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Both The Houses

November 9, 2015 by

Linda1I have been stunningly without many words lately. It is not that I have nothing to say, it is that my brain, my heart and my fingers do not seem to have the desire to make the connection. I have been silenced by what I can only call the utter and complete decimation of what was once good, fair and right in this nation. Now mind you, it was not completely good, entirely fair and always right; no it wasn’t that. But there was enough good, fair and right that many of us believed it was worth fighting for and working toward better. Hell there was enough good, fair and right millions of people from all over the world immigrated here for a ‘better way of life’.

Now? Those who come, they come because their own nations are torn by war, whether religious, drug or other, generally if you peel back the layers far enough we are in there somewhere stirring the pot. Or they are coming because despite the terrible xenophobia of this nation, the poverty is so terrible in their own they can only hope here will offer a chance to feed their families. Then of course, there is the alternative to these scenarios, there are those who are invited in to displace Americans in their jobs. They come here come to rape the nation of what few jobs remain to us in IT, Engineering and other high tech careers, leaving the dregs, the contracts at low rates and no benefits. They come with the help of Congress, with no complaint from anyone on either side. They come because ‘good liberals’ with deep pockets along with ‘bad conservatives’ are constantly storming the gates demanding broader expansions of this insidious program, because according to them, there are just too few Americans to fill all those waiting positions. This is the nation today, this is the vision of the future and there doesn’t seem to be a bright silver lining.

I have listened intently to what all the candidates for President have had to say. The Republicans with their petty bickering and attempts to out ugly each other. The Democrats with their attempts at calm and civility. The lines drawn in the sand today are brilliant if you stay at the superficial level of the arguments, if you don’t ask the hard questions or truly dig under the surface of unsustainable policy dreams, bright promises of better futures or ‘Winning’.

Is it me or is it truly worse? Is the ugly truly uglier? I think it isn’t worse, not really worse. I think what it is today is more public in some cases. I think there has been, over the past decade a move toward a sustained and unrestrained malice with the culmination being this election season. I think we have seen xenophobia, racism, nationalism and the doctrine of Manifest Destiny stirred into a stew rich in ugly emotions, fired up by looming fears of the failure to thrive.

Dreams of our fathers indeed. Dreams we were created equal in this land of immense wealth and promised opportunity. We know this isn’t true though, we know it wasn’t ever truly designed for all of us, not for most of us even. If we are honest and we should be, we know those pesky words about equality and opportunity were meant only for the few, the chosen who were of the right social class, the right economic class, the right gender (outie not innie please) and let’s face it, the right color or race, though throughout our history we have hated more than just those with obvious differences. Truthfully, xenophobia is one of our favorite pastimes. Want to stir the pot? Point to the influx of immigrants, German, Italian or Irish all free game at one time, though eventually they were absorbed to swell the ranks of ‘just like us’ when the rampart was weakening.

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The truth of the matter is, this nation is nothing at all without an enemy, or two or three. Some group to focus our hate, our ire and of course our military might on. The bedrock of this nation is war, the heart of our economy violence. We make war to keep the money moving. Those at the top of the food chain, beat the drums patriotism at every opportunity keeping the mighty war machine well-greased and the war-mongers well paid while the rest of us, we either fall in line or are labeled as anti-American, unpatriotic or other even less flattering things that most who shout them do not have even a fundamental understanding of their meanings. Without violence, without an enemy, without war we are nothing it seems; we love to declare war.

War on Drugs

War on Poverty

War on Terrorism

But in the declarations of war, who really is the enemy? In the declarations of war, who are we really focused on? Who has really benefited from these Wars?

Dreams of our Fathers, indeed.

I find I am tired. Worn out already with the idiocy and nonsense of the early Presidential season. With the bombastic bullshit from the Right and the pretense of civility from the Left. I find I am weary with the do-nothing Congress who does less and less with each passing session. I am exhausted by a citizenry that bitches, whines and moans but refuses to go to the polls when given the opportunity to do so. But more than anything, I am shattered by how far we have fallen as a nation and a people, by the sheer nastiness of our public speech that is not only accepted but defended.

I am sure I will find my will soon. But right now, I find I am simply crushed and silenced by a nation and a people that refuse to seek greatness in favor of the lowest common denominator.

Filed Under: Random Thoughts Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lesser Than or Better For

November 1, 2014 by

vote6We often hear one of the following, he / she is the “lesser of two evils”, said in connection with why a person voted for a specific candidate. There are times when we go vote and no candidate seems to be what we really want representing us, whether an election for dog catcher or President, there are times we look at the options and think, ‘Just Hell to the NO’.

I understand our apathy I do. Especially the apathy of those who call themselves one of the following:

  • Democrat
  • Liberal
  • Progressive

The country has moved to the Right. It is no longer normal, sane Conservatives, the Republican of your or my father’s day, not the Eisenhower Republican but the crazy azzed Tea Party ones who have taken the spotlight and the front page. These days they vie for the camera and the vote by just how crazy they can be, how many conspiracy’s they can manufacture, how many ignorant quips they can make against Women, Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, the Poor or some other targeted group of the moment and then blithely pass it off as a ‘joke’.

