Yes, I know there are many of you that are going to click off right about now, because you just don't like the controversial stuff, the ugly stuff, the politics. But I know there are many more of you that enjoy the dialogue and the conflict, the choir and the perverse, so I'm just going to continue until it's time for me to click off and do something constructive, like the laundry and the bed-making and the calling the insurance company.
Today I read that Mitt Romney spent $18.7 million dollars on his campaign last month. Okay. It's said that his money-making machine is drying up, and he might have to delve into his personal fortune (which is, I believe numbered in the billions, but correct me if I'm wrong) to keep going. Okay. I'm going out on a limb here and stating that I'm perfectly aware that this sort of obscene money is being spent and raised by the Democrats, too. Okay?
That's why when I read about the State of California and other states round the nation cutting programs for the disabled because there's no money, I smell bullshit. And when people argue about welfare queens and corruption and complain that food stamp collectors are just lazy and have enough money for manicures and pedicures and flat-screen televisions -- well -- I smell bullshit. And when people dismiss all of it and say that the government is bad and all politicians lack integrity and in so doing (dismissing all of it) absolve themselves of fighting for what they know is right, well -- I smell bullshit. And when the Catholics, the Orthodox Jews, the evangelical Christians and the Mormons claim their religious liberty and freedom is being threatened and trampled upon because the government of the United States, (of the people and for the people), insists that women's preventive health and reproductive freedom is paramount over the insurance industry, I smell bullshit. I'll go out on another limb and say to these religious people, Are you out of your minds? Is your faith in God and your Church so fragile that you feel under siege when you can't shove your beliefs down every throat?
I might be stupid (I did receive a C in Economics 101 in college, but damn, that was a boring class), but there's money enough in this country to keep caring for the disabled and the elderly, to keep educating the children and young adults and to ensure that every person has a flat-screen television. Just kidding on the last one -- I'm not sure anyone is reading this, by now.
Here's a great video of John Stewart's I Smell Bullshit:
Now I'm off to do my chores and refill my aerosol can with some sort of air freshener.
It's all bullshit. every bit of it. I think we have cut the fat from the programs and, in all honesty, some of it needed to go. Now it's just mean spirited and unnecessary expecially in light of the avarice and greed we see all around us.
ReplyDeleteI think they should take these issues to the people actually effected by them. I could probably save the state hundreds of thousands of dollars in the waste I see with Maggie's programs and services and still not cut a single program a single cent. Make people accountable for the money and the decisions they make.
And John stewart rocks. He also has a daughter name maggie, so we are kindred spirits.
it makes me sick every last bit of it
ReplyDeletewhat dramatic changes we would have if men had to push an 8 pound child out of their pricks ... and then feed, clothe, clean, nurture and be available 24/7 for the next 18 or more years
thanks for the laugh at the end ...
i LOVE when you write about this stuff!! :)
ReplyDeleteI am SO angry right now. I have sworn not to pay attention to all of this chest banging and snakefuckery but I can't help it- it's everywhere.
ReplyDeleteAnd the worst thing? The WORST? Is when these hypocrites, these gospel-spewing RICHER THAN MIDAS hypocrites say the things they do which would make Jesus shudder AND YET SAY IT IN HIS NAME!
Okay. I'm going to blow a gasket.
And we wonder why campaign finance reform never gains traction. Because then where would those hundreds of millions of dollars go, hmmm?
ReplyDeleteAnd while Mitt is clearly thrilled to tithe 10% of his earnings to his church (which is his personal business, by the way, I don't care) to further their beliefs of charity and spreading God's love, I wonder why he isn't willing to pay to spread that to everyone regardless of their faith or political party. Because it's all bullshit. You said it. This America was built on personal inventory and until we stop counting our individuality as a strength and start tooting the horn of collective strength, it's gonna stink.
I need a drink.
I'm with you. Practically every week a new story of graft and corruption appears in the L.A. Times. Travel, wining and dining, entertainment, mistresses all at taxpayer expense. Even when I read something with good intentions at heart, I cry, "bullshit!" I might have hear this on KPCC--The task force to combat handicapped parking fraud...that was in the news LAST YEAR--MONTHS AGO. Now we have a task force...how much are we paying them? They ran a sting. Fine everyone they caught. Make it harder to get a placard. If someone is caught, FINE THEM!! Do we need a task force? Maybe. But I'm so cynical now that practically every effort I hear about that comes with a price tag make me question it. 30 grand, or was it 300 grand, for the new lawn at city hall??? Are you f-ing kidding me. Preach the word, and keep preaching it, I say. There's money for the handicapped, it's just being used for someone's fancy dinner. It's time for the heimlich maneuver.
ReplyDeleteWow. I'm so mad my comment is full of typos. Plus, I'm still sick. : (
ReplyDeleteI can't see the video from my location, but I can read and appreciate your words. I've long thought there can be a fairer distribution of wealth in this world however imperfect it might be. But our political/educational/religious systems seem to me designed to keep the economic system as it stands: the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and no one can stand in the way of progress. As you say so much bullshit.
ReplyDeleteThere is a certain undeniable, distinct smell...power and privilege
ReplyDeleteBravo!!!!!!!! Thank you for writing this. I stand right there with you, sister. Fire away any time, I won't click off.
ReplyDeleteHere's the thing, I think we get more graft and corruption that affects us each more personally, when the power is with the government.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't think the Catholics are trying to shove anything down anybody's throat. You can choose not to believe, but you can't choose not to pay your taxes.
go, elizabeth! say it loud, say it proud. if it stinks, let's air it out.
ReplyDeletei'm right there with you.
Guillaume: I disagree. I have a strong spiritual leaning, believe in the Divine, but last time I checked, I didn't have a choice on where I wanted my tax money to go. That money has to go toward wars, for one, that I don't support. I accept, though, that that's the way the cookie crumbles. I can choose to protest where my money is going, but I sure won't shroud it in hypocrisy and bullshit.
ReplyDeleteI had to take a long walk today to burn off outrage at repeatedly hearing Plan B referred to as an abortion. And the fact that in some religious circles, they are excusing the infamous all-male panel on female reproductive rights. I really need to learn to keep my zen through this political season. Because this stuff scares me.
ReplyDeleteInsane.
ReplyDeleteNo clicking off here. Am with you every step of the way, and am stealing snakefuckery from Ms. Moon.
Guillaume: you say one can simply choose NOT to believe. Apparently not, since the religious right is currently attempting to take control of the government and shove their beliefs down the throats of all Americans. I find it so ironic, that a country that was built very specifically by people escaping religious tyranny and (I believe) has the concept of separation of Church and State clearly expressed somewhere in it's governing documents, is going down this very dangerous road. Anybody out there ever read the Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood?
ReplyDeleteIt's a sad fact that people resent paying for others. They want the money to go to themselves. I see it all of the time, and the tendency is here at home too. We prefer to spend on luxuries rather than necessities that are the everyday, and resent when that cost cuts into the luxuries.
ReplyDeleteJust spoke to my brother, and he feels that it's going to be a rough situation for the Democrats this fall. People want cuts, cuts, cuts, and many of them don't get that their own benefits will be cut. Too busy focusing on what they perceive as others getting. That and the Christian right.