Speechless, Speaker

A reporter asked House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) at Thursday morning's Republican leadership press conference if, given his stated concerns about EPA regulations, "Are there steps you would support to take action against climate change, and do you think that's a problem?” Boehner's response didn't exactly answer the question. "Well, listen. I'm not qualified to debate the science over climate change. But I am astute enough to understand that every proposal that has come out of this administration to deal with climate change involves hurting our economy and killing American jobs," said Boehner. "That can't be the prescription for dealing with changes in our climate.” (katesheppard/huffington post)

Dear Mr Speaker: Really! You are a father of two daughters and most likely will have a legacy of a generation to follow you on this Earth when you pass. When your two daughters and perhaps their offspring become your age I wonder if they will agree with you that it is just about the economy and not the quality of life that matters. You place your contempt for science or truth in high esteem and it seems at the same time you have little concern for the generations of Americans who must suffer your consequences of being a puppet first, a politician second a human a distant third and of course stupid. Why is it Mr Speaker that you and your good ole boys and girls of the T-Publican party never fully understand the necessities of a healthy life but drown in your affection for a healthier bottom line for corporations? 

You are busy always speaking about what is good for the children but it seems any legislation offered for the children is either dismantled, disrupted, or disputed by you and your cronies? If it really was for the children Mr Speaker why wouldn’t you encourage their unemployed parents to at least survive with a bit more unemployment insurance? Why wouldn’t you insist that nutrition programs/food stamps/ early childhood education become a priority. Why wouldn’t you demand that women have access to clinics to keep them healthier mothers? And why wouldn’t you find more time to understand the science behind climate change, just in case those pesky know-it-all scientists know what they are talking about?

I know Mr Speaker, your status as Speaker speaks louder to you then justice, fairness and equality for all. You are the ugly American and you don’t even have to wander off to Europe to be called that. History will record a few things Mr Speaker regarding your tenure in the House of Representatives. You might go down as the most selfish self serving Speaker, the man who stuck his middle finger to the USA, and the Speaker who had his ass stuffed by so many lobbyists that when he shit he did so all over himself. 

except when it isn't

It is always for the children, except when it isn’t. It is always for America, except when it isn’t. It is always for the sanctity of the family, except when it isn’t. It is always for God except when it isn’t. Another massacre of innocents took place by a sick individual using among other weapons of destruction a gun, and those on the right who sing hymns about children, America, family and God are not angry at the murderer but pissed as hell for those who blame the guns he used to kill. Outrage by the minions who gorge on lies and deception are all aghast that once again we want to talk about who, how and when guns are used in this nation. Joe the Plumber (another protege of John McCain along with Sarah Palin) states in his stupid unintelligent manner consistent with those who only understand hatred, “your dead kids don’t trump my Constitutional rights,”  Even though he states he is a father, the only way to demonstrate a father or husbands love is to have your gun at the ready. For fools like Joe the Plumber it is always about the children, America, family and God except when it is NOT.

It is always for the children, America, family and God, except when it isn’t. Fracking, GMO’s Climate Change all issues that reflect on the quality of life for the common man have become fighting words. Even more then ever in the history of greed and gluttony of this nation the economies of corporations have merged as a priority over the economies of wealth and well being for people who are not deemed corporations. We do not require the Oil Conglomerates who frack the land to tell us what chemicals they use to drill the Earth. The men at Monsanto refuse to disclose what chemicals they have invented for their pesticides and fertilizers. The T-Publican dominated state legislature along within their Governor want to make it a law that any mention of climate change in that state will lead to a fine and maybe an arrest. Seepage of fracking water, drainage and consumption of GMO’s droughts, mega hurricanes, floods maim and murder millions but silence seems to be the golden rule.Do the next generation of children of Americans who believe in family God not matter?

Hypocrisy is as old as human kind. Once a person becomes insecure in the truth afraid that his/her facts are really fiction or just pretend to be someone they will never become hypocrisy is like breathing oxygen, they cannot live without it. How many Evangelicals who swear a zygote is a life have voted against, Food Stamps, Head Start, Extended Unemployment Benefits? How many gun totting mama’s have cried foul don’t touch my arsenal even though someone else's babies have been killed by the same weaponry they brag about? How many politicians who worry about family would rather accept lobbying funds from polluters whose products affect the environment in which all those families live. It is always for the children, America, family God until something better comes along. One more day of mass murder and all we get is hand ringing, noise and absolutely nothing else.

Bang, bang!

I am not as afraid of the government, riding in black cars with black helicopters taking away my freedoms as I am when I see groups of men brandishing assault weapons and riffles walking into a restaurant. I am not as scared of losing my liberties to the government as I am when men who prefer not to pay taxes or try to democratically change the law place their 30 rounds of ammo at the faces and bodies of Federal Marshals. I am not worried that when true Americans who have access to to firearms use them responsibly, discuss the Second Amendment, but I am terrified when anarchists, Christian jihadist’s, Tea Party fanatics pretend to even understand the value of the Second Amendment or have ever read the Constitution.

I am not as afraid that martial law will be imposed as I am when I see militias roaming the backwoods, intimidating minority populations, preferring the Bible over the Bill of Rights. I am not as scared of the government coming for my guns as I am when I see the gun lobbyists ignoring the rights of the innocent and accusing victims of gun violence as being the cause for such. I am not as worried that the laws asking for background checks, mental health status or size and caliber of gun used be registered as I am with the lawlessness, arrogance, ignorance of gun owners who think going to Church, a bar, a political rally will make you a better American and safer.

I am afraid, scared and worried that yet one more mass shooting has taken place and it has become so common place that the shock and awe is as great as George Bush’s failed attempt to explain his war in Iraq. I am terrified that the Second Amendment is so misinterpreted and maligned by people who would like to take us back to the days when High Noon was the only way to keep peace. I am angry as hell when politicians would rather pocket the dollars of gun manufactures,ammunition producers and a savvy group men whose profit depends on the loss of life. I am flabbergasted that the men and women who proclaim they are pro-life have nom problem with the proliferation of assault weapons, get angry when reasonable gun safety laws are proposed or even a debate on Second Amendment is suggested.

Why is it the responsible gun owners are never the ones wearing camouflage, waving their rifles in the air, threatening to stand their ground? Why is it that those who refuse to acknowledge this is a nation based on democracy with laws that can be voted upon by politicians elected into office seem to think only they know the TRUE American way? Why is it that those who proclaim Jesus as their Lord and Savior think that He was a general in the Revolutionary Army or worse the Commander for the Confederate Forces? Why have we such lack of respect for both the gun owner and those who want responsible gun ownership? Bang, Bang!

Tuesday, May 27

My father in law was proud about his service during WWII. He was an active member in the Jewish War Vets and diligently worked to ensure that all Vets lived a quality kind of life. He would answer questions about his time in the armed services, never bragging but always boasting that he served for a nation he was proud of and with men he was even prouder to have known and with whom he fought. Listening to his stories left a very deep impact on how my actions and reactions regarding the military of this nation especially around the time I was eligible for service during the Viet Nam War. My father-in-law never preached but patiently stood in front of any audience sharing the virtues, victories, legends and lessons of pride in America and pride in service to country. 

