too scary

When I was young, Pittsburgh in the summer thunderstorms were scary. When the sky turned bluish gray with the winds beginning to huff and puff my sisters and I would run into our house. My mother would tell us not to stand near a window and she reminded us to very quickly unplug all the appliances from the wall sockets. She would hand out candles to place on the tables and usually curse at my dad for never replacing the worn out batteries for the two flashlights we owned. The lights would flicker at first then instantly go dark. Our modest compact home suddenly became this ominous haunted mansion dark and dreary filled with potential creatures lurking everywhere. It was scary!

When my little sister and I were kids we would find ourselves in front of the TV set on a Saturday night while our parents were asleep on the second floor. We both thought we were brave enough to watch a Double Chiller Theater hosted by Chilly Billy Cardilly. From Frankenstein, Dracula, to aliens and blobs the Chiller Theater showcased the best horror flicks around. My sister and I would each take one of my mothers home made afghans, cover ourselves with them (even in the sweltering heat of a Pittsburgh summers eve) to protect us from any stray monsters and watch in beautiful black and white the movies. We both swore ahead of time that we would stay up until the very end. Even though we were alone on the first floor, sitting just a few feet away from the door leading to the basement where most monsters lived at night, we both swore that nothing would deter us from watching Chiller Theater. But then the second movie ended the programming for the station finished and all we had was a bunch of snow on the screen and a very dark living room. Suddenly it was every brother and sister for themselves and a mad dash to make it upstairs alive was the only goal. it was very scary.

My dad loved any Vincent Price movie made. When my sister and I were in elementary school my  father would take us to the movies. No matter how much my mother complained and much to her chagrin off to the theater we would go. It was the Liberty Theater, a gothic palace with two balconies, nooks and crannies in the strangest places and tiny alcoves bathed in a dark red light which always seemed to be a hiding place for not of this Earth creatures. It was the night we went to see 13 Ghosts (the original version) that sticks out the most. In the lobby was woman dressed as a nurse, she said if anyone need smelling salts, she had them, she reminded us that some people might faint from fear.. We were handed special find the ghost glasses before entering the seating area. The usher bent down to face my sister and I and said that one of the 13 ghosts seemed to disappear at the last screening, just be on the look out. I was scared, very, very scared!

Ted Cruz and his dad Rafael Cruz a recently turned evangelical preacher have been making the news recently. The Pastor Cruz has often stated that The United States is a "Christian nation." The septuagenarian businessman turned evangelical pastor did not choose to use the more inclusive formulation "Judeo-Christian nation." Insisting that the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution "were signed on the knees of the framers" and were a "divine revelation from God," he went on to say, "yet our president has the gall to tell us that this is not a Christian nation…(Mother Jones) Ted Cruz wants to be president, Pastor Cruz wants Ted Cruz to be a God. Ted Cruz often times quotes his dad and states very clearly that his father is an inspiration and the motivation for the Senator’s actions and thoughts. This scares me, a lot.

When I was young, the monsters were either on the screen or flying in the midst of thunder and lightning. When I was young the monsters went away when the credits were rolling or the sky turned from grey to blue. When I was young all that was scary disappeared the next day. I am not young anymore and it seems monsters like Ted Cruz and his dad Pastor Cruz are not going way, but rather getting stronger and scarier. I used to enjoy being scared, now the fear is way to hard to fathom. Now Halloween does not seem so happy.

Great Liars

At poker night for the Buncher/Braff/Katz family a whole lot of words in both Romanian and Yiddish were tossed around. Usually the evening would start out in English, however once some schnapps and whiskey were poured the English became a kind of trans-English-Yiddish sound and eventually as more alcohol and home made wine was shared and drunk the conversation was pure Romanian. My Dad the only non Romanian would usually pound on the table and yell in clear English, “…when the card game is over you can whisper in front of me, but not until the last poker chip is traded…” My Dad’s speech was a true sign that the poker game was over and the very intense, dark, rich Romanian coffee would be poured. Wafting to the second floor of our home almost reaching out to my sisters and I supposedly asleep in our bedrooms was a combination of burned coffee beans, some Cuban cigar smoke, home made corned beef, Kosher dill pickles and the cheapest smelling reapplication of grandma perfume smelling like rotting lavender and lilacs. This was also a cue for my sisters and I to feign a lack of sleep and a huge pang of hunger. Playing up to the great aunts and female cousins was pure Oscar worthy acting and on a good Saturday night at about 1:00 in the morning at least two corned beef sandwiches half a dozen dill pickles and a lot of pop (soda pop) would be had.