Yes, the country has moved to the Right, to even stay in the game Democrats run as pseudo Republicans. They run away from the President, the head of the party in fear of scaring away constituents. Telling who you voted for in the last election or what you stand for as a candidate is no longer considered the best strategy, instead it is better to straddle the fence; not sound quite as crazy as the other guy but not allow your Blue to show either.

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The mendacity of the candidates is terrible to behold, across the board, we are seeing money take precedence over the will of the people and the needs of the nation. Isn’t it time we all held our elected officials to a higher standard? Rather than going to the polls with the ‘lesser of’ mentality, shouldn’t we start asking the question, who is ‘better than’.

  • Who will better represent my interests?
  • Who will better represent the interests of this nation in the future?
  • Who will better represent and support the things I care about?

What is at stake?jfk

  • Voting Rights: Yes, that means you and me. Every last one of us are faced with being able to continue to go to the polls and vote without impediment. For years now, the GOP has worked diligently to narrow the field. They have succeeded in some states in legislating new draconian Voter ID laws, losing tens of thousands of new voter registrations, closing early voting and a host of other tricks that will prevent those who would traditionally vote a Democratic ticket from voting in the 2014 elections. See a trend here? You should.
  • Minimum Wage: I am sure you have heard it before but I am going to say it again. No one who works full time should live in abject poverty, yet across this nation that is exactly what is happening. We will not see a raise in the Minimum Raise nationally should the GOP take the Senate and retain the House. Hell, we will have a fight on our hands if things stay status quo.
  • The ACA and Health Care: love it or hate it, the fact is millions of previously uninsured Americans now have access to affordable health insurance. Because of the ACA (Obamacare) millions of Americans now have access to preventative healthcare, medicines, well child care, pre-natal care and a host of other things they did not previously have. Because of the ACA, millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions are now covered. The list goes on, the fact is without the ACA and despite its flaws, millions of Americans are better off today than they were a year ago. If the GOP takes the Senate, those millions of Americans and their health will be at risk.
  • Education: seems such a simple thing doesn’t it? Today though, more and more young people are mortgaging their future for a college education. Fewer and fewer young people are leaving High School with the necessary skills to begin a university education. Fewer college graduates are finding work. We must begin to consider what it will mean to this nation when we are no longer able to support our own economic needs by producing a well-educated work-force. Already, we outsource ‘low skilled’ manufacturing jobs and import a significant portion of ‘high skilled’ engineering and IT workers. What will be next?
  • Equal Pay: despite the many years women have been in the workforce and the strides we have made to break the glass ceiling, we continue to be paid less than our male counter parts. On average, we earn .78¢ on the dollar. If we don’t vote for candidates who believe as we believe, that we are worth 1:1, then hold their feet to the fire at both state and national levels to pass effective legislation, we will always be worth something less than our male counterparts; always.
  • vote7War: I don’t know about you, but I am weary as hell and would like to see an end to the United States of America fighting every single war that comes along and a few that don’t. I am tired of our young men and women being put at risk for every drop of oil, mad dictator, religious potentate or wild hair up someone’s azz about WMD’s in some sandy desert. I am weary as hell listening to the Hawks tell me why other people’s children should die while their child sit safely ensconced at home or school or wherever. We, all of us must send a clear message to our elected officials, NO MORE.
  • Choice: That is right; a woman’s right to choose is at stake. At state and national levels our right to make a choice for ourselves when and whether we bear a child is at risk. Old white men are attempting to tell women when they should bear children, what birth control they should use and whether safe and legal abortion should be accessible to them. This is not a discussion of whether you agree with abortion, don’t agree with abortion don’t have one; no one though has the right to tell another woman what is appropriate for her, this is especially true if the basis of the demand is religion. All I can say is get your religion out from between my legs and off the law books.
  • Guns: When will it be enough? When will enough people die at the hands of idiots with guns that you and I will hold our elected officials accountable to us and demand the passage of sane gun laws? What is the number? Despite the numbers of the dead, it clearly isn’t enough. So far, the NRA has beaten us every single time.
  • Civil Rights: Trayvon Martin wasn’t enough. It doesn’t appear Michael Brown will be enough. How many young unarmed Black youth will have to die at the hands of the police before we, all of us acknowledge there is a problem in this nation? What has to happen before we stop hiding our heads in the sand, buying the media narrative of ‘victim’ police and ‘thug’ Black youth, so we feel better and can ignore the problem.

vote4These are only some of what is on the table, there is certainly more. How about these?

  • Climate Change
  • Money in Politics, or better getting it out of politics
  • Supreme Court
  • Impeachment, I assure you if the GOP takes the Senate this will be back on the table and it is the only thing that will be on the table for the next two years
  • Social Security, make no mistake the GOP wants to dismantle Social Security
  • Long Term Unemployment, despite the real gains in our economy there are still those who need our help
  • Infrastructure, we need to be rebuilding this nation! Not only to make the investment for our economy but in our future.
  • Speaking of which, how about our Economy and Tax Reform!

Have you voted? If not, why the hell not? Even if this time it is voting for the ‘Lesser of’, get off your azz and vote; there is still time.

You have one voice, exercise it. Vote.

 

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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