Current Events and the Republican Right Wing

The last few years at work my theme song was from Follies, “I’m still here!”  I was surviving.  Now that I am retired and watching all the unbelievable things happening around the country, I’ve change it to “Thank heaven, I’m not young anymore!” from Gigi.

How do I even start?  First, the Republicans in many state legislatures are developing work programs for lawyers.  Some are passing legislation or just considering legislation that will go quickly to the Federal Courts and be declared “unconstitutional” immediately.  In other states, the electorate is amazingly gullible.  Some topics include:

·         Christianity is the state religion and the Bible is the state book.

·         Christian symbols adorn the State House:  this has happened in a couple of states but in at least one the Satanists have demanded equal time and space and may get it.  The Alabama Chief Judge is the one who placed the 10 Commandments in front of the State House and when he was ordered to remove them, he refused.  Any wonder why he still believes in “Nullificaton”? 

·         All of the laws banning abortions or making them extremely difficult for poor women. 

·         All the laws requiring unnecessary medical procedures prior to an abortion.  Here the AMA has never taken a position against legislative mandates interfering in the practice of medicine.  Of course, some legislative requirements were necessary because the medical profession refused to do what is right, voluntarily.

·         The insistence that voter fraud is a major problem and that identification is required to vote.  This is not totally unreasonable unless they make the types of ID or the ability to obtain an ID extremely difficult.  In NC college photo IDs are not acceptable.

·         Although the SCOTUS has said college students can vote while at school, states have decided to ban this ability.

·         The Alabama Supreme Court ruling that they don’t have to follow a Federal Court ruling declaring their gay marriage ban as unconstitutional.  Nullification of federal laws by states was the argument lost after the Civil War, or if you insist, the war of Northern Aggression.  They never determined that it was actually the war of Southern rebellion!

·         New laws allowing discrimination against the LBGT community on “religious” basis.  If the citizens are truly “Christian” they would not need this “right” because Jesus teaches not to harm one’s fellow man, rather to love them!  They don’t know the basic tenets of their religion.

·         The incredibly high level of gerrymandering in some legislatures that disenfranchise large segments of the population.  They manage to fix their legislature into a strict, tight one party rule.

·         The continued attacks on public education.  The legislatures are decreasing funding and trying to affect curriculum to suit their religious and political ideology, rather than desiring a quality education.  Wonder why students at Texas Tech did not know who fought in the Civil War or who won that war.  Students at Columbia, that liberal bastion of communism, did know basic American history.  Keep the populace stupid and they will believe your idiotic ranting.  The best is to keep them dumb and preganant.

·         The continued re-election of stupid people or outright criminals.  Cases in point:  the re-election of several Congressmen in Texas, Iowa, Kansas etc who are so stupid that they are the laughing stock of the country; the re-election of an indicted crook on Staten Island, the re-election of several governors who are bankrupting their states (Brownback, Jindel, Christie, Walker etc.)  Can also include the pig castrating Senator from Kansas and Tail-gunner Joe's clone, Ted Cruz.  It seems that Kansans consider it a sin to vote for a Democrat.

The federal system has done no better:

• ·         The stupid “Citizens United” decision by the SCOTUS.

·         The determination by SCOTUS that voting rights no longer need protection and that racism is gone from the USA.

·         The absolute control of Congress and the right-wing media by the NRA who are now fighting a proposed ban on body armor piercing bullets.  Since when do “hunters” need to pierce the armor of deer, rabbits, and possum?  This protest is the latest bovine manure from the NRA who has blocked every sensible piece of gun-control legislation in the past 20 years.  To me, the right to bear arms, means the right to wear short sleeve shirts.

·         The supposed lawsuit against the ACA when all Congress has to do is insert a simple phrase in the law to cover the mistake made when they passed the bill in the first place.  But the right wing will never do anything to help that Kenyan Muslim in the White House—and don’t even try to tell me that racism is not a factor here.  When they refer to the Obamas as “monkeys” or disparage the First Lady for no reason, it is because the right wing cannot tolerate a Black family as the First Family.  Citizens disparaged George W because he was stupid and under Cheney’s thumb not for any other reason.  The vituperative attacks on the Obamas are unbelievable.  I’m waiting for someone to complain that they are using facilities in the White House.  Harry Truman did not speak to Eisenhower for 11 years because in Harry’s mind, Ike disrespected the office of POTUS.  Harry was a proud protector of the office and was able to separate the office from the person.

·         The Speaker’s actions in inviting the Israeli PM to speak, is attempting to take over foreign policy which is the responsibility of the POTUS and not Congress.  But maybe the Speaker is unfamiliar with the Constitution.

·         The continued attack by Congressional Republicans on the social safety net.  Medicare, social security, food stamps etc. keep people from economic disaster.  But the Republicans use these programs to energize their white southern base by arguing that they only help people of color.

·         The ridiculous assumption that flag waving is a great indication of “patriotism” and that those who don’t wave the flag continuously, wear flags in their lapels and rant that America is exceptional are not patriotic.  American is a great country.  But it was not founded by God, Jesus or any other supreme being.  It was founded by very intelligent men.  They were an incredibly exception group.  Americans should be eternally grateful that this group gathered together to found this country.  However, we have not kept their promises.  America has fallen behind in many areas, compared with other nations.  Our education system is faulty.  Our social welfare is behind the times, etc. etc. etc.   We are losing our first place in the world of nations.

All of this ranting suggests that I am a bigot.  I am a bigot.  I do not tolerate Fox News and ultra-right wing people.  I do not tolerate their wrong views of the world.  I do not like Cheney or George W.  They lied to the American people and to the Congress all of whom were gullible enough to believe their bovine manure.  Their justification for the war was false and their handling of Iraq after the fall of Saddam was criminal!

I do not tolerate people who are racists or anti-gays.  A gay person has no effect on me.  I have had gay friends and their personal lives do not in any way affect me.  There is no reason for one to be a racist in this country.  I was taught that America was a melting pot of people from all over the world.  This new wave of immigration has to be accepted.  The tidal wave of immigrants from Ireland and then from the rest of Europe were assimilated, though not easily.  Some of this racism is due to lack of education.  That’s why Sikhs were assaulted after 9-11.  Uneducated Americans saw turbans and remembered all those Arabian Nights movies in which the hero wore a turban.  So they attacked one of the most peaceful group of people in the world.