Usually there were two words tossed around one in Yiddish linger (liar) and then for better emphasis in Romanian mincinos  (such a liar). Most of the time during the after Poker feast and while the alcohol was still running roughshod through the veins and brains of my family the liar words were mentioned regarding some people whose sole purpose in life was to just be mean and evil. These individuals received pure excitement for never EVER being honest. These people were considered less then human. These liars created a fabricated story inventing a hoax, they were conmen. Perhaps they understood the truth but these liars were so good at avoiding telling the truth. They were not family, they were not Romanian, they were sinister. These evil doers had to be called a linger or a mincinos and great warning was issued to know they own enemy! Once the conversation focused on these liars, my grandma and her sisters would purse their lips and in unison emit a large pooh/pooh/pooh sound!

While my sisters and I were satiated and glowing in a corned beef over eat my Grandma Braff would ask us to come closer to her. She usually had just applied the most fiery red lipstick to her lips kiss us on the lips (ugh) and say in her you had better listen to me voice the following: “…My grandchildren, my precious (we knew Grandma Braff had a few peach schnapps too many in her when she followed grandchildren with the word precious) you should always be aware that a Great liar is not a Good person…” One more very red lipstick kiss on the the chin followed by: “…A Great liar never hopes the truth will be found, for too much Good would befall anyone but the liar!” My sisters and I were wiry enough to wiggle free from my Grandma Braff, albeit a bit stuffy in the stomach, feigned sleepiness and after kissing everyone goodnight high tailed it to the safety of our bedrooms on the second floor. We were afraid that these Great liars might be waiting for us.

In our house lying was not tolerated. Lies were intentional, created as ploy to just misinform. We were warned that the wrath of the wooden spoon to your tush or worse a public reprimand would ensue. One was physical pain, the other very humiliating. Never be great at lying just be good at being a person we were told. As the debate continues by members of the Tea Party/Republican treason/anarchists regarding the Affordable Care Act (all lying on purpose, all purposely denying any truth, all hoping the truth will never be discovered) I think of my Grandma Braff’s quotes that a Great liar is not a Good person. I hear my Grandma Braff telling us a Great liar hopes the truth will never be found, that too much Good would befall anyone but the liar!

wrong is right

“If lovin’ you is wrong I don’t want to be right”, so the song goes. How could something so possibly right be considered so damn wrong? And in America it seems the both in politics and religion what should be so right often times is deemed as so wrong.

Jesus, for many an Evangelical Christian, is a member of the NRA, frowns upon any government intervention to assist the poor and has little temperament for keeping the planet his father created healthy and clean. If you love Jesus, according to the Evangelicals with the microphone to God, you hate minorities, the unemployed, women who dare to have a brain and insist they did not originate from Adam’s rib, and of course the homo who even though most of his parents were straight is a descendent from the Devil. Jesus must have said heal they self because the Evangelicals would rather burn the government to the ground then permit affordable health for the masses. Since Jesus did not mention the Affordable Care Act in the New Testament he was darn sure again it!  So staying healthy and affording that health care are certainly not God’s will. If loving Jesus that way is so right I would rather be so wrong.

For the hard core Tea Party/Republican a fair wage, equality in hiring, living, loving is nothing more than a form of Fascism. For the hard core Tea Party/Republican if in an election the other candidate won, then that election is nothing but a fraud and all we have is a democratically elected dictator. For the hard core Tea Party/Republican if old people need assistance in their retirement, all Americans should at least have adequate health care, poor kids need nutrition, the unemployed some financial assistance then this nation is becoming a socialist haven and will soon turn into a Communist state. For the hard core Tea Party/Republican democracy is not one person one vote, the pursuit of happiness is just for people like me and freedom never has a place in either the bedroom or doctors office. If in the eyes of the Tea Party/Republicans loving an America which denies equality, freedom of choice, a fair chance for is so right, I would damn rather be so wrong. If with the Tea Party/Republicans it is patriotic to hate and demonstrate then I would rather not be called a patriot.

If in America the voices of Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, the Koch Brothers are the sounds of what is right I would rather be wrong. if in America the rich should never pay their fair share of taxes, corporations are people, pollution is just the cost of successful Capitalism is so right I would rather be wrong. If in America the divide between church and state does not mean the Evangelical Christian, the Confederacy was never an enemy of the state, unlimited bribery of PACS and lobbyists are right I would rather be wrong. It seems to me that in America of 2013 there is an awful lot of wrong that is assumed to be right. We all know what happens when we  assume!

Now I'm 64

It was 1966 and my high school English teacher had her class read the book 1984. This nation could never ever be so restrictive or subversive. It was 1968 and the movie “2001, A Space Odyssey” was released. Computers with a mind of their own, REALLY! It was 1990 and the doomsday countdown clock was ticking away as the new millennium of 2000 was a decade away. Would the world as we knew it melt and cave? It was 1967 and the Beatles album ‘Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band’ released a song titled ‘When I’m 64’. Cute song but in 1967 I was graduating from high school, 18 years of age, and nothing about those lyrics was remotely relevant. These were dates in the future that were intriguing, interesting, but it was the future and honestly there was so much of the present to first deal with. Good read, good movie and great song, but get real people those dates were sooooooo far away!