My brother-in-law served in Viet Nam and to this day perhaps I have only heard two or three stories during his duty over there. He enlisted in the army spent three years in Viet Nam and upon his return very few words were shared with our family. When the lottery for the Draft was created my brother-in-law suggested to me that I might think of moving to Canada. Trying to engage him a little more about why and if in fact his statements had anything to with his tour of duty in Viet Nam he would only say, maybe, but now is not the time to discuss that. My brother-in-law participated in the Jewish War Veteran activities at first doing so quietly and respectfully but usually at a distance. Never a disparaging word about his service was said, neither was any encouragement of his duty to his nation.

Later, in my career I had the chance to work as a development director for an agency whose mission was to create independent living situations for people with disabilities. We had a donor who felt it was his responsibility to assist returning soldiers from both Iraq and Afghanistan to readjust to American life. In particular he wanted to have his foundation work with Troops returning with missing limbs, eyesight and traumatic injuries to the brain. I was to interview a few of the men and women and try and get a sense of what it was that they needed to at least just survive. Some were excited to share with me stories of their life prior to the wars and many were disheartened and unable to say more to me then look at me I was not this way before. Some of the returning Troops without missing a beat said I would do this again if my country needed me while others could not understand what the wars were all about.

It is Memorial Day weekend, and I am torn as to how I respect this holiday. Is it a celebration of valor, honor, mission guts and glory? And if it is how do we respect not only the men and women who have provided their own blood, sweat and tears but the purposes as to why they served. When we place flags on gravesides, listen to 21 guns or raise the flag at half mast is that enough? When we embrace the hero’s of battles do we spend enough time looking at their scars and asking for what they have done have we learned anything at all? Is this weekend all pomp and circumstance with anthems of Old Glory or should we be humming tunes of promise, prosperity and please dear God potential for peace? Is it American enough to call this a holiday to honor the dead warriors, respect the wounded but NOT state out loud when this day might be obsolete for future calendars? I have been privy to the perspectives of men and women who have fought the battles, seen the enemy, been the enemy, and I need to know that what they have  generously done is not gone and forgotten when the calendar reads Tuesday, May 27. Waving the flag does not make us Americans alone. Understanding why we wave the flag, for me is the real question begged to be answered by a day we call Memorial Day.

you don't

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R), resolute in his quest to defend the state's ban on same-sex marriage, is disappointed that other states don't feel compelled to do the same. He added, “Not defending Gay marriage bans is next step to anarchy.” Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) said the “vilification of people who oppose same-sex marriage is exactly what we've seen throughout our history as going back to the days of the Nazi takeover in Europe.” Bryan Fischer, a radio host with the conservative advocacy group the American Family Association, "Just as the homosexual stormtroopers for Hitler were to exterminate and eliminate the opposition and beat them into silence, that's what homosexual activists want to do today,” All of this noise is blasted because quietly a man and a man, or a woman and a woman want to say “I do”. With the fear or phobia, hate or religious bigotry toward people who happen, among other qualities in their life to be homosexuals, a group of insecure, unhappy people just hate!

There is poverty, misery, unemployment, drought,dictatorships ten fold and more, yet political leaders and for profit pundents conjure up visions of Nazi soldiers at sunrise, Anarchists running amuck, Armageddon on the rise just because a simple freedom, based on the ideals that all men and women are created equal is being tested. The insincerity of homophobia is like a rash whose itch is craved by people who have little idea of democracy and greater distrust for love. It is as if the words “I do” are the foreword of a curse designed to deliver the Devil. Never a mention of the heterosexuals who are on their third or fourth marriages, or spousal abuse by straight married partners. No soap box dissertation regarding infidelity, adultery or sham marriages not based on love rather societal pressure. Just harangue after harangue regarding the fear that love might just conquer all.

I am not a Nazi, an anarchist, I have no agenda to recruit others into my lair of Gayness. I do not question your insincerity or difficulty in understanding true love. I want to be able to say “I do” because I actually do love another. We heard the same rantings and ravings from protectors of democracy and God when interracial couples wanted to marry. We were told God never intended on mixing the races or that the Founding Fathers did not state clearly the slave should marry the master. The saddest thing about telling other “You don’t” is just how small minded, and empty are the people who talk about love but never seem to experience it.

a new virus

On Monday, writer A.J. Delgado attributed the rising numbers of rapes reported on college campus’s to more women simply “crying rape.” Reps. Vance McAllister and John Fleming, both Republicans from Louisiana, berated a Democratic witness from the Defenders of Wildlife on Tuesday for illustrating abuses in wildlife refuges with photos of oil-slicked ponds; abandoned, leaky drums; and even bags and duct tape used for as long as a year to stave off spills in Louisiana national wildlife refuges. "As someone whose cousins were Christian missionaries in Africa, I have a difficult time watching the current administration appear to spend more time empowering radical Islamists in various countries than defending or protecting Christians," Rep Louie Gohmert said.

Pick your poison, be it arrogance toward women, disregard for polluting this nation or a continuous harangue that the president is not Christian enough thus not American enough; and you most likely will be in sad company with pundents and politicians more concerned with lemming-izing a nation then solving its problems. Pick your poison there is certainly enough of it around to kill a nation. Smarmy billionaires hide behind anonymity buying politicians, insincere political operatives create fear and phobias, inept entertainers pretend to to read the news but instead supply plenty of noise. No longer does the Constitution provide for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all but rather the select few who believe Jesus was the first president of the US. No longer do the freedoms FROM rate high, instead freedom FOR religion, carrying a gun, restrictive voting and denying reproductive rights are the all American anthem.

Stupid is no longer laughed at but celebrated. Call Gay marriage bad because it means less babies will be born thus the family unit will die. Call Planned Parenthood awful because it means women may not be good wives to their husbands. Call unemployed people lazy because if they really cared they would dig ditches. Call health care a Communist plot because in a true democracy from the most powerful nation in the world if people can’t afford to live well they deserves to die. Stupid gets elected; as long as you say enough hateful hurtful things toward the stupid self loathing that love thy neighbor  becomes a Fascist slogan.

When I hear that the politicians who hate women, immigrants, non Christians, Gays, the poor, the elderly, the unions have a chance to take control of both House and Senate and I become limp. Politicians, supported by anonymous billionaires who would rather make money then protect rights actually have a chance to rule this nation. Stupid is like the zombie plague, one bite and it takes control of your brain and all you do is attack, destroy and kill. Stupid is a dangerous virus.

It isn't

It is very Republican to cut services for the poor while decreasing the taxes for corporations….it is not American. It is very Republican to insist that there is voter fraud, limit the amount of days and hours for voting and to request expensive ID cards while all the time gerrymandering districts for political reasons…it is not American. It is very Republican to deny a path to citizenship for immigrants while making sure there are enough of them to do the most menial jobs and pay them the most measly of salaries…it is not American. It is very Republican to shout that the government has over-reached its boundaries in taxation, unemployment benefits, social security benefits and health care while intruding in the sex life of same sex couples or the doctors offices of women…it is not American.

It is very Evangelical to to deny climate change, while in the same breath declaring that God created the earth 6000 years ago…it is not Christian.It is very Evangelical to deny rights and liberties to Gays/Minorities/Women stating all the while that we are all God’s children…it is not Christian. It is very Evangelical to declare Jesus a gun totting, Second Amendment kind of machismo guy…it is not very Christian. It is very Evangelical to insist life begins when the egg meets the sperm, all the while denying food stamps, early childhood education, decent minimum wages once the egg and the sperm meet the world…it is not Chrisitan.

