And now for something completely different... Politics!

(Before I get too far afield, here's a humorous religious link to enjoy: http://www.jameshartforcongress.com/prometheus/socvsjes.htm ...)

Happy Election Day from Sidney!

One of my rotten kids suggested I try something new, so here's a somewhat less controversial topic of conversation: Politics!

Note: I'm neither a republic nor a democrat. I like to consider myself a man of independent thought, not easily swayed by the media or the vast political machine. I wish I could say the same for the vast number of sheeple out there who will vote for the first guy who lies well enough to come off as "sincere". Or, worse yet, vote AGAINST somebody because of some underhanded efforts of the "other" side.

I was reminded of that today when I saw a negative ad e-mail concerning Barak Obama. It showed several people on a podium, all of whom had their hands over their hearts presumably reciting the pledge of allegiance. Barak, however, is shown with his hands down by his waist and apparently silent.

The conservative right ended the e-mail with something like, "Would you vote for this man who so clearly hates his country... yada yada yada."

Not surprisingly, the whole business was completely contrived, and certainly NOT sanctioned by the right wing (conspiracy). However, the damage may already be done as this will probably be all it takes to bring him down. Never mind that few if any of these sheep will bother to take the time to determine what his actual platform is. It's enough to know this unamerican bastard dared to exercise his 1st amendment right
to freedom of speech - I sure wouldn't vote for his ass.

A couple of weeks ago, I was sent a many-times forwarded e-mail which was originally generated by some right-wing whack-job - the gist of which was that, due to some recent legislation, the terms "mommy" and "daddy" were to be removed from textbooks in California.

I wasn't so much disturbed by the stupidity that was evidenced by the comments of the people forwarding the e-mail (ad nauseam) - I expect exactly that much from sheep. What bothered me most was the fact that the person who forwarded it to me should have taken the time to look into it a little bit before swallowing it hook, line and sinker.

Although, to be honest, the comments in the forwards were even more frightening than the original message. Frightening and sadly humorous. One person remarked that "Arnold Swarzenneger and the rest of them Democrats is trying to destroy the sanctimoniousness of the American family..."

That's right, Arnold the Democrat... Take a minute and think about it...

I took the time to read the actual legislation. Boring stuff, to be sure, but NOWHERE in the entire draft was there the first mention of the words "mom" or "dad". The entire message was about NOT discriminating against people who live in "alternative" homes (gay parents, for example).

In my opinion, the American people deserve exactly what they've gotten - a political body made up of the biggest crooks and snake oil salesmen the world has ever seen. Just remember - These bastards weren't foisted upon an unsuspecting populace... we actively sought them out and elected them over better qualified individuals, MOSTLY due to their height, coiffure, and marketability.

This is why the West Wing was so wildly successful. It was a fantasy land where government officials put in a full day's work and gave a hearty shit about the welfare of their constituents. The president was a genius and his staff bright, caring and able. What were those writers smoking???

I read this thing the other day that was pretty telling. It asked you to determine if it was the NFL or NBA who were guilty of this long list of crimes and misdemeanors. At the very end, it says, "Neither. It was congress." The list included numbers of DUI's, spousal abuse, poor credit, etc. It was funny and ironical, yet left me feeling disheartened.

I was talking with a woman at work the other day about health care. I brought up Hillary's Universal Health Care plan. She thought it was a terrible idea and said that "those people should just get some insurance... why should she have to pay for them? Most of them are illegal anyway."

I just looked at her and felt sad for a minute. This poor deluded woman has never had an original thought in all her 40 years. She didn't have the first idear about Universal Health Care - all she knew is what she heard on the radio or from her other right wing friends at work (Rhodes Scholars, all).

I asked her if any of her children had ever been sick enough to have to go to the doctor. Naturally, she said yes, so I asked her how she would have felt if her children were suffering but she couldn't afford to seek medical help - if she had to hold her babies while they cried against her shoulder because it was either food, rent, or medicine, but not all three.

She had no answer because she couldn't feel any empathy for poor people because, in her mind, they deserve to be poor. It's really their own fault.

(By the way, this is my "christian" co-worker - you know, the people who are supposed to care about other human beings. Other white, middle-class human beings I mean. OK, you knew I'd throw some religion in here somewhere...)

So, basically, I've given up on the whole political process. I'd like to think that, eventually, we will collectively pull our heads out of our asses. However, the more I talk to people, the less optimistic I become. In the end, we really have no one to blame but ourselves.

Now, I vote you get up off your apathetic, uninformed asses and go buy my house, godammit!!