Things We'll Never See Or Hear
Posted: Saturday, June 04, 2011
by Michael Ramzy
delusionthread.com
Another steamy day on tap here in Texas, which makes me wonder where the rain is. I mean, there is flooding to the east in Louisiana (where they don't need the water), tornados and storms to the north (where they don't need the water or the destruction), and here in Texas . . . nothing. I saw a cloud the other day, though, so perhaps things are looking up.
Without further ado, here are some things we will never see or hear:
1) Sarah Palin Has A Lock On The Nomination. I remember when Mr. McCain picked her as his running mate, thinking 'well, this is something different'. Now, after listening to her speak for the past couple of years, I am convinced she has zero chance, even amongst her fellow Republicans. She should be perfect, though: Strong-willed, independent, yet it is turning out (as her 'tour' is showing) it is all show. Americans like a show, yet even the Republicans cannot select someone as inept.
2) Politician Admits Mistake. John Edwards and Mr. Weiner come to mind, yet this can also include Mr. Nixon, Mr. Clinton, both Bush's, and even Mr. Obama. The first four in this list are outright liars, as history has shown. The Bush's might have been liars ('no new taxes', 'Saddam has weapons of mass-destruction'), yet they weren't liars so much as misinformed of the facts (I know, I am being overtly generous here); that is, they boasted about something they didn't have all of the facts about. Mr. Obama is not a liar, yet he has a hard time admitting mistakes, which must be hard is you're the president. The stimulus packages, the bailouts - both of which originated with Mr. Bush, have turned out to be mistakes - yet Mr. Obama will not admit to it. Perhaps because the jury is still out (it isn't, but as always I will give a sitting President the benefit of the doubt).
3) A sign reading this: 'Do Not Give To The Homeless'. Almost every corner in America has someone standing with a sign explaining their problem: '3 kids, hungry', 'Will work for food', etc. Yet every city in America also has shelters to provide a warm meal and help if requested. Most of these beds are empty, and those on the street-corners seem to prefer making cash up front. I don't think all of those on the corners are scam-artists, yet many must be: I see the same people day after day, month after month.
4) The War On Drugs Is Over (Lost). We stop 25 cents out of every 100 dollars in illegal drugs that comes across the border. We throw money at the problem, we throw people at the problem, and the problem gets larger by the year. Without stopping the drugs at the source (Afghanistan, Columbia, Mexico, United States), we can never hope to stop the drugs at their destination (your neighbor). Of course, the countries listed are 'doing all they can', which is a lie we try to believe. A cop getting paid 30 dollars a month in Mexico will not bust someone who will pay him 3000 a month to look the other way.
5) The Poor Are Paying Their Fair Share. The rich are the whipping boy whenever we have a Democrat in the White House. The rich pay most of the taxes, of course, since they have most of the money. The poor pay nothing in taxes, since they have nothing. They get money, which the government doles out with little oversight. Any attempt at accountability is met with the usual (and tired) charges of racism. You want to drug-test welfare recipients? You are a racist. And forget about the poor 'paying' their 'fair' share. A rich person gets vilified for wanting to keep his money, a poor person is encouraged (by the lack of oversght) to milk the system.
6) Democrats Are Racists Too. This is something you will never hear. It is in the interest of the Democrats to keep the minorites in their camp. In the past, that meant African-Americans, Hispanics, etc. Honestly, do Democrats want to give aid (which is really cash-over-the-barrel) to these groups because of either some past perceived (or actual) injustice or because they want these groups beholden to the Party? Everyone says the Democrats are in the corner of the 'little guy', and if that's true what happens when that 'little guy' isn't so little anymore? If the Democrats lose the minority vote, they become insignificant liberals.
7) America Is A Third World Nation. It is very difficult for us to think this, yet deep down we all know this is where we are heading. We cannot afford our national life of luxury, and the bill-collector is knocking at the door. Forget entitlements, we have three choices: Raise taxes, Cut Medicare, Do Nothing. We will do nothing, of course, since raising taxes is death in an election year and cutting Medicare (and Medicaid) is death to any politician's career (or, as we are seeing, to a political party). Doing nothing is what we do best when it comes to national problems (excluding going to war, of course, which we seem to do at the drop of a hat).