It is very Tea Party to declare that elections don’t matter when the man elected happens to be black…It is not Democracy. It is very Tea Party to pick up a rifle and aim it at Federal marshals because you want land without paying for the right to use it…it is not Democracy. It is very Tea Party to insist that the right to bare arms has more privilege then the right to be protected from those arms…it is not Democracy. It is very Tea Party to scream about freedom of religion being denied when all you do is roll over those who want freedom from religion…It is not Democracy.

It is very FOX News to avoid any facts…It is not News. It is very FOX News to avoid the truth when in fact the truth demonstrates what a bigoted news organization you are…It is not News. It is very FOX News to create facades hiding any reason from the ever eager racists, homophobes and misogynists…It is not News. It is very FOX to pretend that the same unintelligent, maligned, self defeating are actually being listened to or cared for while all the while raping their basic life, liberty and pursuit of happiness from them…It is not News.

It has become very 2014 to find hate as foundation, loathing as purpose, fabrication as meaningful and deceit as the way of God. It has become very 2014 to interpret the Constitution as if it was a penny novel to long and boring to read. It has become very 2014 to deny, repress, abuse the rights, freedoms of other Americans because you have no idea what the definition of being an American is. It is very Republican/Evangelical/Tea Party/FOX News to be so UN-AMERICAN!

what is the difference

Boko Haram using the defense that what they do is religiously motivated, thus permissible by the Islamic law should not be questioned. In fact, they insist that true believers of Islam should and would understand that women should or could never be educated and are placed on earth for the fulfillment and joy of man.When girls have the audacity to think for themselves it is a slap in the face of Mohammad and Boko Haram’s ending these girls from a life of blasphemy is truly a gift from God. The leader of Boko Haram knows this because his God has not only spoken to him but encouraged him to take up arms against women who if left to their own desires would mock the rightfulness and purposefulness of man; that in turn would be an insult to Allah! What barbarians we say, what criminals. Of course we add they are Muslims and EVERYONE knows what Devil worshipping son’s of bitches they are. 

In the past two years, Texas legislators slashed funds for family planning and passed up $30 million a year in federal Medicaid money, largely to squeeze Planned Parenthood out of the state's women's health programs. In a state where half of all pregnancies were unplanned in 2011, and 1 in 3 women of childbearing age lacks health insurance, this is only going to get worse. (Mother Jones) When clinics like Planned Parenthood are closed down there are a whole slew of women’s health issues that are also eliminated like: Diaphragms. Depo-Provera injections. Oral contraceptives. Pregnancy testing. Pap smears. Screening for sexually transmitted diseases. Missouri's state legislature passed a bill requiring a woman to wait 72 hours from the time of her initial medical consultation to have an abortion (current law mandates a 24-hour waiting period). Missouri self proclaimed Crusaders of Christ masked as elected officials have made a reference that deciding on an abortion is similar to selecting a car; and you know how fickle women can be. (Huff Post)

Many Evangelical Christians believe that women are inferior to men; referring to their Bible which calls women a weaker vessel. Their Bible teaches women are to be married, keepers of the home, bearers of children, and sex partners for their husband. (unless the husband goes Old Testament and has multiple wives and concubines). Quite simply, the Bible teaches that the world of women revolves around husband, food, children, and sex. 

So what is the difference between kidnapping females vs. kidnapping their individual freedoms of choice? What is the difference between harassing girls who just want an education vs. harassing women who just want reproductive rights?  What is the difference for considering women chattel for men vs. treating women as less then man? We are appalled that the Boko Haram has invaded the privacy of innocent school girls, but seem to think that the Lord has blessed those who indulge in the rights and liberties of all women. What is the difference between belligerent self serving self proclaimed prophets of God who do so in the name of Islam vs the destruction and arrogance of self serving prophets of God who so in the name Christianity? 

gin rummy and other games

Vay ist mir, such a Fer-Schtook-In-Ah. Let them rattle like an old radiator until the steam is gone and all they got is rust in their pipes. Stand back however, because you never know when the gasket will blow. Then my Grandma Braff would take a sip of her tea with three scoops of sugar make sure her red lipstick did not smudge the tea cup and sigh, “…they are lost in their own lies”; then turn to anyone close by and add “…those schmoe’s should never be found let them wander far, far away.” Grandma Braff was not much in tolerating what she felt was a wind bag who only liked to blow their own garbage around. If you actually believed in something strongly enough there was no exceptions she would say. You can’t tell me that you keep Kosher but your Uncle Saul is coming over for dinner and he wants pork chops. You cook the pork chops you have no idea what Kosher is. “No exceptions”, she would sometimes say as we played gin rummy on those exceptionally cold winter afternoons in Pittsburgh, “just because your Uncle Saul likes pork chops. “Gerry” she would say or add the name of her gin rummy opponent, you either have a reason for your cause or your cause causes others to have concern.” “A piece of advice, Grandma Braff would say right before she was ready to have a gin rummy, holding her cards flat out like a fan, “…if it is true then you need no excuses for it, and I love you very much but cards takes no prisoners” “Gin!

A Dallas TV host walked off the set of her show Tuesday after an argument erupted over her disapproval of Michael Sam kissing his boyfriend. Kushnir said that she was against the network airing the kiss, and argued that it strayed from ESPN's tradition of promoting "all-American sports.” "When parents do not have a choice as to whether or not they want their children to see this, it's wrong," she said. "It's being pushed in faces.... I don't want to see that. I don't want to see cake in your face, kissing each other.” The same huffy puffy homophobe however had no hesitation in being carried on to stage by four bare chested hunks scantily clad in tight fitting closes so all of their body parts could be recognized and ogled over. Nothing says all American sports like muscled guys carrying a middle aged woman onto a television stage. As Grandma Braff might have said, two men with muscles kissed, four men with muscles kissed your ass, so what is your complaint?

A coalition of black pastors have condemned gay marriage, saying it's incorrect to compare the fight for equal marriage rights to the civil rights movement. "The fact that American media or other factions erroneously characterize the traditional meaning of 'marriage' as being on par with the civil rights deprivations of Black Americans does not make it so," the brief states. "Comparing the dilemmas of same-sex couples to the centuries of discrimination faced by Black Americans is a distortion of our country’s cultural and legal history.” So now it seems discrimination has its levels of importance. Suddenly someone else’s struggle for acceptance is never as meaningful or purposeful as yours. Your inability to accept others has nothing to do with the difficulty others have in accepting you. Grandma Braff might have added its okay for you to hate because you have your reasons and they are valid, but when others hate you there can nor will ever be any validation.

Grandma Braff would say “they are lost in their own lies”,probably secure in not wanting to be found. There is a lot wrong with bigotry and hate, but the one redeeming saving grace might just be TO BE HONEST about it. Grandma Braff would have never said this out loud even with her second glass of Peach Schnapps, but I am sure she thought it often, everyone goes to the bathroom and dear everyone’s shit does smell.