For those of us born in 1949, (the cool term is mid century- go to any antique store selling furniture from 1949 to 1969 and that is what they sell) 2013 seemed so damn far away. Perhaps there might be a Totalitarian form of Government. Maybe computers would be as smart and cunning as humans. The 21 first century might start out as a technical nightmare. But first we had a whole 63 years ahead of us to become the mighty, indulge in dreams, find our fancies and live a life to its fullest. When I’m 64, that would be a song your parents or grandparents should be singing! 

‘Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm sixty-four?’ The chorus rambling throughout the song just asks a basic question of I’m here do you care and if you care how? It was a question I had never bothered to ask because 64 was way far off. Well on October 21, 2013 it arrived! Now on October 22 2013 it has passed just as the other momentous dates of1984, 2000, 2001. It now has become a yesterday, a part of my history. I now shall reflect and ponder its impact and precision in defining my future. No longer is the question when I’m 64 but the bigger issue is of what have I become at 64? (But then maybe it will take turning 65 to answer that)  Pondering, wondering, wishing  are all a part of a new year,truly exceptional birthday gifts each. Being able to enjoy life is however the crowning jewel. Now that I am 64 it is important to thank my family and friends for making me strong, a few enemies for keeping me stronger; 64 years and a day of strength. 

When I am 64 is now so passé! Thank you everyone for the memories made and the new ones to be created! Thanks for the wishes, dreams, hopes and prayers!

nullification

Ordinance of Nullification—an argument that essentially said that if a state didn’t like a federal law it could simply ignore it.  The Civil War, segregation, voter ID laws, government shutdown over the legal Affordable Care Law are prefect examples.  Anti Americanism not just an Islamist Jihadist notion or a Chinese/Russian communist plan, rather something honed in the heartland by Americans who refuse to except that any minority of color is human,  insist that women’s bodies are the subject of the church, there is no divide between the Evangelical church and the state, and Gays are not equal to anyone! Terrorism is no longer something creeping from the shores of a distant land. Murdering health care providers who perform abortions, burning or bombing Planned Parenthood clinics, bullying members of the LGBT community all straight from the bowels of the homeland Of course purchasing a gun without requiring any documentation, true Americana. Democracy no longer is about one person one vote. It is now about threats to close down the government, increasing financial support from wealthy donors, corporations as citizens, gerrymandering.

Listen closely to the people who swear they carry the Constitution in their left pocket while holding the Bible in their right hand next to their shotgun as they insist the Affordable Care Law is socialized medicine, but having the government deny women their reproductive rights is not. Listen closely as the Tea Party shouts down the evil of Sharia Law (law based on Islamic principles), but with fervor and frenzy quote the Christian New Testament as the real book of law. Listen closely as the Koch Brothers and their ill funded conservative organizations filter down the law to their paid political puppets telling them how and when to vote. Listen closely as chorus after chorus of Tea Party thugs demand President Obama be impeached because they as Americans cannot respect the democratic process by which he was elected.

There has been a lot of disruptive noise garnered from a small group of torch carrying townsfolk out to identify a monster in their midsts. Burn ‘em, lynch ‘em, kill ‘em cries from a group of people who dislike difference, seek a scapegoat, and have NO respect for the history of this nation. Too often when looking back at our history do we find that the noise was victor, that the conscience vacant, and that vitriol with emptiness the conquerer. Too often the honest individual the citizen of substance stood aside permitting the biased, bogus and bigoted to run amuck; thinking once they blew their steam there would be no more energy. Too often too many people suffered in the wake of madmen. As long as we still have a fighting chance for democracy in this nation and elections are still given a chance for fair and just  those of us who really care about America need to make sure the voices of freedom prevail.

a test

Just wondering...In order to drive a car, we all must take an exam explaining to us the laws of the land as well as how to drive the vehicle. Pass the test and we drive. To become a social worker, an attorney we all must become licensed. Lots of questions about our craft and most importantly more information about the laws of the land. Pass the licensing and you practice your profession. Quality physicians become board certified (except Dr/Senator Rand Paul who avoided any scrutiny regarding his own abilities and created his own bogus certification) and are recognized as medical workers who can be relied on. We learn a little bit more about our fields of study and become reliable sources for the public’s consumption. But run for office and nothing is asked of you. Become an elected official and it does not matter that what you know is a whole lot less then what you don’t know. Perhaps before anyone can become an elected official in our government we should hire any ninth grade civics/American history teacher and ask all candidates to take a test. Perhaps it might make sense to ask questions about our Constitution (not the abridged one Sarah Palin or Ted Cruz quote) but the original as written by our Founding Fathers (sans Jesus) Perhaps it might make sense to ask questions about what really happened during this nation’s past (not the interpretation from Limbaugh, Beck or Hannity or Fox News). It makes me wonder how many current Tea Party terrorists might never ever make it to election day due to their lack of knowledge? Makes me wonder how much saner and honest this nation could become when those who create laws and enforce them really understand what they are talking about!