8) The Republican Party is Irrelevant. The Democrats (specifically Mr. Obama) need the Republicans, as do the Democrats. It is always stylish to blame the Republicans for everything, and the Republicans are doing absolutely nothing to garner favor. When Sarah Palin or the hack Michelle Bachman get headlines for 'perhaps' announcing their (soon-to-be-failed) run at the presidency, you know the Republicans have nothing in their bullpen. The party is irrelevant, and the Democrats need to stop beating up on them and stay their course. They won't, since they haven't a clue what is more important: jobs, gay marriage, or having some rap hack at the White House to read poetry. The Democrats have a golden opportunity to get the things done that need doing, in proper order, and yet they have shown a fantastic inability to do anything productive. Mr. Obama, rather that cutting down the Republicans, needs to get his party in order.
But he won't, and the Republicans -who are in fact already irrelevant - will continue to garner headlines (and eventually policies) thanks to the Democrats.
Perhaps I am a little rough on some of the above-mentioned groups. I am simply tired of the same people playing the same games with this country year after year. We all have the potential to be great, it just takes an idea and follow-through. The Democrats have (or rather, had) some great ideas, yet there was too much follow and not enough through. We need to knock it off, come together, and get our house in order. The rent's due, and the landlord is knocking on the door. We spend too much time arguing who's to blame and not enough time figuring out how to open the door.
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Hey Michael, good to see you. Loved #7. I'll post an article in a day or so that I think you might relate to, "Is Your Job Threatened?"
Best......eThanks, e. Can't wait for the article. Thanks for the feedback, sir.
Yeah Mike I'm fed up with politicians and all their talk on how they're going to straighten out the country. They're all a bunch of hot air, nothing coming from their speeches but lies.But it's not just the politicians, although they get all the press. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Hi Michael.
Too much uncomfortable truth in what you wrote for most people, I think. But I like your brand of forthrightness. We need more truth. Maybe it will shake things up a bit. You know, I get more out of your articles than I could ever get from two weeks worth of "news," which I don't watch anyway. :) Please, keep up the good work.
Hugs,
DianneThanks very much, I appreciate it.
Another great piece of writing. Loved it all. I personally believe that the stimulus has had some positives though but I agree the jury is really out on it. Thanks.I just wonder about all of the money we're spending. The wars are costing billions a month, and what is the return? Thanks for reading and commenting, sir.
So what's the easy answer? As I read I realized I agreed with a lot of what you said and disagreed with about the same, or took exception with anyway, and was obvious the way your nation would (in a perfect world) look and my nation would look would be two different places. Yet we have to co-exist in the same patch of property. These two ideologies aside, they have the corporate aspect to consider, and let's face it as your comments about the rich and poor indicate do play an important part in their equation, especially since the Supreme Court made corporate campaign contributions free speech. Being as their job is the entirety of society, if it weren't for the payoffs they get while in office, which make their decisions much easier to make, it might not be worth it.There really isn't an easy answer, David. I wish there was, I truly wish there was one solution that would solve it all. Perhaps it is in trying to find that elusive answer we gain wisdom, I don't know. I do know that there is too much disparity in this world: The rich have it all (and want to keep it all), the poor have nothing, a third of the world (at least) is starving while we shovel food onto our plates at All-You-Can-Eat troughs, we say we hate drugs yet we spend trillions (with a 'T') on them every year . . .
I wish I had the answer. Maybe we need to worry about these big problems and not so much about someone's weiner on Twitter (is it now called 'Twiener'?) and other nonsense . . .
Thanks as always for reading and commenting, I do appreciate it.852,000,000 people in the world are starving. 13 million American kids go to bed hungry every night. Let's cut some more taxes for the wealthy - they could care less. One kid going to bed hungry is one too much.
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