Mr Schwartz

Mr Schwartz lived in the first row of houses on Denniston Ave in the 1950’s. He and his wife had emigrated from Lithuania in the 30’s and had proudly called themselves  American citizens for at least two decades. Mr and Mrs Schwartz never had their porch lights on during Halloween (in the 50’s there was a simple rule no porch light no asking for trick or treats). They only shoveled the snow in front of the five feet they claimed was their property and not one inch more. They  called the police (usually my dad) if neighborhood kids were playing outside (another proud 50’s tradition) after 9 pm. especially when they ran past the Schwartz house to which was located next to the alley way leading to all of the backyards. When it came time for my Dad a Pittsburgh police man to hand out flags for the Fourth of July Mr Schwartz would interrogate my father as to who he thought was not really American enough and who should not be rewarded with a flag. Our neighborhood on Denniston in the 50’s had more kids per square block, more block parties then humanly possible and more families who usually got along and liked one another. But then there were the Schwartz’s

One side of Denniston, where the row houses were situated,(they were row houses then not town homes, not condo’s) had a constant group of families who lived on the street for long durations. Across the street were huge three story homes that at one time would have competed with the mansions of the rich and famous. Built originally for one family unit, these  homes eventually grew as old as their original inhabitants, but unlike the their landlords did not die when they aged. During the 50’s these great homes became rental properties. Sons and daughters of the deceased took over their ownership but for the most part were handled by absentee landlords. Three floors of housing created three different apartment spaces in one building and at times even those spaces were subdivided to include more renters. Having had no idea as a kid the cost of rent all we knew was that those homes were in constant flux so we assumed they were haunted. (Good ghost stories were the crux of Saturday night lure right before Chiller Theater double feature appeared on television).

I remember hearing the word refugee sometime in the early 1950’s. It was a word that always was stated with hard breath a sigh and the phrase, I hope they are not like other refugees many would say as the next batch of renters moved in across the street. It was, however Mr Schwartz who not only intimated that refugees were the bane of American society, he would approach any new family to the neighborhood and ask them if they spoke English, had a job and knew that you never ever hung your laundry out the window to dry. Some neighbors had had enough of this crazy man’s rumination and I remember vividly approached Mr Schwartz to stop his one man lynching party. When asked why Mr Schwartz was so anti refugees or so self appointed Uncle Sam his reply was the following: They are not like me. I am clean they are not. I worked a job the minute I arrived in this land. I gave up any old traditions or superstitions of my other land. They don’t want to become good citizens. Asked how he knew this, Mr Schwartz referred to a newspaper he subscribed to and a very remote AM radio station filled with tales from people claiming to be descendants of the Mayflower.  Mr Schwartz was right and no one would tell him differently. At the end of this conversation and mot others until he died of a heart attack Mr Schwartz would clamor I have the facts correct and you don’t.

I think of Mr Schwartz often these days whoever I hear people like Marco Rubio deny climate change is man made. Rush Limbaugh insisting that rape is the fault of women. Mike Huckabee pontificating that Jesus wrote the Constitution. Ted Cruz demanding that health care for all is a Communist plot. I worry when facts no longer have substance but instead innuendo, inference and unintelligence are the indicator of truth.  I am frustrated because debate, conversation can only work when both the giver and the receiver understand that finding a common ground is the answer to any and all problems. Mr Schwartz was an angry insecure man afraid that his own accomplishments would be minimized by others.  Mr Schwartz was only a small cog in a very large community. Sadly the Rubio’s/Limbaugh’s/Huckabee’s/Cruz’s loom larger and scarier; as do the minion of morons who fear life itself. 

I wonder sometimes

I wonder sometimes: When Speaker of the House John Boehner leaves the golf course or exits from his tanning booth does his chauffeur ever drive by poor people or is the route home always driven on roads paved for white privileged people only? Do the Koch Brothers think that their next generation of bulbous billionaire hand me down monied kids will survive living on a planet filled with carbon skies, polluted waterways drought filled days and flooded sea shores? Do the CEO’s of Monsanto really believe they can survive on food polluted by chemicals so scary and dangerous they are never listed on the poison filled products they produce? When the T-Publicans insisting that government is nothing but Communists or Socialists do they actually believe without any government rule they (the T-Publicans) will not be the first to shoot maim and kill each other?

I wonder sometimes: When sonny boy devout Catholic Paul Ryan disparages the poor or unemployed does he really think Jesus is sitting in heaven with his thumbs up saying ‘atta boy’? When Rush Limbaugh looks in the mirror does he close his eyes for fear that if he looks close enough at his reflection he too like Lot may turn to salt for all of his evil intended interventions and provocations? When Sister Sarah rants and raves using words fed to her by ghostly writers does she even once know what she just said or remember saying it?  When Ann Coulter the diva of dangerous conservative bigots states her crude, rude and insincere comments does she then go home and masturbate finding pleasure in being stupid? When Rand Paul plagiarizes, flip flops, or feigns knowledge of fact does he really think aside from the FOX News trolls anyone with a semblance of any IQ considers him nothing more then the US court jester?

I wonder sometimes: When the GOP wastes time and money on invented issues like the IRS birth certificates, Benghazi, and now Hillary’s health instead of earnestly trying to create jobs or fair immigration laws do they believe that eventually their shroud of arrogance and fabrication will not haunt them like the guy who cuts a silent fart only to have the cloud of smell remain over his head? When Mike Huckabee, or Michelle Bachmann, insist that Jesus has selected them to be his voiceover do they really think it is indeed the Devil speaking to them? When GOP state legislatures implement voter ID laws, cut back hours for voting do they not then silently hum the lyrics to the North Korean national anthem as motivation to continue disintegrating democracy? When Dick Cheney runs out of heart transplants will he finally find his conscience knowing full well he and all other war criminals end up dead in any place but Heaven? How Justice Clarence Thomas can’t imagine his stance on states rights would have never permitted him to marry his Caucasian wife?

I do wonder, however, how it seems in our most recent political atmosphere why the bad guys always seem to win. How morals and values seem meaningless as compared to vindictive, vicious and venomous. How freedom from religion is trumped by religious fanatics? How the Constitution can be trampled, edited, abridged citing the ugly and never quoting the fair and equal? How FOX News needs not be accountable to truth? How we feel fact should be questioned while heresy is honored. I wonder how much more of this hypocrisy we must endure before there is no longer a United States of and by the people?

Kumbaya

Kumbaya- is a spiritual song first recorded in the 1920s. It became a standard campfire song in summer camps, and enjoyed broader popularity during the folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s. The song is originally a simple appeal to God to come and help those in need. In my many years working at one of the greatest summer camps, Emma Farm, during my years living in Pittsburgh I recall the magic of the song, Kumbaya. It was usually sung at the end of a theme day in which all the campers learned that competition is healthy as long as everyone competing was working toward the same goal. The nights we gathered around the campfire it was as if the heavens behaved and the stars glittered brightly in a sky not diminished by the ugly glare of man made lights. The kids became mesmerized, (in those days a counselor could hold a campers hand or have the kids sit by closely) swaying to the beat of the song. Kumbaya along with the traditional Emma Farm Camp song caused tears of happy/sad especially on the final night of camp, emphasizing just how close and comfortable of a summer family you had. Kumbaya  my friends Kumbaya… was it a higher power, or a God you believed in nature or just the magic of summer camp; but we all felt connected we all felt whole.