God Bless America, PLEASE

Here we go again, the Gays, the Queers, the homosexual agenda, once again the Gay Mafia is once more infringing on the foundation of American freedoms, usurping the powers of an Evangelical Lord and Savior, demoralizing the minds and souls of guns first, women’s rights never, colored folk inferior always red white and blue Americans. Here we go again when so called Christian conservative pastors and preachers pound on their Bibles swearing that the GAYS are just like the Devil and much more powerful then prayer or the God they pray to. And now, because this is an America based on a corporate standard, its time for a class action suit against homosexuality. It seems homo-sex is worse then smoking and just like smoking its time to sue the manufacturers of homosexuality. The question must be begged who to sue...the heterosexual parents of the majority of homosexuals who gave birth to the homo’s or God who is believed to have created Adam and Eve from Adam’s rib and thus all the begat that came from them? At least we had the Tobacco Companies as litigants in the cigarettes cause cancer scheme. Who the fuck can sue for this?

Rick Scarborough the founder of Tea Party Unity thinks homosexuality is worse than smoking, and is calling for a class action lawsuit against homosexuality — just like attorneys general of 46 states brought against the top four tobacco manufacturers in the 1990s. “Obviously, statistically now even the Centers for Disease Control verifies that homosexuality much more likely leads to AIDS than smoking leads to cancer. And yet the entire nation has rejected smoking, billions of dollars are put into a trust fund to help cancer victims and the tobacco industry was held accountable for that.” Don’t declare homosexuality illegal just make it unlawful!

Here we go again when men like me (an out and proud homosexual) can somehow wield a power much stronger then God, more potent then nature, and of course that overrides the US Constitution written by the Founding Father’s but authored by Jesus. Here we go again when insecure, miserable, small minded men want to blame God for their own biases, and want to attack anyone they are so fearful of. Here we go again when poverty, unemployment, lack of affordable health care, pollution/climate change, division of have and have not’s has accelerated (all of the pressing issues Jesus would never have tolerated) are ignored; replaced instead with a very sad homophobic response by weak willed humans,  who want to destroyGod creations who among the many attributes in their life happen to be Gay. Once again, the finger is pointed away from the inability of men like Rick Scarborough lacking soul, morality and good Christian conscience and pointed toward men like Gerry Buncher as the culprit for the ills of a nation.  God Bless America, please!

shameful sham

We the people of a great nation who think that democracy matters who believed that one person one vote is the core of a sane nation, who insist that fair and balanced be the mantra are only spectators to an ill conceived torment initiated by a group of bigoted, uneducated, angry men and women who refuse to govern. We can blog, opt ed, comment, post and ponder and all the while maniacs seeing no further then the spite in front of their nose continue to repress freedom and fair. Gamesmanship is the goal, denial the ploy with obstructionism the purpose of a small contingency of elected officials  who consider this nation their homogeneous fiefdom. The USA has moved from the ideal of democracy as the dog wagging the tail to hypocrisy as the tail crashing the dog into barriers that will eventually kill the dog. Ideologues have somehow risen to the top of a political food chain and while eating their own are devouring the sad sack of onlookers who do nothing but stare at the carnage before them. The sham is a shame.

In the past five years we have counted down to disaster, rung our hands and sweated bullets of fear wondering what else could possibly happen. Greatness has been replaced with greed. Goodness with gluttony. Democracy has been redefined as blackmail, bogus and bigotry. Even those, the humongous corporations, bankers and billionaires who have created the monster called the Tea Party, are now fearful of their creation and worried that their invention may soon become the master. Secession, divide, theocracy, are bandied about as solutions to issues invented and created by demigods and delusionalists. We the people seem to be bystanders who can only ooh and ahh as the mass murder of freedoms, equality become the victims. The sham is a shame.

Is there time to stem the tide of hate? Is there a will of the people, the persons who have read the entire Constitution (not the abridged version told to us by Limbaugh, Beck or Palin) to take control? Is there purpose from those who witness the lame, insane, and idiots, to stop the erosion of democratic principles? We have an election on the horizon and one might hope, wish even pray that the silent become vocal, the passive become active and the smart finally step forward from the stupid. If we the people permit the racists, homophobes, xenophobic, misogynist to continue a head on assault on this nation then every day forward will become darker, drearier and full of dread. Why must we permit the sham to become such a shame?

the shame of a sham

A crowd pushes through the barricades blocking the entrance to the WW2 Memorial in Washington DC; leading the way were Sarah Palin and Ted Cruz. The stars the stripes, the rockets red glare could be seen and heard as the Patriots paraded past the blockaded pathway. God needed to bless the USA and two self proclaimed and anointed stalwarts of liberty, freedom, equality, two soldiers of Christ crusading to rid America from the evils of socialism, communism, atheism and intellectualism Palin and Cruz proudly led their troops forward. While all of this was happening, infants were starving, women were being denied reproductive rights, seniors were rotting, government employees without paychecks, cancer patients without medical visits, and the poor remained just as poor as ever. But nothing says ‘...loving like something from the oven’, like photo opts of the flag, the Bible and the hypocrites carrying both.

