We, the People Idealist

During the Vietnam War, I spent a whole lotta time protesting against the government of these here United States' execution of a war that was clearly none of our business and, more importantly, immoral. The police action that ultimately divided North and South Korea was dodgy enough, but our involvement in Vietnam was a travesty. 

I had long harbored the hope that as the old guard faded away into cemeteries, We, the People the Younger, filled with idealism, rationalism, and social justice, would take over the nation and we would once again be on a road to social maturity. We, the People Idealist, would even the racial playing field and equal rights for all would be the norm, not the exception. We, the People Rational, would be the ones to change the course of fuel consumption and present a unified vanguard leading the way to clean, renewable sources of energy and responsible environmental legislation. We, the People Social Justice, would finally create a country where education and health care would be readily available, and gender discrimination would be a concern of the past.

What were we thinking?

We have become We, the People of Everything We Despised. We have been unable to deliver that precious idealism into the next group. Instead, we have Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, sons of immigrants...people who came to this country to escape whatever....only to produce children that fear diversity. We got Scott Walker who took his state on a joyride of working class destruction. We got Hilary who can't seem to just say, "I fucked up, I was wrong about Iraq." For G-d's sake, just say it already and get it behind you. 

We have a whole field of would-be presidents who want this entire country to accept their version of faith...THEIR version. When did taking communion become a litmus test for being a real American? It's beyond just Christianity; it's sectarian, we are just a couple of steps from blowing up churches. Shooting up and firebombing churches we already do. Mosques and synagogues are not exactly exempt either.

On the way into work this morning, I listened to a discussion about rocket booster engines and how the ones NASA uses are the Russian made RD-180s. That the US has one in development but that it won't be ready until 2019 and that's being optimistic. Excuse me? This is still going on? I thought the RD-180 was a temporary stopgap measure, not one that was gonna be in play for 15 years. 

Everyone talks college and no one talks production. Everyone talks about "training," but no one talks about building stuff. Everyone talks about "fair trade," but no one talks about making something to trade. We don't have American rocket boosting engines not because cannot design them; we unable to build them. 

Where is the respect for the workers and the trades? We need the mechanics and the carpenters. These are not jobs; these are careers. These are professions. We should be focusing on dealing with our dearth of manufacturing workers. 

That's not what the US economy is exploring. No, the US economy is exploring new and improved ways to "act globally," which is a euphemism for off-shoring. Our economy is focused on selling drugs on the boob-tube so you can tell your doctor you need Ambien and Xanax and whatever to help you cope. It's not that you'll pay a lot, assuming you have  a prescription drug plan. Suddenly you're such an expert from watching TV? 

Don't leave home without it. 

And speaking of TV, I saw a dilly on the early evening news today. The national news at 5:30 people. Right at the end. Right at 6. Right when the kids are hanging around the television waiting for food. Viagra one-packs being peddled by a voluptuous woman who was insinuating herself all over a bedroom, ostensibly preparing herself for a night of unbridled passion and explaining to women why it was important for men to have easy access to Viagra. Yeah, it's for our benefit. 

What are these people thinking?

I know what they were thinking. They were thinking: how much can I rake in showing a woman selling sex during prime time TV? Women selling sex. What a novel concept; tell the guys, Oh, baby, baby; pop one of these and come hither!

Increasingly vast numbers of women cannot get basic reproductive health care, and this is what they sell in prime time TV. More pregnancies. Because gee, if you can't get birth control but every guy is running around with power poppers in his pocket, what the hell do you think is going to happen?

Maybe the scariest thing so far in this election circus is the lack of the common good. Trump and Sanders are not too far apart on their domestic agendas when it comes to infrastructure and wage equity, and it’s just a pity that the Donald is a bombastic asshole about everything else. It’s a shame that Hillary just can’t own up to stuff and get past it. It’s a real shame that guys like Cruz and Rubio have managed to get as far as they have gotten by preaching fear and loathing. This is all fundamentally broken.

Ted Nugent posted a thing on Facebook today. If you have FB, click here. This is not isolated and he is not alone in preaching Fascism on social media. But if you think you are immune from his attacks, you are not. It’s but a stone’s throw from anti-Muslim to anti-Jew. Not sure, read a bit about the BDS movement. It’s not about the welfare of Palestinians; it’s anti-Semitic bullshit masquerading as social justice. Read what they say, look at their campus activities, and you’ll see the pattern. And it’s directed at Jews. Not Israelis. There is a difference. 

We, ALL the People are in serious trouble.

Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Do yourself a big giant favor, start throwing stuff out now;

don't wait until you think you're gonna  move.