Kumbaya is originally a simple appeal to God to come and help those in need, but more recently it is also cited or alluded to in satirical or cynical ways which suggest false moralizing, hypocrisy, or naively optimistic views of the world and human nature. Jeb Bush, Paul Ryan Insist 'Friendship' And 'Traditional Marriage' Can End Poverty. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan courted some of Wall Street's most powerful political benefactors on Monday, insisting that love, friendship and "traditional marriage" can combat poverty better than government programs. (Huff Post) It seems a campfire is no longer necessary to persuade a group of anxious people that there is hope for the future. All you have to do is pontificate, propose a solution with little action but a lot of accusations. Poverty unlike climate change according to Mr Ryan and Bush is man made, and unlike global warming it can be remedied by man. “…love, friendship and of course ‘traditional marriage” are like the spoonful of sugar take doses of those and your unemployment, medical bills, poor wages, will be erased and you will experience Kumbaya!

Hot air rises to the top so we are told expands and just looms large doing nothing but making us uncomfortable. Mr Ryan and Mr Bush are at the top of the T-Publican presidential food chain all bloated and full of bull shit. Both men find little necessity for any government involvement in handling poverty, but know that the touchy feelyness of friendship (love thy neighbor, unless that neighbor ain’t an Evangelical Christian Conservative) sounds kind of conservative cool. Making friends ( but not if they are immigrants, the elderly, disabled, women who want control of their own reproductive rights or a black president) is neat also. Oh yeah, of course traditional marriage is always a bonus after all its the way Jesus stated was the traditional way to wed when he wrote the Constitution. No laws, actions or attempt to adjust the income divide or adjusting the income playing field or acknowledging that all the T-Publicans have done to date is make the rich richer. It seems both Ryan and Bush representative of a political party hell bent on any government have discovered one more way not to govern, just sing Kumbaya.

Marco Polo

The game Marco Polo is a watery hide and seek.  You hide in the water one person shouts “Marco”, the person trying to be found shouts “Polo”. Eventually the elusive Marco Polo is found and either its time to head for the towels or just take some time to do laps. The game is fun at first but when a whole bunch of other folk are playing Marco Polo at the same time many times its get a little exasperating or quite a bit boring. 

Marco Rubio, thinks he is presidential material. He is not quite sure just how much material he owns so he too has decided to play a game of hide and seek. At first the Florida Senator was for some fair immigration legislation thinking that perhaps being positive with immigration mattered and it could change lives of millions. But then the Red Meanies of the T-Publicans the ones who make up history or think it is debatable scolded him and said immigration was never an American ideal. So poor little Marco flip flopped swearing his positive message for immigration was taken out of context by a Liberal Lame Street Press (always quote Sarah Palin when you want to lie). And now when you shout Marco, you get I never meant what I said about immigration.

Watching his senatorial buddies like Rand Paul and Ted Cruz gain ground with the crazy conspiracy Christian Crusaders (err I mean Conservatives) with lies lavished on them by FOX NEWS or the puppeteers of the Oil Lobby; little Marco (I am presidential material)Rubio has now joined the Climate Change is a hoax and science must not be permitted to run amuck crowd. Even though Rubio is a Senator from Florida (whose coastline is becoming less and less and the city of Miami is sinking into the ocean) little Marco wants to be considered one of the big bad boys and refuses to admit that man has anything to do with the dying of the planet. Nope, little Marco at the ready to admonish abortion because it destroys life, is eager to continue letting the climate falter eventually destroying the lives of millions just a generation away. With little Marco “its for the families and children, but fuck them if they can’t let the Oil Industry and the Koch Brothers make more money.

“Marco” “Polo”, where are you, here I am, catch me if you can. Marco Rubio is seriously considering a run for the office of president. His competition so far is a man who wants poor people to die if they cannot afford health care (Cruz). A man who says government is way too big and people like Cliven Bundy are patriots (Paul). A man who insists Jesus was the first president of the US (Huckabee) and a man who thinks women who get pregnant should have thought it out first and if they insist should use a hangar(Perry). So little Marco Rubio wants to send some tough talk to the minion of morons who mainly vote in the T-Publican primaries. But just like the game Marco Polo, little Marco Polos is elusive and just when you think you caught him is someone completely different.

whose life

I was listening to NPR, driving home from a clients house. I was not sure if I was ready for some political bit of aggravation, thinking, ‘my God, its too early in the morning to get pissed off about politics. But the topic was about health so I thought this should be an easy conversation for me to listen. The theme was about the cost of prescription drugs and who might be able to afford them and who indeed might not and perhaps die now or earlier then if they had the ability to take the medicine. There are two drugs for Hepatitis C that recently have proven 90% recovery. Prior to these drugs patients had at the most a 50% chance of recovery if any recovery at all. The price for one drug for the year is $66K and the other drug about $50K. To survive with a 90% chance recovery rate, Hep C, an individual would need at least $115K. The report on NPR went on to say that currently Medicare and most drug companies will not cover the cost using the excuses that the FDA has not approved the combination therapy or some other bothersome issues like we just don’t want to pay for it.

The commentator went on how the Hep C drugs are not the only prohibitive costing drugs, but these drugs in particular do have an astounding recovery rate. So, trying not to get my own blood pressure to rise I thought aloud as I was driving, if you have a disease, if there is an unbelievably manufactured way to survive that disease but the medications cost too much to take those drugs, why were those drugs even discovered in the first place. Then I thought as I felt my temples throb, is it the fault of the mercenary drug manufacturers, the inability of the government to intervene, the luck of the dice as to who has enough money to pay for an extended piece of life or all of the above?

In a nation where pitchforks, guns and nooses are at the ready to make sure a life is born at the moment of conception how do we even NOT consider the quality of that life after it takes its first breath of oxygen? Then I thought not finding a way for people to survive disease or illness does fit into another kind of pattern. The same people who insist women must never abort, are the same hypocritical folk who  enjoy cutting back of food stamps, prefer that health care be too expensive or non inclusive. The same people who swear God will smite you if you are raped and don not bring that zygote to fruition swear that God hates the unemployed, is disgusted with the frail and elderly and that God does no give a good damn about the poor and those living in poverty. As my mind raced, trying so hard not to get angry about one for hypocritical event in American life, I sighed and wondered. Whose life counts anymore. Whose life is worth more then others? Whose life can be cut short? As I parked my car reaching my garage, i also wondered who are these people who just don’t care? 

walking in circles

Growing up in the 1950’s my Great Uncle Shrul was known as the richest man in the world according to the Braff/Katz families. In the 1950’s the world as my family knew it was the city of Pittsburgh. At the family poker games once the peach schnapps was served and all the home made corned beef was eaten as the chocolate cake was nothing more then a few crumbs my relatives would listen intently to the richest man in the world, Great Uncle Shrul. My little sister and I would always manage to be awake on those late Saturday nights walk downstairs from our bedroom just in time for the food. We both could share in the delicious home made goodies but had to retire to the living room to eat. Our home was a very tiny row house so anything said in the dining room was immediately heard in almost every other room in the house. When my Great Uncle Shrul spoke it usually got very quiet and he (as if he was a monarch) would spend a few minutes pontificating upon the world as he saw it. One continuous theme he bleated was about dumb people and keeping them dumb. He would say, “if you have money, as I do, the only way to keep being rich is to never allow those around you to even come close to your wealth. Dumb people only want what you have and never know how to earn it. Let them think they can be like you but make sure you trick them into only walking in circles. If they find the path straight ahead you might become the dumb one and a follower.”  Many relatives not wanting anything from Great Uncle Shrul would boo and hiss, but there were enough cousins living off his dole to castrate themselves in his direction with yes’s and you are so right’s.