Our WW2 Vets deserve to visit their memorial anytime they wish; they risked life and limb to keep America free, no questions about that. But do any of them wonder if all they fought for is fading fast while people like Palin and Cruz pontificate that not all Americans now deserve the same opportunities of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Do the Vets lining up to visit their memorial realize that people like Palin and Cruz want to decide how you get medical attention, if you should work for a decent wage, if women are equal to men, if homosexuals are as real a person as heterosexuals, if seniors are just too old to survive, if your God is not named Jesus you should not be able to pray? Do the men and women who served this country during WW2 understand that Palin and Cruz and their entire Tea Party anarchists don’t believe ALL Americans are equal? Do the Vets standing beside Cruz and Palin know they are consorting with the enemy?

National Parks are being opened, memorials are admitting participants the facade of Americana looks good on the news or online, but behind the optics what is really going on in this nation? Palin and Cruz lead the wary warriors of past wars while Palin and Cruz and their cohorts deny the current crop of citizens any opportunity for a future of justice, fairness and equality. Snake oil salesmen with the slightest of hand have always been a bane of our existence. The weakest of mind the insecure of conscience, the self loathing, insecure love a good lie, a false pretense to prove their point. False prophets love to indulge on the feeble of will, the frail of intelligence, the dumb. If our flag which is always waving in the hands of people like Palin and Cruz really means anything it must go beyond the hypocrisy and hyperbole of holding it and represent our democracy in its finest. Palin and Cruz and their Tea Party terrorists provide a good scam and it seems too many suckers have been born every minute and are buying it.

whose values

Its called the Values Voter Summit a political conference for American social conservative activists. It is hosted by the Family Research Council. The Family Research Council is an American conservative Christian group and lobbying organization founded in 1981 by James Dobson. James Dobson is an American evangelical author, a non-ordained minister but is called the nations most influential evangelical leader. James Dobson founded Focus on the Family. Focus on the Family’s stated mission is nurturing and defending God-ordained institution of the family and promoting biblical truths worldwide.Focus on the Family opposes abortion, divorce gambling LGBT rights LGBT adoptions pornography, pre-marital sex and substance abuse. It supports abstinence only sex education,non-LGBT adoption, corporal punishment creationism, school prayer and strong gender roles. Psychologists psychiatrists and social scientists have accused Focus on the Family of misrepresenting their research to bolster FOTF's political agenda and ideology. It is called the Values Voter Summit and insists it is the true conscience of the Tea Party/Republican voter, who understands that this is a Christian nation that Jesus Christ not only Lord and Savior, but Commander-in-Chief, decider of what the writers of the Constitution really meant when they wrote it. The Values Voter Summit is currently in session, and America you had better be plenty worried.

Ted Cruz received a standing ovation at the Values Voters Summit. Ted Cruz wants to be president of the US and will hob knob the stupid, the bigoted, the biased and the bogus filling their empty heads and pitiful hearts with any lie they wish. He will destroy any foundation perceived to be in his way to become dictator-in-chief of the US. He is the epitome of a slimy snake oil salesman smart enough to dupe the dopes, intelligent enough to use the Bible as the basis of a misled truth, and cocky enough to spit in the face of democracy and decency. The Value Voters Summit participants were like giddy teen agers slurping every single lie Ted Cruz espoused and chanting his disregard for the American way in great harmonies. The Value Voters Summit is currently in session and making monsters ready to devour this nation. 

Glenn Beck, Michelle Bachmann, Allen West, Jim DeMint are four of the dozens of speakers hired to speak at the Values Voters Summit, leaving the rest of the sane world to ask the question please define the meaning of values. Values used to have a strong reason and purpose. Values were based on truth, based on conscience, based on integrity. Look closely at Mr Cruz and the the cohort of anglers, salesmen, and demigods speaking and the question must be begged, why call this a values summit and not just a tyrannical, propagandist Ku Klux Clan gathering?  Somehow a small minded group of haters calling themselves Patriots, Christians, Americans have highjacked the nation and are getting away with treason and pretending any of it has to do with values. This is scary stuff America, this tumor is malignant and is spreading fast enough to kill all of the innocent in its path. The Value Voters Summit is meeting and all of us need to run for our lives.

Of course of course

A horse is a horse of course of course a horse is a horse of course, except if that horse is the famous Mr Ed. Those are the the lyrics of the theme song for a 60’s TV show called Mr Ed. Mr Ed was a talking horse and of course he was a horse, except he wasn’t just a horse because he talked. If you looked at Mr Ed, petted Mr Ed or rode Mr Ed you would of course think he was a horse; until he opened his mouth and said hello. Then you might question the entire premise of what is a horse anyway!

