowning their kids in the toilet because a pink iguana dressed as Jesus told them to.  But Casey is a different breed.  She’s cold and calculated.  She lies and lies with ease and little emotion.  She wants what she wants, and will lie, act, cheat, steal, and charm to get what she wants.  That is a sociopath.  And we’re raising a whole generation of these kids right now.  It’s like a bubble filled with Zyclon B ready to burst and contaminate the air.  They are sitting around in high schools, ready to be “given” that diploma.   They’re given everything without a sense of having to work for it–grades, iPods, phones, designer clothing, etc.  And on top of that, they’re allowed to run free, getting into fights, doing cocaine, drinking heavily by the age of 13, not studying, not going to school, and content to do nothing constructive…ever.  Why?  They’ve never been expected to.  They don’t know how.  They just know they want to live the good life–the fun life they see on TV–but never work for it.  I have a feeling we’re going to see a lot more of these Casey Anthonies.  And worse, she might become a hero to a younger generation.  You think I’m crazy?  Guys propose to the Octomom and girls strive to be as ditzy as Paris Hilton.  People actually listen to Sarah Palin speak.  People actually watched Glen Beck.  I’m sure Totmom be given a book deal (ghost writer will obviously be involved) and a Lifetime movie.  Get ready for a storm of socially retarded, ungrateful little shits with not work ethic to fill society.  We’ll call it Hurricane You Should Have Grounded That Little Turd For An F On The Math Test.

Am I Really That Bad?

You know I’ve been stirring things up for a couple of weeks, and likely, I’ve pissed off at least a few of you with something I’ve said.  I’ve noticed that some of the things that draw more attention are the points that are the least important.  That’s like paying ten bucks to enter the movie theater just to see the previews.  Nevertheless, I know I rant.  I know I rave.  I know that what I say can be a little shocking or radical, but hey–if I don’t say it, who is?  It’s the truth, but people, I’ve noticed, aren’t necessarily always interested in the truth.  Instead they throw a bunch of “facts” out there without context or direction.  Facts don’t always mean all that much against larger, big-pictured concepts.  Miguel de Cervantes once wrote that “facts are the enemy of truth.”  But am I really all that radical?  Sure, most of my Texas…well, and Louisiana friends and family think I am.  I guess that’s because my views are so different than theirs.  They’re red states.  When I start screaming about tax cuts, bringing home troops, or giving Obama a chance, here in the Fort Worth suburbs, people start looking at me like a Muslim that showed at the Christmas Gala and drop-kicked the baby Jesus through the back of the Nativity scene.  But again, am I really that bad?  I wonder if I’m actually hated by some who have read this blog–I’m being serious.

I once debated about the president with a stranger via a mutual friend’s Facebook status update.  It quickly escalated to profanity and ignorant statements about socialism.  (Sigh)  The man was a soldier, and I truly have all the respect in the world for someone who could be (and often is) ordered to go somewhere really uncomfortable and get shot at.  The problem I had with this individual is that he felt he was more important than me and that his opinion mattered more because of that.  He actually told me that he was tired of risking his life in Afghanistan while “asshole socialists” like me threaten to destroy this country.  What is this, 1953?  I wouldn’t call myself a socialist, not that many people really have an accurate idea as to what that actually means anyway.  But what if I was?  What if I were a communist, even–a communist Satan worshipper with a tattoo of Stalin on one butt cheek and and Mao Zedong on the other?  It’s not illegal.  In fact, it’s perfectly Constitutional.  That is why this man “fights for our freedom” (somehow in someone else’s country), not so he can tell me that I’m un-American.  Actually, I think telling me I’m un-American is kind of…um… un-American.  My point is that this guy hated me without even meeting me, all because I had a differing opinion from his.