I amaze at our current cultural/political world of the United States over the past half dozen years. I am astonished at the power FOX News have as they consistently tell lies with no fact to back them up and yet how many gullible people believe them. I am confused as to the power of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity or Sarah Palin all wealthy folk who speak as if they are the poor and down trodden and only they can help the helpless find their way. I am frustrated when jerks and dupes like Louis Gomhert, Michelle Bachmann Mike Huckabee state clearly that they either speak for God or God has spoken to them telling them who is a true patriot. I am flabbergasted when Judges from the state Supreme Courts or the US Supreme court see no harm in promoting the Christian Bible or Jesus as God of America. And I am so worried that, just as my Great Uncle Shrul belched at our family poker game, when the billionaire Koch Brothers bribe politicians to undermine health care/immigration/climate change/equality for women and gays keeping the poor poor and dumb dumber.

What has been happening to this great nation of ours. There is a concerted effort to create a divide in this country to keep the wealthy richer and the poor in poverty. There is great energy to encourage we vs they even when those who think they are the we are the they. Selfish has dominated the actions of a few and somehow there is a majority supporting it. And where are the smart people? Where are those of us who see this highjacking of America taking place? I hear that the Republicans have a chance of taking over the Senate and maintaining the House; how the hell can that happen? I read that Americans think a party that denies liberties. freedoms and equality will do a better job for America. The same people who will earn less, have less access to health care or jobs or education will vote for the men and women who hate them. I am sad that my Great Uncle Shrul was correct when he said, “…keep them walking in circles…”

stupid is the new dumb

Dumb has always been around. I am sure there is a dumb gene and for some it is dominate rather then recessive. Dumb however has morphed into stupid at a rate that if social scientists actually performed a study we would find has evolved faster then the speed of light. Dumb at times can be overlooked. When a dumb person is standing in the middle of the sidewalk talking loudly on his or her phone oblivious to their actions, one can walk around them. And of course anything Sarah Palin pontificates about or is handed to read by her ghost writers is DUMB. We all have experienced dumb people and if we are not as dumb as they have managed with a frustrating sigh to walk away to ignore them. In the year 2014, it seems in particular in the world of  those who identify as Christian Conservative politicians or pundents dumb has evolved into STUPID.

Climate change is just a fantasy akin to a religious myth, if Charles Krauthammer is to be believed. "It's the oldest superstition around," he said. "It was in the Old Testament, it's in the rain dance of Native Americans: if you sin, the skies will not cooperate.” "I rise today in opposition to this bill, because I believe ultimately this museum that will be built on the National Mall, on federal land, will enshrine the radical feminist movement that stands against the pro-life movement, the pro-family movement, and pro-traditional marriage movement," Bachmann said on the House floor Wednesday ahead of a vote on the bill.

A Republican running for Congress equated the Affordable Care Act's mandate that employers cover contraceptives as a preventive benefit with forcing people to serve hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis. Monte Shaw, the executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, is considered a frontrunner in the Republican primary.  His push to drug-test poor people with children has already been rejected by federal courts, but Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) isn't taking "No, that's not Constitutional" for an answer. The News Service of Florida reports that the Scott administration filed to an appeals court in Atlanta, asking it overturn a lower court's ruling demanding the urine of applicants to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families fund (TANF) constitutes unreasonable search.

Dumb had always been manageable. Dumb was not very contagious and smart usually was the antidote to counteract any negative ramifications to dumb. But like most virus’s, in order to survive it mutates always at the ready to become something else, add a feature to elude any chance of being found out and eliminated. FOX News and their crew of hate ridden entertainers, Talk Radio and its venomous loud mouthed no brain shock jocks, Anarchists confused with history and the true meaning of the Constitution and religious Christian Jihadists reading not from the Bible but an abridged version of propaganda espoused upon by demigods have buoyed dumb into STUPID. So many cases of STUPID abound that perhaps the National Institute of Health should declare our nation in the throws of pandemic.

Dear Lynne Cheney

Lynne Cheney, wife of former Vice President Dick Cheney, suggested the Clintons are behind Monica Lewinsky’s new essay in Vanity Fair."I really wonder if this isn't an effort on the Clintons' part to get that story out of the way," Cheney said during an interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham. 

Dear Lynne: You are a piece of pathetic meandering goo stuck to the bottom of a shoe. How you have no conscience is amazing to me. Most people might suffer a bit of soul searching after their husband’s lies caused the death of over 3000 Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi’s. One might even shudder sadly when one daughter with both callous and malice undermines the life and worth of her sister (You know the ones you tried to raise as responsible and caring adults). Someone even with a minutia of compassion might even visit the hospital beds of the Troops who fought a war imagined and engineered by the man you call your husband (You know the one with a whole lot of draft deferments). How you can pretend that your shit is made of silk while you, your husband and eldest daughter continue to foul the lives of American’s is astounding. But then again Lynne darling, you suffer from the same malaise as tricky Dick lies set you free, truth robs the soul and selfish fits perfectly.

People like you Lynne, the kind that usually shout from some overly expensive tower, “let them eat cake,” think you can poop on the rug and others might find it a fascinating piece of sculpture. You are the darling of a fantasy land of misfits from FOX News and perhaps the pinup girl for men who hate freedom, democracy, the poor and anyone who does’t look or smell like they do. But for the real Americans Lynne those of us who actually believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for everyone, you are nothing more then facade very empty and void of substance.

Lynne, Hon, you wonder if the Clintons are trying to get ahead of their story. I CANNOT wait for the day the true story about your families deception, betrayal, arrogance and evil intentions finally become common knowledge that even the fools who follow FOX, or Rush or any other Conservative Jihadist realize what a criminal and his moll wife look and smell like.  You are safe with the likes of Laura Ingraham  a sister of sorts with disregard for fair and balanced.

Have great day while you can

It was 1945 my mother’s first husband had suddenly died and not only was my mother a widow at the age of 30 but she had two children, my two older sisters. Of course there was family to count on (in those days the nuclear unit was a bit more intact) but nonetheless something else loomed large; the responsibilities of motherhood that at one time seemed joyful now more burdensome, worrisome. My mother had done secretarial work before she was married but times had changed and the once single working woman was a mother. My mothers anxiety seemed to consume her. Raising two daughters (in the 40’s a woman’s place was at the heel of a man, cleaning a house and cooking the meals), so what would people say if she went back to work, if she HAD someone else help with her kids. Finally sensing doom and stagnation my mother went to see her family physician. My mother, when she shared this story, added just how much shame she was feeling for having to ask for help. Her doctor, who continued to be our family physician was a kind man and understanding. He told my mother two things, the first, ‘this too shall pass’ and secondly, ‘take one of these inhale slowly and in a few minutes you will feel calmer. In an hour take another and you will be relaxed.’ He had handed my mother a pack of Pall Mall cigarettes. And from that point until 30 years later she took one then another.

