americana or can't

Aunt Bea from the Andy Griffith show would often tell a nosy neighbor or a bossy busybody that their judgmental behavior and sheer indulgence in someone else's business took some gumption. Aunt Bea would become quite perturbed when a nasty local of Mayberry siting snugly in her home surrounded by all the creature comforts possible would conclude that someone less fortunate had fallen down on their luck just because they were lazy. Often times Aunt Bea added the words ‘that takes a whole lot more gumption to feel that way. Aunt Bea in the day was a perfect picture of small town innocence, perhaps limited in her scope of the ways of the world, but savvy enough to know right from wrong, justice from injustice. 

My Grandma Braff, often times, when the family just finished a meal with more entrees and desserts then a restaurant ever offered, would hold court and lecture any family member who had the audacity to say the words, “I think I am going on a diet from this minute forward.” Grandma Braff would snarl her upper lip stick her neck forward in the direction of the diet pronouncer, her index finger pointing, no other parts of her body moving and say in a very guttural and monotone voice, “if you hadn’t made such a gluttonous fool of yourself and indulged as much as you had there would be no need for a diet. You can afford to wish yourself hungry because you have the luxury of eating as much as you want. I suppose Grandma Braff was inferring the word gumption but since there was no Yiddish version of it she would say its a ‘SHUNDA’ (shame).

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky is all aghast and angry that anyone worth their red, white and blue would even consider long term unemployment insurance as a saving grace. Sitting in his Washington DC office surrounded by a salary, perks of the job, throngs of lobbyists at the ready to buy his vote, great health care, Senator Paul wants to shame the unemployed into thinking that not finding a job is a form of laziness and very UnAmerican. Forgetting that his Senate Tea Republican colleagues both in the House and Senate have made job creation as difficult as mapping the road to Hell, Senator Paul loves playing the blame game and pointing fingers away from the real culprits. It seems that if you are unemployed after many months (mainly not of your own accord) all you want to do is live off the dole of the US Government according to the rantings and raves of this man. Get a job any job (as if any job is available to get). Get a job selling burgers (but if it is at McDonalds or Wendy’s don’t expect anything close to a living wage or for that matter minimum wage). Get a job at Walmart (but then make sure you either apply for food stamps, the ones  Senator Paul and his gang of haters have cut) or just prioritize if it is the rent, food or health care you wish to pay for. Rand Paul is arrogant, selfish and annoying. He is a demigod who believes his shit don’t stink because he has a toilet in which to flush it.

Aunt Bea is a fictional character one in which the writers tried to impose a sense of conscience, of fairness a sense of Americana in which caring counted. Grandma Braff for all of her fabulousness was real and never once permitted bull shit to linger more then a second. She would call you out on honesty and conscience. Rand Paul is a cartoon character, a creature who wants to populate the souls of the angry, disenfranchised and ignorant. He pretends to speak Americana but when he speaks his words are truly foreign to the desires and wishes of the men who founded this nation. Free speech is a keystone of this nation but educated, smart, intelligent people who must let the fools speak freely, but must always bring to light the darkness and gloom falling from their tongues and of course the truth. As Aunt Bea would say have you ever been without a home? As Grandma Braff would say have you really never eaten more then one meal? Where are the real Americans and the real Americana?