First the shut down of government was all about no Obamacare, this nation was not going to go all Socialist rogue just to ensure that the those Americans uninsured could get affordable health insurance. Nope nothing more UnAmerican then affordable life, liberty and a pursuit of some happiness. Washington, Jefferson, Regan and Jesus all the Founding Fathers of this nation would turn over in their graves if they even thought a land of freedom would try to find equality in insurance rates and coverage. Then the shutdown of government was about respect. The Tea Party/Republicans got all pouty and moody that no one appreciated their treasonous acts and were now being disrespected and dissed. Damn that Kenyan black man for insisting that threats, blackmail, and insanity not be tolerated to lead this government. Now once again for the first time the word Entitlements has crept into the jargon of dissent and suddenly the shutdown is all about too many poor people getting food assistance, too many old people trying to survive on social security and too many young children requiring decent education. Entitlement for the lower class is taboo, but entitlement in the form of tax breaks, corporations as people, and businesses not paying higher wages for their employees is manna from Heaven.

The shutdown is no longer focused on stopping Obamacare (still embers of hot ash burning), but is also about PR numbers for terrorists voted into office by undemocratic gerrymandering of districts. (The more they trash the US government the more American they appear for the Fox News lemmings). It is also now about debt, the kind that can only be found when you feed, educate, care for other Americans less fortunate then you. (It is also about the care and feeding of Corporations/CEO’s and the 2% which is never considered a debt). A shutdown is a shut down of course of course except when that shutdown suddenly is more about ego, politics,and revenge and not at all about anything reasonable. Mr Ed was a horse of course, but then he wasn’t! A shutdown is a shutdown of course of course except when it isn’t anything but a ruse for manipulation and fear.

Debate this!

Debate this...

Is it more patriotic to keep the WW2 memorial open then the Head Start Program? If you gotta give in it is more American to permit visitation to a memorial or feed hungry women and kids? Is it more patriotic to honor the men and women who fought to keep this nation free but less so then to starve the children and grandchildren of those hero’s by keeping them poor and ill?

The President says place a clean resolution vote on the floor of the Congress. John Boehner says there are not enough votes to pass it. The President says try it and see if it flies or fails. Listen to FOX News or Limbaugh Lies Live and discover the President is called a Commie/Socialist for asking that democracy work and Boehner is called  a Patriot for denying democracy be practiced. 

Is compromise considered my way or else, or is it trying to find a solution? Is the Constitution just a prop to demonstrate just how good you look covered in a slimy version of red, white and blue or the key to keeping America free? Are free elections the cornerstone of America where one person one vote counts and the total of that count is how we govern this nation. Or is ignoring the one person one vote system replacing it it with tantrums, shutdowns and closures the new way America should be governed?

Has this nation gone bonkers because a group of gerrymandered, fear mongering Crusaders for Christ politicians most who have never studied a civics or government course in their small minded ignorance and bigotry have bullied both the Senate and Congress? Have the really wealthy 1% the puppeteers, the mad scientists who created this new class of of classless politician found happiness in their relentless anti Obama, anti democracy, keep ‘em poor, we versus they monsters or are they too realizing that no matter how much money you pour into the dumb they will still remain stupid. Will the American voter, (the ones who will still have access to voting booths) be just as guilty to voting for the same bunch of goons who care little for democracy caring a whole lot more for tyranny? Or will we finally come to our senses and discover that  if we don’t stop the Tea Party terrorists, the activist Supreme Court Justices, the Koch Brothers and their cohorts from Wall Street that it will not be the Socialist Kenyan president who brings this nation to its knees but the folks dressed in tri-cornered hats carrying abridged versions of the King James Bible in their pockets next to their holsters and ripped pages of a Constitution for the Confederate States Of America? And dear God, why is there even a debate on closing the government or not???

empty gestures

Wow, what a sweet gesture, how humbling, patriotic, PATHETIC actually, now John Boehner has decided he too will forfeit his salary while he and his Tea Party/Republicans henchmen hold America hostage. How divinely elegant Mr House Speaker for you to withhold your poorly earned pay, just wondering if in doing so it will place some food on the tables of the women and infants who are going without nutrition at the moment? Just wondering Mr. gee you are swell Boehner how the senior citizens whose meals on wheels won’t be delivered will eat? Just wondering Mr big shot bogus Boehner how the 800,000 furloughed government workers will pay their mortgage, rent, next grocery bill. Your forfeiting your paycheck is a lame answer to the huge mess you and your self serving, ultra gerrymandered band of bullies have created.  Empty gestures may be great sound bytes, but when there is no bite to eat at the dinner table due of the political follies you have performed that is what really bites!