Back in the day cigarettes were as American as Apple Pie, perhaps even more so. All of the white middle class dads portrayed on television would come home to their ‘little lady’ holding a martini glass, a fancy cigarette holder and matches. Comely blond babes would inhale from an elongated silver sliver, blow some smoke and then pounce upon her male prey. Cowboys would wipe off the dust from roping a cow, chasing and Indian, baling some hay and slowly inhale the finest nicotine the American Tobacco industry could manufacture. Great gifts for Christmas stocking stuffers were a pack of Marlboro’s a carton of Kent. The portraits of America, the good kind of America where men were men, women their chattel, men in suits women in aprons was always painted in red, white blue and a little bit of Lucky Strike! There was an insistence by the Tobacco Industry that nothing but sweet success was wrong with their products. If you didn’t believe the Tobacco Industry then you could listen to your politicians, the same politicians who took orders from their puppeteers the Tobacco Industry. If politics was not your thing then go speak to your doctor, you know the guy who can cure you. The Tobacco lobby, never ones to be called stupid, knew that everyone had their price. Be a woman who lost her husband, widowed with two young children and make sure you stick the addiction to her early; and who knows she may reciprocate and pass the poison on to her children. We were told by people we thought were the authority that tobacco was safe, sure and secure.

Climate change is no longer a distant threat, but a real and present danger in the United States, according to U.S. Global Change Research Program, issued Tuesday It details ways that climate change -- caused predominantly by the emission of heat-trapping greenhouse gases -- is already being felt across the country. Those impacts include increased severity of heat waves and heavier downpours. On the coasts, sea level rise is already contributing to increased flooding during high tides and storms, the report notes. And in the West, conditions are getting hotter and drier, and the snowpack is melting earlier in the year, extending wildfire season. (Huff Post). But then Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) accused Obama of seeing global warming as a fund-raising gimmick chimed in. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). suggested Americans simply care less about the climate than other issues, such as the economy, the Keystone pipeline and jobs, and that the White House should focus on those instead. Many news outlets barely cover  climate change and when they do, you often almost wish they hadn’t bothered with it in the first place. My mother was nervous, she wanted to feel better, her doctor prescribed smoking cigarettes, he was told tobacco was good, his elected officials were paid by their lobbyists that nicotine was fine and dandy. What is more American then corporations? The Tobacco corporates told us only Communists hate cigarettes. Now our Oil corporations are telling us that any true blue American, once he has his gun in hand should certainly be pumping some gas. Smoke a cigarette, burn some oil and of course have a great day it was and is the American way.

Monsters alive

America 2014 has taken on a new personality. Suddenly, patriotism is more about how to divide the country then unite it. Suddenly anything democratic is considered nostalgic to being a Nazi. Suddenly being a racist is cool. Suddenly freedom of religion trumps freedom from religion. Men and women calling themselves the Tea Party, never really bothering to read the history of their namesakes, are running roughshod on the American Constitution. Men and women who are bestowed the power of Judges care less for laws protecting the common citizen preferring instead to promote we vs them. We are living in  an era where fact does not matter, history is being rewritten, and concern for pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is hoarded for selfish reasons and proudly denied for anyone deemed different. Four people a microcosm of right wing/FOX News loving/Christian Crusader/conservatism have stated loud and clear their version of America. Read their words and wonder where you might fit in, in the landscape they have envisioned.  

Tennessee GOP State Senator Likens Obamacare Sign-Ups To Nazi Death Trains State Sen. Stacey Campfield (R) made the comment on his personal blog Monday morning in a post called, "Thought of the day” “I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro, “And because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do?” he asked. “They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves, millionaire deadbeat Cliven Bundy

“Everybody, to include the U.S. Supreme Court, has been deceived as to one little word in the First Amendment called ‘religion.' They can't define it.” Moore said. “They can't define it the way Mason, Madison and even the United State Supreme Court defined it, 'the duties we owe to the creator and the manner of discharging it.' They don’t want to do that, because that acknowledges a creator god. Buddha didn't create us. Mohammed didn't create us. It's the god of the Holy Scriptures. Moore continued: "They didn't bring a Koran over on the pilgrim ship, Mayflower. Let's get real. Let's go back and learn our history.” Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore. "The only way secession was considered was on the battlefield,” he said at the convention, according to the Associated Press. "Of course, secession lost on that. But in the court system, secession is still an open question. So it should be retained as a sovereign right” Don Hilbig (R), a delegate from Beloit, Wisconsin. 

If these quotes were random we could laugh at the stupidity of a few and go on with our day. But these individuals represent  too many Americans who think Jesus was the first president, there should be no government, all men and women are NOT created equal and that hate is basis for stronger nation. I always ask who is scarier the monster or the people who keep that monster alive?

Little Lindsey Scumbag

On The Mike Gallagher Show, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) had this to say about Obama and the White House when it comes to Benghazi, “Our Democratic friends, for the most part, have been in the tank over Benghazi. [regarding the endless incessant rantings] They think it’s to get me reelected. Some guy said this about me yesterday on the left: The only reason I cared about this was because I have six tea party opponents. Well, if that’s true, I’m the biggest scumbag in America. I don’t think that’s true; I know it’s not true. It would be almost impossible for Lindsey Graham — given who I am and what I’ve been doing for the last 20 years — not to care about those in harm’s way, who get killed, and not go on to hold the administration accountable that lied about it…The scumbags are the people in the White House who lied about this.” (Huff Post)

Dear Lindsey: One who protests loudly refusing to regard any real fact with earnest or resolve is a Scumbag. One who continues to look beyond the research and reports garnered by bi-partisan organizations preferring to seek information from pundents and their lobbyist cohorts is a Scumbag. One who stood tight behind the Bush/Cheney administration as they created such incendiary talking points as “…A smoking gun…” never even trying to sort fact from fiction is a Scumbag. One who permitted over 3500 American lives to be destroyed, permitting thousands of Troops to be left without limb, opportunity or families, never once using his Senatorial privilege to end the madness in Iraq is a Scumbag. One who never quite ended the discussion about the presidents place of birth, one who has vetoed anything that might create jobs for Americans because this president’s name is Obama, one who has championed gun rights without ever considering the rights of victims is a Scumbag. Lindsey, you have placed Americans in harms way in Iraq, Afghanistan and the United States. In Iraq you pushed hard for more intervention, in Afghanistan you were all pouty because of our pull back in Troop population in the Unites States you have championed unemployment, discrimination against women's rights and participated in an assault on our Constitution with your support of Citizens United. Using your own words Lindsey, you are a Scumbag. Why should or would anyone believe anymore words you have to say when indeed it is your deeds that showcase what a Scumbag you are.

Liars in the White House, Lindsey, really have you taken a closer look at yourself and the group of T-Publicans with whom you call your buds? You are a weak, ineffectual man who somehow has fooled the populace of South Carolinians into thinking you are not a Scumbag. 

Who is blessing America?

Not scared, really not even concerned? Sure those the whacky, weird rumination’s of politicians and now judges are just silly gestures without much consequence? Just laughable moments of insanity from T-Publicans who wear tri-corner hats? Sure that that kind of crazy has no impact on the real world, you know the place you like to call home?  Well I AM afraid, very afraid because I have witnessed that in America governed by the fact-less rantings of FOX News, paid for by the puppeteers known as the Koch Brothers, incited by such bigots as Hannity and Limbaugh, that crazy never dies but in fact infects until it kills.

Three out of four Iowa Republican candidates for U.S. Senate said Friday they would block any federal judge appointee who did not have a “biblical view of justice” or follow “natural law” as handed down from God. …judges must have an “understanding where the Constitution came from and our laws, and they all did come from God.”“Biblical law” is often used as a code for opposition to marriage equality among social conservatives, and to promote a patriarchal family structure with one man and one woman.