That seems to happen a lot.  And I don’t think I’m any different.  If I believe someone’s wrong, then I must, therefore, believe that I’m right, right?  And I’m an egotistical son of a bitch, so I’m right quite frequently.  And that seems to be more of the reason I catch flack, I think.  But I can’t take the position that, “this is what I think but I might be wrong; in fact, I might not know a thing about what I’m saying; just totally ignore me”.  That doesn’t work, and no one will listen.  So I speak from the point of view that I am the herald of truth, bringing words of wisdom upon wings of doves while angels harp above (or is it bats and Pantera?).  And what’s wrong with that?  Don’t plenty of people on the right do the same?  Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannidy, Shepherd Smith, Glen Beck, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Michelle Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Pat Robertson, Michael Steele…  Did you notice that I threw a religious figure in there?  After all, religions invented the “holier than thou” thing.  That’s why they call it HOLIER than thou.  When you believe in a certain faith, by nature you cannot believe in another person’s faith.  It is very much a “we’re right; you’re wrong” kind of thing.  ”My invisible man is right!”  ”No, my invisible man is right!”  ”I’ll raise you a few people with wings and little golden rings over their heads!”  ”I’ll see your wings and rings, and raise you a guy who has six arms and looks like an elephant!”  And somehow, to many of the people who kick over a rock to find my blog, I’m the one who’s insane.  At least I don’t try to trump your scientific logic and reason with “God said so”.

My point is that I get the feeling that my views are seen as radical and crazy, and worse–I voice them.  Here’s where the real hypocrisy begins.  I’m going to list a few things that I’ve actually seen quite frequently from conservatives.  Keep in mind, I’m not faulting these things necessarily (well, not most of them).  Here we go:

• Prayer or Bible verse of the day via Facebook
• Protest signs featuring the president with a Hitler mustache
• Protests of gay people at military funerals (granted, everyone hates those yahoos)
• Cutesy profile pictures featuring babies and slogans of mild violence against Democrats
• Reposts about how you’re not ashamed of being a Christian (why would you be?)
• Video clips of church sermons
• Notes and photos from this weekend’s Tea Party rally
• The word “socialist” used in its highest frequency since McCarthy was in office
• Expression of hatred for all things related to taxes or Obama
• I HATE BARACK OBAMA!!!
• Muslims are evil
• Bill O’Reilly (enough said)
• The US was founded as a Christian nation
• Learn to speak the language or go home
• Mexicans are stealing our jobs

And the list goes on.  Pretty much all of this is based in some sort of opinion, whether you like it or not.  I know–I have a hard time with it, too.  When you believe you’re right, damn it!!!  You’re right!!  But they indeed are opinions and people do disagree with you somewhere in the country or the world.  And for some reason, when someone says or posts most of these things, it’s widely accepted.  No one flinches.  It’s totally normal.  How does one person get to be outspoken about these things or any other conservative opinion/viewpoint, but when I disagree or offer an alternative view, people look down their noses at me.  Treat me as if I don’t know what I’m talking about.  If you don’t agree with me, fine.  I certainly don’t dislike (most) of the people I know for their views and opinions (I love all my friends and family–well, most at least).  Why show me any different?

Healthy Suggestion

I took the girls to the doctor today–good bill of health by the way–and it got me thinking about the healthcare debate again.  As I sat in the waiting room while my children played, intermittently watching Brother Bear on the TV screen above, I began to look around the room at the demographic surrounding me.  I was taken aback by how pasty and middle to upper class the waiting room was.  And I didn’t see a single child in rags.  I didn’t see a single parent without some sort of expensive smart phone.  The median sticker price of the vehicles in the parking lot was probably about $40,000.  These all sound like good things–it seems that even in these hard economic time, people are living well.  That is true.  But it’s out of sight, out of mind, isn’t it.  Those of us living in Keller, Colleyville, and Southlake often forget that there are people sometimes just a couple of miles from our communities who have to walk to work at the Valero station every day, passing taco stands that list crack as a condiment.  We forget that there are hard working Americans and innocent children out there that don’t have that kind of medical or healthcare.  And all folks here in the suburbs can say is that healthcare is a privilege, not a right.  That’s easy to say when you have it, right?