I am not against those who have placed our nation and its citizens in harms way to suffer the same consequences, but Congressmen not receiving pay DOES not replace the food, shelter, health care lost by Americans who are in need right now. John Boehner will still have three meals today. John Boehner and his family using Socialized medicine  will still be able to visit a doctor of their choice today if they need to. John Boehner will still be able to drive home in comfort, sleep in a comfortable bed, comfortably play his next game of golf if he so desires. While John Boehner has forfeited his salary so many others have no choice but to go hungry, stay ill, live in poverty or worry how they will make it through the day. Instead of your grand decision for the day being forgoing your salary, how about demonstrating a backbone Boehner and immediately call for a vote to fund the government.  How much more shallow, hollow, devoid of substance can you get? 

Hey wait Johnny Boehner why not take that pay stub you are forfeiting and the pay stubs of your other Tea Party/Republican terrorists walk over a food bank, a senior adult center, a head start site and donate it to that agency? You want a great photo op, look a senior in eye, hold the hand of a preschooler, touch the shoulder of a family prioritizing which bills to pay and hand them your pay check. Wait, all of that might take some conscience some sincere thoughtfulness something you and your Tea Party/Republican buffoons seem to never ever own. If only you were human enough to feel shame.

Charades and Facades

Charades and Facades

Lawmakers at the ready for a good camera op but never ready to provide real opportunities all gather at the WW2 Memorial. Somehow they think that the Flag is only about the service of the Vets from WW2 and never about the infants, pre schoolers and men and women who are their parents.The press is at the ready to provide some red white and blue coverage but seem to stray afield from the hungry families unable to get a decent nutritional meal. America is not just about the men and women who risked their lives for liberty, but about the future generations who will need affordable health care, food, shelter jobs to perceiver so this nation can produce Troops to keep America free.

Keeping the monuments open is a fine gesture on the part of the Tea Party/Republicans but due their own selfish political gains and needs are keeping people out of jobs, seniors without at least one hot meal, employees with out the one pay check to get them through the week. Charades, facades, shenanigans are being played just for a handful of ignorant bigoted gerrymandered constituents who still think the President is  Kenyan, the UN has black cars at the ready, Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh are as poor and uneducated as they and that this is Christian only nation.

Michelle Bachmann, Steve King, Ted Cruz are terrorists but since the God they worship is named Jesus instead of Allah the folks back home sitting in front of FOX News listening to Glenn Beck on the radio, purchasing Sarah Palin’s ghost written works of fiction could care less. Affordable Health Care is not ruinous and a stake in the heart of democracy, acting as hostage takers, blackmailers and sadist is. When will the people who really love America for its potential begin to take back this nation from the lemmings and loser who just want to hate?

Consequences and Truth

Consequences and Truth

In the 50’s there was a television quiz show titled Truth or Consequences with a very simple premise, answer the question correctly (the truth) or face the consequences that might befall you. In the 50’s TV show the consequences ranged from a seltzer bottle sprayed in your face to an actual cherry pie thrown in your face. The truth, answering the questions correctly meant more money or gifts in your pockets. Simple, the truth meant little to no consequences. Perhaps too many things were black and white considered right or wrong in the 50’s (with little area for gray), but Truth or Consequences in its own meager way made no bones about it, the truth pays off and if you are not truthful there will be consequences.

Day two of (as MSNBC likes to put it) THE SHUTDOWN (pretend there is a heavy chorus of percussion in the background) is happening and the Tea Party/Republicans still psyched about denying 800,000 employees a pay check , infants and mothers nutrition, pre schoolers head start programs and seniors any kind of assistance just so they can block affordable health for most Americans are also irate and bothered. Seems they provided the consequences but when faced with the truth want nothing to do with it. Bullies never really ever want to face up to the crimes they commit and as sad sacks love to point fingers away from their own actions laying blame for their actions on someone else’s behavior. You made me push down, call you names, give you a black eye. You made me shut down the government because you want most Americans to have affordable health care.  I didn’t want to hurt you, really! I prefer the consequences of my actions rather then the truth behind them. 

Freedom it seems is the scapegoat for the actions of the Tea Party/Republicans. A government insisting that all of its citizens find and use affordable health care is somehow considered a denial of freedom. If its good for you the government has no right to demand you do it, it demeans your right to suffer, go broke or die. It is the same illogic used by the NRA lobby and their puppet politicians, less assault weapons may make you safe, and that denies the bad guy’s freedom to kill you. More background checks might restrict gun ownership falling into the wrong hands, even felons and mentally ill people, thugs and terrorists need the freedom to arm themselves. The Tea Party/Republicans prefer the consequences and never ever admit to the truth. The consequences are we are spiteful, extreme right wing anti democracy crusaders and will burn anything in our way to achieve our goals. If the truth be told you will see everything we do we do for some wealthy men and women who love, greed, gluttony and glory for themselves and of course our selfish, self serving needs. It seems while too many of the smart people sit back we are permitting the the dumb to provide the consequences and very little truth.

Good Lord Why!