Thinking that America is a safe secure democracy based on a Constitution that even the most uneducated citizen could grasp? Assured that even with a a few bad apples the rest of the bushel is safe to eat? Easily soothed that we have been a nation for at least  238 years so what could possibly happen now to change the status quo? Well I am worried. I am worried because the religious zealots, the Crusaders for Christ, the folks who hand select history are not fading into the sunset, but reigning down radiation. I am scared because the loudest noise is coming from the dumb while the supposedly intelligent remain silent.

Speaking at the Pastor for Life Luncheon, which was sponsored by Pro-Life Mississippi, Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court declared that the First Amendment only applies to Christians because “Buddha didn’t create us, Mohammed didn’t create us, it was the God of the Holy Scriptures” who created us. “They didn’t bring the Koran over on the pilgrim ship,” he continued. “Let’s get real, let’s go back and learn our history. Let’s stop playing games.”(Huff Post)

Sarah Palin insists that a Baptism of torture is Gods plan for America’s enemies. Mike Huckabee says to hell with the Constitution, its the Bible that counts, and the Oklahoma state legislature has erected a monument honoring the 10 Commandments on the grounds of the state capitol. Not worried, scared, fearful that freedom from religion is no longer a priority; rather freedom of religion becoming the law of the land.  One does not have to look too far to discover just how pervasive and penetrating those Christian Crusaders have become. Jihadist, religious terrorists, anti democratic citizens have now become patriots of Theocracy. In the eyes of this newest round of anarchists god still blesses America, but that God is only the one they believe in. 

fair and balanced and dumb

FOX Noise has decided NOT to cover any of the Black presidents news conferences unless there are questions about Benghazi. Finally FOX news will be fair and balanced. It seems that whenever they did cover the Black president's conferences they made every effort to edit and juxtapose questions with responses. They always managed to ignore the positive statements and issues. So, now FOX is fixing that loophole by not changing the facts around just not airing anything. In this nation in the past few years we have witnessed the success in keeping the stupid in tow. Most dictators will tell you that keeping them dumb, keeping them angry and keeping them from the truth is how you win.

godly terrorism

Boko Haram an Islamic terrorist group based in Nigeria has kidnapped about 50 girls from an all girls school. Boko Haram interprets their Bible (the Koran) as stating that education for females is forbidden. Boko Haram interprets their Koran as saying that females are the at the will and mercy of men. Boko Haram interprets their Koran as saying that women must marry, become chattel and have as many children as their husband demands. Boko Haram defines themselves as a very religious oriented organization and vehemently defends all the derogatory actions against women as a sign from God as written in the Bible.

The T-Publicans/FOX Noise/ Glenn Beck/Rush Limbaugh a Christian terrorist group have made it their number one priority to no longer permit women to have control over their reproductive actions and for that matter the physical well being of their bodies. The T-Publicans/The American Family Association/Rick Santorum/Sean Hannity interprets their Bible (the New Testament) as stating that women are mere ribs from Adam and as such have only three priorities in life; marry a man, get pregnant. and become a housewife. Phyllis Schlafly, Family T-Publicans/Research Council/Ted Cruz interpret their Bible (New Testament) as saying women are never the equal to men thus never pay women the same rate as men/women don’t want equal protection under the law/women are better seen then heard. These groups of Christian Jihadists have kidnapped the Constitution and in doing so have held the cvivil liberties/civil rights and basic American values hostage.

Religion has taken hold of the politics in numerous countries where women are not permitted to drive cars, must always have their face and body covered or risk prison, are the always the reason their husband commits adultery and where rape is caused by the inappropriate actions of just being a seductive female. Religion has become so pervasive in the negative for women their are even countries where laws to protect the right to seek an abortion, the right for equal pay, the right to not be denied a job are laughed at. Look closely America at how we chastise those other countries for applying their silly Sharia Law, stating that any law not written by Jesus is a bad law, the work of the Devil. Look closely America at how the laws supposedly crafted by Jesus as he sat down with the Founding Fathers of this nation no longer reflect the will of all the people, just those who seem to think they either are God or just love to play God. Terrorists do not only abide in other countries.

United Airlines NOOOOO!

United Airlines has disregard and disdain for their customers. They think that once you book a ticket anything else that might seem like good customer service is vile and most of all cumbersome. My Sister and Brother-In-Laws planned a vacation to travel from Buffalo to visit Joe and me in LA. Booking their tickets in advance and still paying a hefty price of $600 each for a ticket, they both filled out the form on line and when the select a seat page came up, did just that, selected a seat. They both received an email confirming both their flight as well as their seat selection. Maybe because they were traveling together and even maybe because they were married the seats they chose were together; kind of sorta makes sense, huh? They arrive at the Buffalo airport and when checking in are told that she is seated way back and he is in some other out of the way row. Expressing concern they provide the ticket agent with their confirmation email stating Hurray, you are flying United, we love you and here are your seat assignments, TOGETHER. With no more then a come on you are annoying me response they are told, too bad random things happen and it just happened to them; much too later to argue they board the plane and sit separately.

My Sister and Brother-In-Law arrive in LA share the story about United Airlines disgust for customer service and chalk it up to perhaps just a random act as the emotionless and I could care less ticket agent explained. We spend five days together have a good time and forget about the piss poor attitude of United Airlines. Time to print the return ticket and wham, bam thank you ma’m she is sitting in some out of the way row and he at the back of the plane. What the Fuck! Does random happen less randomly now with United Airlines? Joe, my husband will have none of this and calls the airline for his sister. Joe usually has a way of describing the issue without using words like douche-bag, idiot and REALLY! Joe gets a ticket agent, explains the situation of receiving an email with assigned seats together, that they traveled together are husband and wife. Talking over Joe, I am sure reading from the robot like script in front of her, the agent tells Joe did you read the print on our website about United Airlines right to change seats at their discretion? Joe, speaking a little louder says but they are traveling together. SORRY, it is our policy the clone repeats. It is  a random selection. It happened coming to LA and going home to Buffalo how is that random, Joe asks? SORRY it is our policy. The veins in Joe’s throat are expanding and if it was me I would have had the FBI called because of my language to this non human agent.

Joe then gets the I just follow orders agents supervisor, whose first comments are it is on our website, it is our right to change seats. Joe asks then why do you even bother to have the customer select seats in the first place. She says in her I will give you 5 more minutes of my precious time voice, you only purchase the right to fly on United Airlines selecting a seat does not come with the purchase of a ticket. HUH, WHAT. Then she adds it is a random selection. It has happened twice coming and going, Joe shouts. SORRY! Then Joe asks who has established this policy and why have they decided this is good for customer service, I would like to speak with that person. The Supervisor gets all huffy and acts as if she is working for the NSA and says we cannot share that information with you, it really is not your concern. NOT MY CONCERN Joe says in a voice I seldom ever hear, you have separated two people traveling together have not provided a reason except it is on your website, $1200 in tickets have been purchased and it is not MY CONCERN. If you like, the soulless supervisor says, you can send an email to United Airlines. Anything else I can assist you with? 

United has merged with Continental and has become HUGE corporation. It seems that customer satisfaction was never part of the business plan, just jacking up the prices and jacking off the public! Be Ware!