photo courtesy www.myauburnjournal.com

 What a crazed week.  Oil, that precious stuff of life continues to hemorrhage into the Gulf of Mexico and We The People in all our hubris are powerless to stop this new Frankenstein of our own creation. 

  In other news the tin foil hat people have won a victory if indeed that is what it is, in Kentucky and claimed control of one of the two dominant political parties.  The victor of that election contest seems unable to shut his mouth and with every utterance more dangerous foolishness spews forth in an avalanche of self important claptrap.  “Look at me!  My nonsensical world view is center stage!” 

  These two events are interlinked for me.  The continued appeasement of big business since the Reagan years in general and the BP oil spill. (Spill sounds a bit disingenuous doesn’t it?  To refer to it as a “spill” takes the horror out of what is really happening as if the problem could be cured with a roll of Bounty and a mop. ) In the Tea Bagger/Libertarian view point individual selfishness is much more important than the rights of the group.

 So, Mr. and Mrs. Teabag, do you have any opinion about the rights of the fishermen, those who work in the tourist industry, and all whose livelihood depend on the health of the Gulf of Mexico?  Is it okay with you that BP Oil can continue to make billions of dollars at the expense of your neighbors and fellow citizens?  Is it BP’s right to destroy the animal and plant life, an entire ecosystem so that YOU can drive your Hummer, or suburban assault vehicle down to the corner store?  Maybe you ought to try walking…you might be healthier.  Oh but wait, it is your right to kill yourself slowly, so that I get to pay for it in my health insurance premiums because you want the right not to carry health insurance.

  Have you given any thought to the fact that you have anointed as your hero a man who thinks that it is okay to send people to the back of the bus because a private business owner may not like a particular genetic characteristic? A man who believes that good business sense will prevail to keep that from happening?  The same good business sense that obviously didn’t prevail out on the deep water Horizon to repair critical elements of a drilling rig that could have prevented an environmental catastrophe? (And let us not forget the callous neglect and disregard to the lives of eleven BP employees.) But your man refers to it as an accident? Sure, no one wanted it to happen, but the speed of getting to the oil was more important.  The safety precautions that were known and ignored in the race to get to the oil would have cost one day’s profit for BP, the biggest oil company in the world.  But they have the right to the money-is that what you are telling me Mr. Teabag?  At the expense of lives and the destruction of the coastline and seabed of an ocean?  It’s okay because the government regulation that would have prevented this is bad.  And what has ensued isn’t?

  And then we have a stalwart of the Republican Party cynically making money on a book by comparing the Obama administration to the horrific regimes of Stalin and Hitler.  And I say cynical because Mr.Gingrich is not ignorant or stupid.  He understands exactly what he is doing and doesn’t even have enough shame to blush when he is called on it but sticks to his point. Really Sir, you have cheapened and demeaned the lives of so many millions that were lost by watering down what is true evil to make it comparable to a politician who is trying to work within the system to make the hard decisions and face the unpleasant truth of what we have inflicted on ourselves.  And why?  To sell books of course, and feather your own nest.  Newt, you give salamanders a bad name.

  And you, the Republican Party.  Yes you are accountable too.  You have encouraged the dumbing down of your own organization and cheered it on in its excesses.  Not one of your leaders has the political courage to stand up and say, “Enough!  Let’s restore some responsibility and work on the issues.” You would rather cowtow to radio talk show hosts and a vapid Governor Half Term from Alaska whose opinions, while legal are totally irresponsible and complete fiction.

 And Americans who call yourselves Patriots-how’s about actually taking a gander at this Constitution that you are so concerned about protecting?  If you did you might notices that the preamble begins with “We the people…”not  “ I the person.”  Yes, we are guaranteed some personal rights but they end where the other guy’s rights begin.  Nowhere does the Constitution say I have the right to do what I damn well please and to hell with everyone else.

 We the citizen patriots of this country have been behaving like a bunch of sailors coming off an epic drunk.  It is time to sober up and pay up.  And speaking of paying up, Mr. and Mrs. TeaBag, are you aware that taxes are lower than they have been since the Truman administration?  So, we have a choice.  We can pay more taxes and fund roads, schools, decent medical care for all or we can begin cutting things like defense, social security, and medicare.  If you folks don’t care if we leave the elderly in the street to die, well, I guess that is a point of view.  Not one I agree with, but at least be bold enough to stand behind it.

  Are any of you “we pay too much in taxes” people aware that if each of us paid just 1% more in taxes (for me that would be about $300- $400 per year) and if businesses put in 1% more we could make social security solvent.  Now I would be willing to spend $400 so that someone could retire with dignity and not have to eat cat food.  That’s money well spent. I can easily fritter away $400 a year on soda pop and chips that I don’t need in a year’s time.

So yeah, Teabaggers, let’s dismantle the government.  Let’s do state’s rights so we live in a nation with 50 different sets of standards. Because, you know what?  You people keep this up and that is where it’s headed.  Try that on under the Renyolds Wrap and think about that for a minute.  National defense?  Well, Texas isn’t up for it this week even though Rhode Island thinks it’s a good idea.

  It’s all yours lunatic fringe.  Have at it.