Placing his humble face in front of the camera, a slight tilt of his head a lowering of the eyes almost to a squint but open enough to read his teleprompter, Bill O’Reilly revealed on 60 Minutes that about 3:00 in the morning some day of the week, some month of the year he awoke after hearing Jesus Christ speak to him. And thus the Lord spoke unto Bill O’Reilly commanding him to write a book titled “Killing Jesus. And on the seventh day God rested! And on the eighth day in earnest, a common man, a man of the people just like Jesus, Bill O’Reilly became one more hateful, spiteful, fabricator, racist, bigoted homophobic human to have been in earshot of Jesus Christ; to have been granted a conversation, to be yet, one more anointed human. As the Church Lady of SNL used to say, “...isn’t that special.”

Rick Santorum well known for anything hateful, anything anti Gay, anti female especially known for telling a crowd of enthusiastic demigods that rape is a special gift from God and any good Christian woman would understand that,had informed the American public that the motivation for his attempt at running for President of the US, was a conversation from Jesus. Jesus found time perhaps in the middle of the night usually when Jesus talks to philanderers, to encourage Rick Santorum to run, Ricky run for president. Perhaps it was Rick’s anti affordable health care schtick, maybe his I like blacks but they take too much from whites pontification, or even his God did not create homos in his (Gods) image so they deserve less than equal and fair, rants that aroused Jesus’s interest in having a late night early morning conversation. After all Rick what would Jesus do?

Michelle Bachmann, never one to shy away from fiction, preferring her version of the Constitution, History, and the New Testament rather then the truth, stood in front of adoring white folk sans any white robes or head coverings, matches or ropes. Looking first at her hubby, a man of integrity and cure the Gay clinics paid for with Government money, Marcus, and then to the skies and with a well rehearsed tear just dripping, dropping slowly enough for the cameras of FOX News to catch it, pronounced it was a few conversations with Jesus that convinced her to run for Congress and save America. She was all shucks and golly as to why her, but once Jesus spoke to her she knew that bias, bigotry and bogus were never roadblocks for her Jesus to select her as a winner. Doing Gods work she insisted is the only reason to run, forget the kickbacks, the side gifts the prestige of lying and getting away with it, nope, being a Congresswoman was similar to being a Christian slave in the days of Rome. Jesus called and what else could Michelle do?

I am not a Christian, having friends, smart, competent, compassionate, fair minded, caring friends who are and who proudly proclaim Jesus as their Lord and Savior, I am never quite sure who this Jesus is that talks to people like Bill, Rick and Michelle? This Jesus who talks smack with Pat Robertson, Ken Cuccinelli, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin; who insists that saving guns is cooler then saving lives, denying reproductive rights while at the same time denying basic nutrition, education, shelter is okay, saying that poor people are lechers or unemployed lazy can not be the same God of the sane and serious. I am never quite sure why anyone of sound mind and sincere spirituality would buy the bull shit from the likes of heretics using Jesus as a scapegoat for their own mislead human maladies and malaises. Good Lord Why!

Dumb-Da-Dumb-Dumb

If you watch FOX News because you are sure shootin’ it is fair and balanced, believe that Pat Robertson actually has direct access to Jesus, bemoan the fact that a Kenyan is President of the US then there is no real crisis, in your mind during a Government shut down. If you think that Rush Limbaugh is as common of a man as you, that Sarah Palin’s intelligence is something you strive for, that corporations are people with emotions then the circus show created by the Tea Party /Republicans is certainly entertaining as hell and a pleasant concept. If you believe that the Founding Fathers didn’t mean Christian people when they said a divide between church and state. that blacks are too uppity when they usurp even a little bit of self respect, that science is the devils tool to fool the unbeliever then at midnight when the the foundations of this nation began to collapse you will open a Bud and cheer.

If you are agin’ that gosh darned socialist affordable health care law because you lost your freedom to die a sad death, lost your freedom to linger in pain and suffering,lost your freedom to either by pass prescriptions because they are too expensive or avoid your visits to the emergency room then you are rooting for the Tea Party/Republicans to stop the ACA and replace it with absolutely nothing else. If you relish the fact that government is too big except in your bedroom or doctors office, rely on the Family Research Council to explain good from bad, know that the second amendment was established to keep communists and the UN out of our lives then watching as the dysfunction created by the Tea Party/Republicans is pure delight.

But if you think the stupid are way too dumb to govern this nation, the misinformed way too dangerous to establish laws, the bigoted and biased poised to diminish democracy, then you do have a whole hell of a lot to worry about. If you however remain silent as men like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Glenn Beck and women like Michelle Bachmann, Marsha Blackburn, Ann Coulter shout loud and clear about hate and injustice you are a fool. If you ring your hands insisting they are all a bunch of idiots and continue to ring your hands you are awaiting a big fat pie in your face that actually may stop you from breathing. If you pretend that the actions of men and women who think this is a white Christian nation, ruled by the heterosexual male, using an abridged version of the New Testament as the Constitution, treating anyone deemed different as the enemy don’t matter, be real careful of what might just come next; because you may never ever be able to think the way you want again. Not scared, really?