Doesn’t every American get to have police protection?  Don’t we all get to call the Fire Department when our houses catch fire?  Don’t we all get to benefit from troops fighting for our freedom in someone else’s country?  Then why not give everyone the opportunity to be healthy?  There was a time in this country when an education was optional and usually strictly community operated.  There was less emphasis on learning about science and more on farming, at least until it became apparent that part of that whole dust bowl thing in the 1930s was largely the result of lack of understanding of the science of soil conservation.  One did not need to be literate.  Now you do have to be literate, although I hear illiteracy is making a comeback with the teenagers these days.  The point is that now we extend the opportunity to everyone, and we can all agree that it has benefited our society.  Why can’t we do that with health care.  Perhaps our grandchildren would wonder in sixty years why it took us so long to do that in the first place.

Health care is expensive.  Perhaps much of it is because of the unhealthy decisions people make.  I would agree with you.  However, when the government subsidizes corn and sugar, that makes it really cheap for the consumer, and especially when it comes to people of a lower income, it’s almost not even a choice anymore.  It’s cheaper to eat unhealthily–setup for failure.  Sure, a lot of the cost of healthcare is the technological advancement and the research costs.  But Microsoft has to do research and development, and I’ve very rarely heard someone bitch about the price of an Xbox.  That’s because the price is relatively reasonable, seen as beneficial, and most importantly, it has competition.  But what about the doctors and the insurance companies–both out for profit, and there’s nothing wrong with that.  But it’s some kind of strange struggle with one another–competition when they’re not even in the same business, really.

There used to be a time when doctors and hospitals relied on medical school training to diagnose an illness or condition.  But have you ever watched House and how many tests they run in an episode?  While embellished, that’s not far from the truth.  Too many doctors (of course not all, but enough to matter) overuse the advantage of medical technological advancements and order every expensive-ass test they can think of, and then turn around and prescribe shit that doesn’t need to be prescribed.  Ever had a physician give you a prescription and say, “You can get this filled if you want to–you don’t really need it…”?  My child’s doctor tried to give us a prescription today for something that we really didn’t need–eardrops for ear infection when she doesn’t have an actual ear infection.  Doesn’t matter–the insurance company gets dinged anyway.  No wonder the insurance companies keep going up on their premiums and offer less coverage with it.  Much of it is because too many doctors are being careless with what they are getting insurance to pay for.  Talk about fiscal irresponsibility.  I was thinking more to the term fraud, actually–defrauding the insurance companies.  Of course, insurance companies are greedy in their own right, so they’re not off the hook and neither are the pharmaceutical companies.

For everyone in this country who hates “Obamacare”, or whatever you’re calling it.  OK, it sucks and it’s all based on taxes and fines.  And yes, it was back-doored in a slightly shady way.  But that’s what you get when you respond to a reasonable solution like my dog does to baths, and all because it’s backed by an Obama and a Pelosi.  The Public Option wasn’t a bad idea.  It seems that everyone thinks in absolutes.  On one side, people are all privatization.  While that gives you great technology, great physicians (usually), and lower waiting times in the lobby, it also discriminates against the less fortunate and allows for the creation of a “strategic commodity” where they can charge whatever the hell they want to charge–and you’ll pay it because you kind of have to.  On the other side, complete socialization is a bad idea, too.  Canada and Europe have the problems of the other side of the spectrum.  They might have everyone covered, but the taxes are high and waiting times in the lobby can resemble the DMV.

Why can’t we run healthcare like the Postal Service?  You can still charge people for the use when they go into the doctor’s office, but have it all supplemented with tax dollars.  That’s what the public option is.  You can opt for government coverage and use government-employed physicians.  Your premiums come out with your income tax the way the medicare/medicaid comes out, and you pay an affordable copay when you go to the doctor or pharmacy.  Children and the elderly are covered no matter what.  Otherwise, you must be employed or searching for a job to have access.  But the beauty of it is that private practices and corporate insurance companies can still exist.  You can opt for a private insurance policy and go to a private medical practice or hospital if you want.  The beauty of this is that it would absolutely work the same way it does with the US Postal Service versus UPS, FedEx, or DHL.  You can use the government system or not, but one thing is for certain.  Reasonable prices in the government plan would provide competition to the private companies and practices, keeping the prices low for everyone.  And you didn’t have to mandate anything or charge fines to small business owners.  you just made coverage available to more people.  We already have Medicare and Medicaid in place.  There is a system of using tax dollars to provide coverage for some.  So why not revamp the system to be accessible to all?  Just a thought.